SPIRITUALITY

So Much Fun

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

We just marched through the second weekend of Advent, The weekend of Peace. It was so much fun. Last week our church was honored to host our local high school for three days while the school was repaired from a malfunction with one of its hot water heaters.

This weekend we had a team come in to clean up and get ready for church on Sunday. But the church staff and school staff did such a great job of putting the church back together that the congregation was able to do a few extra jobs which have been waiting in the wings.

I had thought we would have the students with us for two weeks, so I rented this huge dumpster which the school hardly used. We used it instead to get rid of a shed full of rotten lumber we have been sitting on for a looooong time. Meanwhile a group of ladies went through out kitchen and indoor storage rooms to get rid of old and broken kitchen and ministry items.

I love cleaning out!

Another group of congregants worked in the sanctuary reattaching the chairs which had been disconnected and because it is the fourth season of the church year they also vacuumed. You know the four seasons of the church year don’t you? Spring, Summer, Fall and Glitter.

Vacuuming is not really effective against glitter but at least it gets up the sand and the salt that people carry in from the parking lot.

After the clean out Amanda and I headed over to our sister church, Bread of Life, which was hosting the Special Touch Ministry Christmas party.

It was ten years ago that Amanda and I joined twelve other people led by Mike and Kim Ferguson to start the first New England Chapter of Special Touch Ministry to the Disabled.

It is amazing to see what God has done over this last decade through this ministry!

It was even more amazing to see Mike playing King Herod for the Christmas story wearing a tiara.

While we were partying, Kristine was hard at work at home reorganizing the Vicarage kitchen.

Amanda, Melanie, Daniella and Abigail, finished off the night by attending Cornerstone’s leadership Christmas party.

It was a busy day filled with true peace.

WHAT DID YOU DO LAST WEEKEND?

In the Wondering

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Two days before Brenda and I left for The Philippines, Cornerstone Church (the church where Amanda and I serve) began 21 days of 24/7 prayer. While I could not be with the congregation during much of this season of prayer, I did spend a good deal of time in the presence of the Lord. I sat for many hours WONDERING about the new direction my life is taking and the new direction the church is taking. Here are some of the things which came to mind in my WONDERING:

“In order for me to discover the things which are going to be really important to me on this new path, I must reduce my life in its complexity. I must embrace the things which are truly important to my nature and do those things. Further I must begin to encourage others to learn what is important to their natures and do those things. ” Pondered 1-20-20

As I think about this I realize it flows out of something I have discovered about myself. I entered the ministry out of a great desire to connect with God and to help others do the same. I am now and have always been a contemplative. Prayer, worship, meditation and study are sort of my jam. I also realize the place of contemplation is where my greatest power resides to make a change in the world.

This season is a gift from God allowing these strengths of mine to have more room to grow. This season is also balancing/ limiting the activities which distract me from the contemplation which is mine by nature.

Finally as I embrace my thing it gets me out of the way so other people can do their thing. Then if they will simplify their lives they will be able to embrace whatever their jam is like I am now embracing mine!