Update on some cool stuff

Several months ago I blogged about my sister in law and friend who were beginning an after school program for a low income housing area near them. It's official "BLOC 25" begins in two weeks. Please pray for them as they help bring God's Kingdom to earth as they love on kids who desperately need it.

And...I just heard from John McBride, Sr. that a group of teens are going to minister at Second Harvest Food Bank this Saturday from 9-12. If you're interested and need details, give John a call at 330.779.0868.

The other cool thing I heard this week is that there is a family at New Hope that gave two large sums of money to two other New Hope families this week that needed it. I happened to talk to one of the recipients today and the gift was UNBELIEVABLY timely. How cool!

I bring all this up to say that I believe God is at work. I see it. I feel it. We are invited to take part or watch from the sidelines...

How versus Why

I was talking with a couple New Hope women not too long ago. Both of them have grown children. They were reminding me again how quickly time flies. My girls are 12 and 14, so I know how quickly 14 years can fly by. They were saying to me what I say to a young mom who has children in diapers...keep watching because before you know it they'll be past all the little songs, past the potty training, past the princess dresses...

So..fast-forward a few days...Today I started listening to the audio version of Through Painted Deserts, by Donald Miller (also the author of Blue like Jazz). So far I love the book. It contains a few of my favorite things: friendship, traveling, and a Volkswagen bus. I didn't actually get very far in the book, but there was a line I heard that just keeps ringing in my ears. He asks the question, "is my 'how' validated by my 'why'?"

He says oftentimes people go through life trying to figure out the 'how'. How will I get a better job? How will I purchase my home? How will I get the stuff I want? Sometimes the better question is 'why'?

So, as I've been going through this day, I've been asking myself if my 'how' is validated by my 'why'. It's been interesting....Today it is helping me see God in everything. It is helping me see that ultimately life is about relationships. For me, there is no 'why' to point back to apart from God.

Let's face it, we can't all experience magical moments every second of every day, but there is something about lining your activity up with your why that seems to give even the mundane (like driving kids to volleyball practice) new meaning.

Irresistible Revolution Discussion

Ok, so here's a cool thing. New Hope ordered 37 copies of Irresistible Revolution by Shane Clairborne - a book that gracefully challenges the 'christian status quo'. I looked on the back table this morning and there are only about 5 copies of the book and 1 copy left of the audio version. Looks like New Hopers are reading it.

Here's what I'm wondering...Irresistible Revolution TOTALLY lends itself to discussion. I'm looking for the best way to facilitate that discussion. I've created a New Hope Community Group on Facebook. If you don't have a facebook account, you can EASILY get one. Just go to their website. We could use that group as a venue for discussion.

Who would be interested in some discussion via the web?