8 Ways I've Become Part of My Community

I love to write out our road trips and adventures away from home, but the past couple weeks have provided many opportunities to reflect upon how blessed we are in living where we do. I was just telling Sharon, today: I've never before loved so many people in one place.

I've lived longer in this area (twelve years) than anywhere else, but I haven't always felt so rooted, grounded, and just...deeply satisfied here. In fact, Jim and I started our marriage just over six years ago assuming that--as soon as my joint-custodial arrangement no longer precluded it--we'd return to East Tennessee. And who can guess what the Lord has in store?, but these days, we think of this as our permanent home base, if nothing else.

These past couple weeks, I've been asking myself: what changed in terms of my relationship with my physical (as opposed to virtual) community? And I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about settling in, in hopes that they'll bless or help.

• I spend time in my community, which sounds like a given but isn't necessarily. Years went by that I spent most of my waking hours in various workplaces or hang-outs outside my community. I know we can't all work near home (My husband works outside our community!), but we can usually make choices regarding where to spend our free time. This past weekend, for example, Jim and I talked about going to the lake or ocean but decided, instead, to explore the new state park right down the road.

• I joined a church within my community and have developed ties to those with whom I worship; however,
• I reject daily the idea that my church exists within one building and, instead, make a point of serving the Lord whenever, wherever, and however I feel led. With this mentality, I've developed many friendships inside my community but outside my center of worship.
• I identified my spiritual gift (mercy) and went to work, casting myself under the leadership of those who specialize in the realm of pastoral care. By doing so, I've developed friendships with those I've served under and with...not to mention with those I've participated in serving.
• I've committed to studying the Bible with others in my community. If anything forges bonds more than this, I don't know what it is.
• I've stopped trying to limit the number of friends I have. That looks silly on the page, but I've gone through seasons of feeling reluctant to start at the beginning with someone: to tell my story, to go through that awkward phase of getting to know a person. At some point, it just clicked: everyone has something to teach me. Also, it's ok that not every relationship develops into a deep and eternal bond.
• I've stopped trying to develop friendships for the sake of my children. This has been huge for me. I don't mean to imply that I maintain friendships inappropriate for my children; I mean that some of my most rewarding friendships are with people who don't have children my children's ages, or at all.
• I've stopped waiting to be pursued. Instead, I initiate, invite, include, offer.

What about you? What connects you to the community in which you live? 

Or what particular challenges do you face there, in terms of feeling connected?

Prayer Meeting of the Blogosphere (3)

Welcome to the third, old-fashioned prayer meeting in this space. Happy Friday! I hope you've had a good week.

Cade got home Saturday afternoon; a big thank-you to those of you who prayed for his safe return.

I've had the Owens family on my heart and mind all week. The seven of them have been in Kenya for just over a month, now. I can't imagine what it's like to acclimate to an entirely different country, culture, etc. Join me in praying for them?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the Owens family. Thank You for calling them to do Your work in Kenya, and thank You for their willingness to go all in: to up and move to Africa. Hold them in Your hands during this time of transition, Father, and continue to protect them. Draw them ever closer to You, to one another, and to the beautiful people of Kenya. Bless the Owens family, Father, and bless others through them. 

Help us to remember: we can serve You wherever we are. Thank You for calling us to do Your great work; make of us willing vessels. In Your Son's name I pray, amen.

Now it's your turn! Would you like to participate in an old-fashioned prayer meeting of the blogosphere? Here are some ideas:

• You can pray about my prayer request.
• You can share a prayer request by means of a comment.
• You can share a prayer request on your personal blog and direct me to your post by means of a comment.
• You can pray about a participant's prayer request.
• You can write a prayer about my, your, or someone else's prayer request (in comments hither or yon, on your blog, etc.). If your prayer is somewhere other than this place, please direct me as you can and will.
• You can join in praying my or someone else's prayer.
• You can share an update regarding a prayer request you've made here, in the past. 

Thank you for being here, and I hope to see you again next week, if not before.

(Sorry to those of you who read this before it was quite ready; Baby Chip helped me publish prematurely, and I didn't know for a good forty minutes! Oh, well.)

On Being a Couch Rebel

Bottom line: I wrote a story about stepping out of my comfort zone, and it's going to be included--along with 85 other, similarly-themed stories--in CausePub's Kindle ebook* Couch Rebels, which will be available for purchase through Amazon in three days, on Wednesday, August 14th. I'd like to invite you to purchase a copy for the same reason I'm going to purchase a copy...for the same reason I got involved in the project to begin with:

Every copy sold will provide clean water to 3 people in Africa via Blood:Water Mission. The goal of this Cause is to sell 15,000 copies and impact 45,000 lives.

This is my first experience with CausePub (a for-profit crowd-book-publishing company that partners with nonprofits to help them achieve specific goals within specific causes), and Couch Rebels will be CausePub's first book. So, I'll be honest: there are many things I don't know. I haven't seen the finished product, and I have no idea how many copies of Couch Rebels will be sold or if the goal of the Cause will be met.

What I do know, again, is that every copy sold will provide clean water to 3 people in Africa via Blood:Water Mission.

What I do know is that 50%+ of all sales will go directly to the cause for as long as copies are sold.

I know that 20% of sales for the first six months will be divided among authors. I've prayed about this and want to pledge: 50% of my personal, author royalties will go directly to Africa Inland Mission to benefit the Owens Family**. (I have not spoken with the Owens family about this.)

Finally, I know that the more copies sold this Wednesday, August 14th, the better. You would bless in signing up to buy the book here.

The irony in my asking you to buy a book about stepping out of one's comfort zone is this: asking you to buy something...anything...is outside of my comfort zone! I wouldn't ask you to do it if I didn't believe there to be great potential, here, to make a difference. Thank you for your time and consideration.

*If you don't own a Kindle but have an Android phone or tablet, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows 8 PC or tablet, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone, you can read the book using a free Kindle app.

**To read more about the Owens family and their work in Kenya, click here.

Trickle-Down VBS

Too many stories and not enough time, but the one I want to share most involves Vacation Bible School.

 I spent hours trying to find a traditional VBS 1) that wouldn't conflict with family vacation, 2) to which I could drive within thirty minutes, and 3) that would accept three-year-olds. I found exactly two churches that met the criteria and e-mailed, asking each to slip Charleigh (who won't turn three until the end of summer) into its three-year-old class. I explained: she's been potty trained since January, she's extremely verbal, she was mature enough to perform ballet and tap routines in front of a large audience.

The first church turned me down flat, explaining that Charleigh would miss the age cut-off by two months and eleven days. The second, though, agreed to give her a try unless they had a large three-year-old group; would I be willing to wait until the last minute to find out?

It ended up working out, and the girls' teacher was named (I couldn't make this up if I tried!) Mrs. Angel!, but the story doesn't end there. Jim and I were able to make a quick trip to Baltimore, Sunday, and pick up my eight-year-old nephew Boone (who would've otherwise spent the week in a hotel room), and he was able to attend VBS.

Given that Cade was in Boy Scout camp, this week, I had fifteen hours during which only the baby was in my direct care. I was able to have my eyes examined ("Would you like to see the doctor, now?" the receptionist asked. "He had a last minute cancellation.") and shop for much-needed shoes and shorts. I was able to have breakfast with Becky and her chicks. Also, in keeping with the VBS lessons on serving others, I was able to reach out to a couple families who'd been on my heart.

***

Boone pulls a scrap of red paper from his pocket and hands it to me. It looks like a bead or scroll, as if it's been wrapped around a pencil. I unroll it and read aloud: "Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

"Do you know what the desire of my heart is, Boone?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"That your dad would be well," I tell him. "Do you think--if I delight in the Lord--He will make your dad well?" Our eyes meet for just an instant.

"Yep!" he says, and shoots me a little grin just before turning away.