Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Friends!

We're so grateful for this year.  The highlight was the gift of a summer sabbatical.  Over the three month break, we spent time at HoneyRock in Wisconsin, drove and camped across the country, and slowed way, way down on the beach in Nicaragua.  

We'd love to share some pictures with you. 

June at HoneyRock: sabbatical thoughts :: june

July Road Trip: sabbatical :: july

Augusto en Nicaragua:  sabbatical :: august

Sienna is growing up, devours books, plays soccer, and has a pet rabbit named Trufflehunter.

Isaiah is strong, has been off chemo for over a year, and is gearing up for baseball.

Matthias is learning new words every day and occasionally pauses from his passionate pursuit of large-scale demolition.

May the grace of God and the hope of Resurrection fill your hearts and homes in 2012.

Love, Nathan & Carmen 

 

At La Vida Education in San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua

More Than a Little Disturbed

Magi from the east declare, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

"When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him."  (Matthew 2)

Why was Jerusalem disturbed?  What had they to lose?

Herod feared for his throne.  But the people?  Why weren't they celebrating the arrival of the Deliverer long-awaited, the Savior promised by prophets?  Why were they troubled?

Because they had grown comfortable.  And they feared the disturbance of their comfort.

John Chrysostom (4th Century) wrote this:
Although troubled, they nevertheless did not try to understand what was happening.  They did not follow the wise men or even take any particular notice.  To this extent were they both contentious and careless.


Contentious and careless.

They chose annoyance over adoration.  Disdain over devotion.

Don't disrupt the status quo, Jesus.  We like it as it is.  We prefer bondage to a police state which tells us what to think/buy/feel.  Don't mess with our comfort, Jesus.

Worship is too high a price to pay for freedom.

Learn to Slow Time this Christmas

There probably isn’t a week in the year that’s more important to make time for God than the week before Christmas.  After all, this is the week we celebrate God coming to “be with us.” 

And yet there probably isn’t a week in the year that’s more difficult to find time for God. 

In her book, One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voscamp puts it this way, “God gives us time.  And who has time for God?  Which makes no sense.”

This Sunday I’ll teach our community how to have more time.  This is not a time management sermon, it’s a spirituality of time sermon.  I’ll talk about the element of time we cannot control (no matter how hard we try) and the one part we can.  I’ll share a Biblical view of the relationship between the significance of time and the significance of things.  And I’ll share several practical ideas for slowing down time in your life this week, one of which we’ll practice together.   

You need to be at Emmaus Church in Lincoln this Sunday.  In fact, you don’t have time to miss it.  

Grandma D

What would be a good day to die
(if you could choose these sorts of things)?

You might die on a Tuesday
Under August's sun
At summer's blurry end.

Marching time would kick-up the dust and
We'd remember it was warm
That day when the phone rang -
Sweaty hands -
Light on the floor beneath our feet.
We'd forget the day like words that
Sting then fly away.

Or, you could die on Thanksgiving Morning
Your place already set
At the table near rolls still rising.

Everyone gathered for the feast to come
With grateful hearts
Plates high with hope
We'd cheer for Resurrection
Savor life more slowly this time
Listen to the children playing castles of deliverance
Brides pursued and rescued home and welcomed to the banquet.

Grandma D
9/15/1922 - 11/24/2011

Am I Thankful?

It’s remarkable: the power of gratitude.  

Being thankful – full of thanks – can change just about anything.  From the way we eat, to the way we work, to the way we die, so much of life comes down to this question, “Are you thankful?”

Try this: go through the day thanking everyone you talk to for something. 

Or try this: before you fall asleep, thank God for 10 things. 

In her book, One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voscamp argues eloquently that grace leads to gratitude and gratitude leads to joy. 

God is graceful.

But I’m not often joyful.

Perhaps Ann is right (and Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life, before her, and The Apostle Paul long before her): maybe the secret to finding true joy is choosing to give thanks.

Our community will be focusing on gratitude during this Advent season.  I’ll teach through a new series called “Thank You Jesus.”  Titles include, “The Thankful Live,” “Thankful When it All Falls Apart,” and “The Thankful Have More Time.” 

You’re invited to join us for church in Lincoln, CA any Sunday, but especially for our Christmas Morning gathering at 10 a.m. at Foskett Ranch Elementary School in Lincoln. 

Have a thankful, joyful Christmas.

Godin

I read three Seth Godin books this summer, including Tribes (which I read for the third time).  Seth is definitely in my head.  No one I'm reading is provoking me to think as much as Seth.  And even more importantly, no one is provoking me to act as much as Seth.

Poke the Box served as the catalyst for two new ideas, both of which I'm actively pursuing.

And Linchpin is golden, clarifying, must read material for anyone interested in doing work that matters (which is the only work that will be rewarded, according to Godin, in the new/present economy).  Many of Godin's core values, though presented in the contexts of business and art, resonates clearly with a Biblical worldview.

I found myself applying the book both to myself, as well as to my staff team, and, as a result of reading the book, am even more resolved to create and lead effective, creative, lasting, and truly valuable human connections.

Here's the matrix we'll use as we build our staff team over the next seven years.  Much of this was directly inspired by Godin's Linchpin.

//
Build around Staff who Create Value.

We will hire and build around those with responsibility as a primary strength.  They will take ownership beyond their immediate ministry area and thrive on making improvements.   They will act swiftly and freely to solve problems. 

Their passion for transformed lives and communities will drive them.  Creativity and freedom will characterize their work.  They will willingly try new methods, even if they require more effort, because of their love for people.  They will let go of what isn’t working, grateful for the lessons that come from “failures.”

Beyond this, they will increasingly create value in the community by initiating and developing strong relational connections others.  Ministry, for our staff, will be a personal, not merely professional commitment.

blessed to bless

On Sunday morning I experienced one of the most powerful moments in my 7+ years of pastoral ministry at Emmaus: I got to represent Christ and speak words of blessing over some of the outstanding men of our community.

While each blessing was unique, and while each wife and child we named has their own story, this was the core of what I was led to pray over each man:

"I anoint you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to fulfill the ministry God has given to you: to be a Christian husband/father/son.

May you receive the blessing of God to be a blessing to your home.  

May you willingly sacrifice for your family:

May you intentionally speak words of blessing and affirmation over your family: 

And may you faithfully pray for your family:

May you take ownership of your household.

May you fight for those God has entrusted to you. 

May you be a good shepherd.  

In Christ's Name,

Amen."

sabbatical :: august

We spent the third and final month of our sabbatical in Nicaragua.  This was the month when life really slowed down.  This was the place where we discovered a whole new depth of stillness.  It was here - with the quiet pre-dawn risings, the warm early mornings,  the clear, wild ocean, and the cleansing evening rains - that we prayed long, slept deep, and laughed and laughed.  We tasted new flavors, explored new places, read good books, and played.

We played.  

We didn't systematically work through the pain of the past, as we planned.  But healing welled up within as the five of us swam in the ocean, chased sand crabs, and spent day after slow long day together.  

And we feel full.  We feel quiet inside.  An old stillness long pushed aside by urgency and sadness returned and made itself comfortable again.  

We're really, really thankful.  And we're super excited to begin another long season of sharing life and discovering Jesus with our community at Emmaus.   

a prayer for this point of the journey

Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;  then I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
Renew my life according to your word.
Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.

- The 119th Psalm, verses 33-38

Sabbath Well

Sabbath is a gift.  You receive it.  You don't earn it or work it.  You just receive it and embrace it.


Unless you don't.  Unless you just miss it.


Whether it's an every-seven-year sabbatical or an every-seven-day sabbath, there's a choice that must be made with passionate intention: it's the choice to receive and hold the gift.


I wrote this as the sun rose on Playa de Coco in Nicaragua with just over two weeks of our sabbatical remaining.  I hope it challenges and encourages you to pay attention and take in the fullness of this day.


Peace.




A Thought on Sabbatical


When you actively plan something for more than a year...
When those you care about most are giving, sacrificing, taking-on extra responsibility to enable you to rest...
When your children are growing up - rapidly! - before your very eyes...
When there's a back-log of important conversations - and just the experience of conversing - that needs to happen with your wife...
When you know - you can't ever really forget it - that the swift pace of crowded days and all the demands of your regular work and schedule are awaiting your return...


...there's a sharp sense that
    you better get this right,
    you better receive the fullness of this gift,
    you better seize every moment and be present to the life given in every experience,
    you better hear God's voice - not to preach it - but for your own soul,
    you better breathe deep, 
                     look hard,
                     think clearly,
                     pray,
                     love, 


                     love.

sabbatical :: july

In early July we said a teary good-bye to HoneyRock (northern Wisconsin) and embarked on a three-week drive westward.

Here are some of the highlights.  (I'd love to show you about 3000 more pictures, and I know you'd love to see them if you just had time, but...)


The Badlands in South Dakota.  Isaiah loved this place.  Something like 85% of the dinosaur bones found the the US were found here.  But we didn't find any.

In Wyoming we refreshed ourselves in the beautiful, ice-cold, and best-named-creek in the country: Crazy Woman Creek.  

No sight of the crazy woman.  

We reached Yellowstone National Park where we camped for 4 or 5 days.  The "park" was massive and breath-taking.  These shots are of Yellowstone River.  

Carm and the big kids getting soaked by the Pink Cone geyser.  

We ate, slept, and escaped from wildly aggressive mosquitos here.

 

We spent a wonderful afternoon swimming in the Fire Hole River - still in Yellowstone.  Then we made peanut better sandwiches and laughed while Matthias identified each passing vehicle: "Bi-eek"(motorcycle),  "Broom- Broom" (car), (lower voice) "Biiiig Broom-Broom...Whoa!" (truck/motorhome).

It's the simple memories of times like these that we cherish the most.

 Here's Matthy in Montana.

One of my favorite moments of the whole summer was driving through South-Eastern Montana, in the early morning, along the Madison River which was just full of fly fishermen.  I wish I could have captured it with a picture.  It was such a wide and expansive scene.

Carmen in Bandon, OR.

Best camping spot: Cape Blanco, OR.

The kids loved the road trip.  But they really missed their friends and cousins.  They were excited to join the annual Oates family Beach Week in Santa Cruz at month's end.










[Next: August in Nicaragua!]