Posts
Got a call earlier this week from a woman to whom I owe much - she was the first person I talked with after determining that I needed to be personally taking the calls for assistance and help that came through the Otter Creek switchboard. We’d stayed in touch for the last few years as she relapsed, went through depression and feelings of suicide and struggled with trying to better understand her identity as a child of God. In the last few months she had drifted into a more severe depression and made some poor decisions involving agreements of behavior on the workplace. She was terminated from her job. I got the call as she was wrestling with feelings of anger (at herself and her boss) and shame (at knowing she had violated agreed upon rules). We talked about forgiveness, the continual process of redirecting our lives back to the path that leads to God and the reality of having to live with the consequences of bade decisions.
One of the consequences of her bad decisions was that she lost the housing that was being provided to her as a part of her employment agreement. This meant she had to locate a place to live, pay for the deposits and first month’s rent and then figure out how to get it furnished. All this at a time when she didn’t have a job. Not a good formula for staying sober!!
She found a roommate and they pooled what little money they had to get into an apartment. But like so many others, they had no furniture. And I mean nothing, except the clothes that they owned. So on Saturday we met at the Otter Creek furniture storage house where we were able to reach out to a hurt and hurting woman and help her regain a little dignity by providing her a bed, a dresser, a sofa, an end table and most of the kitchen supplies a person needs to set up a home. We didn’t talk about the past. We didn’t talk about recommitting to trying harder in the future. In fact, we hardly talked at all. I listened to her confess her mistakes. I listened to her talk about her plans for getting a job and getting her life back together. This lady knows what’s going on and what she needs to be doing to follow Jesus. Her challenge isn’t the head knowledge – it’s the heart commitment. It’s being in community with people that love her, that are a positive encouragement to her, that hold her accountable but do so with love and respect, that show her their love by their service and expect her to do the same. We make life a lot more complicated than God intended it to be. We pray for patience and then take pride in having our day planner be completely full and then wonder why we are getting so frustrated with little interruptions. We recognize the need to simplify and live a more moderate life but find ourselves looking through the mail order magazines and watching iPhone and car commercials and getting frustrated that we don’t seem to be able to stay focused on living a life that’s growing to look more like Jesus everyday.
So my time with my friend was not a time for me to be preaching a sermon to her. Her phone call to me for help was all the sermon I needed. As we loaded up her truck and I listened I found myself being preached to – by one of the people who pointed me down this path of service and who has shown me in her daily struggles what a life of faith looks like. Not daily victories and major conquests of Satan’s temptations, but rather a dogged conviction to keep fighting while trying to not take my eyes off the picture of Jesus.
8.20.09
Today starts a new adventure for me. I’m not sure if tying it to my blog is the right thing to do but there’s a real sense that the reason for taking the path is due to a portion of the work I am currently involved in at Otter Creek. So with that in mind I thought I’d a give you an overview of what’s up for the next week – especially for those of you that read this and might wonder if I was on vacation for the week when no entries came through. Well, as a matter of fact, I am on vacation – at least taking some of my vacation days (thanks to my wife for letting me take these days without it being a real family vacation) to be in Detroit. Today I start grad school at Rochester College where I’ll be working on my Masters of Religious Education in Missional Leadership (http://www.rc.edu/blog/2009/07/30/first-cohort-forming-for-new-masters-degree-major/).
For all my street learning and practical approach to ministry I have had a growing feeling that I needed a stronger theology base for this ministry. No doubt I can say that it’s what Jesus was about and that the Old Testament scriptures give more than enough support to the call for followers of God to be people of justice for the marginalized. And over the last few years I’ve developed my own version of “street gospel” to be able to tell people why Otter Creek is doing what is doing to reach out. I think it all makes sense and is theologically sound. I’m just not sure it’s complete. And I’m growing in my desire to think deeply and personally about these issues. I want to create my own beliefs, not the ones handed me by my family, my community or my church. I had so many of those questioned over the last few years as I’ve experienced situations and areas of life that I had shut out for most of my life. And I’ve had to reconcile those situations with my understanding of God and come up with answers. And many of the answers that I had been taught or simply given did not hold up under the harsh reality of life. So I’ve had to work through many of those on my own. And now I feel a need to go a little deeper and strengthen my basis for the answers that I believe to be right and learn more of the questions and answers as well. I hope that doesn’t come across as prideful. It’s intended to communicate a deep desire to own my beliefs rather than just accept a belief. I need a belief that I can “take a bullet for”. Thanks to my work on the streets, I feel like I’m close to having that. I also feel a need to be able to defend and explain that belief to both my peers as well as the people I meet on the streets. I recognize that won’t be the same explanation to those 2 groups. I’m pretty comfortable with my friends on the street. It’s my friends in the church community that I want to be more prepared to dialogue with. I have been forced to look at old answers in ways that has rocked my foundations. My experience is that most of us don’t want our foundations rocked – even though that’s what Jesus did. One goal of this grad school experience is to prepare me to “be rocked and to rock” in a way that honors God and seeks to live a life of integrity to principles that are concrete.
I expect part of this week to be experiential. Perhaps they’ll be a few “reaching out” examples I can give through this blog. I expect that I’ll still be doing some reaching out via the phone and the internet so I’ll try and convey those experiences. I won’t be going into much detail on these classes and what they are doing for me – that would seem very ego-centered to me. If you’re interested, call me or email me and we can talk when I get back. Otherwise, I hope and pray that the evidence of this week being a good investment of time and money will be a more effective ministry of reaching out and making a difference in the world as we seek God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Stay tuned…
For all my street learning and practical approach to ministry I have had a growing feeling that I needed a stronger theology base for this ministry. No doubt I can say that it’s what Jesus was about and that the Old Testament scriptures give more than enough support to the call for followers of God to be people of justice for the marginalized. And over the last few years I’ve developed my own version of “street gospel” to be able to tell people why Otter Creek is doing what is doing to reach out. I think it all makes sense and is theologically sound. I’m just not sure it’s complete. And I’m growing in my desire to think deeply and personally about these issues. I want to create my own beliefs, not the ones handed me by my family, my community or my church. I had so many of those questioned over the last few years as I’ve experienced situations and areas of life that I had shut out for most of my life. And I’ve had to reconcile those situations with my understanding of God and come up with answers. And many of the answers that I had been taught or simply given did not hold up under the harsh reality of life. So I’ve had to work through many of those on my own. And now I feel a need to go a little deeper and strengthen my basis for the answers that I believe to be right and learn more of the questions and answers as well. I hope that doesn’t come across as prideful. It’s intended to communicate a deep desire to own my beliefs rather than just accept a belief. I need a belief that I can “take a bullet for”. Thanks to my work on the streets, I feel like I’m close to having that. I also feel a need to be able to defend and explain that belief to both my peers as well as the people I meet on the streets. I recognize that won’t be the same explanation to those 2 groups. I’m pretty comfortable with my friends on the street. It’s my friends in the church community that I want to be more prepared to dialogue with. I have been forced to look at old answers in ways that has rocked my foundations. My experience is that most of us don’t want our foundations rocked – even though that’s what Jesus did. One goal of this grad school experience is to prepare me to “be rocked and to rock” in a way that honors God and seeks to live a life of integrity to principles that are concrete.
I expect part of this week to be experiential. Perhaps they’ll be a few “reaching out” examples I can give through this blog. I expect that I’ll still be doing some reaching out via the phone and the internet so I’ll try and convey those experiences. I won’t be going into much detail on these classes and what they are doing for me – that would seem very ego-centered to me. If you’re interested, call me or email me and we can talk when I get back. Otherwise, I hope and pray that the evidence of this week being a good investment of time and money will be a more effective ministry of reaching out and making a difference in the world as we seek God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Stay tuned…
8.15.09
So much of what I write about seems to focus on Otter Creek reaching out to people in our community that are not tied to our church family. And that’s good and how it should be. However, to think that the Otter Creek family doesn’t have people in need would be to be blind to all that’s going on right under our noses.
Our furniture ministry gets much of its inventory from the generous donations from Otter Creek members. This weekend we got the chance to help an Otter Creeker who was relocating due to a job loss and was in need of some furniture. I had gotten an request from another Otter Creeker to call him when I needed help so he met me at the Otter Creek furniture house and we started loading up items to deliver. We grabbed a couple of beds, a table and chairs and a book case and headed to the apartment.
It didn’t take long in conversation to find common ties between all of us. That’s one of the beautiful things about community. We’re not intended to try and get thru life by ourselves. Even though after disappointments and betrayals the temptation is to shut our door and tell ourselves it’s better if we just stay to ourself, that’s not the case. It was a great time together as we set up beds and put legs on the table.
We did get started a little later than we had planned and the set up took a little longer than we had planned so by the time we left we were behind for the next stops. There was a woman living in one of Nashville’s housing projects that had called earlier in the week to ask for help with a pair of shoes. She had injured her foot and leg and the doctor had prescribed a specialty shoe along with a brace that he was ordering for her. Once again the Otter Creek community stepped up. We’re blessed to have a member who offered to help through their business connections and provided that pair of shoes. The member who was working with me volunteered to go pick up the woman and take her to get fitted for her shoes. That’s what it’s all about. People using their gifts to help and bless others. I got a call the next day from the woman telling me how appreciative she was for the shoes and for the opportunity to meet other Otter Creekers and see how Jesus was living through them.
Our furniture ministry gets much of its inventory from the generous donations from Otter Creek members. This weekend we got the chance to help an Otter Creeker who was relocating due to a job loss and was in need of some furniture. I had gotten an request from another Otter Creeker to call him when I needed help so he met me at the Otter Creek furniture house and we started loading up items to deliver. We grabbed a couple of beds, a table and chairs and a book case and headed to the apartment.
It didn’t take long in conversation to find common ties between all of us. That’s one of the beautiful things about community. We’re not intended to try and get thru life by ourselves. Even though after disappointments and betrayals the temptation is to shut our door and tell ourselves it’s better if we just stay to ourself, that’s not the case. It was a great time together as we set up beds and put legs on the table.
We did get started a little later than we had planned and the set up took a little longer than we had planned so by the time we left we were behind for the next stops. There was a woman living in one of Nashville’s housing projects that had called earlier in the week to ask for help with a pair of shoes. She had injured her foot and leg and the doctor had prescribed a specialty shoe along with a brace that he was ordering for her. Once again the Otter Creek community stepped up. We’re blessed to have a member who offered to help through their business connections and provided that pair of shoes. The member who was working with me volunteered to go pick up the woman and take her to get fitted for her shoes. That’s what it’s all about. People using their gifts to help and bless others. I got a call the next day from the woman telling me how appreciative she was for the shoes and for the opportunity to meet other Otter Creekers and see how Jesus was living through them.
8.12.09
If you follow this blog I’m hoping you’ve heard about the Tent City benefit concert we had on Wednesday evening at Otter Creek. There have been several press & media stories telling how the idea was conceived and then how God (no doubt in my mind) took the idea and grew it into quite the event. 48 homeless guests from Tent City and other “encampments” as well as from a few of the housing units where the lucky ones are transitioned into were in attendance. Representatives from the Metro government were there. Some old, but mostly new friends from The Temple stepped out of their comfort zone and came to join in recognizing the issue of homelessness in Nashville and to offer their partnership for our 2 faiths to work together in this common cause. Media folks talked with, photographed and interviewed Otter Creekers and guests.
One of the underlying goals of this time together was to take what had been an entertaining and fellowship time for the members at Otter Creek as we listened to Phil Keaggy (Phil has been performing during our summer series for many years) and transition that time from a focus on us to something much larger. Phil Keaggy not only supported that goal but actively participated in helping us craft the evening to be less about him and more about community. He is one terrific man who deserves our support for his artistry and talent.
Who knows what seeds have been planted? Who knows where God will take this time and lead us to the next level? What I am pretty sure is that the evening is not intended to be a transaction where we enjoy the time, the feeling of being more inclusive and then leave without realizing that experience is a step on a journey. I feel strongly that we must be intentional about taking the momentum from the evening and using it as a springboard for additional energy and focus on that journey. What’s the journey? Check out Micah 6:8 and I think you start to get an idea of what it might look like. Maybe we made a little progress on that journey tonight but let’s not take too much satisfaction in our accomplishments. The goal is a lifestyle, a paradigm of living that takes our 24/7 lives and asks what’s at the center of it all…We don’t make quick radical changes in our lives. It’s a slow, deliberate “conversion” that uses our intent and the power of the Spirit to keep the move taking place. But it’s sure nice to get a boost on the journey from events like tonight. Thanks to my brothers and sisters from Otter Creek for being a community of people willing to take the journey. I’m blessed to be a pilgrim with you…
One of the underlying goals of this time together was to take what had been an entertaining and fellowship time for the members at Otter Creek as we listened to Phil Keaggy (Phil has been performing during our summer series for many years) and transition that time from a focus on us to something much larger. Phil Keaggy not only supported that goal but actively participated in helping us craft the evening to be less about him and more about community. He is one terrific man who deserves our support for his artistry and talent.
Who knows what seeds have been planted? Who knows where God will take this time and lead us to the next level? What I am pretty sure is that the evening is not intended to be a transaction where we enjoy the time, the feeling of being more inclusive and then leave without realizing that experience is a step on a journey. I feel strongly that we must be intentional about taking the momentum from the evening and using it as a springboard for additional energy and focus on that journey. What’s the journey? Check out Micah 6:8 and I think you start to get an idea of what it might look like. Maybe we made a little progress on that journey tonight but let’s not take too much satisfaction in our accomplishments. The goal is a lifestyle, a paradigm of living that takes our 24/7 lives and asks what’s at the center of it all…We don’t make quick radical changes in our lives. It’s a slow, deliberate “conversion” that uses our intent and the power of the Spirit to keep the move taking place. But it’s sure nice to get a boost on the journey from events like tonight. Thanks to my brothers and sisters from Otter Creek for being a community of people willing to take the journey. I’m blessed to be a pilgrim with you…
8.11.09
For the past several years a number of Otter Creek members have been involved in a community project that is starting up again and needs your support. The Kirkpatrick Elementary School is a pre-K through 4th grade school located on S. 9th Street in Nashville and primarily serve children who live in the James Cayce neighborhood. Cayce is where the Martha O’Bryan Center is located. I’ve mentioned them several times in my blog.
It was about 5 years ago that a young Otter Creek woman got her first Metro teaching assignment and was sent to Kirkpatrick. As she began to experience the joys and frustrations of working in a poor, urban school environment she talked to her Otter Creek life group about the challenges. One of her greatest needs was to be able to carve out a few hours each week to work on lesson plans and prepare materials for her class. But with the limited resources of the school she was not able to take her eyes off the children. Her life group offered to step in and help her by coming to her classroom a few hours each week to read and work with the children so the teacher could have some time to get ahead.
By the next school year a few of the teacher’s associates had asked her if she might know of other volunteers who would be willing to work with them like her life group had been doing with her. One Otter Creek member took it on herself to begin to organize volunteers and assign them to teachers. By the start of the next year we were in communication with the principal and had her full support to roll out our volunteer program to all 25 classes at Kirkpatrick.
The concept is simple – are you willing to give at least 4 hours PER MONTH to help a teacher at Kirkpatrick? That’s the minimum that we ask (know that most people get hooked into loving these children and end up spending more time than this). It’s your chance to get to meet and know and come to love 20 children, most of whom are anxious for the attention of an adult. You will have the chance to read to them, work on learning skills and listen to them read back to you. But as important is that you will be showing these children that they have value – you’re willing to spend your time every month to be with them.
They don’t expect consistency for you so you showing up at an appointed time each month shows more than you can imagine. They don’t expect you to come to serve them so you being willing to spend a couple of hours with them - sitting at their desks, listening to their stories (and what stories you will hear!!), speaks volumes about how you see them.
It doesn’t take long for you to learn about their families and what’s going on in their lives. Almost naturally a few of them will be drawn to you. As you begin to listen and then talk with the teacher about what you’re hearing, you’ll discover opportunities to go beyond the few hours in the classroom. You may want to follow up on that yourself, or you may want to call me. One of the goals of this program is to open up relationship opportunities with the families of these children. That may not be your gift, but it is the gift of others at Otter Creek. It’s a beautiful thing when each of us can use the gifts and talents given to us by God and know when to “hand-off” to the next person.
Several of our volunteers and several Kirkpatrick teachers also attend the every-other-week Joyful Noise service on Sunday afternoons at the Martha O’Bryan Center. Many of the volunteers invite the children from their Kirkpatrick class to bring their mom and brothers & sisters and come to the service. It gives a different opportunity to see another side of family life when you can sit by the family of one of “your” kids in a church service and then get the chance to talk with the mom.
This is a great involvement opportunity. It requires transportation and the willingness to a consistent schedule. But it’s a schedule that you can set yourself. If you’d like to talk with some of the current volunteers to better understand the expectations, I’ll be glad to sit that up. If you do talk with them my guess is that you’ll end up talking more about the blessings and joys of serving than the expectations of the role. Email or call me if you’d like to learn more and I’ll put you in touch with this year’s volunteer coordinator. I can’t think of many involvement opportunities that offer so many different ways to engage, serve, bless and be blessed than our Kirkpatrick School program. Think and pray about this and try it out….
It was about 5 years ago that a young Otter Creek woman got her first Metro teaching assignment and was sent to Kirkpatrick. As she began to experience the joys and frustrations of working in a poor, urban school environment she talked to her Otter Creek life group about the challenges. One of her greatest needs was to be able to carve out a few hours each week to work on lesson plans and prepare materials for her class. But with the limited resources of the school she was not able to take her eyes off the children. Her life group offered to step in and help her by coming to her classroom a few hours each week to read and work with the children so the teacher could have some time to get ahead.
By the next school year a few of the teacher’s associates had asked her if she might know of other volunteers who would be willing to work with them like her life group had been doing with her. One Otter Creek member took it on herself to begin to organize volunteers and assign them to teachers. By the start of the next year we were in communication with the principal and had her full support to roll out our volunteer program to all 25 classes at Kirkpatrick.
The concept is simple – are you willing to give at least 4 hours PER MONTH to help a teacher at Kirkpatrick? That’s the minimum that we ask (know that most people get hooked into loving these children and end up spending more time than this). It’s your chance to get to meet and know and come to love 20 children, most of whom are anxious for the attention of an adult. You will have the chance to read to them, work on learning skills and listen to them read back to you. But as important is that you will be showing these children that they have value – you’re willing to spend your time every month to be with them.
They don’t expect consistency for you so you showing up at an appointed time each month shows more than you can imagine. They don’t expect you to come to serve them so you being willing to spend a couple of hours with them - sitting at their desks, listening to their stories (and what stories you will hear!!), speaks volumes about how you see them.
It doesn’t take long for you to learn about their families and what’s going on in their lives. Almost naturally a few of them will be drawn to you. As you begin to listen and then talk with the teacher about what you’re hearing, you’ll discover opportunities to go beyond the few hours in the classroom. You may want to follow up on that yourself, or you may want to call me. One of the goals of this program is to open up relationship opportunities with the families of these children. That may not be your gift, but it is the gift of others at Otter Creek. It’s a beautiful thing when each of us can use the gifts and talents given to us by God and know when to “hand-off” to the next person.
Several of our volunteers and several Kirkpatrick teachers also attend the every-other-week Joyful Noise service on Sunday afternoons at the Martha O’Bryan Center. Many of the volunteers invite the children from their Kirkpatrick class to bring their mom and brothers & sisters and come to the service. It gives a different opportunity to see another side of family life when you can sit by the family of one of “your” kids in a church service and then get the chance to talk with the mom.
This is a great involvement opportunity. It requires transportation and the willingness to a consistent schedule. But it’s a schedule that you can set yourself. If you’d like to talk with some of the current volunteers to better understand the expectations, I’ll be glad to sit that up. If you do talk with them my guess is that you’ll end up talking more about the blessings and joys of serving than the expectations of the role. Email or call me if you’d like to learn more and I’ll put you in touch with this year’s volunteer coordinator. I can’t think of many involvement opportunities that offer so many different ways to engage, serve, bless and be blessed than our Kirkpatrick School program. Think and pray about this and try it out….
8.809
The young couple I met earlier this week that had moved into Cayce which we gave an A/C and promised to come back was on schedule for this morning. Unrelated to meeting this couple (yeah, right – unrelated…God has His ways…), I was contacted the next day after meeting this couple by an Otter Creeker who had a baby bed to donate and asked if he and his young daughter might be able to help deliver and set it up. So we made plans for them to meet me this morning to deliver some furniture as well as the baby bed. After a few stops to pick up a sofa and love seat and then to the OCC furniture house for a couple of dressers, some kitchen supplies, fresh veggies from the OCC garden and some bedding, we headed into town to make the deliveries.
We were able to load in all the furniture while my friend and his daughter worked with the mom and the 4 month old baby boy to re-assemble the baby bed. Since my interaction was more with the father and the neighbors who were asking what all was going on, I’ll have to talk to the baby bed assembler team and see what impressions they came away with from the day. For me, I saw the potential for relationships to be built. Not much happens on a first meeting – in fact, much of what does happen is positioning on the part of the people we are reaching out to. They have no reason to trust us or even believe that anything we are telling them will happen – things like we’ll be back. Experience has taught most of them to tell me a story that has the potential to touch my heart and cause me to want to give them something – out of sympathy. I understand that so when, at our first meeting, they told me they had come to Nashville from St. Louis to look for work and didn’t know anyone in Nashville, I listened but didn’t let that statement register as fact. As we chatted today while carrying in furniture one of the neighbors asked the father if his cousin was stopping by later today….Now I had a choice to confront the man with the apparent mistruth he had told me just a few days earlier or I could choose to listen and learn. I took the latter option and believe it to be the choice that will allow our relationship the potential to grow. That’s what this ministry is all about.
After dropping my friend and his daughter back off so they could head home, I headed back out to another OCC member who had called to offer his washer & dryer as he was moving and didn’t need it. When he called earlier in the week he asked if I knew of anyone who could use it. Once again, I had gotten a call just a few days earlier from a woman who is keeping 2 young ladies at her house as they try to get back on the road to recovery. She called to tell me her washer had gone out. Now I get the call about a washer donation – just coincidence?? I don’t think so… I expected a little trouble getting it loaded into her house and was worried since I was by myself.
Once again, just by chance (yeah, right) I get a text message from another OCC member asking if I needed help with anything. I called and asked him to meet me at this lady’s house. He agreed and I headed that way. 10 minutes into the trip I noticed the OCC van was overheating so I pulled over at a gas station and saw that the radiator reservoir was dry. I bought some coolant, filled it up and started again, but it kept overheating. So I called my friend – who was already at the house waiting on me – and told him I was going to be another 45 minutes. I drove back to the church, dropped the van and hooked the trailer to my Explorer and headed out. His willingness to wait on me spoke volumes about his desire to serve. He had the chance to meet the lady and her 2 guests as they thanked us for the washing machine.
There’s a lot of chaos in the world. I’m feeling pulled into it more and more. It makes me wonder how Jesus handled that as He walked, talked and taught? Seems like much of it comes from our own decisions that, in many cases, we know are going to cause chaos to erupt. Why do we do that? Can it all be laid at the feet of our fallen nature? How do we change? What are we to learn from chaos? Should it be a trait of Christ-followers to rise above chaos and be an island of peace and contentment? What would that show our neighbors and the world if we were able to walk that path? More to come on all of that….
We were able to load in all the furniture while my friend and his daughter worked with the mom and the 4 month old baby boy to re-assemble the baby bed. Since my interaction was more with the father and the neighbors who were asking what all was going on, I’ll have to talk to the baby bed assembler team and see what impressions they came away with from the day. For me, I saw the potential for relationships to be built. Not much happens on a first meeting – in fact, much of what does happen is positioning on the part of the people we are reaching out to. They have no reason to trust us or even believe that anything we are telling them will happen – things like we’ll be back. Experience has taught most of them to tell me a story that has the potential to touch my heart and cause me to want to give them something – out of sympathy. I understand that so when, at our first meeting, they told me they had come to Nashville from St. Louis to look for work and didn’t know anyone in Nashville, I listened but didn’t let that statement register as fact. As we chatted today while carrying in furniture one of the neighbors asked the father if his cousin was stopping by later today….Now I had a choice to confront the man with the apparent mistruth he had told me just a few days earlier or I could choose to listen and learn. I took the latter option and believe it to be the choice that will allow our relationship the potential to grow. That’s what this ministry is all about.
After dropping my friend and his daughter back off so they could head home, I headed back out to another OCC member who had called to offer his washer & dryer as he was moving and didn’t need it. When he called earlier in the week he asked if I knew of anyone who could use it. Once again, I had gotten a call just a few days earlier from a woman who is keeping 2 young ladies at her house as they try to get back on the road to recovery. She called to tell me her washer had gone out. Now I get the call about a washer donation – just coincidence?? I don’t think so… I expected a little trouble getting it loaded into her house and was worried since I was by myself.
Once again, just by chance (yeah, right) I get a text message from another OCC member asking if I needed help with anything. I called and asked him to meet me at this lady’s house. He agreed and I headed that way. 10 minutes into the trip I noticed the OCC van was overheating so I pulled over at a gas station and saw that the radiator reservoir was dry. I bought some coolant, filled it up and started again, but it kept overheating. So I called my friend – who was already at the house waiting on me – and told him I was going to be another 45 minutes. I drove back to the church, dropped the van and hooked the trailer to my Explorer and headed out. His willingness to wait on me spoke volumes about his desire to serve. He had the chance to meet the lady and her 2 guests as they thanked us for the washing machine.
There’s a lot of chaos in the world. I’m feeling pulled into it more and more. It makes me wonder how Jesus handled that as He walked, talked and taught? Seems like much of it comes from our own decisions that, in many cases, we know are going to cause chaos to erupt. Why do we do that? Can it all be laid at the feet of our fallen nature? How do we change? What are we to learn from chaos? Should it be a trait of Christ-followers to rise above chaos and be an island of peace and contentment? What would that show our neighbors and the world if we were able to walk that path? More to come on all of that….
8.4.09
Made a follow-up call today to a family whose name came to us from the Martha O’Bryan Center. They have just arrived in Nashville from St. Louis and have moved into the Cayce housing project. The call was to see if Otter Creek’s furniture ministry might be able to help get them a few things they indicated they needed. As is our custom, I made a phone call and arranged to stop by their apartment to meet them and to check out what all they needed.
I noticed the temperature on my car’s outside thermometer was 94 when I parked outside the apartment. As I walked to the door I noticed I heard a baby crying through the open window. I knocked on the door and was greeted by the woman and her husband. They welcomed me into a completely empty living room except for a baby crib sitting in the middle of the room with a fan blowing towards it. I walked over to see a beautiful 4 month old baby boy with one of the cutest smiles I had seen in a few days (excuse the bragging, but my 3 month old granddaughter has been visiting us for the past few days). There were no lights on in the apartment, but the temperature was at least 80.
We chatted for a while as I walked around their apartment. They already had a kitchen table and chairs, a microwave, a few plates, cups and utensils and a few pots and pans. That was it. Seems they had not been able to find work in St. Louis so the decided to come to Nashville. They tell me they don’t know anyone. We talked about what furniture they needed and the timing for us to be able to bring it by.
As I was getting ready to leave I walked by the baby’s crib and couldn’t help but think about my granddaughter and all the opportunities she has in front of her. These parents were doing all they could to provide for their child. When he could find it the father was working temporary day labor. He said that he normally would make $40-$45 per day after a hard 8 hours of work. His background is a chef, but he hasn’t been able to find anything. I asked if they had formula for the baby and the mom was quick to tell me that as long as she had anything available that the baby would be cared for.
I asked the father to walk out to the car with me and handed him an air conditioner. As I handed it to him he started thanking me and thanking God. He said they had been praying for some way to be able to get an air conditioner but didn’t know how it would happen. As we walked back into the house carrying the A/C the mom started thanking God as well. We spent a few minutes setting up the A/C and then I got the enjoyment of seeing them roll the crib in front of the A/C as the baby got to cool off.
I invited them to Sunday’s Joyful Noise service at Martha O’Bryan. They’ve indicated they’ll be there. Thanks to the members at Otter Creek who help support the benevolence ministry – both through their regular contributions and through special gifts like A/C’s. I almost feel guilty that I get the pleasure of seeing those gifts being put to work.
I noticed the temperature on my car’s outside thermometer was 94 when I parked outside the apartment. As I walked to the door I noticed I heard a baby crying through the open window. I knocked on the door and was greeted by the woman and her husband. They welcomed me into a completely empty living room except for a baby crib sitting in the middle of the room with a fan blowing towards it. I walked over to see a beautiful 4 month old baby boy with one of the cutest smiles I had seen in a few days (excuse the bragging, but my 3 month old granddaughter has been visiting us for the past few days). There were no lights on in the apartment, but the temperature was at least 80.
We chatted for a while as I walked around their apartment. They already had a kitchen table and chairs, a microwave, a few plates, cups and utensils and a few pots and pans. That was it. Seems they had not been able to find work in St. Louis so the decided to come to Nashville. They tell me they don’t know anyone. We talked about what furniture they needed and the timing for us to be able to bring it by.
As I was getting ready to leave I walked by the baby’s crib and couldn’t help but think about my granddaughter and all the opportunities she has in front of her. These parents were doing all they could to provide for their child. When he could find it the father was working temporary day labor. He said that he normally would make $40-$45 per day after a hard 8 hours of work. His background is a chef, but he hasn’t been able to find anything. I asked if they had formula for the baby and the mom was quick to tell me that as long as she had anything available that the baby would be cared for.
I asked the father to walk out to the car with me and handed him an air conditioner. As I handed it to him he started thanking me and thanking God. He said they had been praying for some way to be able to get an air conditioner but didn’t know how it would happen. As we walked back into the house carrying the A/C the mom started thanking God as well. We spent a few minutes setting up the A/C and then I got the enjoyment of seeing them roll the crib in front of the A/C as the baby got to cool off.
I invited them to Sunday’s Joyful Noise service at Martha O’Bryan. They’ve indicated they’ll be there. Thanks to the members at Otter Creek who help support the benevolence ministry – both through their regular contributions and through special gifts like A/C’s. I almost feel guilty that I get the pleasure of seeing those gifts being put to work.
8.3.09
There’s a young woman (let’s call her Jesse) that I first met during a spirituality class at Mending Hearts. She gets your attention because she’s not like most of the other woman. In fact, if you didn’t get to know Jesse, or if you decided to judge her by her appearances, you might think she was a man. For lots of reasons – many of which I don’t know – Jesse has taken on a more male role in her female body. During the first round of classes I wasn’t even sure she was listening. It was pretty clear she didn’t want to be in the class. But I end most every class by reminding the women that if they ever get into a situation where they need help, that they are welcome to call my cell phone – 24/7 – and I’ll come and get them. No questions asked. Just an opportunity for them to know there’s at least one person who they can trust and feel safe with.
It was more 6 months later that I got a call from Jesse. She was in a bad situation with another woman and needed help. She had relapsed in a serious way and was crying out for someone to help her. I picked her up, got her a hotel room for the night and called several other people to come to her aid. But through it all, I stood by her. No questions asked – it wasn’t the time. We made the calls and asked for the favors to get her into an in-patient rehab program in record time. Within 3 days she was off the streets and safe with people that were committed to walk with her through some hard times as she detox’d off heroin. Less than 24 hours later I got a call from another woman to tell me that Jesse had left rehab and hit the streets again. No call, no explanation, not a word from her.
A month or so later she called to let me know how well life was going for her. She was moving into an apartment and getting a job. She just wanted to thank me for helping her. As we talked I could tell that all was not well. I told her that I would still be there for her when times turned tough again. She thanked me and hung up.
It was 2 days ago that I got a call from Jesse. She was hysterical and sobbing. She had had a major fight with her girlfriend a few days earlier. The police had been called and it was clear that the relationship was over. Jesse had relapsed again and was in the hospital. She was looking for help. Over the next 24 hours she was admitted back into a rehab program. But in the course of that time she made some of her “friends” really mad so they retaliated by taking everything she owned and dumping it all in a dumpster by a convenience store. They then called her to tell her what they did – knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. When she called me she was ready to kill herself.
It didn’t take me long to figure out what I should do. I could see Jesus and the woman caught in adultery – he gently gave her hope but also gave her a new direction for life. I called Jesse’s friends and asked them which dumpster they had used. Even they knew what they had done had gone too far, so they told me the location. So late last night I headed to the dumpster where I dug out all of her possessions. Pretty messy job. But delivering them to her today at the rehab facility gave her some hope that I pray will give her a little bit of desire to turn her life around.
Only God can transform lives. Our jobs are to use the gifts and talents He’s given us to be His hands and feet in this place. My prayer is that Jesse has hit the bottom and is truly ready to make a change. But that decision is her’s to make. I’m not called to judge her – God knows I’ve got enough of my own problems and issues that I certainly have no right to put her in her place. (Yes, we are called to judge what kind of fruit a tree bears, but that’s a pretty objective task – deciding how that fruit will be used is still up to God). Keep Jesse in your prayers – she’s going to need them.
It was more 6 months later that I got a call from Jesse. She was in a bad situation with another woman and needed help. She had relapsed in a serious way and was crying out for someone to help her. I picked her up, got her a hotel room for the night and called several other people to come to her aid. But through it all, I stood by her. No questions asked – it wasn’t the time. We made the calls and asked for the favors to get her into an in-patient rehab program in record time. Within 3 days she was off the streets and safe with people that were committed to walk with her through some hard times as she detox’d off heroin. Less than 24 hours later I got a call from another woman to tell me that Jesse had left rehab and hit the streets again. No call, no explanation, not a word from her.
A month or so later she called to let me know how well life was going for her. She was moving into an apartment and getting a job. She just wanted to thank me for helping her. As we talked I could tell that all was not well. I told her that I would still be there for her when times turned tough again. She thanked me and hung up.
It was 2 days ago that I got a call from Jesse. She was hysterical and sobbing. She had had a major fight with her girlfriend a few days earlier. The police had been called and it was clear that the relationship was over. Jesse had relapsed again and was in the hospital. She was looking for help. Over the next 24 hours she was admitted back into a rehab program. But in the course of that time she made some of her “friends” really mad so they retaliated by taking everything she owned and dumping it all in a dumpster by a convenience store. They then called her to tell her what they did – knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. When she called me she was ready to kill herself.
It didn’t take me long to figure out what I should do. I could see Jesus and the woman caught in adultery – he gently gave her hope but also gave her a new direction for life. I called Jesse’s friends and asked them which dumpster they had used. Even they knew what they had done had gone too far, so they told me the location. So late last night I headed to the dumpster where I dug out all of her possessions. Pretty messy job. But delivering them to her today at the rehab facility gave her some hope that I pray will give her a little bit of desire to turn her life around.
Only God can transform lives. Our jobs are to use the gifts and talents He’s given us to be His hands and feet in this place. My prayer is that Jesse has hit the bottom and is truly ready to make a change. But that decision is her’s to make. I’m not called to judge her – God knows I’ve got enough of my own problems and issues that I certainly have no right to put her in her place. (Yes, we are called to judge what kind of fruit a tree bears, but that’s a pretty objective task – deciding how that fruit will be used is still up to God). Keep Jesse in your prayers – she’s going to need them.
8.1.09
I got a call earlier in the week from a social worker at Martha O’ Bryan asking if Otter Creek might be able to help her by pulling together a team to help clean an apartment in James Cayce. I gave Otter Creek’s young adult minister a call to see if he thought there might be a few of our young folks willing to give 4 hours on a Saturday morning. On Friday he stuck his head in the door of my office to tell me his team was ready to go for today. I called the social worker and we settled on a time and place to meet. She “warned” me that this apartment was pretty bad and for our folks to come prepared to roll up their sleeves. The single mom in the apartment was being given one last chance to get it cleaned up or face eviction. She had reached out to Martha O’Bryan who called us to pitch in.
After a morning rendezvous and breakfast at Waffle House our team of 7 headed to Cayce to meet the social worker and the family we were helping. On the way I tried to explain to the folks in my car some of the facts about James Cayce – largest housing project in Nashville; 90+% of the leasee’s are single mom’s with an average age of having their first child at about 16 yrs old; average of 3 children per apartment (these are my recollections of statistics I’ve been told). My purpose for talking about this was to try and get the group and myself out of a judgmental spirit as we started to work and more into a spirit of compassion that comes from some amount of understanding.
Needless to say the filth, spoiled food, and bugs (so many bugs….) was more than most of us had ever seen in a place where adults and children were living. It definitely needed our help. And I was really proud of the team and how they jumped right in – even when the situation had the potential to make anyone a little squeamish.
There were lots of stories that came from the day, but the one I remember most vividly was the conversation I had with a neighbor mom who came up to talk with me while I was working out back on furniture we had pulled out of the apartment. She wanted to know what we were doing. I tried to be very respectful and considerate of the mom we were working with. We sure didn’t want our presence to embarrass her. I told the neighbor we were just helping out as part of a group of people that cared about this mom. “Can you come to my house?”, she asked me. I told her we came at the request of the folks at the Martha O’Bryan center after they had been working with this mom and she had already done a lot of work before we got there. It was obvious by her next question that she didn’t hear me. “Are you being made to do this?”, she asked me. Court ordered community service is something most of them understand. “No, we’re doing this because we believe it’s what Jesus would do and we’re trying to live our lives by doing what we think he would be doing” I told her. She nodded and said that made sense as she knew Jesus helped the poor. “And he washed dishes while he was helping”, I said. Who knows what seeds were planted? - with the young mom we tried to help or the neighbors that saw us and wondered what was going on. But this I do know – what this group of folks from Otter Creek did today looked more like Jesus than anything I’ve seen in a long time. I was honored and blessed to work beside them. I’ve got a feeling they each have their own stories from today. I’ll be inviting them to comment to this entry so you can see what touched them. Otter Creek is a great place to be in community.
After a morning rendezvous and breakfast at Waffle House our team of 7 headed to Cayce to meet the social worker and the family we were helping. On the way I tried to explain to the folks in my car some of the facts about James Cayce – largest housing project in Nashville; 90+% of the leasee’s are single mom’s with an average age of having their first child at about 16 yrs old; average of 3 children per apartment (these are my recollections of statistics I’ve been told). My purpose for talking about this was to try and get the group and myself out of a judgmental spirit as we started to work and more into a spirit of compassion that comes from some amount of understanding.
Needless to say the filth, spoiled food, and bugs (so many bugs….) was more than most of us had ever seen in a place where adults and children were living. It definitely needed our help. And I was really proud of the team and how they jumped right in – even when the situation had the potential to make anyone a little squeamish.
There were lots of stories that came from the day, but the one I remember most vividly was the conversation I had with a neighbor mom who came up to talk with me while I was working out back on furniture we had pulled out of the apartment. She wanted to know what we were doing. I tried to be very respectful and considerate of the mom we were working with. We sure didn’t want our presence to embarrass her. I told the neighbor we were just helping out as part of a group of people that cared about this mom. “Can you come to my house?”, she asked me. I told her we came at the request of the folks at the Martha O’Bryan center after they had been working with this mom and she had already done a lot of work before we got there. It was obvious by her next question that she didn’t hear me. “Are you being made to do this?”, she asked me. Court ordered community service is something most of them understand. “No, we’re doing this because we believe it’s what Jesus would do and we’re trying to live our lives by doing what we think he would be doing” I told her. She nodded and said that made sense as she knew Jesus helped the poor. “And he washed dishes while he was helping”, I said. Who knows what seeds were planted? - with the young mom we tried to help or the neighbors that saw us and wondered what was going on. But this I do know – what this group of folks from Otter Creek did today looked more like Jesus than anything I’ve seen in a long time. I was honored and blessed to work beside them. I’ve got a feeling they each have their own stories from today. I’ll be inviting them to comment to this entry so you can see what touched them. Otter Creek is a great place to be in community.
7.31.09
This blog is more a week in review since I’ve been involved in a number of projects and just didn’t set aside the time to write an update on every one of them.
There were 16 different people that moved from Tent City in permanent housing over the past few weeks!! Several people needed different types of furniture. A few Otter Creekers and some case managers from Park Center worked up a list of needs and brought it to me to see if Otter Creek’s furniture ministry could help out. The list included 7 sofas, 3 chairs, 3 end tables, and several lamps. We looked over the list and told them we could fill the entire list – thanks to Otter Creek members who call to tell us they have furniture and household items to be donated. Due to my schedule I was not able to actually help with the move but a young man that has been helping me over the last few weeks stepped us and offered to lead the team that was made up of Park Center folks and the people getting the furniture. They made several trips between the apartments and the Otter Creek house where the furniture but by the end of the day all needs were filled. Thanks to the volunteers that worked to make this happen. This now means our furniture supply is pretty low so we’re interested in hearing from people wanting to donate items back to this ministry. Believe me, it makes a difference in the lives of people and gives us a chance to show a type of love and service that most of them have never experienced.
On Aug 12th Phil Keaggy is holding a concert at Otter Creek that we’re turning into a benefit concert for Tent City. One of the providential connections coming out of this effort is a new relationship with The Temple here in Nashville. One of their members was working with an Otter Creeker who told him about Tent City and the photo exhibit of Tent City on display at Otter Creek. He asked to see Tent City so the photographer took him to Tent City which convicted him and inspired him to talk to The Temple about displaying the photo exhibit once it comes down at Otter Creek. From that connection we reached out to The Temple to invite them to be a part of the benefit concert and use that event to announce the “hand-off” of the exhibit to them. They have graciously and enthusiastically accepted. So this week a few of us went to The Temple to meet their art ministry team and the assistant rabbi. What great people! A tour of The Temple inspired me and stirred in me an appreciation for history and a reverence for God that I was not expecting. After the benefit concert there’s another joint project in the works between Otter Creek and The Temple so be keeping up. I can’t think of a better message of unity to send the greater Nashville community than to have a group of Jews and Christians working together on issues like homelessness, poverty and jobs. Thanks to Otter Creek’s Carolyn Maddux Peace & Justice Ministry for leading the way in this.
I also had the chance to meet with 2 different sister churches this week. One in association with one of their members who works for Mental Health Co-op (MHC) which covers greater Nashville to support and work with people who have mental illnesses. Many of their clients are from low income families who are also battling different addiction issues so the problems are significant. Many of the people Otter Creek reaches out to work with experience the same challenges. Over the past few years Otter Creek and MHC have crossed paths but never formally met. Finding out that a member from a sister congregation works on one of the intensive outreach teams at MHC gave Otter Creek a chance to really connect for present and future opportunities. Later I had the chance to talk with another congregation trying to develop their benevolence ministry and outreach program. They wanted to talk about how Otter Creek’s program works and see how we might work together with them. One of the thoughts coming out of that meeting was for them to hold a conference for all churches in our geographic area to discuss outreach programs. Otter Creek was asked to be one of the lead presenters in that conference. That recognition comes from each Otter Creek member doing their part to create a ministry that is really making a difference in people’s lives.
We continue to look for volunteers who are interested in jumping into this ministry to find out more about it and see where God can use the gifts each of us has. Even if you’re not a member at Otter Creek but want to get involved, drop me an email and let’s set up a time for you to ride with me. My typical response to critics, questioners and supporters who want to know more about this ministry is “Come and spend a day with me”.
There were 16 different people that moved from Tent City in permanent housing over the past few weeks!! Several people needed different types of furniture. A few Otter Creekers and some case managers from Park Center worked up a list of needs and brought it to me to see if Otter Creek’s furniture ministry could help out. The list included 7 sofas, 3 chairs, 3 end tables, and several lamps. We looked over the list and told them we could fill the entire list – thanks to Otter Creek members who call to tell us they have furniture and household items to be donated. Due to my schedule I was not able to actually help with the move but a young man that has been helping me over the last few weeks stepped us and offered to lead the team that was made up of Park Center folks and the people getting the furniture. They made several trips between the apartments and the Otter Creek house where the furniture but by the end of the day all needs were filled. Thanks to the volunteers that worked to make this happen. This now means our furniture supply is pretty low so we’re interested in hearing from people wanting to donate items back to this ministry. Believe me, it makes a difference in the lives of people and gives us a chance to show a type of love and service that most of them have never experienced.
On Aug 12th Phil Keaggy is holding a concert at Otter Creek that we’re turning into a benefit concert for Tent City. One of the providential connections coming out of this effort is a new relationship with The Temple here in Nashville. One of their members was working with an Otter Creeker who told him about Tent City and the photo exhibit of Tent City on display at Otter Creek. He asked to see Tent City so the photographer took him to Tent City which convicted him and inspired him to talk to The Temple about displaying the photo exhibit once it comes down at Otter Creek. From that connection we reached out to The Temple to invite them to be a part of the benefit concert and use that event to announce the “hand-off” of the exhibit to them. They have graciously and enthusiastically accepted. So this week a few of us went to The Temple to meet their art ministry team and the assistant rabbi. What great people! A tour of The Temple inspired me and stirred in me an appreciation for history and a reverence for God that I was not expecting. After the benefit concert there’s another joint project in the works between Otter Creek and The Temple so be keeping up. I can’t think of a better message of unity to send the greater Nashville community than to have a group of Jews and Christians working together on issues like homelessness, poverty and jobs. Thanks to Otter Creek’s Carolyn Maddux Peace & Justice Ministry for leading the way in this.
I also had the chance to meet with 2 different sister churches this week. One in association with one of their members who works for Mental Health Co-op (MHC) which covers greater Nashville to support and work with people who have mental illnesses. Many of their clients are from low income families who are also battling different addiction issues so the problems are significant. Many of the people Otter Creek reaches out to work with experience the same challenges. Over the past few years Otter Creek and MHC have crossed paths but never formally met. Finding out that a member from a sister congregation works on one of the intensive outreach teams at MHC gave Otter Creek a chance to really connect for present and future opportunities. Later I had the chance to talk with another congregation trying to develop their benevolence ministry and outreach program. They wanted to talk about how Otter Creek’s program works and see how we might work together with them. One of the thoughts coming out of that meeting was for them to hold a conference for all churches in our geographic area to discuss outreach programs. Otter Creek was asked to be one of the lead presenters in that conference. That recognition comes from each Otter Creek member doing their part to create a ministry that is really making a difference in people’s lives.
We continue to look for volunteers who are interested in jumping into this ministry to find out more about it and see where God can use the gifts each of us has. Even if you’re not a member at Otter Creek but want to get involved, drop me an email and let’s set up a time for you to ride with me. My typical response to critics, questioners and supporters who want to know more about this ministry is “Come and spend a day with me”.
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