An Update: The Upsides, Downsides, and Backside of Front Desk Receptionists :)

Upsides:

• I've stopped munching on the Tootsie Rolls (see previous post) that were making my behind spread out and I started sending them instead to various employees through inner office mail! Here's what that looks like:

          Said one employee who received such a note:
          "Beth, did you send me those Tootsie Rolls?"
          Me, responding coyly, "Maybe..."
          "Well they just made my day!"
          Me, "Well good, that was the point.  Mission accomplished then!"
          Proof that it doesn't take money or grand gestures to put a smile on  
          someones face!

• It is SO fun to be the cheer in someones day!  Nobody is ever grumpy with me so I get to see the best, and still sometimes the worst, of people. 
• I get to practice grace.
• I get to act with compassion.
• My Front Desk co-worker is AWESOME.  We work very well together. 
• I have a GREAT boss, she and I get along fantastically!  (Yes, it's a word in my world.)
• I am slowly learning Excel, I consider this an upside for sure!  :) 

Downsides:

• Quiet now makes me feel uncomfortable.  MAN.  I was enjoying all the quiet in my life but since we play Lobby music I now find myself uncomfortable with quiet in other places beside work!  Darn it! 
• Um.  Yeah, I can't think of any other downsides.  :)  No really I can't!

Backside:

• Even though I have quit the Tootsie Roll munching my backside is beginning to resemble the seat I occupy 5 1/2 hours a day.  Hmmmmm.  Having a hard time imagining that?  Well, here's what the seat looks like (I'll spare you the picture of MY backside, I'm sure your imagination can fit it all together!):

• MY backside, not the chair seat, needs to get movin' again.  When it does I will spare you those details and pictures as well!  :) 

And there's the update.  Who knew that the adventures of a Front Desk Receptionist would be so riveting?!?  Hahahahahaha! 

All you ever wanted to know, or maybe wondered, about Front Desk Receptionists :)

Misconceptions about Front Desk Receptionists:

• They are available to attend to other's unwanted tasks or personal hygiene issues. For example, a Dude did a good deed by picking up some trash on his lunch hour run. But in the process he got covered in burrs! Guess who he asked to remove the burrs from his sweatpants while he got back to work? Yep, that would be me. What do you think my boss' answer was to his inquiry? Yep, that would be a NOPE. But it provided her and I with a good laugh in which we were almost in tears! Can you imagine me sitting there picking burrs off a pair of pants and greeting guests? TRUE STORY!!
  
• They have to know all the employee names. Well I'll get there but really they need to know my name more than I need to know theirs! I've got a phone list for my "cheat sheet"! 
• All they do is sit there looking "pretty". Well that could be true at times but actually my boss has given me a whole bunch of tasks, administrative, to do over the course of a day and week!
  
• They don't care when you wander into the lobby from the outside and try to get past you into the rest of the building. Um. Yeah actually I DO care because we have security measures in place. And no you can't just use a restroom because you know someone in the building. Who are you and why are you here? State your purpose please and no, I'm NOT just another "pretty" face, I will take you down if I have to! Haha!

True Facts about Front Desk Receptionists:

• Yes, I can feel my butt spreading wider and wider from the sitting. Okay, and it may be due to the Tootsie Rolls in my desk drawer that I keep munching on... :) 
  
• Yes, I have gotten a lot of reading done. :)
  
• Yes, I am on FB almost as much as I was at home. :) 
  
• Yes, I get to be the cheery voice in everyone's day at least once.
  
• Yes, I have had to time my liquid consumption due to the fact that I can't just leave the desk unattended to go use the restroom!

And all this after only 3 1/2 weeks of being a Front Desk Receptionist! It's quite the education I'm getting! :) 

And now for a pictorial overview of some of the things I have discovered are good to have if you want to be that "pretty" face.  :)

Contents include:

A cute purse

An indentifyer (employee badge)

A smile (found on aforementioned badge, the smile is VERY IMPORTANT!)

Fashionable accessories (like the bracelets cleverly looped on the cute purse)

Hairspray (can't have the hair falling down on the job - hahah!)

Cute shoes (yes nobody sees it like they don't see the cute purse but hello? cute shoes and cute purses just make a girl feel good and thus bring about the important smile!)

Make up brush (to apply the make up that will ensure people most likely won't run in terror from you upon glancing your way!)

Mascara (see make up brush for explanation)

A good mug (yes I realize this seems to be in contradiction to the above mentioned restraint on liquid consumption but when I consume the liquid I want to show my support for the team!)

And with that pictorial overview your education is now about as complete as mine! :) 

Diary of My Wimpy Faith

I imagine a dark night, a few stars, maybe a crescent moon. I imagine the wrestling “mat” must have been a dirt clearing, perhaps surrounded by brush. Was Jacob breathing heavily? And if so, was it from physical exertion or from fear? Maybe it was from both. Did he circle God for a while? Unsure if he should make the first move or ANY move? Unsure of why he was suddenly in a wrestling match with God? Did his mind go back to a time when he and Esau were young boys wrestling one another – sometimes for fun, sometimes not? Except this wrestling match wasn’t for fun, no this time it was for keeps. What? Yeah, for keeps. God wanted to be the keeper of Jacob’s faith but he had to pin him first.


I’ve seen some wrestling matches before and the two opponents will make a few swipes at the other before moving in for a bolder move. Sometimes the swipes are made out of intimidation, sometimes they are meant to intimidate. Was this how it went on for a while between Jacob and God? A few swipes here and there? A sort of testing of the waters before diving in? I close my eyes and see the circling, the distance between God and Jacob so that no move can be made without being bold. I wonder about Jacob. Was he scared? Confused? Impatient? Maybe I put too much of myself on him and his responses to this situation he has found himself in. How long was it before someone made a move? Had it been hours or just minutes of circling? WHO made the first move? I wonder that too.


Eventually a move was made. Jacob seemed to put up quite a fight because God had to put him in his place, so to speak. What I find fascinating is that by this time Jacob was hanging on for dear life. And he refused to let go without a blessing. Again, I must be putting too much of myself onto Jacob. Inflict pain on me and I’m letting go, I’m not going to ask for anything more. But he tightened his hold and said, “Nope. I’m not letting go of you until I get the blessing.” What kind of faith is that and how can I get a good dose of it? I assume it was Jacob’s growing faith that tightened its grip on the person of God.


I’m such a wimp and I think my faith proves it. I would have let go. What does that say about me?


In case you didn’t know I have lived in a bubble my whole life. I’m not alone in my bubble for all around me I see other Christians living in the same bubble. (Hey, I can go THERE because I come from there okay? Just hang with me on this thought!) Living in this Christian bubble has had its ups and downs. I’d say one of the downs is that I haven’t ever really wrestled with God over my faith. Hey when you are told in the nursery that you believe in Jesus and are going to heaven you buy it. But at some point you have to realize that you believe in Jesus when you make your own exploration of him and determine on your own that he is your Savior and then you make your own personal confession with your own lips and heart. I’ve done that but I have never wrestled with God over the foundation of faith in him.


I never have.


That is until NOW.


I’m on the mat with God. I like to think my “mat” isn’t dirt and brush given my aversion to both of those. Haha! But then again wrestling is uncomfortable for me and I believe God needs me out of my comforts so that I will grab on to him with a death grip and refuse to let go. But I’m afraid to make the move. So all God and I are doing is circling each other and if you listen to me close enough you will hear me breathing heavily from fear. Fear that I’m going to have to make a move and take a swipe at God and he’s going to pin me and I KNOW I need to be pinned! I do! I need to be pinned by God, to see faith for what it is according to God and not according to me or anyone else, to get the blessing that he WANTS to give me. I need to be pinned but I’m afraid to be pinned.


I wonder what went through Jacob’s mind the night he wrestled with God. He fought God so much that eventually God had to make a move that would be a reminder to Jacob for the rest of his years about his match. Did he argue with God? Did he try to justify himself? Did he try to run? Did he actually think, actually believe he could win over God?!?


Do I?


Do I argue with God? Do I justify myself? Do I run? Do I believe I can beat God?!?


Yes. Yes. Yes. NOPE.


My night is turning into several long, draining months. What is the most exhausting is circling the mat and not making the move. I just need to make the move before God decides enough is enough and he wrenches my “hip socket”. I know God knows what I’m wrestling with internally as I circle him. I believe he knew the same thing about Jacob as well. Which is why I think he finally made the first bold move. Jacob, however, made the second and greatest bold move and I really think his decision to put a death grip on God pleased God. It became the greatest and strongest show of faith that Jacob had ever displayed. It takes me to Job and his own death grip, “Though he [God] slay me yet I will hope in him.” (Job 13:15) Once the decision for immovable faith was made, these men put the death grip on and could not be moved from it until the Lord blessed them for it.


Oh that I would follow suit.


As I circle the mat with God I know there are people who are observing and thinking I am circling away from God. But I’m not. I find myself circling closer and closer to him as I wrestle with the immovable faith and trust I need to be grounded upon.


“God, are you enough in a crisis?”


“God, can I trust you with the hurts?”


“God, will you defend me to my ‘enemies’?”


“God, are you truly going to provide for our needs?”


“God, are you really good all of the time?”


These are just some of the things that I think I am wrestling with internally. My head, of course, knows the answer to all of those questions and others is YES. But my heart isn’t so sure and I, in fact all of us, live out of our hearts and sometimes the 18 or so inches between head and heart is such a large gap to bridge. That’s where the death grip comes in. I think the gap will be bridged when I make the “death grip” move. In that moment I will be settled with a strong assurance of my faith in the One who created me and loves me enough to circle the mat with me. Hopefully he won’t have to wrench my “hip socket” in order to get me to make the move.


Not only did Jacob walk away from that night and that wrestling match with a limp as a reminder of his immovable faith but he also walked away with a new name. What promise that holds for those who are brave enough to wrestle with God, put a death grip on him, and find their immovable faith! Don’t be mistaken about the courage it takes to wrestle God. It takes bravery to enter into a match with the God of this universe. It takes bravery to throw all your questions, doubts, and fears at God and make a move that says, “I can’t let go of you until you settle all of this with me.” Does it mean he’ll answer all the questions? Address all the doubts? Confront all the fears? No. What it means is that he will do something greater than that. He will give a peace that passes ALL understanding and comprehension and he will give grace to live with and work through those things while faith grows strong and steady. That kind of bravery earns a new name from God! Jacob, I mean Israel, earned his name.


Oh that I will follow suit.


 
Genesis 32:22-31



Jacob Wrestles With God
That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.
Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."
But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

I'm just hangin' out

The other day I drove under a pair of shoes hanging from a wire. They looked so forlorn and useless. I wondered how did they get there, what was the story behind them? It hit me then that I feel like those shoes! I was connecting with a pair of shoes. SHEESH! But, I do feel like them, like I’m hanging on a wire and I’m forlorn. And I feel incredibly useless. No, no, no this isn’t so I get the platitudes and affirmations that usually follow someone saying that. In fact, please DON’T comment! But DO hear me out, mostly because I don’t think I’m the only one who can relate.

C’mon, ‘fess up. You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. It’s okay, there is safety in numbers. And it’s okay to admit it even though you may profess to be a… (GASP) Christian! Somewhere along the way we were told and we tried to make others believe that if you were a Christian then you never got sad, lonely, depressed, frustrated, angry, etc and if you did then you must not really be a Christian. HOGWASH. We get lonely, we get depressed, we also wonder if we are “useable” (i.e. valuable) to anyone. In fact, it’s harder to be a Christian and admit you are lonely in the middle of a crowded foyer on a Sunday morning. *It’s hard to confess that you feel useless while being used (and let’s be honest, perhaps abused) for your gifts, why do you think there is so much burn out in the church today?

But maybe this doesn’t happen to you, maybe it’s just me. Since that seems to be the case I’ll take one for the team.

I feel flung over a wire. And wires aren’t stable. They move and shift with the wind and with whatever may land on them. They bounce up and down and threaten to displace whatever may be hanging on them. As far as stability and foundations go they aren’t the most reliable resource. I mean, there’s a reason why God said the wise builder builds his house on a rock and not on shifting sands, or for the purposes of my thoughts, shifting wires! (Matthew 7:24-27) I’ve been bouncing up and down for months now. The fear of getting thrown off has me in a death grip with the wire just to have something beneath me. Yet I know the wire offers no real stability. But it’s something, I rationalize, it’s something.

I wonder how those shoes got up there. And then I wonder, well how did I get up here? I’ll never know with the shoes but with myself I have a few ideas. In my imagination the shoes were on solid ground one minute and the next hurtling through the air and landing on that wire. If they were able to speak I am sure their account would be similar to what I have imagined. For anyone who is hanging out on a wire like I am…oh, wait I forgot, I’m the only one…I am sure the story of “how did I get HERE?” is similar. One minute I was on solid ground and the next I was hanging on a wire wondering what had happened! It’s not like I planned, or even wanted, to leave the stability of my foundation but something hurtled me straight up and I caught the wire. What life events act as the launch? It’s going to look different for everyone. What launches me up off of a stable foundation won’t be the same thing that launches you – er, I mean someone else.

So how did I get on the wire? What’s my story anyway?

I love Philippians 1:6, in any version, what God begins he PROMISES to complete. Period. Doesn’t matter if I’m hanging out on a wire or standing on firm ground, he continues to work in me. There’s going to be seasons, he told us that in Ecclesiastes 3:1-14, and some of those seasons might find you hanging on to a wire with a death grip. It’s really okay. Oh I know we are told it’s not okay but TRUST ME…it IS okay. My story is pretty simple. I was walking along on solid ground one day and the next I was hanging upside down on a wire. What got me up there? A season that could not be avoided; losing the comfort zone, busyness, fear, grief, battles, insecurities, lies, disappointments. I suppose that paints a pretty clear picture. You don’t need the details to understand that any one of those will launch you right off your foundation but when you mix all of them together it is quite an explosion! Funny thing about the explosion. I didn’t know anything had lifted me off my foundation. True story. I didn’t know until months later!

For months I could be overheard saying things like:
“This just isn’t me” or
“I don’t feel like myself” or
“My memory stinks, what is the deal?”
and then one day I got it. Suddenly some things started to make sense. But since I was hanging upside down not everything made sense so I began a journey of trying to figure it out and exit gracefully off of the wire. I’m not sure about the gracefully part. It doesn’t feel or look all that graceful as I try to get off the wire without some breaking. Something is going to have to break in order for the wire to release me. Thus the death grip. Maybe I should just stay on the wire and learn how to live while bouncing up and down….

Yeah, God isn’t buying it either.

Ready to ‘fess up? C’mon…

Okay, I’m okay with still taking one for the team.

It’s all good.

The wire is a lonely place. It’s very isolating and while I recognize that there isn’t anything I can do to change it right now. It is what it is. BUT the wire has become a place of education for me. I’m learning up here, hanging upside down. I’m learning about God’s grace, I’m learning about simplicity, I’m learning who my true friends are and who, well, aren’t! I’m learning what David really was saying in some of his Psalms, I’m learning more about my wounds and how God wants to heal them; I’m learning to be okay with the fact that I’m not okay right now. See? I told you, it really IS okay.

Hanging up there on that wire meant the shoes weren’t fulfilling their purpose. They were just hanging there. I feel like that. Just hanging out, not fulfilling the purpose God has planted within me (again, resist any urges or compulsions to affirm or speak platitudes! Really! I am not looking for those, furthest thing from my mind when I’m being honest and trying to take one for the team.). I’ve been around long enough to figure out what God has gifted me with so that I can minister to others. In Ephesians 2:10 he says that we are ALL created for a purpose and since God doesn’t, and can’t, lie then I gotta believe that what I’m good at doing he put in me to touch…someone! It’s not my job to figure out who the someone is; it’s just my job to be obedient to his promptings on my heart. But I have to say that these months of hanging upside down on the wire have interfered in how I like to operate and minister! There have been days where all my energy and strength have been put toward this death grip I have on the wire; where all of my concentration has gone toward trying to stay on the wire and not fall. I haven’t had the energy to do anything but survive. But unlike the shoes God DOES use me despite my precarious position on the wire. He still puts people in my path that need an encouraging word, he still allows me to speak Truth into the lives of others, he still allows me to parent my children, he still gifts me with people to be hands and feet to so that I’m not always focused on me.

So is there hope? Well the shoes are no longer hanging on the wire. I don’t know how they got down. Did the wind finally succeed in blowing them off? Did someone have to come in a cherry picker and manually remove them? All I know is they are no longer there. So that tells me that I won’t be upside down on this wire forever. Someday and in some way I will get off this wire. Will it be graceful? We’ll see! How will I get off? Maybe the wind of God’s Spirit will lift me off and settle me back on solid ground. Maybe God himself will reach up and plant me back on a firm foundation. No matter how it happens I know it will because God has promised that what he begins with me he will finish and he is with me in every step of my journey, especially when I’m hanging upside down on a wire.

Ready? Go ahead, confess it, acknowledge it…I promise you’ll feel so much better once you are honest with yourself!

It’s really okay, TRUST ME!

*Lest anyone think I am referring to myself let me say right here and now that I have 2 Pastor’s that I work with at my church and they are a huge blessing and would never dream of taking advantage of my gifts and myself! In fact, they have told me I have to take a break!

Waiting

I lie in wait.
Waiting for what will come.
But I am met with a silence.
This silence I know I have created.
O my soul break forth!
Let the dams of my emotions be destroyed.
I need to
feel again.
I need to
know again.
I am waiting.
Then suddenly,
as the sun begins to rise up,
my soul rises up.
A tide of emotion
fills the emptiness.
There is so much there
I feel
threatened
overwhelmed.
Now I lie.
Not in wait
but in fear of
the breaking.
The silence is a roar.
Rushing Roar.
The rushing of God
into the very heart of me.
And suddenly
my fear is drowned out
by the wonder of God
meshing His heart
with mine.

(August 1, 2001)

Hey, this is for women only! Men, read at your own risk!

All you women out there...have you ever given much thought to the heart of God for women? In 2001-2002 I took the course, “Five Aspects of Woman” and that study began to change my thinking. I have never believed nor thought that God looked down on woman or that he thought her lesser than man or animals. I had simply not thought about it at all!

Through the years there is one verse that speaks to me about God’s heart for women. It is an obscure verse that probably has never been mentioned in conjunction with this particular topic. It is found in John 20:16 and it says, “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’” EVERY time I read that verse my heart melts and I sigh. Maybe it is because I imagine the tone of voice Jesus used with Mary. Not one of frustration because she didn’t get it or one of impatience because he had places to go and people to shock. But I am positive his tone was one of deep tenderness, deep love, and a deep desire to show her heart that all was well. And she got it with just her name. And I don’t think it was just that fact that he knew her name that clued her in. I think it was the way he said her name.

I don’t want to be fearful of my role. Or uncertain in it. Or, if I am truly honest, I don’t want to continue to fail in it. I feel like maybe I have failed more than I have succeeded but I am not certain. But God has been faithful. He has mentored me, through his word and through women who speak into my life every so often.

There are many verses that – obscure or not – speak about women. Most of the ones in Proverbs show us what a cranky woman looks like and therefore challenge me to change! But God’s heart – God’s design – for women is most clearly seen in Genesis. It is where woman enters, woman fails, and woman is redeemed. Genesis 2:18, “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ “And after looking through the animals God had created Adam still felt incomplete. So God created woman. I am a helper-completer. 1 Corinthians 11:7b-9 says, “…. but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” I see New Testament examples of this in Matthew 26:7 when the woman came to Jesus and ministered to him by anointing his head with fragrant perfume. That ministry is part of that helper-completer role she was (and I was and you were) created for. Also in Matthew 27:55. Jesus had women follow him to specifically care for him and meet his needs. What a beautiful picture of “suitable helper!”

There’s a verse that caught my attention as I was studying. Jeremiah 31:22b. The context really refers to the woman being Israel but what caught me was the way she was described and the role she was playing. “The Lord will create a new thing on earth – a woman will surround a man.” I studied that a little more and the idea there in the word “surround” is to embrace or to protect. Woman was created in part to protect the man and to embrace him when the world presses in. I came across an interesting poem that was penned back in 2000. And a part of it describes a woman’s role in the following way:

“From one bone I fashioned you. I chose the bone that protects man’s life. I chose the rib, which protects his heart and lungs and supports him, as you are meant to do. Around this one bone I shaped you. I modeled you. I created you perfectly and beautifully. Your characteristics are as the rib, strong yet delicate and fragile. You provide protection for the most delicate organ in man, his heart.”

God knew Lanny needed a woman and for reasons I may never get he thought (okay, he knew) I was the woman Lanny needed. Honestly, there is a part of me that sees how I am Lanny’s “protection” or his “rib” so to speak. Lanny has a tender heart and I think that sometimes I do provide the strength he needs.

God did create woman with this amazing strength yet at times this almost unbearable fragility. What I see as stubbornness in myself is most likely strength that is God-given. When I am tempted to walk away and some encourage me to walk away, somewhere deep in me I find the strength to dig in my heels and refuse to walk. That has to be God’s strength in me.

35 years ago God said my name and I was. “Beth” – depending on the Greek or Hebrew it means either “House of God” or “Consecrated to God.” I’ve been thinking about the meaning of my name lately. “Better is one day in your courts; better is one day in your house. Better is one day in your courts than thousand elsewhere.” My name means I am his house. I am his. He called my name and I was set apart. He created me in his image. So that means that the hazel eyes, the dark hair, the nose I don’t really care for, the eyes I have discovered I do like, the feet I like, etc are all created in his likeness. Hmm. I’m still not sure how that makes me feel. Oddly like crying.

He created me for specific responsibilities. Okay, daughter – sister – wife – mom – friend. Those are the “givens.” What outside of that? Well, here’s where I get reluctant to admit too much more because I don’t know if I am thinking too highly of myself or not! I think he created me to be a helper-completer to not just my husband but to others. I am a good helper-completer. It's a gift...I think! :)

God has been growing me - stretching me actually - in the area of spiritual life-giving. Sometimes the things I say shock even me! God must be using my mouth (at times) to speak his heart. Someday I hope to be known as a woman of wisdom. I especially want to be known for receiving it; I think imparting it is then made easier.

“Beth.” God’s voice says my name. He is not filled with frustration because I’m not getting it or filled with impatience because he’d rather be elsewhere working with someone else who might be easier. But I am positive his tone is one of deep tenderness, deep love, and a deep desire to show my heart that all is well. And deep in me I believe God counts me as valuable. That deep belief just needs to rise to the surface more often and then I need to grab hold of it and live in it.

God’s heart for women? I think Proverbs 31:10b sums it up, “She is worth far more than rubies.” We are more valuable than this world gives us credit for. We are more valuable to the work of God than even we realize.

Beloved, do you hear him saying YOUR name? Because he is...

Fulfillment

The day before we had stared out windows that revealed wet snow falling. With every snowflake I became sure we would have to reschedule the project. I was feeling discouraged. How do you demo and rebuild in wet, muddy conditions? But the day of the project dawned bright and sunny…and the perfect temperature for outdoor work. I felt God’s pleasure. Some of us assembled had never met but it didn’t matter as we held hands and prayed for God to bless the work of our hands and hearts, for he had already established it. (Psalm 90:17)

The need was obvious ~ a rotting deck, with preschoolers in the house, needed to be torn down and replaced with something safer. Everyone got to work, some tearing down rotting wood, others painting new wood, and the yard being cleaned up. I listened to the chatter and laughter mingling with power tools and paint brushes and couldn’t help but smile. What a perfect day! This had the appearance, the sound, the feel of an early church community. In Acts 2 they are described and I imagine that God allowed us a glimpse into their community to encourage us to continue in their model ~ fulfilling both physical and spiritual needs for one another. (verses 42-47) By all accounts verse 46 indicates that by fulfilling both kinds of needs the Body was encouraged, edified, and fortified to continue in worship and service.

As I looked around that day at the work and fellowship happening simultaneously I recognized God’s presence on the Body of Christ. That day as people packed up and left, leaving behind a family grateful for the work done, I knew we had received so much more than what we had given that day.

“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:12-15 (NIV)

Hey! You're invited...to a foot washin'!

“You would do that?” came the awe-filled question. And then, with tears framing the next words, “There are not words for this kind of love.”

I had just had the honor of approaching a couple in our Body with an offer to priceless to refuse. We were offering to “wash the feet” of a couple who washes the feet of so many in our congregation. At first there was hesitation. After all, it is much more comfortable to wash others feet than to be humbled by baring ours for a soak. But the gift was from God and nobody can refuse that.

We showed up on a bright, sunny Saturday morning. Armed with cleaning supplies, groceries, and oh yes…lots of doughnuts! First order of business…fellowship. Foot washing is more than just fulfilling a practical need, it’s about filling a spiritual need ~ the community that the book of Acts speaks of.

And then we went to work. And here’s the thing, it didn’t even feel like work. It was just a group of friends laughing, talking, and serving this precious couple. The day flew by and before we knew it we were cleaning up and sitting down to lunch for more fellowship. It was a great day.

In the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples before his death he did something that caused quite a stir. He took on the position of a servant and washed the feet of his men. Peter, the bold and brutally honest one of the bunch, at first balked at the very idea of his Lord washing his feet. In John 13 we see the scene played out and I imagine that Peter, in an awe-struck tone, asked Jesus, “Lord, are you washing my feet?” (verse 6) and when Jesus replied in the affirmative I wonder if it wasn’t tears that framed Peter’s next words, “You shall never wash my feet!” (verse 8) This account gives me a lot of lessons to chew on and God has been gracious to show them to me little by little. If he taught them all to me at once I might explode from sensory overload! Any of us would.

The idea of washing feet is a fairly foreign concept to us today but I believe God is sparking the desire afresh in the hearts of his people. And with that spark a challenge is born. Will we heed the call of God to be the Body to the Body? Will we quit talking about it and actually do it? See, we can’t go out into the world to minister if we first don’t minister to our own the way God desires. We’ve drawn the circle around ourselves and the change begins with those in the circle.

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47

Contentment...what?!? What's THAT?

Have you ever thought about the value of the memory that brings you joy or a smile to your face, or a tear to your eye? Now think about trying to recreate it…kind of devalues it doesn’t it? It doesn’t feel the same or even look the same and you may even be a bit weary because you expended energy to recreate something that God had given you effortlessly the first time. God’s gifts aren’t meant to be recreated but savored in the moment they are given.

When I was in Kenya last June I had a great mango juice drink. Let me tell you…it was GOOD! So good that I carried the desire for it back with me to Colorado and went on a search for it. Imagine my excitement at finding a mango juice on our grocery shelves and the brand came out of South Africa! I thought that surely it would be almost the same drink I had in Kenya. Now imagine my disappointment when my taste buds revealed that it just wasn’t the same. I realized then and there ~ as silly as it seems, that the mango juice that gave me such a great memory of my time in Kenya was meant for just that. A memory and not something to try and recreate. I have learned to value the memory of it and let it bring me joy as it leads me to recall other good moments of the same trip.

1 Timothy 6:6-7 has a lesson for us about the value of a moment. When we can be content with the moment and the memory of the moment we have taken a step toward godly contentment. And godly contentment leads to a joy filled life because we value the gifts of God, no matter how big or small. And when we value something, we recognize that we don’t need to spend any time or energy recreating it. God would rather see us put energy toward new moments to add to our collection.

There’s a woman in the Bible who had her own collection of moments. We can learn a lot from her. She valued moments given to her by God and continued on, giving her energy to new moments along the way. Her name was Mary and she was the mother of Jesus. Twice in Luke 2 we are told that she observed and participated in some special moments and treasured the memories in her heart. (verses 19 and 51) Notice she didn’t attempt to recreate any of those moments; she just tucked them away in the recesses of her heart and carried them with her.

Next time you or I are tempted to recreate a moment, let us consider a different way to spend our energy and store away the memory in our hearts as a priceless gift from God.

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19