A quick look at the Wikipedia definition
reveals that “Radio Silence” is observed when you “stop transmitting for safety
or security reasons.”[i] Although there has been no imminent,
physical danger; I have, indeed, needed to regroup, to assess this life, to
take a little bit of time for soul care and social media quiet (not quite
silence), and to seek direction for where Flip Flops, Glitter, and Theology
should venture next.
And, I’m back…
Ironically, this figurative radio silence
has led to a literal on-the-air podcast, so that’s pretty funny. Also, I have determined to resume a daily
blog covering (parts of) the daily office, but it has become obvious to me that
the original content of FGT (Ministry Monday, Thursday Theology, and
Sacramental Saturday) needs to ‘live’ here, at the original Flip Flops, Glitter,
and Theology blog. There are new links
on the side to check out the additional features, connected but not consuming
FGT.
So… how about an update on life and
ministry, today, from my perspective:
Everything is flexible. Everything.
It’s almost the middle of June, and my life
looks nothing like I expected it to! You’d
think I’d be used to this by now, but it never gets easier. Thankfully, I didn’t set out looking for
something easy.
Our family is picking up a moving truck, tomorrow
morning. We just finished a spur of the
moment, 3 day garage sale, and we’re going to load up the truck with what’s
left from that and drop some of it at a family member’s house for their upcoming sale and the rest of it
at the Salvation Army Store. Then we’re
going to load it up again, and the truth is… we don’t know where we’re taking
it! This is not, in fact, the first time
this has happened in our lives. I should
be panicking, but I’m not.
We have a place to stay for the summer… the
one bedroom apartment overlooking downtown Peru, where we are totally
pretending this is a fabulous hotel suite and we are simply vacationing indefinitely
at this point. Except it’s neither really indefinite nor really a vacation.
I have a genuine need for this family to be
settled by Labor Day. I am tempted to “recap,”
but it has just occurred to me that I have no desire, whatsoever, to wax
sarcastic, today; because I legitimately do not feel cynical, yet I know it
would come across as exactly that. There
are no sufficient words for what life in ministry (or life in general) has
looked like for us as of late. How do I
express how very, very good and very,
very awful it has been? I can’t.
Some months back, I wrote about how I had a
“Plan A”… and for the first time in my life, I had plans lettered all the way
down to “E.” They all failed. All… of… them…
But again, please hear me clearly, the
sarcasm… the cynicism… it’s not there.
Here’s what I want:
I want to join God in God’s work and to be
used by God in whatever capacity is most redemptive for the people and places
with whom and in which I find myself.
Period.
Here’s what I need:
A little bit of direction to those people
and places. Oh, and coffee… I need coffee…
I should be used to this. Or I should be panicking. And I promise I’m not drunk or on drugs. But seriously, when’s the last time my kids
didn’t have three meals in a day or a place to lay their heads at night? The answer to those questions is never… at
least not unintentionally (we don’t have to count the all night rest station
stops when I was too cheap for a hotel on the road trip, right?)
Psalm
29:11, “The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” (NIV).
Strength and peace.
At least for now, it’s enough…
L.
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