Archive for the ‘Christian Walk’ Category

If you live in Mississippi, I hope you have already heard about “26″. We have a historic opportunity on November 8th.

Statewide Initiative Measure 26 would amend the Constitution of the State of Mississippi to include the definition of “personhood” beginning at conception (or the medical equivalent).

No more abortion. No more growing embryos in a lab and then murdering them for stem cell research.

This is our chance to do at a state level what the United States has not yet been able to do at the national level.

Interestingly, Nicholas pointed out to me that this could be the beginning of the same process that was used for women’s suffrage. The 19th Amendment wasn’t getting the traction it needed to more forward, until a number of states in the then-frontier West passed state measures.

Mississippi is moving first, and personhood will be on the ballot in Florida, South Dakota, and Ohio in 2012. Other states will begin to have the courage to get on-board, and soon the momentum will be enough to make it the law of the land.

The idea of personhood, of course, is not at all new. It was plainly and eloquently endorsed by the Gipper in 1988.

NOW THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare the unalienable personhood of every American, from the moment of conception until natural death, and I do proclaim, ordain, and declare that I will take care that the Constitution and laws of the United States are faithfully executed for the protection of America’s unborn children. Upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. I also proclaim Sunday, January 17, 1988, as a national Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon the citizens of this blessed land to gather on that day in their homes and places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life they enjoy and to reaffirm their commitment to the dignity of every human being and sanctity of every human life.

Ronald Reagan
Presidential Proclamation
January 14, 1988

I have some yard signs displayed supporting the measure, and I’ve signed up to be notified of any demonstrations we can support. The folks at the Yes on 26 campaign are eagerly seeking volunteers for phone calls and other help, even of you can only spare an hour — this is crunch week!

Our local coordinator (Gulf Coast) can be reach by email at: chetgallagher (at) gmail.com. Other areas can find your local contacts on Yeson26.net.

I saw a group of activists at a local intersection the other day that was really powerful. 15 men, well groomed and well dressed. All had a red sash over one shoulder, and they stood on the corners with their “Yes on 26″ signs, as well as “Honk for Life”.

I’m not sure why it seemed so impact-ful. Was it perhaps because they were all men, showing concern for women and babies in this way? Or perhaps because they were all well dressed, as though this mattered enough to them to give it their all?

Through our local Yes on 26 folks, I learned that these gentlemen were part of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), a Catholic ministry on the front lines of such “culture war” issues. One man was from Scotland, two were from Ireland, nine were from Pennsylvania and three were from Louisianna.

(The photo above is from their website, of a different event, but gives you an idea of the impression they make).

Even if you only mark this one item on the ballot, please…

Go to the polls on November 8th, and Vote for Life!

Copyright notice: I have modified this only slightly from the post over at 5 pt. Salt, from a sermon by Dr. James White.

Dr. White gives the “tell it like it is” reasons why, if you are shopping for a local Christian fellowship, and thinking along the lines of the mainstream evangelical church, you may want to dismiss a Reformed Baptist Church — and our Home Church (which is not Reformed Baptist).

• You don’t get to leave after every sermon feeling good about yourself. You may even (*gasp*) desire repentance.
• You don’t get to hear the sermons in the same way you may be used to. It’s frequently verse by verse, maybe not even relevant to your current situation.
• You don’t get to be entertained. We don’t want to entertain you.
• You don’t get to go to church every weeknight for programs. We don’t have ‘em, and we don’t think you should dump your kids in a room for babysitting (however it is disguised).
• You don’t get to be ‘lost in the crowd’. We tend to have accountability to one another.
• You don’t get to hear social commentary. Sermons are mostly biblical and serious.
• We’re not considered ‘seeker-friendly’. Here we differ from Dr. White a bit in theology, but the principle point stands: We don’t believe that is the purpose of a worship service, nor do we believe in compromising the message to make it ‘appealing’ to unbelievers.
• You’re asked to apply the sermons to your life.
• You’re asked to attend services regularly, to support your elders in prayer, and give sacrificially to the advance of the Gospel.
• You will experience conviction of sin with regularity. You will also be frequently reminded of vital doctrines, without compromise.

The details are very well laid-out by Dr. White, and clarify these points greatly. I highly recommend that you go and listen to the whole message: Click here.

It’s nice to hear a pastor spell out so many of the things we feel strongly about!

I’ve thought of posting this story before, as it both an important part of my life and testimony, and also because of the insights I gained on grief and loss. But somehow I never really “got around to it”, and it didn’t seem something that should be forced. But now, it must be time!

I was not raised in a Christian home, and neither of my parents was saved.

When I came into relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, naturally I wanted to tell everyone about it – especially them. I was met with what you might expect – a little skeptical, a little patronizing… Both my parents and my sister are highly intelligent, college-educated persons of the world – who do not believe that they need a savior, above and beyond the question of Jesus’ divinity or anything else.

I was closest to my dad, and tried a few more times to raise the subject with him. His brush off response was gentle, but absolute. He felt that it was a great thing, that brought comfort to many people… It sounded to me like the way you’d talk to a child about the magic fairy that chases away the monsters under the bed.

Shortly thereafter, after my father had the surgery that would effectively mark “the beginning of the end,” he was not “coming out” from the anesthetic, and I prayed over him fervently, for hours on end – “not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.” At one point he opened his eyes and looked at me as though startled, and asked what I was doing.

“Praying for you,” I told him, “is that okay?”

He nodded slightly and closed his eyes. It was another couple of hours, but he stayed with us.

Naturally, people will be inclined to say it was simply the natural recovery process occurring, and it would have happened that way whether I had been there or not. But I don’t think so.

As he continued to decline, Dad lost more and more of his keen intellect to a never-to-be-diagnosed puzzle of brain damage from a car accident, a series of small strokes, and probably alzheimers and/or dementia.

During the hours I spent with him at the nursing home during this time (thanking God for my homeschooling life that allowed me to do so!), he began asking me to read to him about Padre Peo (he had been to the Catholic Church for a while as a youth), and we sang children’s songs like “Jesus Loves Me.”

I prayed over him while he slept, and prayed for him constantly over those agonizing months.

He never made a profession of faith that I knew of, and the time came when I wasn’t sure that he would be able to rationally make such a choice – much less communicate it.

What agony for me! How could I not know? Would my beloved father be consigned to hell and damnation for eternity?

Dad left us on the day after his birthday, in 2003.

Although I grieved the loss, I felt a sense of peace about his soul.

And then I had a… well… dream? Vision? I’ve never experienced anything like it, before or since. And I haven’t told many people about it, because I figure you’ll all just think I’m crazy. Ah, well.

My father was in the wheelchair, being wheeled back to his room from the shower by an attendant. His head leaned down as though he had fallen asleep.

Standing just down the hallway from him was a radiant Jesus, holding out his arms in welcome.

Dad stood up from the wheelchair, leaving the tired husk behind, and walked to the Lord. (Dad hadn’t stood or walked in weeks)

Their embrace was glorious…

I believe my mother and my sister had a much harder time dealing with losing Dad, because to them it’s simply all over.

Certainly I have shed plenty of tears, and miss him. I wish he could have met my hero, Wolf, and known our children…

But I know – I know that I know that I know that I know that I know – that we will be reunited with him in Heaven.

(Photo at the top is Dad with Nick and my sister, Teresa, about 2000)

Photo from Gentle Hearts Ministries (a website I know nothing else about)

Let me reiterate my intention with this entire Holding Up Our Sign series:

We have had trouble finding a place where we feel comfortable. In many churches, there is a terrific theological alignment, but a disagreement over social and lifestyle issues. In other churches, we fit right in to the social norms, but there are doctrinal differences that we just can’t ignore.

I am attempting to present the ideas from a wide variety of denominations that we have encountered, which we found particularly valuable – or particularly troublesome. This will include any number of churches that we know we would never attend, and it not my intention to recommend them to you wholesale.

We’re piecing together the quilt of our Home Church belief system. You get a ringside seat for the process!

First, let me state that I have never been to a church service at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) church. All my observations about these issues are based on my experience of them as an outsider.

The LDS Church seems to place a lot of emphasis on two values that are near and dear to our hearts: Thrift / Preparedness and Community.

Policy encourages all members to have a Food Storage reserve in their home. This will allow them to survive any disaster – natural or social; there are guidelines for a three-month supply, and a one-year supply.

What a great policy! If something horrible happens, the only groups likely to be able to hang in there are the Amish and the Mormons!

And, vitally, it isn’t just talk, or a “command from on high” – they’re actively involved in making it happen.

They have “Canneries” set up all over the country – they seem to be going more by names like “Family Home Storage Center” these days. At any rate, church members can order bulk products through there at amazing prices (wheat, oats, rice, pasta, dried milk, beans, etc.). They can get large quantities, or they can go there and use the facility to can those products into more manageable quantities.

The best part is that non-members can order the bulk items, too! The policies shift over time, and vary slightly by location. Some times or places you need to be accompanied by a church member. When I recently ordered, their policy was that I could order the large bulk items, but would need to come as a guest (with a member) if I wanted to do canning (which is also booked 6 months ahead).

[As a side note, this is similar to the benefits we can reap as non-members from being allowed to use the vast genealogy resource libraries that the LDS Church has created.]

I have not looked into it a great deal, but passing comments have led me to believe that some (many?) of the products are grown and packaged all within the church. What an accomplishment!

Some people may wish to argue that this is not trusting in God for our daily bread. On the contrary, I believe absolutely it is being a good steward of the bread He does provide. The Israelites and their manna was a single very specific situation, and a specific lesson for them. Are the chipmunk and the ant doing wrong by storing food for the winter? No. It is the natural order – harvest in season, and preserve the bounty for the lean times.

Several of my favorite cooking and food storage blogs, as it happens, are based on rotating and cooking with your food storage, from some delightful Mormon ladies.

And furthermore?

They have an offshoot of this which I believe is referred to as the “Bishop’s Storehouse,” which functions as a food pantry for those local church members experiencing challenges.

And when we went to pick up the bulk order a couple of weeks ago? Right there in the same building was an sign indicating that it was the home of the job placement assistance office!

Just wow!

For me/us, it seems like the modern “Mainstream Evangelical Church” has gotten a little preoccupied with evangelism.

Please don’t even start to tell me how important it is, or that Christ commanded it. I’m in no way denying or belittling that.

But Christ spent a lot more time telling the church to take care of one another. Feed My sheep. Bear one another’s burdens.

If we started by strengthening the church body, and supporting one another, we would be stronger and better able to spread the Good News!

So our Home Church’s belief system includes the idea that it is good stewardship to be prepared for what the broken world may have in store, as well as the oft-mentioned idea that the church should be extremely supportive and communal.

Jewel had the New Testament books of the Bible in her AWANA memory work for last year, and we fumbled through that somehow.

But this year she needs to memorize the Old Testament (as well as re-reciting the New Testament), and can also earn a badge from Keepers at Home for that work.

After hearing several folks talk about various songs and jingles they used to help memorize the books, I went on a search.

There are many, many YouTube videos that have the “Books of the Bible” to music. To a lot of different kinds of music, I might add.

I listened to a lot of them. A LOT.

Many of them didn’t seem like they would really help the memorization, since they sounded more like someone took a tune and fitted the books of the Bible into it (often somewhat awkwardly).

I was delighted when I found this video, from the Bigsby Show:

Catchy. Easy to understand. The kids and I both like it (this was a point of considerable discrepancy on many of the videos). And?

It sounds like they wrote a song to fit the books (rather than the other way around)! Yay!

We started out listening to the YouTube video frequently, but it wasn’t long before I hopped over to The Bigsby Show website and purchased a copy of the CD so we could listen in the car. (This is not a sponsored post, in case you were wondering!)

Parenthetical note: Could I have burned a CD from the YouTube thing? Probably so. But I appreciate what they do, and they need financial support to continue their work. Artists deserve to be rewarded for the fruits of their labors just like anyone else. {off soapbox}

Jewel is now totally comfortable with her New Testament, and just ironing out a few minor prophets in the Old Testament.

And much to my delight… R.T. is almost there, too! Pretty impressive, for three.

Anyhow, learning the books of the Bible is a daunting (but important!) task for people of any age, so I wanted to share this resource that we have found to be invaluable.

And… The other songs on the CD are really neat! Catchy, cute songs with interesting views of Moses, Noah, Jonah, plus other fun (Christian) messages. Definately a CD we will continue to listen to even when we have all 66 books down pat.

I received the following comment on my posts on my posts on “things we learned while moving” (see Post #1 and Post #2):

Anne says –

Maybe the lesson is in reciprocity. What have you done for people locally in the personal sense? Whom have you helped move? I know you have young kids, but everyone has something. If you don’t put yourself out there to help others, don’t be surprised if they don’t put themselves out there for you.

I started to answer several times, focusing on various aspect of the topic that she raised. Finally, I decided it would be easier to make it a post of its own.

The first point is just sort of a detail:

The entire point of the second post (where the comment was actually left), is that I am not connected to people locally.

So, yeah. I haven’t heard of anyone moving, for instance…

The second thing I started thinking was a silly desire to defend myself from what felt like an unjust attack:

No, I haven’t helped anyone move (see above), but we do help people.

I volunteered in the church nursery all last year, I taught at VBS this summer, Wolf has helped several guys with their car problems, Nick serves with youth ministry projects, we donate our hand-me-downs to worthy causes…

But wait a minute, I don’t need to justify myself! That’s the whole point (or two).

The third thought that started developing was that that attitude is WRONG!

In fact, I think that attitude is perhaps at the very core of the problem!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not at all saying that I don’t need to give, do, or help. Of course I do! The Bible says so!

BUT, this is about the Church, not a business venture.

Did somebody check to see if I had deposited enough hours in the “volunteer bank” to be considered worthy of making a withdrawal (getting help moving)? Had I earned it?

Eeeew!

It says, “bearing one another’s burdens in love” … Not, “helping bear the burdens of people you think are cool, who have previously helped you bear your burdens”.

Right?

Which leads right in to the fourth thought:

What truth there is the idea of “reciprocity”, it’s still supposed to be… well, not “reciprocity” per se.

“Pay it Forward” is better. Sure, do good. But not back to the person who helped you out.

If you get the praises of man for your good deed, then you’ve had your reward, and the Father will not reward you!

So unless I have helped you move, you probably don’t know much about the service that I have done. (I didn’t even list those types of things in my first point above, and it’s one reason I didn’t go out of the way to mention the names of the folks who helped us with the move.)

“Reciprocity” reminds me of the recipe for failure in the popular and true adage about marriage:

50/50 will never work. It has to be 100/100.

We are the Body of Christ.

Had any of the people that Christ healed helped Him out previously?

Were most of them probably “worthy” of His time and assistance?

That’s us, friends…

I started this post long ago, with the title of “Denomination Dilema.”

As our current situation reveals – and the Holding Up Our Sign series shows – this entire issue has come to a head since then.

So some of this may be slightly repetitive of other posts I’ve written recently. But since I really only addressed our essential agreement with the doctrines of the Southern Baptists, I thought it important to clarify where it is that we differ from them – why we aren’t simply attending a Southern Baptist church.

For the record, the church where we are currently still members (not quite knowing how to approach that), as well as the previous four churches where we held membership (going back prior to the beginning of our marriage), have been affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Also, just to reiterate – Wolf and I are of one mind on these issues, and he is the spiritual head of our family, no question. I blog as “I, Tiffany,” for the sake of clarity, and of course also to avoid the possibility of wrongly attributing something to him in the details of our individual personalities and opinions.

The reason we most commonly end up at Baptist churches is manifold, but has not proven entirely satisfactory over the last few years, either.

• Doctrinally, I have found myself in agreement with the Southern Baptist and Independent Baptist churches. Bible believing, Bible teaching, Trinity, non-Charismatic, etc. (See my post Theologically Baptist-ish)
• Baptist churches tend to have programs I like for the kids, such as AWANA.
• Easy to find one. Or six.
• A larger church has more resources for things like the AWANA programs, youth (youth is a whole separate issue now, but in the past that did influence my thinking in that way), etc. And (see above) there’s typically a big Baptist church (or six) around…

But more and more, I have grown to feel out of place in Southern Baptist churches. Here are the two biggest reasons why:

Modesty

Our dress clearly sets us apart. While I’m used to being “odd” in the world (aka “set apart”), it seems a little odd to be so “odd” among the people who are supposed to be walking the same path as us. (Please know that I do understand that we’re all at different places on the path – this isn’t about that).

I wouldn’t mind particularly, for instance, if other women in the church didn’t wear headcoverings. Or if there was not agreement about whether short sleeves versus 3/4 sleeves were modest, or how many inches below the knee your skirt needed to be. This issue isn’t a legalistic one.

I do mind when women wear (to church, no less!) skirts that are so short and tight I can’t imagine how they even sit down, or blouses so loose and low-cut they have to cover their chest with their hand when they lean over to get their purse (at least they know to do that!), jeans so tight you can (yeah, never mind), or those patent-leather stiletto heels … and worse, all those things on their pre-teen daughters!

Again, I’m not talking about the visitor or seeker, nor addressing women who may not have or be able to afford anything else. This is about women who are long-time, active members of the church, comfortably affluent, and choosing to wear that type of clothing – and dress their daughters in it.

I don’t want to feel like they should be handing out blinders to the men along with a worship guide as they enter the sanctuary. It does not glorify God, and it certainly does not help our brothers in Christ to focus on Him.

Family

We like our kids.

Crazy, huh?

I enjoy being with my kids. And I feel very strongly about my Biblically mandated parental responsibilities.

I want to keep my babies with me, to cuddle and nurse and change when any of those are needed. And I want my family together during the worship service, so that the children can learn how to worship corporately as they grow into that role.

I have no particular problem with everyone also going to a Sunday School class, and studying the Word in an age-appropriate context. But I do not want to force my young ones to separate from me if they are not comfortable with that – regardless of their age (I feel that is counterproductive on many levels). Furthermore, experience has led me to believe that “small groups” are a much more effective means of study, fellowship, and accountability for adults (and families). And of course children can and should be taught by their parents, so “Sunday School” is just a fun diversion for them.

Most of the mainstream Baptist churches (Southern or Independent) don’t seem to “get” this, at all.

They may or may not have a “nursing room” (when they do it’s often basically a closet), but have no “cry room” or “family nursery” where we can be together and still hear/see the worship service, if a fussy baby means we need to leave the sanctuary. (This has resulted in a lot of service times spent walking the halls with a little one).

Children are simply not, by and large, encouraged in the worship services.

They don’t want me to bring the little ones to a “women’s” or “couples” Sunday School hour. And, oddly, most of them are not on-board with the idea of me staying with my youngest in his designated Sunday School “class”. (This has resulted in a lot of Sunday School times spent walking the halls with a little one).

You know, walking the halls with my little one isn’t fun. And it isn’t worship, or fellowship, or learning, or anything else. I might as well stay home…

Which started happening more and more often.

Which was a big red flag that there was a problem with our “fit” in those churches’ belief system.

Once noticed, you can see this thought system in everything they do.

One recent example which was pointed out to me very clearly: A Cubbies AWANA program for three year-olds shouldn’t be two hours long. Who in the world would think you should make something for that age group that long? Ah – someone who is really only envisioning it as a babysitting program, which needs to occupy the “little nuisances” while mom and dad go to the Sunday evening adult activities, which are two hours long.

So, the quest began…

Moving was traumatic, and although we are fully and finally “moved,” the experience is not yet over.

We’re all still a little off-kilter from the stress and exhaustion of it all. The unpacking is going just as slowly and painfully as the move itself did.

And there are lessons learned that we are still working through.

Here’s my latest thought:

I have no “girlfriends” locally.

Certainly the three sweet ladies listed in my post on The Move were true friends in a time of need…

But on that other level, they are not people I know intimately, and share my heart with.

It made their help all the more a lovely light of Christ… But it pointed out to me just how isolated I am from other women.

Most of my “closest friends” in that sense are online.

I am blessed to be able to have fellowship with like-minded ladies around the globe. But they can’t help you move!

What do do with this lesson, I’m not sure… But it’s in there.

Rather than re-invent the wheel, let me share with you the highlights, as posted by a dear friend.

I have a very sweet friend that I’ve never met “in real life” (she is one of the founders of a wonderful cloth diapering message board that I joined while pregnant with DangerGirl) but I consider myself blessed to know her. She’s one of the brightest and giving souls I know.

She’s the mother of 4 beautiful girls. She is so very in love with her husband (and he with her) that you just can’t help but adore and admire them. Especially when you find out that he–a brave and honorable military man–was recently diagnosed with cancer.

My friend is also a talented designer and seamstress. She sells patterns for home sewing adorable, functional children’s clothes and beautiful, unique accessories to help support her family.

When her husband was diagnosed, friends rallied around her family immediately. An auction was arranged on their behalf…and being the truly thoughtful and caring people they are, my friend and her husband pledged to donate a portion of those proceeds to help others who find themselves facing the unimaginable.

Given all that…you can imagine the disgust and anger I felt yesterday when I found out that a sewing blogger purchased my friend’s passport wallet pattern and then turned around and released a copy as her own. Not only did she use several of the *exact* pattern pieces from my friend’s design, she even stole the “Thank You” note that my friend sends out to customers.

You can see her full post over at Mama Pensées.

Have you ever really thought about creative theft?

This is actually the same category of theft as downloading pirated music or movies.

But it’s easier to see it, in this case, because of the smaller scale. Because we can see our friend’s hurt, and her family’s need for that income.

Right and wrong are the same, regardless of how much we may feel the artist “needs” or “won’t miss” my $10 purchase, though.

Sadly, people purchasing the stolen pattern have no way to know. But we do!

In this particular case, I’d like to ask for your help — something you can do totally for free.

Visit my friend’s Etsy shop, Birdiful Stitches.

She will get some benefit just from having more traffic click through to her site. And better still if you browse around a little, and spend a few more clicks there.

If you’re feeling generous with your mousing, you might also consider these activities on the lower left sidebar:

• Add the shop to your Etsy Favorites list
• Like her on Facebook, and share to your Facebook wall
• Tweet about it

And of course, if you can make use of anything from the shop, her family would appreciate your support.

How’s that for mashing together a general topic and a very specific post? Hmmm. Ah, well…

I feel like I need to write this post because of the principles it reflects. It is certainly not my intent to hurt or offend anyone, and please know that this is not intended as a criticism or attack on any person or people beyond looking at “we as a society” and “we as the Body of Christ.”

All my life, I’ve heard people say,

When you move, you find out who your friends are.

…but it has never hit home for me as much as it has over the last couple of weeks.

Because, yeah, we moved. Locally, which is sometimes harder — as now, because it drags on, and on, and on.

Wolf made the decision to move, signed the lease, then left for a two-week Reserves duty in northern Mississippi. So I was supposed to pack and get ready. Yikes!

When he came home, we had a week until the day we’d declared “Moving Day” and scheduled to rent a truck.

On a couple of occasions, we had the blessing of borrowing a trailer from Helper #1 – a homeschool mama (family, of course) that I know only casually from our homeschool co-op. This allowed us to move some bookshelves over, which we then filled with books and had empty boxes to re-use.

When Moving Day arrived (Saturday), so did Tropical Storm Lee. And in spite of everyone’s apparent bafflement, we still moved. I had given notice, you see, and they didn’t care about the weather. I simply can’t afford to pay anymore days of rent on two homes!

We had assistance from Helpers #2 and #3, friends from Wolf’s job, and Helper #4, the husband of someone else I know casually through a homeschool group.

Two days later, still with the moving truck, thanks to the long weekend, we were trying to make a final trip to get all the odds and ends, then return it with a load of stuff that was going into our storage unit (conveniently, the location from which the truck came).

We were beyond exhausted, the kids were totally frazzled, I was injured in several places and had a week-long migraine… Just another fun move, eh? I tossed a desperate plea out to Facebook from my phone, asking if anyone could spare an hour or two to help Wolf unload — Nick had homework due the next day, and I was trying to wrestle Littles, leaving him solo.

Helper #5 showed up as a family. A sweet woman I know only casually from the homeschool co-op arrived with dinner in hand – a huge blessing we didn’t even know we needed. She rolled out some shelf liners in my kitchen while her husband helped Wolf finish unloading. And then they drove back to the old house with us to load the storage stuff. And THEN they drove with us to the storage to unload it! We tried to get them to go home (they had their young children with them, too), but they insisted. Bless their hearts!

After a day of comatose exhaustion, we spent the next week (well, around Wolf working and Nick going to school) trying to round up all the actual “last little things,” as well as cleaning the old house (including renting a carpet cleaner as required by the lease, disassembling our garden stuff and the tree-house in the back yard, etc.)

The final weekend, last weekend, we were still very much behind the curve. I’m not entirely sure why this move was so hard for us, but we were really in bad shape.

What a blessing when a young man formerly from Nick’s youth group said that he would be in town (from college an hour away), and he brought over his lawn-mower and weed-eater (and a friend) and took care of the yard. Helper #6 (does the lawnmower count as a separate helper?!).

So, I got to thinking…

We were members of and attended one church for almost an entire year after coming to Biloxi. We have been attending another church for a couple of months now, and feel like we have ties with the people there on many levels.

Number of Move Helpers who are from either of those churches? Zero.

Even in the “talk is cheap” department:

I had numerous long-distance friends on Facebook (as well as out of state family) express their wish that they were close enough to be able to help. But we had only one person from one of “our” two churches express regret that they were unable to help (with a quite legitimate reason), and offer us the service of their teenage son.

Did we go around pleading with individuals, or trying to “sign them up?” No. But any number of church members from both churches saw it on Facebook, and Wolf was at “our new church” and discussed it the Sunday before our Moving Day, so it’s not like it was a secret.

Look, I know people are busy. Like I said, I’m not trying to say that any certain person should have helped us. I certainly don’t feel like we’re somehow entitled to help. And I know that “the new church” had a picnic type event already scheduled for that Saturday; although that was presumably rained out, I understand that they might have felt committed that day.

Just a general observation.

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
~ Galatians 6:2

Wolf and I have often worked towards developing more service oriented groups and projects at the churches we attend (and doing such things on our own). We are firmly committed to the idea that the church should be a community, doing more to serve the Body than just bring a casserole after a family has a new baby (and fewer and fewer churches even do that!)…

We are the Body of Christ.

Of course, one of my favorite bands has something to say on this very topic:

So, if we are the Body…

• Why aren’t we fixing the leaky roof for that elderly lady?
• Why aren’t we inviting those folks who are between jobs over for dinner?
• Why aren’t we clearing the yard for that sweet older man?
• Why aren’t we taking that new young mother out to the park for a moment of relative peace?
• And sure: Why aren’t we helping a family move?

This isn’t about charity to the world at large.

In the most specific sense, this is about those people sitting in the pew next to you week in and week out.

Do you even know what their burdens are?

Are you helping to bear them?

Wolf pointed out that the service-oriented Christians we know often say that they don’t, in fact, even bother to “offer to help” or “ask if someone needs help.” Too often other issues will get in the way. They simply see a need, and step in and take action to meet it. His Hands…

The love of Christ was so bright and lovely in those who came and helped us bear this burden. All the more, perhaps, because they weren’t “close friends”, and could just as easily have decided they “didn’t have to get involved”. I thank God for sending them, and for their beautiful witness.

But where was the rest of the Body?