Dear Friends in Christ -
A Tuesday mission update from our team - sent this morning (Wed.) around 12:15 a.m.! . . . Heeeeeere's a note from Rev. Eric:
About 1/2 the youth and Jayne had a great conversation that just now ended--so I'm going to sleep now.
I shared about some of my past job difficulties last night in group, conversations bubbled up a bit, and tonight I offered to field questions after lights out, be with them/listen to whatever they've been through, etc. We talked for an hour, . . . covered ((confidential! "what's shared by the kids in OH stays in OH!")) and how campaigners is a powerful group both at St. Paul's and in the world as evangelists, and a vocab lesson that ended with Joe's contribution of the example: so it's right to say if I have a poptart and I want to give it to Craig, here's the gospel of poptarts and that's evangelism? Exactly.
Goodnight!
Eric
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Mission updates from Rev. Eric - From Day 2 (Monday)
Dear Friends in Christ -
Each day, Rev. Eric is checking in via email, just to keep me posted on how things are going. Now that I'm home from my own trip, I'm posting what he's sent so far. Here's part of the email he sent on Monday . . .
"Our second day brought us surprises... First, we each got our work group assignments for the week. There's 'kids club' vbs for around 80 children--Mark Thunem led 5 of our youth for that. Youth Works also had a couple painting and cleaning projects for the rest of us. Jayne Bolton and I led the rest of our group at 'the marina' where we weeded and cleaned a massive concrete wall/sign that welcomes drivers to Steubenville and Ohio as they cross the river. When Carolyn told me we had just driven through West Virginia on our way in, I thought she was joking!
The second surprise is that I got sick from the lunch--I think it was the cheese. That laid me up for a few hours, so I missed the scavenger hunt, Fort Steuben tour, and pizza. After some sleep and ginger ale--thanks Luke and Jayne!--I was back in shape for worship, group prayer time, and a few games of connect four.
Group time was awesome. We heard about Peter' short walk on water and shared about our fears. Our group of 18 is definitely in mission trip mode now. The theme is 'Jesus must increase, I must decrease'. Through service projects, getting to know new people, and building stronger friendships with each other we are experiencing God's Spirit taking the place of our own usual comforts and habits. Well, there's also the wall to wall sleeping bags, the "stop singing it's 2 am!" And the constant endless supply of potato chips and candy.
But seriously, there is so much Spirit here. We actually increase too when God increases in our lives--we get stronger and grow in ways we never would have expected all by ourselves. Mission trips are the bomb!
Peace and joy, and no more sickness, please :),
Eric"
Each day, Rev. Eric is checking in via email, just to keep me posted on how things are going. Now that I'm home from my own trip, I'm posting what he's sent so far. Here's part of the email he sent on Monday . . .
"Our second day brought us surprises... First, we each got our work group assignments for the week. There's 'kids club' vbs for around 80 children--Mark Thunem led 5 of our youth for that. Youth Works also had a couple painting and cleaning projects for the rest of us. Jayne Bolton and I led the rest of our group at 'the marina' where we weeded and cleaned a massive concrete wall/sign that welcomes drivers to Steubenville and Ohio as they cross the river. When Carolyn told me we had just driven through West Virginia on our way in, I thought she was joking!
The second surprise is that I got sick from the lunch--I think it was the cheese. That laid me up for a few hours, so I missed the scavenger hunt, Fort Steuben tour, and pizza. After some sleep and ginger ale--thanks Luke and Jayne!--I was back in shape for worship, group prayer time, and a few games of connect four.
Group time was awesome. We heard about Peter' short walk on water and shared about our fears. Our group of 18 is definitely in mission trip mode now. The theme is 'Jesus must increase, I must decrease'. Through service projects, getting to know new people, and building stronger friendships with each other we are experiencing God's Spirit taking the place of our own usual comforts and habits. Well, there's also the wall to wall sleeping bags, the "stop singing it's 2 am!" And the constant endless supply of potato chips and candy.
But seriously, there is so much Spirit here. We actually increase too when God increases in our lives--we get stronger and grow in ways we never would have expected all by ourselves. Mission trips are the bomb!
Peace and joy, and no more sickness, please :),
Eric"
Wednesday "devo"
Dear Friends in Christ -
You're invited to join the kids on the youth mission trip in today's devotional . . .
Blessings,
Janet+
FOCUS (foh-kuhs): a central point of attraction, attention or activity.
What do you want today?
What are you focused on right now?
Where does God want your focus to be?
Read Psalm 24.
Psalm 24
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
Those who have clean hands and a pure heart,
who do not put their trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.
Selah
Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Selah
Rewrite it in your own words.
As you do, focus on the greatness of God.
What do these verses say about your focus?
Sometime today (maybe right now!) take 10 minutes to re-focus on God.
Make a decision about where your focus will be during this time.
Will I Focus HERE…
on what I’m worried about
on what people think about me
on how I think I sound to God
on what’s next in my day
on what I look like today
on something I’m looking forward to later
or
Will I Focus THERE…
on honoring God
on trading what I want for what God wants
on how BIG God is
on God’s forgiveness
on remembering what Jesus did for me
on God’s love for the world
Conclude your prayer time by committing to RE-FOCUS when you find yourself thinking too much about yourself and your worries and problems and not enough about God.
You're invited to join the kids on the youth mission trip in today's devotional . . .
Blessings,
Janet+
FOCUS (foh-kuhs): a central point of attraction, attention or activity.
What do you want today?
What are you focused on right now?
Where does God want your focus to be?
Read Psalm 24.
Psalm 24
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
Those who have clean hands and a pure heart,
who do not put their trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.
Selah
Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Selah
Rewrite it in your own words.
As you do, focus on the greatness of God.
What do these verses say about your focus?
Sometime today (maybe right now!) take 10 minutes to re-focus on God.
Make a decision about where your focus will be during this time.
Will I Focus HERE…
on what I’m worried about
on what people think about me
on how I think I sound to God
on what’s next in my day
on what I look like today
on something I’m looking forward to later
or
Will I Focus THERE…
on honoring God
on trading what I want for what God wants
on how BIG God is
on God’s forgiveness
on remembering what Jesus did for me
on God’s love for the world
Conclude your prayer time by committing to RE-FOCUS when you find yourself thinking too much about yourself and your worries and problems and not enough about God.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Mission Trip - Day 3
Dear Friends in Christ -
Today we've got another opportunity to spiritually hang out with our missionaries by doing the "DEVO" (that's short for 'devotional') exercises that they're doing. When you look at the exercises below, you may think 'whew, that's too much for me,' but DO IT ANYWAY. We adults get spiritually flabby sometimes! If our kids can do it, we can do it too! So here goes . . .
THERE ARE 4 "STATIONS" - you can do one, or you can do them all . . .
STATION 1 - PRAYER
Read Psalm 46. What words stand out to you? Which words do you connect most with?
Focus on one word and talk to God about it for a little while. When you are ready, move to a different word.
STATION 2 - SELAH: STOP AND LISTEN
Although it’s a little hard to translate, a lot of scholars think the Hebrew word “Selah,” found in many psalms, basically means, “Stop
and Listen.” At this station, that’s all you need to do. Just be still and listen. Don’t be impatient or restless. It’s OK to simply be with God at this station.
Stop
dreaming about what’s next
remembering what’s happened
regretting that mistake
focusing on the people around you
worrying about that thing
trying to figure out that problem
being distracted
Listen
to what God is telling you
STATION 3 - Reading
Slowly read God’s words from Psalm 46:10. Write out the verse and then go back and trace over each word a couple of times. As you do, focus on that word. Repeat it to yourself as you trace over it. Think about the word’s meaning and why it is included in this message from God. Think about each part of this verse and what it means. Talk to God during this time.
STATION 4 - Scripture
Slowly read Psalm 46. As you do, think about God’s command to “Be still” even among all the distractions, dangers and fears of life.
Faithfully with you being still before God,
Janet+
Today we've got another opportunity to spiritually hang out with our missionaries by doing the "DEVO" (that's short for 'devotional') exercises that they're doing. When you look at the exercises below, you may think 'whew, that's too much for me,' but DO IT ANYWAY. We adults get spiritually flabby sometimes! If our kids can do it, we can do it too! So here goes . . .
THERE ARE 4 "STATIONS" - you can do one, or you can do them all . . .
STATION 1 - PRAYER
Read Psalm 46. What words stand out to you? Which words do you connect most with?
Focus on one word and talk to God about it for a little while. When you are ready, move to a different word.
STATION 2 - SELAH: STOP AND LISTEN
Although it’s a little hard to translate, a lot of scholars think the Hebrew word “Selah,” found in many psalms, basically means, “Stop
and Listen.” At this station, that’s all you need to do. Just be still and listen. Don’t be impatient or restless. It’s OK to simply be with God at this station.
Stop
dreaming about what’s next
remembering what’s happened
regretting that mistake
focusing on the people around you
worrying about that thing
trying to figure out that problem
being distracted
Listen
to what God is telling you
STATION 3 - Reading
Slowly read God’s words from Psalm 46:10. Write out the verse and then go back and trace over each word a couple of times. As you do, focus on that word. Repeat it to yourself as you trace over it. Think about the word’s meaning and why it is included in this message from God. Think about each part of this verse and what it means. Talk to God during this time.
STATION 4 - Scripture
Slowly read Psalm 46. As you do, think about God’s command to “Be still” even among all the distractions, dangers and fears of life.
Faithfully with you being still before God,
Janet+
Monday, June 28, 2010
Mission Trip - They've left, but you can still go . . .
Dear Friends in Christ -
Yesterday, our amazing youth and their fearless leaders set off on a six-day mission adventure to Steubenville, OH. I received an email late last night from Rev. Eric, just letting me know that they all arrived safely and just in time for dinner!
One of the reasons that I'm so excited our youth go off together for a week to work on YouthWorks projects is that they not only have interesting, challenging opportunities to work with children and to help those in need, but also they are called EVERY DAY during their time away to GO DEEPER IN GOD.
Our team has already arrived in Steubenville and is hard at work, but there's still a way you can joing them. You can read this blog every day this week and GO DEEPER IN GOD, too. Each day, I'll post bits of the devotional materials the kids will be reading and thinking about so that you can pray through them - to support THEM and to grow YOU!
This year, the theme is MORE OR LESS . . . and here is the text of the opening reflection in their daily devotional book . . .
WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS CONSTANTLY TELLING US
WE NEED MORE – MORE MONEY, MORE POPULARITY,
MORE STUFF. BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY NEED MORE OF?
AND WHAT DO YOU NEED LESS OF?
JESUS ASKS US TO HAVE LESS “ME” THINGS – LESS
FEAR, LESS HERE-AND-NOW REWARDS AND LESS EGO.
SOMETIMES WE EVEN NEED TO DO LESS SO THAT WE
CAN HAVE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. WHEN
WE WORRY LESS ABOUT “ME” AND, INSTEAD, FOCUS ON
JESUS, WE GET MORE – MORE COURAGE, MORE TIME TO
BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND MORE ABILITY TO
LOVE OTHERS.
THIS WEEK, YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO PURSUE THAT
ONE THING WE ALL NEED IN OUR LIVES – MORE JESUS.
STEP 1 Write this . . . List the fears you have about life right now. If you have a pen or pencil, write the bigger ones bigger and the smaller ones smaller.
STEP 2 Read this . . . a Bible story. Choose from the following . . .
Ananias – Acts 9:1–22
A man who hates Jesus’ followers is in town to find and arrest Ananias
and his friends, and God tells Ananias to go see him.
Hannah – 1 Samuel 1:1–28, 2:18–21, 3:19–21
All Hannah wants is a baby, but once she finally has a boy, she has to
decide if she will keep a promise to give away her only son.
Daniel – Daniel 6:1–28
When a terrible law gets passed, Daniel has the choice to stop talking to
God or get eaten alive by wild animals.
Paul – Acts 16:16–40
When he is unjustly beaten and imprisoned, Paul passes up a “get out of
jail free” card.
STEP 3 - Think about this . . .
What fears did the person need to have courage to overcome in order to follow
what God wanted?
How did this person act out “More God and Less Me”?
What might have happened (or not happened) if this person would have put
what they wanted first?
STEP 4 - Pray about this . . .
How can you have MORE Jesus this week?
Go back to the page where you wrote your fears and pray about each of those
fears. As you pray about each one, scribble it out or erase it.
Hey, I know it takes a few minutes, but if our youth can do it, we can, too! And as we do so, we watch our fear . . . start to disappear 'cause we've given it over to God! Awesome!
Blessings,
Janet+
Yesterday, our amazing youth and their fearless leaders set off on a six-day mission adventure to Steubenville, OH. I received an email late last night from Rev. Eric, just letting me know that they all arrived safely and just in time for dinner!
One of the reasons that I'm so excited our youth go off together for a week to work on YouthWorks projects is that they not only have interesting, challenging opportunities to work with children and to help those in need, but also they are called EVERY DAY during their time away to GO DEEPER IN GOD.
Our team has already arrived in Steubenville and is hard at work, but there's still a way you can joing them. You can read this blog every day this week and GO DEEPER IN GOD, too. Each day, I'll post bits of the devotional materials the kids will be reading and thinking about so that you can pray through them - to support THEM and to grow YOU!
This year, the theme is MORE OR LESS . . . and here is the text of the opening reflection in their daily devotional book . . .
WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS CONSTANTLY TELLING US
WE NEED MORE – MORE MONEY, MORE POPULARITY,
MORE STUFF. BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY NEED MORE OF?
AND WHAT DO YOU NEED LESS OF?
JESUS ASKS US TO HAVE LESS “ME” THINGS – LESS
FEAR, LESS HERE-AND-NOW REWARDS AND LESS EGO.
SOMETIMES WE EVEN NEED TO DO LESS SO THAT WE
CAN HAVE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. WHEN
WE WORRY LESS ABOUT “ME” AND, INSTEAD, FOCUS ON
JESUS, WE GET MORE – MORE COURAGE, MORE TIME TO
BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND MORE ABILITY TO
LOVE OTHERS.
THIS WEEK, YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO PURSUE THAT
ONE THING WE ALL NEED IN OUR LIVES – MORE JESUS.
STEP 1 Write this . . . List the fears you have about life right now. If you have a pen or pencil, write the bigger ones bigger and the smaller ones smaller.
STEP 2 Read this . . . a Bible story. Choose from the following . . .
Ananias – Acts 9:1–22
A man who hates Jesus’ followers is in town to find and arrest Ananias
and his friends, and God tells Ananias to go see him.
Hannah – 1 Samuel 1:1–28, 2:18–21, 3:19–21
All Hannah wants is a baby, but once she finally has a boy, she has to
decide if she will keep a promise to give away her only son.
Daniel – Daniel 6:1–28
When a terrible law gets passed, Daniel has the choice to stop talking to
God or get eaten alive by wild animals.
Paul – Acts 16:16–40
When he is unjustly beaten and imprisoned, Paul passes up a “get out of
jail free” card.
STEP 3 - Think about this . . .
What fears did the person need to have courage to overcome in order to follow
what God wanted?
How did this person act out “More God and Less Me”?
What might have happened (or not happened) if this person would have put
what they wanted first?
STEP 4 - Pray about this . . .
How can you have MORE Jesus this week?
Go back to the page where you wrote your fears and pray about each of those
fears. As you pray about each one, scribble it out or erase it.
Hey, I know it takes a few minutes, but if our youth can do it, we can, too! And as we do so, we watch our fear . . . start to disappear 'cause we've given it over to God! Awesome!
Blessings,
Janet+
Sunday, June 27, 2010
A letter from camp
Dear Friends in Christ -
At summer camp when I was a kid, there was always time after lunch when we were forced to lay down on our bunks and rest. The only approved activity during rest time was to write a letter to your parents. Though the cabin counselor even provided pencils and paper, I remember writing only one letter in three summers of camp. Of course I LOVED hearing my name called out during mail call (my mom was one of the faithful ones who wrote every day), but I wasn't so good at writing back.
So before I leave "Camp Bishop's Ranch" here in sunny California, I want to write one letter from camp to all of you . . . it's written by the nine-year-old within me . . .
Hey!
Camp is grate! The food is awsome - no one makes us eat anything we don't want to and everything tastes grate! I walk the trails in the woods every day. I didn't get a tick sucking my blood but two other people did. The speakers are interesting, but there's a little too much sitting still and listening. I like the singing and the praying isn't too bad either. The part I like best is when I get to hang out and talk with my new friends (my cabin has people in it from New Jersey, Florida, California and Minnesota!). Since my bunk here isn't as comfy as at home, I want to come home soon even though it's grate here.
I love you!
Janet
PS - There's an art studio where we can make stuff and I made something cool!
. . . I hope these early days of summer are "grate" for you, too.
Faithfully returning home on Tuesday (I miss you!),
Janet+
At summer camp when I was a kid, there was always time after lunch when we were forced to lay down on our bunks and rest. The only approved activity during rest time was to write a letter to your parents. Though the cabin counselor even provided pencils and paper, I remember writing only one letter in three summers of camp. Of course I LOVED hearing my name called out during mail call (my mom was one of the faithful ones who wrote every day), but I wasn't so good at writing back.
So before I leave "Camp Bishop's Ranch" here in sunny California, I want to write one letter from camp to all of you . . . it's written by the nine-year-old within me . . .
Hey!
Camp is grate! The food is awsome - no one makes us eat anything we don't want to and everything tastes grate! I walk the trails in the woods every day. I didn't get a tick sucking my blood but two other people did. The speakers are interesting, but there's a little too much sitting still and listening. I like the singing and the praying isn't too bad either. The part I like best is when I get to hang out and talk with my new friends (my cabin has people in it from New Jersey, Florida, California and Minnesota!). Since my bunk here isn't as comfy as at home, I want to come home soon even though it's grate here.
I love you!
Janet
PS - There's an art studio where we can make stuff and I made something cool!
. . . I hope these early days of summer are "grate" for you, too.
Faithfully returning home on Tuesday (I miss you!),
Janet+
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The vows we take . . .
Dear Friends in Christ -
Vows. Most of us have taken some. The marriage vows are the ones we remember most because our spouse is front-and-center present in our daily life. But before that, most of us took baptismal vows. Or they were taken on our behalf. Do you ever think about those?
I have to confess that I hadn't thought of them for a long time. A couple of months ago, one of my clergy friends mentioned that she was making a special effort to focus on living her vows - marriage, baptism, and ordination. "Yikes!," I thought, "I can't even remember mine!
Basically, my ordination vows were/are an extension and deepening of the baptismal vows we all took . . .
. . . to believe in God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit . . .
. . . to go to church . . .
. . . to resist evil and when we mess up, repent and start over . . .
. . . to proclaim good news . . .
. . . to seek and serve Christ in all persons . . .
. . . to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being.
Ordination vows are an extension of these - with an emphasis on being a wholesome example and proclaiming the Good News.
This week, I'm going away to "clergy boot camp" to think and pray and work toward making sure my life is rooted in the keeping of these vows. For my good. For the good of my family and friends and church. For God's glory.
Faithfully,
Janet+
PS - Please pray for me!!!!!!!
Vows. Most of us have taken some. The marriage vows are the ones we remember most because our spouse is front-and-center present in our daily life. But before that, most of us took baptismal vows. Or they were taken on our behalf. Do you ever think about those?
I have to confess that I hadn't thought of them for a long time. A couple of months ago, one of my clergy friends mentioned that she was making a special effort to focus on living her vows - marriage, baptism, and ordination. "Yikes!," I thought, "I can't even remember mine!
Basically, my ordination vows were/are an extension and deepening of the baptismal vows we all took . . .
. . . to believe in God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit . . .
. . . to go to church . . .
. . . to resist evil and when we mess up, repent and start over . . .
. . . to proclaim good news . . .
. . . to seek and serve Christ in all persons . . .
. . . to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being.
Ordination vows are an extension of these - with an emphasis on being a wholesome example and proclaiming the Good News.
This week, I'm going away to "clergy boot camp" to think and pray and work toward making sure my life is rooted in the keeping of these vows. For my good. For the good of my family and friends and church. For God's glory.
Faithfully,
Janet+
PS - Please pray for me!!!!!!!
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