Have you ever wished that you had more time to connect with others in our church community than at our “passing of the Peace” time?
We invite you to come to the “Peace in the Park” BBQ at McBean Park on Sunday, June 22nd from 6:00-9:00 pm. Hot dogs and burgers will be provided. Bring a side dish, dessert, or drinks to share!
Between 8:00-9:00 pm, we will gather for a time of worship and sharing together!
When I left Chicago, I was pretty sure my favorite alarm clock was broken. It was my favorite because it had a 4 minute snooze and a non-obnoxious ring. It was pathetically flickering partial numbers and occasionally blanking out all together. It needed new batteries. So in the meantime, (before I rediscovered the miracle of Energizer AA) I’ve been giving my new ihome–a generous graduation gift from my surrogate family in Wheaton–a shot at waking me up in the morning. At 6:20am, I opened my eyes to this:
Welcome to the planet.
Welcome to existence.
Everyone’s here.
Everyone’s here.
Everybody’s watching you now.
Everybody waits for you now.
What happens next?
What happens next?
I dare you to move…
Today is my first day in the office as Emmaus’ new Pastor of Early Faith Development. I completely missed the irony when I set the music last night. I just really like Switchfoot. The Holy Spirit has always enjoyed playing little jokes on me to remind me of His presence, and in my alarm-clock song this morning, I heard His good-natured chuckle.
I was nervous about today. In the midst of the excitement of moving to come join this ministry, I’ve been trepidatious about whether I had bitten off more than I could chew. As much as I love the thought of getting to introduce children to Jesus and watching them fall in love with Him, I have only been a grown-up myself for about 5 months. (In May, they handed me a piece of paper that proclaimed in official looking letters that I was now Grown-Up, so it must be true. Right?) On Sunday, everyone was so excited to see me. They had all been eagerly waiting for me to arrive and expectantly anticipating what I will do in the coming months. What if I’m no good at this? What if nothing I try works? What if I can’t do any of the things they are expecting? The nervous little girl inside my head was working overtime whispering to my heart.
This morning, the Holy Spirit, in His patient, playful way reminded me that I am not my own mess to clean up. This was not a mistake. This was not an accident that I fell into this role. This is My plan for you and for them and I will see you through it. “Everybody’s watching you now…everybody waits for you now.” Ooo look at all those eyes on you! Scared yet? What happens next is up to me, Silly. Now get out of bed and ask Me what I have planned for today.
One of my favorite things I learned in college (and by “one of my favorite,” I mean, “one of the only things I can remember”) was the translation of the greek name “Paracletos” that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit (John 15:26) given by my New Testament professor. Jesus names the Holy Spirit the “one who is called to stand beside you” as a comforter and advocate.
Maybe redemption has stories to tell.
Maybe forgiveness is back where you fell.
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where’re you gonna go?
Where’re you gonna go?
Straight into my Good Shepherd’s arms.
