quote

"What the caterpillar calls the "end of the world", the Creator calls a butterfly."

-E. Elliot

Christ the Lord is Risen!

And all God's people say, "Amen."We enter this season of the resurrection with "the prayers of the people", "cross of Christ", and "Holy Scriptures".

All God's people also say, "Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah!"

Trillium

Reflections

It has been a long while since I've created a post. Mostly because I didn't feel the creativity of writing a story or thought (too lazy to communicate through literature). While I reflect on the past months of life I say, "God is good, life is sweet, thanks be to God." Also, life is busy.

One highlight for myself was a week long silent retreat I took at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Bardstown, KY. This monastery is inhabited by 80 or so men who have dedicated their lives to praying for the world. One of their "ministries" if you will is hospitality. They have retreats available for about 50 people at a time. You are given a room, meals, and all the time and silence you would want. They have church seven times a day, hundreds of acres of wilderness to explore, a library of books to devour and counseling available. Oh yeah, all the other retreatants eager to "talk to somebody" after a day of quiet...

Of all I learned in the "silence" that week, the thing that struck home the greatest to me was the concept of living the moment intensely. One women challenged me, "Don't wait - LIVE today." Amen to that. How many times have I worried myself sick about the future rather than opening my eyes to the beauty of the present? This has been especially challenging for me in the wondering where I will go to school next fall. I want to figure it all out right now. (I've been waiting 4 months to hear from my college of top choice, when I was told it would be about 6 weeks.) So in that sense yes I need to wait and trust God to lead, but I need not "wait to live".

Be challenged in this little reflection, to "live the moment intensely" as Mother Teresa once said.

God's Own Fool

God's Own Fool

It seems I've imagined Him all of my life

As the wisest of all of mankind

But if God's only wisdom is foolish to man

He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad

And the priest said a demons to blame

But God in the form of this angry young man

Could not have seemed perfectly sane

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He become helpless to show we were wrong

So we follow God's own fool

For only the foolish can tell

Believe thee unbelievable, and come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son

For a madman who died for a dream

And you'll have the faith His first followers had

And you'll feel the weight of the beam

So surrender the hunger to say you must know

Have the courage to say, "I believe"

For the power of paradox opens your eyes

And blinds all those who say they can see

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool to open our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

By: Michael Card

Story 2 - Vaction Bible School summer 2010

Gerdua with a group of kids
Joe, the 18 year old, in charge of the 40 six year olds
My craft room
Mrs. Berline's red scarfed kids with those awful glitter banners
Praise the lord!

It haven't been very prompt in sharing on my blog much about this past summer. I will share one more "story" or insight on what it was like for me. This time I will quote from my journal.

Tues. Aug. 11th 2009 (written a week later)
"... That was the last day of VBS. I was rose at 5AM. The generator was already on which means that someone was already up and working. I had time of prayer and scripture on the porch ledge of the guest house. From my perch I could see Fenel already starting the string mower which, Mr. Joe an American had fixed the night before with Fenel and I looked on. He waved real big... "Bonjou". To my left I could see Esta vida, the cook and Enel just starting up the fire for cooking lunch for all those children... they cooked a total of four huge pots that day... then they had all the dishes to wash! Thank God of those who work behind the scenes. Back to my perch, then up trudged Pierre to the guest house with a 4 gallon Culligan bottle of water balanced on his head. I said," Isn't that difficult for you?" in Creole

"Non, dificil for you." he replied.

The day had just begun.

By 8 AM all was prepared for VBS and the church was being filled up with children ages 0-14. All of us leaders and helpers clasped our hands in prayer, asking our Heavenly Father for His favor , protection and wisdom. Then started the regular 30 min. introduction time ...
"Papa Abraham bwa ou pepitit.. with the leaders Degazon, Didy, Philip, Cherline and Annlene all leading up front. Hands in the air, feet off the ground, head scarves waving, all praising the Lord with everything in them. Then it was time to split off into groups... I ran up to the craft room to meet Mrs. Berline and her group of 48 of so red scarfed kids. They had coloring books to color that day. All we needed were little paper books and crayons. What a breather compared to the previouse praise banners with glitter! The red scarves came and went. I had I had a min. to visit the other activity rooms. I poked my head into Ludy's class of 50 kids preparing for the parent's program tomorrow. "Koman ou ye Loudy?"I greeted

"Mama,"she insisted. When I had first arrived she called me baby because I was so young. I called her Mama and it stuck.

"Ok, Mama."

Souvenie was singing with a group of seven and eight year olds; Fenel was feeding his gang crackers; Claude was practicing a skit with part of his group; Philp was leading kids on their hands and knees in the field pushing lids with their nose while Yves was doing a sack race with the other part of Degazon's 56 big kids, then I went down into the baby room at the church, 114 Babies (ages 0-5). Here M. Edy was leading with about six helpers. Somehow everything looked amazingly under control.

Oh. it was time for me to receive another class the ends of my quick peeks. In marched Degazon's crowd of 50 twelve to fourteen year olds. I was happy this last day was an easy craft. Dega. was passing out water. I had Esther, the helper, assist me in passing out crayons. In this class was Haitian-American boy from New Jersey. The day before I had given him a "sermon" about watching out for girls vs. taking advantage of them/experimenting with them. Leaving him the challenge.

"Be a real man"...

"But I AM!" Today we talked about being a Christian ...

Now it was time for Degazon's group to head for the snack room. The other day the snack was popcorn. It had taken three- fourths of a 25 lbs bag of corn cernals to feed all the kids snack." ...

and so the day continued...and the week went... Fullfilling, busy and with much teamwork. During that week of VBS we had a few hundred children come each day. The theme was; 'Make a Joyful Noise' to the Lord. The whole Zion church worked together to make this possible for the children of the community.
My role in the VBS was crafts. I had to plan, gather supplies and lead the crafts.

My friends from America came during that week. There was a team of seven that came. On top of the VBS in the mornings, Aaron (my American friend) lead leadership/ teamwork training for the youth of the church. That in its self was a awsome, learning experience.

Moved ! and the story behind our new home

Family building adventures. 2005-2009Our family in 2005.

Laying firm foundation.

House raising party in 2006. Men from the community came to lend helping hands.

First stud wall up!

Daddy and some of my siblings.

Rafters are going up.

Roof raising party. Thanks be to God for all the helpers.

My sisters and I in the future living room/ dining / kitchen area. We are leaning against beams from world war 2 barracks.

The skeleton of a home.

Our home completed!!! (The white buckets were for collecting rain water for the garden)

My Father built a cabin in the woods.

Jonathan at the pump.

The barn. View from computer.

"Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4 This was the beginning of the New Testament reading this morning at Church. My family especially has reason to rejoice in the Lord in this Advent season because we've moved into our long awaited home. We've been building it for four years.

"When are you all planning to move?" was a frequently asked question.

"By Christmas - we just don't know which year." was our joke, after it became apparent we weren't moving anytime soon.

"What is the story behind the house?" you may ask.

It began in year 2004. My uncle, aunt and four cousins moved in with us at the homestead "on the creek". ( In our area in Kentucky, we have ridges and creeks. If you have to drive up a big hill to get to your home you live "on the ridge" and if you can see hills around you I think you've found yourself in the "creek".) So Daddy, Mama, uncle, aunt and ten kids aging - 14,13,10,9, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 all lived in our one bathroom house for nine months. (Hey, it was like a big party for the kids.) Let's skip some details. It was decided that Papa would build my family a house in the back field (we had 4 acres) and my uncle would buy our house. But Grandpa heard about our plans and through his generosity and God's providence we were able to purchase a 15 acres piece of land.

The land had a little white house in which an elderly women lived in (which she had rights to until she died), two large barns falling down, an enormous amount of trash (Why send your trash to the dump if you can throw it over the hill?), an overgrown field and acres of woods. In the years that followed Daddy led in the development of the land ( cleaning up trash, putting in a driveway , clearing the fields, putting up fences, trimming trees, cultivating gardens, etc. ); fixing up the barns; building a cabin; planning and designing our house; developing two springs; and building our home. Not an easy job.

We sold our old home, shop and four acres to a home school family. Then we were able to pay back the money we had borrowed from Grandpa and build debt free.

On June 19th 2008, my family moved into the guest cabin Daddy and Ethan built in the woods. This cabin was complete with a bay window, wood flooring, faucet less sink, wood cook stove and back porch overlooking the ravine. What made the cabin unique for my family was the lack of electricity and running water. All the water we used for the family was pumped at the red hand pump outside the cabin. For cooking, washing dishes, baths, laundary, we learned to conserve water really well! As in: -"I think you can wear that shirt another day." We also learned how to live and work together in a tighter area. Let's say some days were better than others.

After a year and a half in the cabin, my father had finished the house and we eagerly bustled out of the cabin and into our beautiful new home. It looks as if we abandoned the cabin ! We took what we needed and left . One of these days we'll have to go clean out the cabin :)

Now we are in the house, just before Christmas year 2009. Thank you Lord for your provision in materials, time for building, friends and family who helped and grace to live one day at a time.

Parables

This morning, in Discipleship Class, I was introduced to an intriguing thought. This was in a subject I never had put much thought into - parables.

"Why parables?" You may ask, "Aren't those stories Jesus used when teaching?"

"Yes, exactly. Jesus taught in parables. And if Jesus used this method it must be a very good one."

" Yes, but that was a long time ago. We now live in an era of cell phones, Internet, facebook, science, ..."

" People are people. We all have that same nature. Those in Jesus' time(like us) had the need to be loved, need of belong, a self-centered nature. They cried, laughed, thought, and rested. Even before Jesus' time. "

In class, we were reading the story of David and Bathsheba. This is a dark story ... an account of a sin David committed against Bathseba, Uriah, and God. Then we read that David tried to cover up his sin ... This causes more consequences which spilled into the lives of many innocent people. (2 Sam. 11-12)

Next we find, Nathan, a prophet sent by God, spoke to David in a parable."There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.
'The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
'Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

How did David respond?
"David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!" (2 Sam. 12: ?)

"You are that man!" Nathan replied.

"Why did Nathan speak in a parable? Why did Jesus speak in parables?"

...The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' (Matt. 13: ?)

Jesus said, "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand."

Parables are a way in which one reaches past a person's self-defence/ that feeling in which you have to defend yourself . "This is 'why' I'm O.K!"

What if Nathan had told King David, "You are a sinner worthy of death. You committed adultery with Uriah's wife, then committed murder against Uriah ..."? King David may have had Nathan's head chopped off. Do you think the people would have listened to Jesus? The Word tells us that the people's hearts where calloused. What callouses our hearts? Sin?

Fr. Bob brought forth the intriguing thought that we as Christian should also learn how to "speak in parables" in evangelism. Think about Jesus... OK. I'm stuck in this thought. I know what I'm thinking but just how to write that is a challenge. I found a article on http://www.internetevangelismday.com/ which so beautifully portrays what I am trying to share.

The Parable of Parable

Why stories communicate

"Once upon a time, Truth went about the streets as naked as the day he was born. As a result, no-one would let him into their homes. Whenever people caught sight of him, they turned away and fled. One day when Truth was sadly wandering about, he came upon Parable. Now, Parable was dressed in splendid clothes of beautiful colors. And Parable, seeing Truth, said, "Tell me, neighbor, what makes you look so sad?" Truth replied bitterly, "Ah, brother, things are bad. Very bad. I'm old, very old, and no-one wants to acknowledge me. No-one wants anything to do with me."

Hearing that, Parable said, "People don't run away from you because you're old. I too am old. Very old. But the older I get, the better people like me. I'll tell you a secret: Everyone like things disguised and prettied up a bit. Let me lend you some splendid clothes like mine, and you'll see that the very people who pushed you aside will invite you into their homes and be glad of your company."

Truth took parable's advice and put on the borrowed clothes. And from that time on, Truth and Parable have gone hand in hand together and everyone loves them. They make a happy pair."

Yiddish Folktales, Pantheon Books, New York, edited by Beatice Silverian Weinreich, ISBN: 0805210903

The Example of Jesus

"Jesus was not a theologian; He was God who told stories" - Madeleine L'Engle

We can use parable, as Jesus kid to illustrate the truth by pointing to meanings in books and films and everyday life. It is also very close to the concept of redemptive analogy.

Sermon illustrations are essential to clear communication and are very close to parable. "A sermon without illustrations is like a room without windows." (CH Spurgeon)

The word gospel is a direct translation of evangelion in the New Testament, though many modern translations use the equally valid good news. Interestingly, the word gospel comes from the Old English godspel which also means good story. One thing that makes us human is our imagination, the ability to visualize a narrative which we cannot see, whether past, present or future, fact or fiction. We are hardwired to create and understand 'story', even from a very early age.

"Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: 'I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.'" ( Matt. 13:4-5)

As we read the four gospels, we see that Jesus never used scripture as a starting point except in the synagogue. He always used stories about everyday things. Perhaps surprisingly, it is never recorded that He even used a short narrative story from what we now call the Old Testament.

Note how universal this principal is: TV adverts tell a short narrative story in order to be memorable. Even a humor cartoon usually contains the snapshot of a short story.

Jesus was a Storyteller!

Why is storytelling so important for world mission? Here are some reasons, collected by Jim Bowman, Directoe of Scripture in Use:

• Over two thirds of the world population receive most of their information orally;
• For over one third of the world population, oral communication is the only source of information;
• 95% of women in the Islamic world can only be reached through oral comm.
• Over 75% of the Bible consists of stories

etc.

A surprisingly large number of people even in the West do not receive most of their information through the printed page. This subject of oral evangelism is very relevant even for evangelism in the West.

www.internetevangelismday.com/parable.php

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