It's Easy, Until it Comes Down to Us

It's strange, almost, how easy it is to say that something is a good idea, so long as we don't have to be the ones to carry it out. It's easy to see a person who is homeless and think that someone ought to do something. It is harder to pack an extra sandwich for them, and harder still to actually give that sandwich away.

I've been there. I've hesitated those few seconds too long and watched the moment slip away forever. I've known that there were things that I was supposed to do, and I've crossed over to the other side of the road -- sometimes literally -- in order to avoid doing them. And, just like all of us, I've wondered later, "What if?"

"How would things be different now?"

If I can help it, I don't want to see my "kids" from church make those same mistakes.

I know, in the part of my being that hears the soft whisper of the Spirit and knows things before they have even been said, that there are people who are supposed to be a part of the Focus Month that starts in two weeks.

In some cases, I could list them off for you by name. (But, I won't)

Me knowing who they are, isn't going to be what convinces them to join in.

Only God can do that. Only God can make it clear that the answer to the enemy's Chaos is to do something so absurdly deliberate that it can not be mistaken for anything else. Only God can bring the conviction that doing this isn't only for their own sakes but also for the sakes of their friends, who desperately need to see the Kingdom lived out in a tangible way.

Only God can bring parents and students alike to the point where they decide that Justice is greater than their fear of rocking the boat.

And, only God can send the quiet whisper that says to follow and direct us on a path that avoids the question of, "What if?"

"Then...your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard...and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In."
Isaiah chapter 58

Come Drink Chai

Just in case I skipped over anyone in my emailing and facebooking, here's an open invitation:

All are welcome to stop by the MacFarlan house from 6:30 to 7:30pm, this Friday evening for Kenyan style chai and American style cookies.

Now that I have shamelessly bribed you with food, you should know that we will be discussing the Focus Month (what else?) and giving people a chance to ask all of those naggy questions that pop up at the thought of letting their child do something for a month, during the school year.

If you (or a student related to you) have any interest in the Focus Month -- either now, or at some future, less inconvenient, date -- I would encourage you to come, meet with others who might be interested, and relax for a little bit before you head off to the Sausage Fest.

Hope to see you there!

Cluster Kick-Off

I've said it on Facebook, but it's worth reiterating here. I am rather (very) fond of high schoolers... and middle schoolers, and elementary schoolers for that matter. But, seeing as I spent twelve hours with a group of them yesterday, we'll stick with high schoolers for the moment.

Those kids voluntarily paid money to wake up early on a Saturday and spend the day doing manual labor -- everything from digging trenches and shoveling rock to pulling weeds and painting skate ramps. I'm not sure of the final numbers, but we made food for seventy people, leaders included, which probably means that something just under half of the kids who are involved in youth group showed up for the event.

Being as I have seemingly taken up the role of "that one person who looks too old to be a student but too young to fit in with the other leaders," I got to hang out with them all day doing yard work at a center for the blind, setting up chairs for the all-church tailgate party, and timing lots of trips up the rock wall at CBRC after all of the work was done.

All those years of working at camp and teaching Sunday school are proving to be useful, in that, even though I've been gone for all but four months of the last three years, I'm not a total stranger to most of the youth group...which makes the whole randomly-showing-up-at-youth-group-events thing much less awkward. Now I just have to pretend to be a responsible adult!

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Tri-Town

The verdict is in -- not that it was ever actually out -- but, quirky as this place is (Yes, those are peace signs painted on the stump of an old tree...someone's half-hearted attempt at a protest, perhaps?), I do love the people who live here.

The sky doesn't hurt anything either. After living in Minnesota, where looking up means seeing tree branches, it's nice to be back in a place where the sky is so big that the clouds feel like you could reach up a poke them and overcast days seem like they are coming down to crush the earth like a giant flat iron; where you can look up in the afternoon and literally see nothing but blue, and where sunsets come in every color you could imagine.



I'm sure that there will be more than enough biting down on my tongue over the next year. After all, if I'm considered to be one of the liberal, hippy ones at a school that isn't super politically conservative... Eastern Washington could be an adventure.

But, there will also be plenty of teaching 4th and 5th grade Sunday School, plenty of being a high school leader on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, plenty of church childcare, and plenty of helping my sisters --and sisters' friends -- with home work to make up for the tongue biting. And, of course, plenty of stubbornly pushing people towards the type of Justice that characterizes the Kingdom of God.