Family

Nancy, my wonderful wife,  is my special guest blogger. Please see her offering below. Have a Merry Christmas!

Family

As we have faced the passing of Rodd’s grandfather this week I’ve thought a lot about what family really is.  Is a family formed when two individuals become the parents of a tiny precious life and are given a legal document stating such?  Is it when a child is brought into the folds of a group of people through adoption?  What is a family?

As Rodd and I have been faced with many challenges through the years we’ve questioned this often times.  Watching him come to grips with the lost relationship of his birth father and then his adopted father I’ve been blessed to see him build and nurture a relationship with my own father. 

I’ve come to realize through my thoughts this week that true family supports and encourages you through it all and loves you through it all.  Sometimes it is a blood connection, sometimes it is a legal connection but there is always a heart connection.

Rodd and I are blessed with a large family and with the loss of that heart connection with some we at times have struggled with how we fit into it all.  We are also blessed with a group of friends we are honored to call family.  We’ve created memories and built heart connections that are strong and run deep.  They challenge us, support and love us through it all sometimes despite of it all.

As I write these thoughts it is poignant that we celebrate the birth of Christ tomorrow.  Christ was born on this earth to a young couple that would have never received a legal document stating that they were his legal parents.  Joseph knew he was the equivalent of what in modern times we call a step-father but yet he supported, encouraged and loved the young Jesus just the same; he allowed a heart connection to form.  Christ came to this earth to become life to us all.  He desires a heart connection with each of us so much so that he shed his blood and lay down his life on the cross.

Who is your family?  Who have you built a heart connection with?

Merry Christmas!
Nancy

Staff In Hand

I’ve been thinking a lot about the phrase “Staff in Hand.” Let me explain. Our pastor recently spoke about a conversation between God and Moses. God was encouraging Moses to be the leader He had intended him to be. Moses wasn’t really interested. God asked Moses what was in his hand. It was Moses’ staff. God was trying to get Moses to understand how to use it and use it for His glory. Moses didn’t always get it right but the point was to take what God has given and use it for His glory. Fast forward a couple thousand years and I’m asking myself; what is my staff? What has God placed in my hands that I should be using to further the Kingdom?

I began to think about what my passions are and how I could use those for Kingdom work. I admit, I’m a self-proclaimed techie nerd, but hey, this is what interests me. My desire is to take what interests me, things I’m passionate about, and use them as a witness. For me, this includes photography, social media, web based content and about anything Apple related!

Back up a year and a half. This is when I went to my first Catalyst West Coast Conference. Catalyst is a conference for leaders. Really, it’s a conference for those who desire to be obedient to Christ’s calling. The intent is to encourage others in their pursuit of Christ and in their desire to lead others to Christ through fresh perspective and new ideas. It’s new; it’s modern; it’s a cultural shift from Nebraska; it’s a techie nerd’s dream come true. Here is where I really began to think about how I could take my interests and use them in ministry. For me, this translated into my desire to work on a new website for our church. Could there be a much better way to combine photography, computers, social media, etc.? I believe that this can be an effective tool for ministry. The need was definitely there, and, I was willing.

Honestly, like Moses, I lost interest. I was gung-ho for a while. Then I came down from the mountain top known as Catalyst and got back to “normal’ life. The problem is, we’re not called to be “normal.” I’ve often asked myself why this is so seemingly hard for me. I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 when he writes about doing the things he doesn’t want to do and not doing the things he wants to do. Why is obedience to the One who saves so difficult? Why is it so easy to skip out on our calling?

This idea of taking tech oriented interests in a ministry direction have lingered and I’ve felt a need to act on them but really haven’t, at least not yet. I have been involved in other ministry opportunities, but none of them have excited me as much as this. Just a couple weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a friend about the “Staff in Hand” thought process. I talked to him about photography and how I could incorporate that into a new website. We talked about the need for a new space, one that would relate to a new generation and possibly get them interested in joining the body of Christ. A couple hours later, one of our pastors contacted me and stated that he and one of the elders had been talking about the need for a new website and asked if I was still interested. A day after that, I learned of an upcoming class entitled; “Creative Use of the Computer in Ministry.”

Let’s just say that God has my attention again. What is your “Staff in Hand?”