Time flies. There is not another thing that is constant but time and how fast it can seem to go. Well that is a bold statement and I know that i would be corrected around here for saying such a general or flippant statement. I love the people around Murlough, and how they help me speak words that are forward and true and I am joked about the literal/figurative or possibilites within each sentence.
It is LATE septemeber. And life is crazy here. John Moxen has now been in the Hospital for almost a month after a minor stroke and problems with his heart. Thoughts of transition and contemplation on the future of this place and leadership have interwoven with continuing about the daily ministry here. It has left a tiring and interesting place where communication comes and goes and leaves it incomplete. I ask for your prayers for John, his heart (literally and figuratively as he longs to further grow Murlough, even at the expense of his body), for Murlough and her vision and movement for Christ.
We all long for clarity and certainty in this word. But we are not promised our next moment let alone the plans down the road. This is a hard thought for us humans to dwell on. But I am planning this! and it will happen! and i will make it happen. I am certain of this. We may say this but it doesnt make it fact, or true. True things remain, and the Bible says there are only three things that remain, Faith, Hope, and LOVE, the greatest is Love. The fact is that none deals with certainty. Love remains, but at its core it is trusting in something that can be uncertain.
Love can go beyond reason and make things that should not be sure, ring true. It is actually an illogical trust in someone or something that defies base reason. When you love and love fully and selflessly it goes beyond circumstance and is not held down by expectations or time constraints or other aspects and obstacles.
Love DOES.
Love IS.
God is love and his love for us is poured out into us and this world. But our fallen and busy and selfish selves distorts things and when we choose one to another the uncertainty can reign. But when Love is, and love is acting above any constraints, it transforms beyond certainty into reality.
Faith is trusting in the unseen and believing in things hoped for. No certainty there. But it transforms so much and permeates all that we do. You have faith that you will not get in an accident on the way to the grocery store or you have faith that THIS time someone will show up on time. But faith as how you live and hold fast to it changes how you interact and gives you an optimistic outlook even in times of uncertainty. Faith in Christ and his Love and Grace transforms so much into who you are and how you interact. It goes beyond the reason of growth or a thought process into who you are.
Trust, a pact in which you enter in where you assume the other party will keep their end of the bargain. Where uncertainty can reign but goodness comes out of allowing all to work out as it will.
These are my thoughts and uncertainty can flood so much and I hate that. But i want to hold fast to the stuff that rings true and firm amidst the uncertainty. I've found none other than Jesus Christ, His love, His Word, and all that comes with believing that I am fallen and selfish and need a savior and Jesus Died for me so that i am experience things beyond this world and the time and uncertainty that come with it.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Quick Update
Hey all!!! I hope your last week or so has found you doing well, possibly adjusting to the fall-ish weather. Or getting into the groove of school or other work as 2010 continues to march on!
My last week has been great. Last tuesday Richie Shilliday came back from his honeymoon with his wife Jen and has helped kickstart things around the Murlough House. Cleaning, and planning and getting the first activities started back in the community here in Dundrum.
Primarily I will be working with Richie, Jen, and the other intern living here at Murlough, Jess at the community drop in center called Crosspoint. I will be growing in relationships with these kids that make it a regular place to visit, hang out and be loved on for who they are.
Most of these Northern Irish are in high school, which if i understand right is about our 7th or 8th grade through 12th. But I could be wrong because I think there are like P7 levels or something. Still getting the hang of it all over here. Especially when they call math, Mazz, still gets me slightly confused :)
So an after school drop in for homework and a kick of the soccer ball one day, and a separate day for guys and girls small groups. I will be helping with the guys on Wednesdays with a bible study/discussion program and then playing soccer with them later in the night. So it will be a Bible and Balls type of day! Cannot imagine much better than that.
The girls have after school stuff on Thursdays and then Friday night is the drop in from 730-late night. Just the availability of a place that is safer and more loving than the cinemas or bars or clubs that can be fun but damaging as well.
SO we get to look out for get to know, and converse with these guys and girls in a consistent manner and look forward to seeing how God moves in their lives. We get to be open and willing to help and love wherever we can. Most of these kids are Catholic so it is a bit different at times but still a great ministry of Christ's love at the forefront since we are "protestant" or Christian, just not cathoic but we are still loving on them without judgement.
Will also look to possibly be involved with a Presbyterian church or baptist church in newcastle from time to time. The goal of Murlough House is also to partner with Churches in the are to help engage the youth and culture of today. Not necessarily modernize but equip and see where the Church can be more effective and active in their realm.
It has been a great week and I am looking forward to the busyness, planning and lesson planning which seems outside my forte at times but still beneficial for my growth and challenging myself. Which is a big part of what all this experience is about.
Praise God for his goodness, his opportunity but most often his LOVE, which transforms everything. I read 1 Corinthians 3 today and i really do love Pauls words on how one should hope the ministry is continued. "What after all is Apollos? And what is Paul? ONLY SERVANTS through whom you came to believe- as the Lord has assigned each his own task. I may have planted, Apollos watered it, but ONLY GOD who makes things Grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have ONE PURPOSE, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. we are fellow workers.
May we each be able to DO our assigned task, to it well, with Christ's love over all and God's power carrying it to fruition, to accomplish HIS will.
My last week has been great. Last tuesday Richie Shilliday came back from his honeymoon with his wife Jen and has helped kickstart things around the Murlough House. Cleaning, and planning and getting the first activities started back in the community here in Dundrum.
Primarily I will be working with Richie, Jen, and the other intern living here at Murlough, Jess at the community drop in center called Crosspoint. I will be growing in relationships with these kids that make it a regular place to visit, hang out and be loved on for who they are.
Most of these Northern Irish are in high school, which if i understand right is about our 7th or 8th grade through 12th. But I could be wrong because I think there are like P7 levels or something. Still getting the hang of it all over here. Especially when they call math, Mazz, still gets me slightly confused :)
So an after school drop in for homework and a kick of the soccer ball one day, and a separate day for guys and girls small groups. I will be helping with the guys on Wednesdays with a bible study/discussion program and then playing soccer with them later in the night. So it will be a Bible and Balls type of day! Cannot imagine much better than that.
The girls have after school stuff on Thursdays and then Friday night is the drop in from 730-late night. Just the availability of a place that is safer and more loving than the cinemas or bars or clubs that can be fun but damaging as well.
SO we get to look out for get to know, and converse with these guys and girls in a consistent manner and look forward to seeing how God moves in their lives. We get to be open and willing to help and love wherever we can. Most of these kids are Catholic so it is a bit different at times but still a great ministry of Christ's love at the forefront since we are "protestant" or Christian, just not cathoic but we are still loving on them without judgement.
Will also look to possibly be involved with a Presbyterian church or baptist church in newcastle from time to time. The goal of Murlough House is also to partner with Churches in the are to help engage the youth and culture of today. Not necessarily modernize but equip and see where the Church can be more effective and active in their realm.
It has been a great week and I am looking forward to the busyness, planning and lesson planning which seems outside my forte at times but still beneficial for my growth and challenging myself. Which is a big part of what all this experience is about.
Praise God for his goodness, his opportunity but most often his LOVE, which transforms everything. I read 1 Corinthians 3 today and i really do love Pauls words on how one should hope the ministry is continued. "What after all is Apollos? And what is Paul? ONLY SERVANTS through whom you came to believe- as the Lord has assigned each his own task. I may have planted, Apollos watered it, but ONLY GOD who makes things Grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have ONE PURPOSE, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. we are fellow workers.
May we each be able to DO our assigned task, to it well, with Christ's love over all and God's power carrying it to fruition, to accomplish HIS will.
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