next-thinking
My Lighthouse -- A symbol of faithfulness
March 27, 2014
I decided to try another song-related blog post. For those of you who didn't know, that's where "Off With Your Sandals" all got started. Just little me getting real about what Jesus means to me and reflecting on songs that have pointed me towards some great truths.
I am getting married in 24 days. Unreal. Truly, the joys and blessings leading up to this celebration have certainly made for the most beautiful, exciting season of my life so far (by far).
And yet, to be honest, leading up to our wedding has been a bit of a disorienting time for me because of the life-altering changes which are imminent in a time like this. Don't get me wrong-- I could not be more thrilled and truly blessed that the man I am marrying is 'in it' for the long haul with me. But, really, what will that look like? How much does that change other relationships? What ugly thing will it bring out in me that will be exposed to someone whose opinion matters so much to me? Well, that's the beauty of it, we're promising to be there throughout it all, no matter what comes our way, together.
More truth? We don't really know how to do that yet. Y'know, the 'being in it no matter what' thing. I know I'll be bad at it sometimes. Other times maybe it will feel like it comes (super)naturally. Mostly, I think we'll just look at each other in life's different seasons and be like "What is going on here?!" and be thankful to have a teammate to go through it with.
All that said, this song came at a really cool season in my life ('My Lighthouse' - Rend Collective). The lyric that pushed me to write this is: "Fire before us, You're the brightest. You will lead us through the storms." Thank God!
We're super-fresh newborn babies in this whole realm/idea of the commitment of marriage, but what we do know is that it's not going to work if we're banking on each other to be the other's anchor or guide or lifeline or compass when we're in the same boat. God's promises, His Word, and gentle leading have gotta handle those roles for us. The good news is, my experiences show me He's got it covered!
FIRE BEFORE US
I like this title for God. We just we reminded at Knox (our church) through The Lord's Prayer (Psalm 23) that it is important to address God by His names. Helps to arrange ourselves in an appropriate posture when addressing El Shaddai -- Commander of Angel Armies, for example. I love when God is called "a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). It's not a flickering flame. That fire is raging and jealous -- in a powerful, not weak-jealous way.
Also, probably not surprisingly, it wasn't a huge stretch to take this image to the "Fire By Night" and think about the practical measure of God's presence, faithfulness and provision for Israel when they were escaping from captivity in Egypt.
Exodus 13:21 (NLT) -- The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them in the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night.
The fire is provided for the purpose of providing light and being a guide. The cloud is a poignant image throughout the Bible of God's holy presence being with His people. I also love how His provision made it possible to travel continuously. It's like God saying "I've got this, just keep moving, keep trusting me as I go ahead of you".
YOU'RE THE BRIGHTEST
When things get crazy, and you're disoriented on the ugly waves of grief, fear, suffering, and a myriad of other troubles... light is a way out. "WHAT SIDE IS UP!?" gets tricky to answer if you can't see anything.
John 8:12 (NLT) -- Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."
There can be other things that provide light, but they don't always lead to life. A focus for me has to be that I rely on God's truth, His Word, to guide my steps. This true light, in our world, is a beacon for others, too, so that when God's presence is found in us (because we just get out of the way), then they can also be encouraged and find solace.
YOU WILL LEAD US THROUGH THE STORMS
Referring to the same first passage about fire, 1 Corinthians 10:1 talks about not forgetting what God did, that He was able to protect God's people and lead them through... the sea! The Israelites had no way to go -- a body of water stood between the land of slavery, which was all they had known, and a new land of freedom and where they could be make a new life.
If he's leading, we've gotta follow. A tall order? Yup!
Matthew 16:24 -- Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Dear Jesus -- thank you for being our guide, for being the truest Light and the truest Love we can depend on to lead us through all the seasons of our lives.
========================================================================
-- M Y ... L I G H T H O U S E --
(Rend Collective)
In my wrestling and in my doubts
In my failures You won't walk out
Your great love will lead me through
You are the peace in my troubled sea
You are the peace in my troubled sea
In the silence, You won't let go
In my questions, Your truth will hold
Your great love will lead me through
You are the peace in my troubled sea
You are the peace in my troubled sea
My Lighthouse, my lighthouse
Shining in the darkness, I will follow You
My Lighthouse, my Lighthouse
I will trust the promise,
You will carry me safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Safe to shore
I won't fear what tomorrow brings
With each morning I'll rise and sing
My God's love will lead me through
You are the peace in my troubled sea
You are the peace in my troubled sea
Fire before us, You're the brightest
You will lead us through the storms
I am getting married in 24 days. Unreal. Truly, the joys and blessings leading up to this celebration have certainly made for the most beautiful, exciting season of my life so far (by far).
And yet, to be honest, leading up to our wedding has been a bit of a disorienting time for me because of the life-altering changes which are imminent in a time like this. Don't get me wrong-- I could not be more thrilled and truly blessed that the man I am marrying is 'in it' for the long haul with me. But, really, what will that look like? How much does that change other relationships? What ugly thing will it bring out in me that will be exposed to someone whose opinion matters so much to me? Well, that's the beauty of it, we're promising to be there throughout it all, no matter what comes our way, together.
More truth? We don't really know how to do that yet. Y'know, the 'being in it no matter what' thing. I know I'll be bad at it sometimes. Other times maybe it will feel like it comes (super)naturally. Mostly, I think we'll just look at each other in life's different seasons and be like "What is going on here?!" and be thankful to have a teammate to go through it with.
All that said, this song came at a really cool season in my life ('My Lighthouse' - Rend Collective). The lyric that pushed me to write this is: "Fire before us, You're the brightest. You will lead us through the storms." Thank God!
We're super-fresh newborn babies in this whole realm/idea of the commitment of marriage, but what we do know is that it's not going to work if we're banking on each other to be the other's anchor or guide or lifeline or compass when we're in the same boat. God's promises, His Word, and gentle leading have gotta handle those roles for us. The good news is, my experiences show me He's got it covered!
FIRE BEFORE US
I like this title for God. We just we reminded at Knox (our church) through The Lord's Prayer (Psalm 23) that it is important to address God by His names. Helps to arrange ourselves in an appropriate posture when addressing El Shaddai -- Commander of Angel Armies, for example. I love when God is called "a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). It's not a flickering flame. That fire is raging and jealous -- in a powerful, not weak-jealous way.
Also, probably not surprisingly, it wasn't a huge stretch to take this image to the "Fire By Night" and think about the practical measure of God's presence, faithfulness and provision for Israel when they were escaping from captivity in Egypt.
Exodus 13:21 (NLT) -- The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them in the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night.
The fire is provided for the purpose of providing light and being a guide. The cloud is a poignant image throughout the Bible of God's holy presence being with His people. I also love how His provision made it possible to travel continuously. It's like God saying "I've got this, just keep moving, keep trusting me as I go ahead of you".
YOU'RE THE BRIGHTEST
When things get crazy, and you're disoriented on the ugly waves of grief, fear, suffering, and a myriad of other troubles... light is a way out. "WHAT SIDE IS UP!?" gets tricky to answer if you can't see anything.
John 8:12 (NLT) -- Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."
There can be other things that provide light, but they don't always lead to life. A focus for me has to be that I rely on God's truth, His Word, to guide my steps. This true light, in our world, is a beacon for others, too, so that when God's presence is found in us (because we just get out of the way), then they can also be encouraged and find solace.
YOU WILL LEAD US THROUGH THE STORMS
Referring to the same first passage about fire, 1 Corinthians 10:1 talks about not forgetting what God did, that He was able to protect God's people and lead them through... the sea! The Israelites had no way to go -- a body of water stood between the land of slavery, which was all they had known, and a new land of freedom and where they could be make a new life.
If he's leading, we've gotta follow. A tall order? Yup!
Matthew 16:24 -- Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
As a team, we will need to always be listening/watching for His leading. Also, may I just say, from what I know of myself already and what I've heard about marriage -- probably, if I could "deny myself" at all, I will be able to better be lead to care for another more than I care to look out for myself!
Dear Jesus -- thank you for being our guide, for being the truest Light and the truest Love we can depend on to lead us through all the seasons of our lives.
========================================================================
-- M Y ... L I G H T H O U S E --
(Rend Collective)
In my wrestling and in my doubts
In my failures You won't walk out
Your great love will lead me through
You are the peace in my troubled sea
You are the peace in my troubled sea
In the silence, You won't let go
In my questions, Your truth will hold
Your great love will lead me through
You are the peace in my troubled sea
You are the peace in my troubled sea
My Lighthouse, my lighthouse
Shining in the darkness, I will follow You
My Lighthouse, my Lighthouse
I will trust the promise,
You will carry me safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Safe to shore
I won't fear what tomorrow brings
With each morning I'll rise and sing
My God's love will lead me through
You are the peace in my troubled sea
You are the peace in my troubled sea
Fire before us, You're the brightest
You will lead us through the storms
dream
October 25, 2012
written Oct 25/2012
A dream is a wish your heart makes
And, oh, does it ache,
And, oh, does it keep you awake,
A dream is a hope your mind creates
Something to which one’s very soul gravitates
But the world complicates
And the foolish wander from, forgetting what’s at stake
No, a dream is not only a dream
It is rooted in stories of need
It’s a vision for overcoming the norm of greed
It’s responding to the call to gather and feed
I dream pie-in-the-sky and I’m unrealistic
I am preoccupied with the caring of souls, not statistics
You might argue that it is naïve and I’m being simplistic
A dream is a wish your heart makes
And, oh, does it ache,
And, oh, does it keep you awake,
A dream is a hope your mind creates
Something to which one’s very soul gravitates
But the world complicates
And the foolish wander from, forgetting what’s at stake
No, a dream is not only a dream
It is rooted in stories of need
It’s a vision for overcoming the norm of greed
It’s responding to the call to gather and feed
I dream pie-in-the-sky and I’m unrealistic
I am preoccupied with the caring of souls, not statistics
You might argue that it is naïve and I’m being simplistic
But I simply wish to dream.
'Next Door Ministries'
October 11, 2012
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THANKFUL TO HAVE GROWN UP IN A PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY SAFE HOME. MY NEEDS WERE MET, MY HEART WAS CHERISHED, MY INPUT VALUED AND IT IS WHERE I LEARNED WHAT LOVE IS.
I HOPE TO ESTABLISH A HOME FOR YOUTH WHO ARE AGING-OUT OF THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM WHO HAVEN'T YET FELT ESTABLISHED, STILL NEEDING TOOLS TO VENTURE OUT AND REALIZE THEIR DREAMS. THE HOME WOULD BE TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR YOUTH 17-21.
IDEALLY, THIS BUILDING WOULD HAVE SEPARATE APARTMENTS WHERE SMALLER COMMUNITIES OF 2-3 YOUTH AND A NEXT DOOR COMMUNITY MEMBER* WOULD LIVE. COMMUNITY MEMBERS WOULD ACT AS AN OLDER SIBLING AND BE MENTORS/LEADERS TO THE YOUTH IN THEIR CARE. COMMUNITY MEMBERS WOULD NOT BE STAFF BUT WOULD HAVE A REDUCED RENT AND COMMIT TO SPENDING A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME WITH YOUTH IN THEIR APARTMENT EACH WEEK. STAFF WOULD PROVIDE COUNSELLING, SPECIALIZED CARE/TREATMENT (EX. ART THERAPY) , EDUCATION, SUPERVISION, FOOD ORDERING/PREPARING AND ESTABLISH/MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIPS WITH DONORS AND PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS.
THERE WOULD BE A COMMON SPACE WHERE EVERYONE COULD EAT TOGETHER. YOUTH AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS WOULD SHARE HOUSEHOLD RESPONSIBILITIES TO FOSTER OWNERSHIP FOR THE SPACE AND COMMUNITY IN WHICH THEY LIVE. THE HOME WOULD DO OUTINGS, SERVICE PROJECTS AND TAKE HOLIDAYS, JUST AS A FAMILY MIGHT.
AS PART OF THE TRANSITIONAL COMPONENT OF NEXT DOOR, YOUTH WOULD BE REQUIRED TO SET OUT PERSONAL, SOCIAL, AND EDUCATIONAL/PROFESSIONAL GOALS TO GUIDE THEIR TIME AT NEXT DOOR. YOUTH WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, THROUGH VOLUNTEER TUTORS AND QUALIFIED TEACHERS, TO OBTAIN AND/OR COMPLETE THEIR SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION/GED. NEXT DOOR MINISTRIES WOULD HOPE TO PARTNER WITH NEIGHBOURING ORGANIZATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE WITH COUNSELLING, LINKING TO COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS, EMPLOYMENT, AND SKILL-BUILDING.
AFTER LESS THAN TWO YEARS AT NEXT DOOR, YOUTH WILL HAVE TRANSITIONED INTO THE NEXT STEP OF THEIR CHOSEN FUTURE. A SAFE FOUNDATION WILL HAVE BEGUN TO BE BUILT AND THEY WILL ESTABLISH THEMSELVES IN THE REALITY OF HAVING A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY TO WALK WITH THEM THROUGH THE YEARS.
SOME OF THESE YOUTH WILL HAVE KNOWN THE FRONT DOOR OF MANY NEW LIVING SPACES, MOVING OFTEN AND KNOWING INSTABILITY IN THEIR FIRST SHORT YEARS. THE NAME 'NEXT DOOR' IS CHOSEN OUT OF A DESIRE TO BE A NEIGHBOURLY AND ACCESSIBLE COMMUNITY FOR YOUTH TO JOIN AND CALL THEIR OWN. WE'RE "JUST NEXT DOOR", AS IN, WE'RE RIGHT HERE FOR YOU. SINCE THE MODEL INCLUDES TRANSITIONAL PROGRAMMING, NEXT DOOR CAN BE A REFERENCE POINT FOR YOUTH AS THEY ENDEAVOUR TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaiah 58:6-12
[Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?
Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house—when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust,and wicked speaking,
And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday.
And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
written March 27/12
led out of the cold, out of the depth
the depth of lonely, the being bereft
the inside confusion, the steady facade
the beauty and grace covered in the odd
led out by a face, a narrow path to guide
the hope to run a good race, and not to hide
the truth of beautiful grace and the will to confide
‘for you shall go out in joy & be led forth in peace’
the truths gathered now will not one day cease
choose freedom and be delivered; know release
cry tears of forgiveness, cry tears of real joy
give wisdom and counsel, mind and heart to employ
store up the kind of treasures that moths would not destroy
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