Be the Change

Our Senior High mission trip to Baker, LA and Vacation Bible School made for a busy couple of weeks. At the very least, they certainly didn't feel like normal weeks. I don't know that I really care for normal weeks very much anyway. That's probably not what God is looking for from us either.

For our mission trip, we joined about 2500 students and adults from the Central Texas Conference to spread out all over Louisiana and Mississippi. There were a lot of tools, equipment, and stuff packed into church vans and trailers rolling down the highways. We setup places to sleep, eat, worship, and play together. We rolled out to people's houses to do work that needed to be done. We made new relationships with people from other churches, other states, and got to know the people who we served.

There were people in our group that got a new understanding of following God's call. My prayers and hopes are that those changes keep going. A key part of what Jesus teaches us is that there is a new life ready for us all the time, no matter what our past has been. I count on that for myself and everyone that is a part of my life.

Vacation Bible School takes more hours to setup and prepare for than the time that kids are actually here for. That doesn't mean that all the extra time doesn't count. In fact, I think it may mean more to the people who are doing the work. Preparing the way was another big theme that Jesus talked about. Living a life of faith and service doesn't just happen. It takes effort and it takes lots of it. It takes time, too. I think everyone that was a part of VBS was glad to be a part of it.

John talked Sunday about the fact that we are called to make a difference. He reminded us that we are not here to enforce the rules, but we are called to share the message. If we are open and say, "Lord, I'd like to, but I don't know how," He will show us.

Following Christ can be tough, but we are not alone. We have each other and that lightens the load. What I said about our mission trip can be applied to VBS as well. "It wasn't an easy week, but it was a good week."

Keep looking for what God has for you to do. You will find it in scripture, if your eyes see it. You will hear it your prayers, if your ears will hear it. If that doesn't point you in the right direction, pay attention to what is going on here at church. Follow the busy people. There is good stuff happening.

Be Blessed!
Michael

Mission Trips

Back in the fall of the year 2000, I was asked to go on a mission trip with my daughter's youth group at Ennis FUMC. I was asked because someone knew I had done some construction work in the past. Well, I had been a trim carpenter and cabinetmaker for quite a few years as well as doing various remodeling and countertop work. I had held several management positions for various manufacturing companies but keep coming back to work in which I was physically part of building something. At the time I was self-employed, striking a balance between management consultation, technical drafting, and running a small shop. I figured I could take whatever time I needed, and so I said yes.

That trip the next summer changed my understanding of how faith can work. I was pretty new to finding what I would call real faith or my own true faith. For the first time, I was actively pursuing my relationship with God and seeking His will and plan for my life. Following God can take you different directions pretty quickly. After skipping church that morning to finish up a project, I threw my tools and clothes into a trailer hooked to a church van and then climbed into the driver's seat. Knowing nothing about our destination other than it was somewhere in Oklahoma, I told the other driver, "I'm following you."

I probably had heard all the details of the trip, but was so busy with work that none of it had registered with me. I didn't know we were staying at a church in Sunday School classrooms. I didn't know we were combining with several other churches to make work teams with a bunch of new people. I didn't know we were going to be playing together and sharing worship every night. I didn't know that we were going to do some relatively simple projects that were going to dramatically change the lives for some people. I didn't realize how important what we were doing was going to turn out to be as I drove to Owasso, Oklahoma outside of Tulsa.

By the next year I was our inexperienced new youth minister. In planning the trip, I signed my wife Sherri up just to hold a place for another adult. She was not interested in, and had no intention of going on the trip. Long story short, she went, she loved it, and she has been going every summer since then, trying out roles on a work team, Program Director, Cook, and settling into her calling as a Center Director. Our kids Brooke and Alex have grown up going on these trips and are now moving into leadership roles for them. Between the four of us, including some additional trips to Mexico, this summer will bring us up to 40 weeks of mission trips.

These weeks are not what I would call comfortable. We live with a large group in close quarters. We do work that can be quite challenging. By the end of the week, everyone is usually exhausted. But they are immensely satisfying and I look forward to them every year. Jesus never told us that following Him would be easy. He in fact warned us that it would be difficult and would cost us our lives. But as I told the other driver on that first trip, my desire is to tell Christ, "I'm following You."

Be Blessed!
Michael

Bucket List

There was a movie a couple of years ago with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called "The Bucket List" that I really enjoyed. The basic story is that a couple of guys with terminal illnesses and not much time left make a list of things they would like to do before they die or "kick the bucket." It was funny, sad, inspirational and motivating for many that saw it.

Time began to speed up for me back in high school and, except for a very brief period before the arrival of my second child, has continued to accelerate. Life hasn't slowed down with both kids becoming adults in the last few years, but I have had taken the time to re-visit and re-evaluate some of my big goals and dreams for my life. With that in mind, Sherri and I made bucket lists last week to get a fresh look at things.

Various ideas had been rolling around in my head about which kinds of things to list and what kind of order they should be in. I took about an hour or so one morning to think it through and then spent about 15-20 minutes making my list. Getting something written down has a way of freeing my mind and so later that day I added a few more items and also made a "Done" section. Here I added experiences and accomplishments that would have made the list earlier in my life. Things like: "marry for love," "have great kids," "be in a band," "skydive," etc.

Trying to figure out what to do first pretty much falls in line with how physical the task may be and what the associated costs are. Some trips like: "go to Mt. Everest base camp" and "visit all the continents" or giving such as: "give away a car" or "give away a house" that I'd like to do will require many years of adjusted financial planning to pull off. Others such as "run a marathon" or "do a triathlon" have only required that I turn off the TV and start training. There are a handful of shows I really enjoy, but looking at my list as well as those of others, I didn't see "watch some good TV shows" anywhere. I also didn't notice "spend hours surfing the internet" or "drive at a breakneck pace between too many activities for each member of the family that we're not actually enjoying our time together and also spending a ridiculous amount of money in the process." I'm looking at my list in terms of 5 years, 10 years, 20, 30, and 40 years. That will put me into my early 80's. If I'm done by then, I'll start another list.

As I wrote last week: we all get a day every day, but eventually we run out. God has gifted us with time and a great world and lots of people in our lives. Take some time to make your own list and be sure to add the "Done" section. Talk to people about your list and ask them about theirs. Share ideas and help each other out. Look back favorably on yesterday, enjoy what you do today, and look forward to tomorrow.

Be Blessed!
Michael