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Do you ever think about why you do what you do? Most of us work to pay the bills, eat in order to survive, and spend time with people because we love them. Yet if we’re honest, and if we take the time to look deeper, other motivations are often at work. Not only do I work to pay the bills, but I also work to gain a sense of identity, to prove I am enough. Not only do I eat to survive but also to comfort myself and distract myself from life’s trouble and pain. Not only do I spend time with people because I love them but also because I need their affection and approval, and I sometimes need to try to control them.

I want to believe and live as though being precedes doing. The problem is that most of the time I think that all my doing constitutes my being. I think I am a somebody because of all I produce. Smart people call a “false self” all the layers of frenetic activity that we think make us who we are. The problem (or maybe the blessing) is that life throws curve balls. And when we hit those junctures where we are forced to have all the activity cease – when we hit those times of trouble or transition or turmoil that pull the rug out from under us – we can be left feeling completely lost. Without all the compulsive activity, when all we can do is just be, we are compelled to see our true selves. This is when we need God desperately because His love quiets us. (*See excerpt from author Henri Nouwen below.)

As an ENTJ on the Myers Briggs assessment, “being” is especially hard for me. But I want to increasingly value the inner-life work of being, of trusting God’s love for me apart from my activity and production, and of letting God change me from the inside out. I want to tend the garden of my soul – where my truest self resides and where God can produce the kind of fruit that no one besides Jesus sees or measures.

“Claiming the Sacredness of Our Being”
Are we friends with ourselves? Do we love who we are? These are important questions because we cannot develop good friendships with others unless we have befriended ourselves. How then do we befriend ourselves? We have to start by acknowledging the truth of ourselves. We are beautiful but also limited, rich but also poor, generous but also worried about our security. Yet beyond all that we are people with souls, sparks of the divine. To acknowledge the truth of ourselves is to claim the sacredness of our being, without fully understanding it. Our deepest being escapes our own mental or emotional grasp. But when we trust that our souls are embraced by a loving God, we can befriend ourselves and reach out to others in loving relationships. -Henri J. M. Nouwen

Many of you have supported our partnership with Ekta Church in Nepal through your giving, and participation in the most recent Serve Lunch event. Here is a report from Vaun Swanson about the trip…

“The women’s conferences we hosted in Tikapur were a huge success. We heard story after story of women that were so blessed by their time at the conferences…and away from their daily chores! The women came from many different churches and were from all castes and different tribes. We focused on how much God loves each one of them, views all of his children as equals and how often we see God use unlikely people (like uneducated women) to accomplish his purposes. We talked a lot about how important stories are. I shared several stories from scripture and many of the women shared their stories. Many, many more would have liked to but we had to encourage them to share with one another and with their neighbors. The exercise I had planned for them around stories kind of bombed though. I had taken four hundred cards and markers and we tried to teach them how to put their story-line on paper in order to share it. Turns out…many of these women didn’t even know how to hold a pen! Wow! I quickly told the group that this was only one way to help them think of the important times in their lives….but the important thing was that their stories were important and they needed to share them with others.

The women loved mixing and talking and eating together. Many of them slept at the church Thursday night too. This was the first time many of them had ever done something like this. One woman told her pastor (who told me) that she was kind of afraid to come because she feared that the monkeys would destroy her fields while she was gone. After the conference she told him that she didn’t care what the monkeys did…she was just so glad she had come. They are already talking about next year and anticipating 7-800 women! Yikes!!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support for this Christian women’s conference. I interviewed 20 women and wrote down their stories. Only one of them was born into a Christian family…and she was pretty young. They have all had hard lives and been persecuted by their families and friends. But their love for the Lord is so strong. I was truly blessed by them. I know you would have been, too.”

I am so grateful for this partnership and the great work God is doing in Nepal!

Apparently, people have been referring to Platt Park Church as “The Boutique Church.” I’m not sure what that means yet, but I am curious to find out. If you have thoughts on this, please share! Maybe it means that we are housed a block from the boutique shops on S. Pearl street, or that we value aesthetics and art, or perhaps that our space is cozy and quaint. I’m not sure what it means, but I hope that it means this: we value the internal work of God more than the external signs of success. I hope that it means that we aim to embrace greatness through smallness, as Jesus taught. I hope that it means that raw, Jesus-sculpted character beauty is valued over make-up and marketing. I’m not sure what Boutique Church means, but I hope that as our identity in this community develops, we will increasingly become an integral part of the worldwide church that Jesus dreamed of and gave his life to launch.

Many of you know Susan Howard who has been a part of our church family for a couple of years now. Susan was diagnosed with Leukemia and she was admitted into Presbyterian / St. Lukes hospital on November 8, 2013 to undergo treatment. On January 28, 2014, Susan received a stem cell transplant and she asked me to come to the hospital and offer a blessing. Susan is at home now, recovering and I am so very grateful to God for the healing work he is doing and for the honor of knowing such a courageous woman! Here is the blessing I shared at the hospital that day…

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here!”

When God gets a hold of our hearts and a mustard seed of faith is born in us, the Scriptures say our lives are grafted into the life of Christ, and we have new life. What is happening here today is a physical picture of this spiritual process. These stem cells from a healthy donor represent the potential for new life. For Susan, the old is gone, and today, the new has come. Let the grafting now begin, and the new life flourish.

The journey to today has been long and costly in every way. Although we never would’ve chosen such a painful stripping away of physical health for you, your story is helping us live more courageously, and we thank you for that gift. Susan, we love you and we are cheering you on.

The psalmist says, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Let’s pray together.

Most merciful God, Creator and Sustainer of Life, You are the fountain and source of all life. We come before you humbled by your great gift of life. In your infinite love, you comprised us of tiny cells and gave them the power to sustain, heal and renew. For giving scientists, physicians and nurses the knowledge to transplant healthy cells for others’ well being, we give you thanks. For providing Susan’s stem cell donor in Canada, we give you thanks. For the loving support of family and friends, we give you thanks. For having brought us to this special day, we give you thanks.

You are the Great Healer and Physician, and we acknowledge that all healing comes from you. Bless these stems cells; bring your healing and new life to Susan starting today. May Susan trust not only in the power you’ve given these stem cells to heal, but also in your invitation to spiritual rebirth. Give Susan patience and hope as she waits for the restoration of her body, mind and spirit. Please send your Spirit upon these cells, blessing them with your love and healing power so that they bring about full and complete restoration to Susan’s body. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit we pray, AMEN.

If you’ve been a follower of Christ for any length of time perhaps you’ve noticed that in Christian circles there are a whole bunch of words and phrases that are only used in church. These sayings often make very little sense to the population of people who don’t participate in church. Sometimes these phrases are meaningful and at other times they are just flat out weird. We say things like, “hedge of protection” and “God laid it on my heart” and “we’re just going to love on people” (kinda creepy?) or “it just feels like a God-thing” so maybe we can “bathe this in prayer.” Most of the time I am eager to shed “churchy” language from my vocabulary when it pops up. I want to be simple and honest and clear. But at other times a “churchy” word or phrase resonates for our community and when that is true, I don’t want to shy away from it even if it is churchy. After all, we are a church! So, we recently formed a “deacon” team and I am very aware that many people have never heard that word or just have no idea what it means. So, I asked Vaun if she would write up a little description for us and here is what she said:

“I am delighted that Platt Park Church has continued the church tradition of appointing deacons to help care for those in need. The first time we see this occurring in scripture is in Acts 6 when Stephen and six other men were selected by the apostles to help feed the poor and care for the widows. The criteria by which they were chosen was that they be well respected and full of the Spirit and wisdom. Phoebe was the only person actually called a deacon (Romans 16) and presumably the same criteria was used for her selection. A deacon is a servant or minister and the origin of the word means quite literally “through the dust.” These are people willing to get involved in the messiness of life. Platt Park could not have chosen a better founding group of deacons than Bill, Connie, Jan and Carol.”

I too am grateful for this new team!

Children and youth are not just the “church of tomorrow” they are a vital part of our church today!

Amy Borjas has been leading our family ministry here at Platt Park and I am immensely grateful for her heart and passion in leading this area of our church. Amy and her husband Eddie and their three children are relocating to Spokane, WA for Eddie’s new job. It has truly been a pleasure to serve Christ with Amy at Platt Park Church. She has not only taken the program forward by leaps and bounds but has done it in the power of God’s spirit. I honor the work, both visible and behind the scenes invisible, that she has done here as Family Life Pastor. Amy has impacted many lives and I am grateful for all of her hard work, love & unseen sacrifices. We are going to miss her and her family immensely. I will always thank God for the time in ministry we’ve shared together.

As we look forward, I am absolutely thrilled that Anne Coughlin will be joining our staff team to lead the nursery & preschool ministry among families. Also Ginny Allison (who has been serving alongside Amy in a support role) is going to be stepping up to lead the ministry for kids beyond preschool! I am just thrilled that God has brought such wonderful, competent and fun-to-work with people to our team.

Please join me in appreciating Amy, welcoming Anne, and if you haven’t had the chance to meet Ginny, I hope you will soon.

This Sunday we will be hosting a chili-cook off after 2nd service. This is a chance to “Meet the home team” members of Platt Park Church’s’ leadership team including our staff, elders & brand new deacon board!

I am so very grateful.

Tonight I got carded! I share that with great enthusiasm because when you’re an almost-40 year old mom of a toddler, and you’re no longer pulling off the Forever 21 wardrobe, getting carded feels like a real compliment! Can I get a witness?