This I Believe.

Before we were confirmed, my confirmation class had to each write a paper called 'This I believe" proclaiming what our faith was grounded in, and what exactly we believed.

When I was home recently I saw at our church the picture of my confirmation class. I scanned the rows of 85 confirmands and started to wonder what they're up to and how they are living out their faith. We know we are living in an increasingly pluralistic time, and I know I have a hard time finding 20 somethings at church on Sunday mornings.

So I started facebooking confirmation friends. And I have been asking them, with your most honest response, what would you write today. (I've also promised that the posts will be anonymous, unless they're ok with their first name being used.)

The truth is, I am a bit nervous for some of the replies, because I love my church and I really think we experienced solid teaching and great foundations for the faith. But my fear is in wondering what I'll find when I know my friends are likely to fit into statistics that are painful to acknowledge.

So here begins an occasional series of This-I-Believe-12-years-later papers, written by friends, honest and helpful.

And I'm back!

Lost some momentum there for a while, but blog world, I'm back.

We drove to Kansas City for a quick trip on Saturday to see Sara and Troy in concert on Sunday. They were giving a concert for a church that was celebrating their 20th anniversary. The event was called Party in the Park and it was a true party. This church was so creative, so thoughtful and the celebration was so fun to get to peek in on.

We sat on the hillside for their outdoor Sunday morning service and we sang the song "God of this City." I have sang this song in Oregon, Minnesota, Nebraska and now in Kansas and it created the most concrete visual of the kingdom as I thought about each one of these churches proclaiming boldly: GREATER THINGS ARE YET TO COME, GREATER THINGS ARE STILL TO BE DONE IN THIS CITY. WE BELIEVE IN YOU, GOD.

The thing about the kingdom, to me, is that it's just not that huge. It's one church faithfully loving and caring for the community God has placed them in. It's one person straining to hear the plans God has for them, filled with purpose and hope. It's one people, loving God and thanking Jesus for the life he has given each one of us. Okay, so it is huge. But I love that it's small enough that God uses us little people to help with his good work.

Macy’s 8th floor Spring Flower Show

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On Saturday, my mom, my mother-in-law, my grandma and I went to Macy’s downtown to see their spring flower display. It was pretty, though not quite in full bloom. But the four of us shared lunch in the Skyroom after we saw the flowers and I just can’t get over how fortunate I am to have these women as my greatest role models and loudest supporters. It was a treasured morning for me.

PYSANKI Easter Eggs!

Oh man, do I have a favorite Easter tradition joining my world of traditions. I already cannot wait for next year. Last year Lisa had Sara and I over for a ladies afternoon of Ukrainian Egg dying, known as Pysanki. Lisa is Polish and Ukrainian so to learn from her is really incredible. So this year I wrote her an email that said, “I’d like to invite myself over for more egg dying (as well as my mom and my grandma)” She wasn’t going to get all the gear out this year, but I am so THANKFUL that she did:

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When we showed up, we each had a station (Rory took Grandma’s place) and 14 colors of dye to choose from.

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We began by drawing with pencil on our blown eggs, then adding bee’s wax with a special tool to draw on our eggs, and would dye the egg in the next color. This is horribly hard to explain (I’ve tried all weekend) but something you MUST try to experience one day.

Lisa got us babushka’s for our hair! Don’t we fit the part?!! She is the master teacher…honestly, I think she could offer this for the month before Easter and make some money next year! It’s a hard art form to teach, but she was so patient and made a killer lunch with aged provolone! :)

It was a phenomenal morning and afternoon. And we left evidence that we had been there…

I always say there are three words that describe Lisa Groves: Above and Beyond.

I love being her sister.

He is Risen!

Now all the vault of heaven resounds
In praise of love that still abounds:
"Christ has triumphed! He is living!"
Sing, choirs of angels, loud and clear!
Repeat their song of glory here:
"Christ has triumped! Christ has trumped Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!"

Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds, by Paul Strodach

At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
John 19:41-42

Good Friday

What language shall I borrow, To thank thee, dearest friend,
For this thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
Oh, make me thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never Out-live my love to thee.

Oh sacred head now wounded, by Bernard of Clarvaux

Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed,

"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began."

John 17:1-5

Kyle+Sushi=happiness.

Rory’s brother Kyle came to Omaha on business last week! This was very exciting for us. Other than Minnesotans who drive through Nebraska on their way to Colorado, we are thinking it will be rare for family and friends to actually make it to Omaha. But Kyle came on business and we were so excited to have family in town!

I remember thinking often while on our fall road trip, how nice it was to spend time with just one family or relatives, or just one relative. It felt like we got to know a lot of family and friends much better in the smaller numbers. I thought this when Kyle was here too. To have uninterrupted conversation was really, really nice (no offense to noisy nieces and nephews and loud family gatherings).

He and Rory shared a brother-laugh that left them both in tears for a good chunk of the time we were at Maggie Moos. Priceless.

Kyle took us out for Sushi and I shall never be the same. I used to be leery, but I am now a believer. And I can’t wait to go back for more.

Worried. Concerned. Nervous.

I'm in the middle of reading Exodus right now and cannot believe how hard it is for Moses and God to convince the Israelites that God will provide for their needs. They are crying for freedom and God displays very obvious signs of his power and authority over all things by turning the Nile into blood, sending frogs and flies and gnats and locusts in disgusting, gross numbers, spreading boils over the skin of the Egyptians and their animals and finally displaying his wrath and anger regarding Pharoah's inability to cooperate, the first born of every Egyptian household is killed.

It paints a picture of a very serious God on a very serious mission to free his people.

The Israelites saw all of this with their own eyes. Wonders that no one could concoct on their own. But immediately upon their release the Israelites are complaining, wondering why they ever left the slavery and bondage they had in Egypt. They assume they will die between the Red Sea the Egyptians, but here comes God again, sending up a pillar of fire to slow the Egyptians and parting the entire red sea. And even after walking between two walls of water, they still can't comprehend God's provision. Because next they are hungry, and are worried they might starve. Again, always faithful, God sends quail and then consistently provides manna. But if you give a mouse a cookie...or if you give some Israelites some manna, they're going to want something to drink. So this time, God provides water from a rock and even still WITH ALL OF THESE MIRACLES nothing seems to help them relax into the consistent, never-failing provision of their God.

At camp we have sent out 70 staff contracts for our summer staff. And just in the past week we have had multiple people email and call saying they will not be returning their contract as other things have come up for their summer. And being that we're supposed to run a camp in 8 weeks, I've been left a little worried. Concerned. Nervous. Wondering in what ways I can use my might and my power to get more contracts in. But today, when I wrote in the margin of my bible yet again, "why can't they just trust God?!!" I heard my own God quite clearly, "why can't you just trust me?"

Yowch. Humbleness.

"Not by might and not by power, but by my spirit," says the Lord. Zechariah 4:6

Sara and Troy's trip to Rwanda

Rory's brother Troy, and his wife Sara have begun an incredible partnership with one village in Rwanda. While on tour, they asked their audiences if they would be willing to sponsor a child through Food for the Hungry in the village of Gisanga. The vision is that Sara and Troy will return to this village annually bringing men and women from their American team of sponsors to build lasting relationships with this community in Africa.

Sara is just beginning to blog about their experiences, and it is worth adding to your favorites.

Be sure to keep tabs on this kingdom story as it continues to unfold.

http://www.saragrovesofficial.blogspot.com/

Keep an eye out for new author, Mara.

My niece has been working very hard at preschool this year. Her mom and dad just sent me this story as proof:

Eaten by a Leopard Seal!

by Mara

Once upon a time two leopard seals ate up a penguin. Then the giraffe and the leopard seals got thrown in the dungeon forever. Then the giraffe couldn’t come out. Then the leopard seals couldn’t come out forever. Then the leopard seals couldn’t ever have his birthday. They didn’t get any presents in the dungeon. Their underwear was stuck to the dungeon. They never could get their underwear off!

Then the little penguin got them out of jail. Then their ears were stuck to the jail forever. They never wanted their mommy and daddy. Then the rat chewed up the leopard seals. They wanted to go in the jail forever. The End.

Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD!

I feel like for a season now I knew I was hungry for God's word, but didn't really do anything about it. I knew the banquet was right over there in that good book, but rarely cracked it. But on my birthday I decided to commit to some reguarlity and started reading three chapters a day in order to read the Bible in a year. Then I started a Beth Moore study. Then I began writing a family devotional book that all the campers will go home with this summer and now I'm writing the summer Bible study curriculum. (These last two writing projects meant that for weeks now I've had three different Bible's wide open on my desk all day long.) And suddenly it feels like I walked over to that banquet, budged in line, grabbed an oversized turkey leg in one hand, a scoop of mashed potatoes in the other and am devouring this spread of food while diving on top of the dessert buffet.

Or something like that.

But the beauty is that God is showing me things about himself that make me love him more and more. You may all insert a, "genius becca, that's how he works" here. But WOW! And now I listen to praise music and think, "yeah! People should write praise music about you!" or "That's me! I want to know you! I want to hear your voice! I want to know you more!" It is thrilling and so real. I listen to a Hillsong CD to and from work and feel like the Bible is coming to life: come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest... when you're weak I'll be your strength.

Anyway, it's like my own personal revival. And to think I could smell this banquet for so long, and just never took the time to open my Bible and devour this good book.

StrengthsFinder 2.0

Rory just took the StrengthsFinder inventory and took a screen capture of this question (which is impressive to me because it is a timed test and displays really quick thinking on his part). He saved it and later told me, “Hey look. They made a questions with you and me as the continuum.&

Rory’s top strengths are: Strategic and Achiever

My top strengths are: Positivity and Communicator

I’d say Gallup has got us pretty well figured out.

Great Grandma's Miracle Moth

On the farm my grandmother raised her family on there were two homes right next to each other. The white house was where Great grandma lived (pictured below), the original farm house on the family farmstead. The yellow house was the new house, where my grandma and grandpa lived.

My uncle Wayne was home from Alaska, and they call caught up over coffee in Great Grandma's house, the white house. Wayne and Grandma and Grandpa returned to the yellow house, as Great Grandma climbed the stairs to her bedroom, alone. She went down the hall to close the window when the window lost his grippings and slammed down on both of her hands. Great Grandma was old and frail and with her fingers trapped under this window, she could neither sit nor stand. She was left hunched over.

The window was facing the field, opposite of the yellow house. She cried, “Help me. Help. Help me.” An hour passed. She continued to cry and her voice grew weak and soft. She turned her cries to God. Unable to sit or stand, her legs were growing weak and three more hours passed as she continued to cry for help, “Help me. Help me, God.”

The sun was setting and back in the brightly lit yellow house a moth landed on the living room window. The moth was grey with brown spots, three inches across. Uncle Wayne saw it and commented on how  his nephews would love that moth for their 4H bug collection. So he and Grandpa walked outside to catch it. But just as they got close enough to the window, the moth snuck away and flew towards the white house. Again and again the moth would land and each time they’d just miss it, taking them farther from the yellow house and closer to the white house. And when they came around the white house closest to the field, the moth landed and they caught it.

As they sat to inspect this moth they heard the strangest sqeeking coming from Great Grandma’s. Wayne commented that there must be an owl on the roof. But Grandpa replied, “that is not an owl. That is your grandma!” They looked up and saw great grandma hunched over in the window, whimpering in pain.

My grandma tells me that as they sat on the bed, Great Grandma rubbed her hands and asked Wayne if she could see the moth. And when she saw it she cried and proclaimed, “That’s my miracle. That miracle moth was sent for me. God heard me when I cried.”

We still have that moth and my grandma brings it out and tells this story frequently with her voice proclaiming our all-powerful God who still works miracles today.

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I love that God used a dusty grey and brown moth to be his messenger. Isn't that just like God? He didn't send a butterfly with turquoise wings and a magenta body. He sent a not-so-special, run-of-the-mill moth to perform his miracle. Which is good news for us not-so-special, run-of-the-mill messengers willing to do his good work.

Nothing will wear you out faster.

I am doing a Beth Moore Bible Study with some friends focusing on the life of Paul. This first week we've studied what his upbringing likely was like. In one lesson we focused on his studies in Jerusalem and Beth wrote the following:

"I believe Saul set sail to Jerusalem as a young adolescent with a pure heart; but somewhere along the way the negative influences outweighed the positive, and his purity began to erode. The law became his god. That's what happens when you take the love out of obedience. The result is the law. Without love for God and His Word, we're just trying to be good. Nothing will wear you out faster."

Lakeside Chapel

I wrote the following email to a pastor friend while we were living out in Montana. This is the church that we were a part of for six months and was a beautiful glimpse of the kingdom.

Rory and I have been attending a Lutheran church since we got here. But to be perfectly honest, we do not feel like we belong and often end up standing awkwardly in the fellowship hall eating mini muffins while looking at each other, asking what the other wants for lunch. Without kids, I am not sure how we would ever permeate this congregation.

So we started going to a little church right in Lakeside. We thought it was Baptist the day we pulled into the parking lot, but then the bulletin said United Methodist. When we walked in, there were three people who recognized we were new and talked to us until the start of the service. Church began after about 50 people gathered in this small space. The pastor welcomed guests and visitors and asked, "If you are a visitor and would be willing, we would love for you to introduce yourself and tell where you have come from." One woman said she goes to the UM church in Kalispell and just wanted to check this place out. Another woman stood and said her parents grew up in the area and she is back to see their childhood home. We stood and said we are living at the Lutheran camp for the year.

Shortly after the pastor invited everyone to take a moment to greet their neighbor. Now this pastor is new, and it soon became very clear that he has trained this congregation in what to do during this time. Each person was aware of who the new worshipers were since we had all just introduced ourselves, and for the next full 3-4 minutes (which is a LONG time) we had our own greeting line. We did not have to move, but members continued to come up to us and ask- so what work do you do? How can you be here for the year? Writing your thesis? What is your thesis on?...

Then a few moments later the pastor stood and asked for the prayers of the people. He asked for prayer concerns and prayer thanksgivings. One woman said her niece was to have a c-section on Wednesday and asked for prayers. One woman began "As many of you know I have cared for my mom for the last 8 years in my home. But this week I had to leave her at the Lutheran nursing home. (she began to weep) She is in room 39 if you can ever stop in and visit her." And 2 women left their seats to go and sit with her the rest of the service. Another woman held her husbands hand and said, "Clyde's sister rolled her car on Thursday and is in critical condition. We have known for too long that she wasn't safe to be driving." And Clyde sat stone face with tears rolling down his cheeks.

These three events happened within the first 15 minutes of worship. Honestly, the rest of the service was decent. The preaching was fine, the music was comical (sung to a recording that played the melody on one note synthesizer). And yet, I was choked up because I felt so deeply connected to these people already. And did I mention Rory and I were the only ones there under the age of 50?

We miss Lakeside Chapel a lot. It's funny how long it takes to find a church that feels like home. But that was just the thing with Lakeside Chapel...it only too 15 minutes because the community was already so strong and they were eagerly waiting for visitors to walk through the door.