Still alive....

I am alive. That seems to be a theme in my most recent postings (oh, wait...what recent postings?) I've decided I need to get back into this discipline because, well, I miss it and it helps keep me focused and reflective. I've been far too reactionary lately because I've been sick, tired, and far too busy to even breathe...which is probably why I'm sick and on my 2nd cold in a month. Smart.

The Vine is good, Good Shepherd is good, living in community is good, the husband is good, I am...in a funk. To which, my husband responds, in the vein of "when life gives you lemons...": when you're in a funk, get funky.

Prayer Campaign Begins Today!

Day 1 of the UMC Young Clergy campaign to pray for the United Methodist Church begins today. You can follow these 40 days of prayer on the prayer blog (http://umcyoungclergy.com/prayer) and find the first prayer posted here.

What encourages me the most about this effort is its focus on renewal through prayer. Oftentimes, we think that new strategies or new models of church is going to be what grows us or saves us from this decline we find ourselves in. Really, we need to be about reengaging with what the Holy Spirit is already doing in our midst and in our world, and get on board with that. Such sensitivity to God's movement only comes through prayer - confessing where we've fallen short, asking for the grace to move forward, and seeing what emerges out of the mix.

I have great hopes for my denomination, even though some days I get bogged down with my frustration with it. It hurts to see how our apathy doesn't just affect us, but all the broken, hurting people who need a word of hope -- who need the love of Jesus and life transformation.

But I think we'll get there...and prayer is just the start.

Praying for the United Methodist Church

Social media is an incredible thing. Through the UMC Young Clergy's twitter feed, I came to know about this prayer campaign idea a few people had about the United Methodist Church. It's simple really - we talk a lot about renewal in our denomination, but why not pray! This 40 day campaign, starting on May 18th, is a concerted effort on the part of young clergy throughout our denomination to pray for the United Methodist Church and its renewal. To learn more, check out the blog at http://umcyoungclergy.com/prayer!

Resurrection

No, this is not an early Easter reflection, this is more a statement (yet again) about the renewed sense of intentionality with which I want to write in this blog. I've fallen short time and time again!

In any case, I'm going to carve out some time to write each day and hold myself to posting at least twice per week. I've got some great fodder for a couple posts; Matt, Farrah, Ben, and I just got back from a road trip to visiting Westwinds in Jackson, MI and Hot Metal Bridge in Pittsburgh, PA. Both are doing some fantastic and creative ministry in their settings and in their contexts, but I will write more later (I promise).

But for now, a quick poll. Should I choose to revamp this blog or should I create a new one?

I'm not dead yet....

Wow. I went to post on another blog and I did a double-take when I saw the "Jan 5" as my latest post date for this blog. Sad. Well, I have not died, I've just been busy with school, church, new ministry plant - you know, the usual. Lent makes things that much more insane for us pastor-types too, and we're doing double duty with a Lenten Bible Study and a New Membership class. We're *real* smart.

Anyhow, just a shout out so y'all know I'm around...

Drat!

Missed a day. :-(

Today, I'm going to learn how to community organize. I'm taking a week-long class at Drew sponsored by Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). It looks like it's going to be an interesting week -- expect an account!

Change

I'm preaching tomorrow; we're starting a series on how the culture has changed and what the church needs to do to respond faithfully to that change. I'm using the passage in Corinthians where Paul talks about being all things to all people - to the Jews he was as a Jew, to the Gentiles he was as a Gentile, etc...

We'll see how it goes to set up the rest of the series.

Day 2

Yesterday, Ben and I explored the local Whole Foods to see what we could see. I'm excited to start eating more healthy foods, even if it means the grocery bill will be a little higher. We each decided to try some new things to experiment with - Ben got organic soda and I got veggie straws (which are really quite delicious!) We'll have to see if this change in lifestyle will be sustainable...I certainly hope so!

New Year's Resolutions

1. I will update this blog more often. My goal for this month is every day, but normally, twice a week will be good.

2. I will exercise more and eat more healthily. This means (at the very least) getting 10,000 steps in every day, doing push ups three times a week (with the goal of being able to do 100 by the end of the year), and attempting to eat a vegetarian diet (with exceptions for hospitality).

3. Journal once or twice a week as a spiritual discipline. This also includes spending more time in prayer and devotion.

4. Organizing my life. Keep nice, clean records of things I spend money on (also helpful for tax purposes!) and file important documents, church stuff, and other personal things neatly in folders -- for which I will need a better filing cabinet. This also entails getting rid of extraneous junk - papers I no longer need, etc. This also entails organizing and updating my address book and syncing everything to my PDA. Possible computer clean-up as well to remove old files.

5. Encourage my creative side.

I think that will suffice, don't you?