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.

At the beginning of 2010, I wrote in the front of my journal a goal to run a full marathon. At the time, I was scheduled to run the Cowtown Half Marathon in February but was not able to train because of a slight running injury. To make a long story short, after I finished the half marathon, I was rethinking my original goal of running the full!

But time heals all wounds…

And… I decided that if I was going to dedicate myself to the extensive training, I wanted to do it for something bigger than my own sense of accomplishment. I wanted to run in order to raise money for a particular organization. Given our churches three year commitment to ZOE which I’ve written about here before and we have been talking about for several months, that partnership made total sense.

For most, none of this is new. In fact just a few weeks ago during an “update post” I talked about “Miles for Hope” and my plan to run in order to raise money for ZOE.

But there is a little bit more to the story…

I should start by saying that I am very cautious about telling anyone that, “God told me to tell you this…” or “God told me to do this.” Now I certainly believe it happens… Don’t get me wrong… But I think it’s appropriate to approach that with a sense of reverence. I have often found that confirmation of God’s direction in my life only comes after obedience.

The challenge is that sometime obedience demands us to take a step in a direction that we “think” God might be leading but don’t necessarily know with absolutely certainty…

And here is my most recent example…

About a month ago, a number popped into my head. It didn’t really mean much to me at the time but over the course of month it has begun to take shape as a goal that I feel like God has placed on my heart. The burden of “going public” with that goal has been growing for several weeks. Here’s a few instances of feeling a sense of “conviction” to share with you.

1. Scott Ferrell, the director of our traditional worship arts ministry and the mastermind behind the Carry the Light concert shared during the 7:00 p.m. performance that when he became aware of the needs of orphans in Africa, he felt like he could not drop everything and go to Africa, but he could certainly sing in order to raise awareness and funds for ZOE.
2. As I shared yesterday, a six year old in our congregation named Chloe cleaned out her piggy bank and brought that money to me to give to the orphans in Africa. Once she heard about ZOE and what we are trying to do to support orphans, she did what she knew she could do. She gave.

Two amazing stories of obediences…

So after months of wrestling with God on this one… Here is mine.

God has laid on my heart to set a goal or raising $10,000 for ZOE through Miles for Hope.

Let me be clear. I don’t have some amazing plan for meeting this goal. It sounds a bit audacious to me which is why I’ve been fighting going public with it for quite some time.

But the burden hasn’t left… and so today I’m taking the first step of obedience… simply sharing with you the dream that I can’t seem to escape…

$10,000 for 1000 orphans in Africa.

If you want to be a part, all you need to do is let me know.

You can email me your “pledge” for Miles for Hope. In doing so, you can make a pledge “per mile” such as $1, $2, $5, etc. Your total would be that amount times 26.2 or you can simply make a pledge in any amount.

Checks can be made out to First United Methodist Church Mansfield. Please list “Miles for Hope” in the memo line.

My wife and I are putting in $160 to get us started.

[In case you are wondering, that's the amount of money I'm saving on haircuts during training!]

Thanks for being a blessing to the kids God has asked us to bless in Rwanda.

I’m back in the office today for the first time in 17 days. I am very grateful for the past two weeks and the time that I got to spend with my wife and two kids. We had a great time, and it was really refreshing for me to simply focus on being Anna & Jack’s dad and Stephanie’s husband for a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting some of my favorite pics from our time away.

I am glad to be back at work. I’m energized and excited about the week ahead and the opportunity to preach again this weekend. Thanks for the time away.