David's Bucket

Last week I shared with you about Alexa, an eight year old in our church, who had decided to raise money for Miles for Hope. Saturday Night she presented to me a ziploc bag full of coins and some bills. She had stapled to the front a post-it with the total amount she was able to raise.

She also handed me this note.

Dear Pastor David,

I know 26. miles or however many you are running is a lot but if you think that you are going to stop just think of the orphans and much you care about them and it should keep you going. I’m so happy to help you raise money for them. I am sad for them too.

Love,

Alexa

This morning I woke up early to work at Panera bread. My family and I are in Houston for the week of Thanksgiving. I started my day with coffee, reading the book of Mark and journaling some of my thoughts.

As tends to happen in those still moments of reflection, I also spent some time thinking about how “life was going” at this particular moment. Having been challenged by Jesus’ example of going off to a “solitary place” to pray in Mark 1:35-39 I was particularly focused on my own sense of balance.

It’s been a busy fall season for me. Sometimes our busyness increases because of some adversity that we are facing in our life or because of some negative consequences. That has not been the case for me in the last few months. My busyness has been directly related to some wonderful things.

I’ve been busy preparing to run a marathon in a few weeks for a great cause.
I’ve been busy because of the increase in the number of people I see for pastoral care.
I’ve been busy with some additional teaching I did this fall.
I’ve been busy trying to support some great young leaders in our church.
I’ve been busy with the normal stuff of church work…

Meeting with staff, preparing messages and teaching, thinking about how can be more effective in the future in fulfilling our mission…

All these things are things which I enjoy. I treasure the time I get to spend in each of these tasks. I look forward to them. I am energized by them. I could not imagine not doing any of them.

I believe in transparency so I don’t mind telling you, I’m feeling a bit drained right now. I’m worn down. I feel like I could use a vacation.

But the real truth is… I’m not drained because I’m too busy right now. My “condition” is not a result of working too hard or too many hours that I have no time to rest.

My problem is that I have not been consistently practicing what Jesus models so well.

I have not been withdrawing to my solitary place.
I have not been protecting my own sabbath rest.
I have not been creating and sustaining the sacred space that my soul needs to breathe.

In other words, it is no one’s fault but my own. I’m responsible and it’s on me to not only be aware of it, but to make the necessary adjustments to change it.

I am also sharing this today out of my own conviction that I want to be an authentic spiritual leader. I want my private devotion to Christ to live in harmony with my public ministry. I want the people I serve to see me as someone who not only loves them but is also faithful in my life-long mission to grow even more deeply in love with God.

I will confess that there is at times a sense of hesitation on my part to share the places where I find myself struggling. I recognize the desire that some feel for their pastor to be perfect and to have it all together.

But the truth is… that’s just not how it works.

Authenticity means telling the truth, and the truth is… right now I need to do better at entering the sacred space where my soul can breathe in the goodness and grace of God.

Because I’m no different than anyone else. I cannot survive without it.

I got an email this week about a new blog that had been started by an 8 year old in our congregation named Alexa. Her Dad emailed me to make me aware of her latest post. How cool is this?

The post is titled, “My pastor and orphans”

Hey guys!  My Pastor his name is David and he has a website you can look to see what he is doing but I can also tell you some of it.  Well let’s get started.  Do you know some Orphans wake up with their stomachs stirring hungry and they try to call but they don’t have anyone to answer because they’re Orphans.  Its very sad because they wake up crying and there’s no mom or dad they’re just all alone like they’re on their own and they don’t know how to do things and they don’t get to go to school.  Does it make you sad?  Well I’ll tell you this.  It makes my Pastor want to help so he is trying to raise money by running a lot of miles,like 26 or something but you can check on his website.  It makes me want to help, too so I am going to give my Pastor some money so I can help him raise money for them.  I found change in cups and my mom’s wallet and my mom’s car plus I earned some but just a little bit.  If you’re wondering how I earn it I earned it by helping put waters in the fridge and cleaning my room.  My mom said that if I count my money that she’ll give me the same amount from her money to give to him.  Okay, well his website is davidsbucket.com.  OKAY BYE!!!

I was deeply humbled to read these words. If you would like to know more about the project that Alexa is referencing, check out Miles for Hope.

A thank you letter I shared in church this weekend…

Brothers & Sisters,

Over the last several weeks, I have invited you to express your thanks and appreciation to the people in your life who have blessed you. If you have taken the time to write those notes, I trust that you have not only richly blessed the recipient of your thanksgiving, you have also experienced a blessing in your own heart and life. I believe gratitude always works that way in our life.

In sharing that invitation with you, I have felt a conviction to share a specific word of gratitude with each of you. As we have moved through Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, I have been reminded of why this stands out as some of my favorite sections of scripture. I appreciate so much the relationship that is always present in the background of this letter. Undergirding each word is the love and joy that Paul has for this community of faith. This letter, perhaps more than any of his others, represents the pastor’s heart within Paul.

I get that because I have the privilege of serving as your pastor and in that role, I know so well the longing I have for each of you, the prayers prayed for your continual growth and nourishment in Christ, and the tremendous responsibility and honor I feel in having the opportunity to share this journey of faith with you.

So today I want to say to each of you, thank you. Thank you for the ways in which you have blessed my life, for your kind words of encouragement and support that you consistently share, but most especially for the way in which you are living out and faithfully supporting the mission of our church to make Disciples of Jesus Christ who love God, love others and serve the world.

A few weeks ago in listening to some teaching, I heard the statement that, “the power of words is that they have the ability to create new worlds.” I found that to be deeply meaningful for me in that language is the currency of my life, but the true joy and blessing is in seeing you step into that new world, engaging and laying claim to a new way of life, and living out the hopes and dreams that God longs to bring into our broken world.

Our journey together is for me the very marrow of my life. Thank you for allowing me to serve as one of your traveling companions.

Grace & Peace,

David

Several weeks ago I shared here the goal that I had set to raise $10,000 for ZOE Ministry by inviting sponsorship for my first marathon on December 5th. While I am not ready to announce the total pledged, I will say that I have been amazed by the response. There is still time to make a commitment if you would like to participate. You can find more information here. I will announce the total raised on race day.

Today I want to share one more way you can join the “Miles for Hope” team.

Several individuals have already pledged an amount with the additional stipulation that they will double their gift if I survive 26.2 miles. It certainly creates an additional incentive for me in my training and preparation for December 5th, but it also encourages me to consider everything I can do to make sure I’m successful. On the day I posted about my fundraising goal, I had someone share this comment on Facebook.

Now, maybe we could figure out a way to start a fan club. Maybe wear our Zoe t-shirts & spread out across the 26 miles to cheer you on. Certainly, you would finish because you’d have fan club braving the cold.

Every person I have talked to who has completed a marathon has told me what an amazing encouragement it is to see your friends and family out on the course.

So here’s my question…

Would you be interested in being a part of the Miles for Hope team by coming out to the race to encourage and cheer on myself and the other runners from our church?

If you’re interested, let me first try to sweeten the deal somewhat. For anyone who signs up to be a part of the team, i will personally provide you with your very own Miles for Hope t-shirt. [See above graphic] All you have to do to sign up is send me an email with your t-shirt size!

Thanks for considering this opportunity.

Remember, it’s all about 1000 kids in Rwanda and the hope we have to bring into their lives.