Wonderings and Wanderings

Today I turned in my devotion for our upcoming Lenten devotional book here at the church.  It is a wonderful treasure of writings and art from members of our church and it is a blessing to read the thoughts and hearts of individuals that often don’t get the opportunity to share.

My devotion was based on the John 12:1-11 passage where Jesus is anointed with expensive oils by Mary, Lazarus’s sister.

Growing up, my sister and I had your normal sibling love/hate relationship.  I can remember some fun times and I remember some passionate fights but when she left for college, our friendship blossomed and two years later when I followed her to college, we roomed together.  We often made trips to Springfield, Missouri, for some “culture” and that included shopping.  On one trip to Battlefield Mall, we walked past a store of paintings and prints and I was struck by one displayed in the window.  It was a large print of a painting titled Reflections by Lee Teter of a man leaning against the Vietnam Memorial with soldier images reflected from inside “The Wall”.  I fell in love with the print immediately and went in to see how much it cost.  It was $60.  It might as well have been $600 to this poor college student.

Several months later on my nineteenth birthday, I unwrapped the gift from my sister – still a college student herself.  It was the print.  I was in shock.  What an extravagant gift for her to give to me! Especially when I could be such a brat of a sister. It is one of the few gifts that I’ve ever cried over – not because of how much it cost (which I felt bad about) but because I knew she loved me.  She really loved me!

Mary loved Jesus.  She really loved Him.  So much so that she broke the alabaster jar and poured onto the feet of Jesus her most extravagant gift.  The disciples were shocked at the waste of such expensive oils but they missed the point.  This was a sacred moment with Jesus. Mary realized it. Mary sensed it.  And Mary responded giving all that she had – the precious oils and herself – in love to Christ. 

My sister broke the alabaster jar and gave me a cherished print – and her love.  Today, that print hangs in my living room in a prominent place.  When I look at it, I am moved not only by the story in the painting but by the story behind the painting as well.

What is in your alabaster jar?  What is in mine?  What is the most extravagant and sacrificial gift we can present to Jesus on this journey to the Cross to show our love for Him and Him alone?

Two weeks ago the weekly high school small group (we call them c-groups) that meets in my home multiplied into two groups.  We had 12-14 kids coming consistently and it was too large for a small group.  Not everyone could be heard. It was difficult to get through a lesson, etc.  We had talked for quite awhile that we would need to multiply one day when our group was large enough and strong enough.  And the day came.  We planted a new c-group on Monday nights with two youth stepping up to co-lead it.  It is so awesome!  I love to see that happen even when I’m sad about not seeing certain kids every week at my house. But it is a good thing because more youth will be reached this way.

As a result, last night I had my first c-group at my house that was all guys.  Me and five guys.  We played Wii for awhile than got to our small group share time.  Answering irrelevant questions, etc.  As the rest of the lesson progressed, it was interrupted on occasion with farts.  At first there was some attempt to disguise them or to at least pretend it was some weird noise like a chair creaking or a shoe sliding on the table.  But after awhile, the level of comfort was completely there and rather than that being expressed in answers to questions, it was expressing through farting.

The highlight: We gather in our circle, arms across shoulders and as I close the prayer, ……  yep, you guessed it.  A musical AMEN escaped from one of the members.

We wondered if Jesus and the disciples ever had these kind of gatherings around fires or on boats or in places where they stayed on their travels.  We agreed that where two or three guys are gathered ….

My 4-year-old nephew and I were hanging out at church before service ended.  A friend said, “Aunt Moe would do anything for you, Blake.”

I said, “That’s right. Blake – if you want the moon, I’d get it for you.” 

Blake says, “What moon?”

I said, “The moon in the sky.  Do you think Aunt Moe would get you the moon if you wanted it?”

Blake nodded yes.  “But we will have to build a really, really big ladder.  I have wood at my house.”

We need to dream like children. Nothing is impossible.

It has been awhile since I’ve posted.  Many have been coming to my site through searches for Margaret Romph.  For up-to-date information on Margaret’s progress, please go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/margaretromph.  Her family greatly appreciates all prayers and words of encouragement.

The first month of 2009 is wrapping up this weekend. It has been a good month with lots of progress and much to do.  Most of my time is work/ministry related. We are gearing up for three international mission trips this summer and this month has been informational meetings and nailing down as many details as possible.  Trips to Kenya, Lithuania and Dominican Republic will all be in June and I’ll be hitting two of three – Kenya and Lithuania.  I cannot wait to return and introduce new people to these incredible places and people. We have some great partnerships in these places and we are blessed from them.

I also preached this past Sunday – something I always enjoy. I preached on I Kings 3:16-28 – the story of King Solomon and the two mothers.  I wanted to pay particular attention to the grieving mom whose son died.  There are important lessons to learn from her about the effect of pain in our lives and how we react as a result of that pain.  It was a long desire of mine to give voice to her pain which is largely ignored as the focus goes to the account of Solomon’s wisdom.  You can listen to the sermon here.

In other news – I have a new work laptop which I LOVE!! So fast. So clean.

On Friday evening, one of my youth girls, Erin, was involved in a car accident – along with her grandma and her little sister, Margaret.  Erin broke her hand in the wreck and her grandma has some bruising from the seatbelt and I’m sure both are quite sore today from the impact.  Along with these physical injuries, they are hurting emotionally.  Margaret, who is just 5 years old, is in very critical condition.

She was life-flighted from the wreck  and suffered brain trauma, a broken neck, two broken femurs, and serious lung issues.  Friday night and today have been very long days and they did not give the family much hope. But we have seen small but miraculous progress today.  Margaret is still in critical condition and there are many things unknown.  But she is still with us and she is a fighter and has ten-times more spunk than most of us.  She is the little angel with the tilted halo, the pink cowboy boots, and the mischievious grin that you live to see.

You can read updates about her progress here.

Please pray:

• For little Margaret and her healing.
• For Erin as she deals with the accident.
• For the Romph family for strength, peace, and wisdom hour by hour.
• For the staff at University Hospital as they care for Margaret.

May God be glorified in and through all things.

1.  Letter from my sponsored child in Kenya.

2.  Letter from my sponsored child in Rwanda.

3.  Packet from the America World Adoption organization.

4.  The water bill.  (not so exciting but small so that is good.)

Just interesting to have such diversity in my mailbox related to children around the world.  A great way to start off 2009!  I’ve sponsored a boy in Rwanda for a few years now.  His name is Sylvain and he is a handsome young man.  I haven’t had a lot of personal communication with him but as he gets older and he is able to better communicate, I am sure that will change.  In the meantime, I send cards and special mailings that World Vision sends to me to personalize and send to Sylvain.  I wish there was a way to help more children that are suffering in Rwanda but at least I’m making a difference to Sylvain.  The community that Sylvain is in has suffered food shortages due to the financial crisis.  You can make a difference as well by checking out World Vision.

The other boy I sponsor is Kelvin from Kenya.  I’ve just been his sponsor for a few months.  I had the opportunity to visit Kenya in October and will be returning a few times in the next few years.  I thought it would be meaningful to sponsor a child in that region since I would have the opportunity to visit him in the future. Plus, I met such wonderful children and people while I was there it is meaningful to know that I’m helping another child and his family.  I received my very first letter from Kelvin today.  He is very young and so he drew some great pictures at the top while the World Vision project leader wrote the letter for him.  I look forward to getting to know Kelvin over the next several years.

I’ve had some friends who have recently adopted children from around the world.  I’ve been praying about whether this will be something I do in the future.  I’m not married and don’t know that I will be.  I’ve never been certain about whether I want to be a mom or not.  But as I get older, I need to spend some time praying and thinking about this.  I’m not planning anything right away but I need to be investigating, saving, and praying if I decide to in the future.  So, I have a thick packet of information to read and look through.

And the water bill…well nothing exciting there other than you know that at least I bathe.

One of my former youth (graduated last year) made me this special Christmas video.  I love it!!  She put a lot of time into finding pictures (and she was fairly kind) and also my favorite song!!  I love thoughtful gifts like this and the fact that she put so much time into.  Makes a youth minister feel loved!!