Your Apron Ministry

Susanna Wesley, the mother of twelve children, took her relationship with God seriously. Early in her life, she vowed that she would never spend more time on leisure entertainment than she did in prayer and Bible study. Even amid the most complex and busy years of her life as a mother, she still scheduled two hours each day for fellowship with God and time in His Word, and she adhered to that schedule faithfully. The challenge was finding a place of privacy in a house filled to overflowing with children. Mother Wesley's solution to this was to bring her Bible to her favorite chair and throw her long apron up over her head, forming a sort of

See You at the Pole

I hate gimmicks. When I initially heard about See You at the Pole I thought it was a gimmick to get students to pray at their (public) schools. Over the years, on this day I would sometimes encourage my children to participate by dropping them off extra early and waiting around to see what would happen. Usually, it was nothing.

I've been in this weird place recently and I'm sure a lot of it has to do with my mother's death. I feel irritable and really have no patience for nonsense; if this was the case before, it's worse now. Life is precious and it's too short to waste on foolishness. I'm irritable because I think they are things that I need to say but struggle with how to say them; how to make them palatable for the hearer. In all of my rantings and ravings (if you wish to call them that) I want to be heard. Perhaps I've been feeling this way with God also, as my prayer time has taken a nosedive. If I do pray these days, it's simply because I'm disciplined. Sometimes discipline carries you when your heart can't. But I also know He's a loving God and understands everything about me. Ironically, it would seem that I should be praying more now, but I'm not.

The Little One said she wanted to participate in Pray at the Pole at her school. So we woke up extra early and got her there. As I was about to drive off, this thought ran through my brain, "I want to pray too!" This thought was in stark contrast to how I've felt recently. So I parked and joined the other students, teachers and parents at the pole.

I needed that time of prayer. My soul was refreshed by hearing the prayers of others, by seeing students of all ages participating, and by simply praying. We prayed in small groups and then ended in a communal prayer. It might have been 10 or 15 minutes but it felt longer based on the refreshment it provided.

So while this still seems gimmicky to me, any opportunity for prayer is one that we should all grab and use often. Pray at the pole, pray at your bedside, pray in your car, pray on the train, pray on your bike, pray anywhere. Don't wait for a day or an event, just pray. Pray by yourself or with others, but pray. Pray for your country, your job, your school, your relationships, your children and their (future spouses), tasks you need to accomplish, for opportunities. Pray for wisdom, understanding, discernment, discretion. Pray when you're happy or sad and anything in between. Just pray.

Never stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 [NLT]

Did you pray today, at the pole or anywhere?

Church Musings

Visiting the first church I ever attended in the Bahamas

In my 40 plus years I have listened to many sermons; sat in many churches; learned a lot and observed a thing or two.
As an icebreaker activity, I was asked how many churches I had attended throughout my life; I came up with eight:

1. Central Gospel Chapel in the Bahamas  (denomination: Brethren)
2. Bethany Gospel Chapel in New York (denomination: Brethren)
3. Northport Baptist Church in NY (denomination: Baptist)
4. Hempstead Assembly of God in NY (denomination: Assembly of God)

Since relocating from NY to CA in 2007,  I have attended four additional churches in that timeframe and became a member of two of those. I'm never sure of the benefits of church membership, but regardless of membership, there are certain things that I like and look forward to in a church.

On any Sunday as I observe people at church, I see families, couples and singles. It's easy to spot the families and couples because they all sit together. Couples may hold hands or place a hand on the other's shoulder. Families with children usually have the children in between with the parents serving as bookends. Sometimes the husband and wife will sit together. If children are dismissed during the service there's a shifting of the seats. Singles sit by themselves or they may come as a group and sit together. Growing up church was a special place, so my mom took the time to ensure we had on our Sunday best. While Jesus said come as you are, we made an effort in how we came. Our hearts, minds, and bodies were prepared for worship. This mentality seems to be on its way out the door today.

I also notice the worship styles of people. There are those that look pious yet tranquil; there are those that look bored and seem to wish to be anywhere but church; there are those that regardless of how the music sounds will go all out with their displays of worship and there are those that are still but are taking it all in.

In all of my church experiences, I especially enjoy a service that encapsulates worship - where it pervades the service instead of it being isolated to a segment of the service. The Worship leader (for lack of a better title) at a prior church would pick songs during the service that meant something special to him. But it wasn't about the song because it almost didn't matter as his love for the Lord shone through in his voice and his face. And if he felt so led he would encourage everyone to participate more and sing with more fervor. I'm sure most wondered what he had! He was contagious in his love for the Lord.

In all church services, there's usually a time for preaching. The pastor/preacher is a vessel to bring God's truth. You can always tell when the Word has hit a spot as there's something in the atmosphere. It may be still but there's rapt attention; it may be loud because of the vocal agreement. No one has to do anything to stir up the atmosphere. What's being said is not trite or contrived.The Lord is speaking and it's magnetic. Some may think that this has something to do with the personality and charisma of the speaker but only to a small extent. God's word convicts; God's word makes you want to do better; God's word changes you; God's word is magnetic, it uplifts; and makes you think and go deeper.

When people are under the ear of God's word, I've also noticed that children may pay more attention, couples choose to forget the argument they had before church, hands reach out to touch, someone may be overcome with emotion and another's hand reaches out to console or offer encouragement. Tissues are passed but no words are shared as each person is convicted.

People want this. Weeks are busy - there's errands to run, jobs to go to, extracurricular activities that pull us in different directions but on a Sunday morning it's as if our souls cry out for a much-needed respite. A time to reconnect with God and each other. A time for children to learn foundational truths.

It's why on any given Sunday, I'd rather be in the presence of the Lord in a church than anywhere else.

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25 [NLT]

How many churches have you attended in your lifetime? What do you like or notice in a church?

The Sounds of Home

Without fail, by 10 o'clock on most nights, my body decides it has had enough for the day and shuts down. If I'm on the couch all of a sudden I am sound asleep. Last night I fell asleep on the couch while watching TV. I kept going in and out of sleep until I finally went to my bed. At some point, before I went into deep REM sleep, I heard the sound of a guitar and beautiful singing accompanying it. I smiled and thought about all the sounds that emanate from a home and what they mean.

As a newlywed, it was just me and my husband enjoying each other's company. I learned he was a movie buff, and so I broadened my horizons and watched a lot of movies. As a newlywed there was the sound of laughter, love, and conversation with the background noise of TV.

Soon after, we had our first child. Now there were the sounds  of a baby - crying, pooping, laughing, aahing cooing, interspersed with the sounds of us. Us figuring it out, us talking to each other, and us sleeping. Oh, the joy of sleep. Sleep became more essential and movies took a back seat. But we kept talking and always tried to laugh. The background noise of TV receded for a bit.

More children and more sounds - until my quiver was full.

There's now some constant sounds in my world - Family Radio playing Christian music, the whistle of the kettle daily for a cup of tea, the pages turning as we all read various books, horsing around with Dad on a Friday night; board game battles; the crinkling of a bag to get to a beef patty; the popping sound as we opened the Styrofoam container that contained jerk chicken from our favorite place; the wind chimes on the front door signalling another person has arrived or left; sometimes the slamming of doors (but not often). On Saturdays, there was music - oldies, and Jamaican music played loudly throughout the house. The sound of housework was a constant also - cooking, cleaning, mopping, dusting, organising. These things weren't done in a vacuum, so more talking, and sometimes bickering. TV noise increased again as we would watch movies in my bedroom as a family because that's where the DVD was.  Of course, as we all grew and changed we all produced different sounds - boo hoos, achoos, hmms, uh-ohs, groans, moans, stomps, claps, singing, snoring, shouting, yelling and hahas; always haha. Sometimes we whispered but mostly we were loud. Our love is loud.

Noticeably absent from our lives was the sound of pets - we never had any.

And now I am here - guitar playing and singing. This moment makes me realize that all those sounds brought us here to a point of exploration, growth and creativity.

As I close my eyes, smile and drift off to sleep, I am grateful for the sounds that come from my house today; the sounds that make my house a home.

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.

Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.

How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! Psalms 127:1,3-5 [NLT]

What sounds come from your home?