Ministry |

Archive - Ministry RSS Feed

Taking Refuge

August 25, 2011 in Faith, Ministry, Prayer, Worship with 10 Comments

refuge
|ˈrefˌyoōj; -ˌyoō zh |
a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble

We need it. All of us.

Granted… We’re not in physical danger and we’re most likely not in an unsafe place as we read this post (well… most of us aren’t ). But life is go, go, go with breaks few and far in between… and my past proves that can be an extremely dangerous and troublesome place if true priorities aren’t addressed and taken care of.

I won’t lie… if the opportunity to be given a break, a breath, a selah, a retreat, a covering, an extended moment with my Maker arose, I wouldn’t pass it up.

… And then, there was…

The moment I saw REFUGE pop up in my social media world, I wanted to go. Not a huge conference to get information blasted at me, but a retreat with people like me… creatives, leaders, worshipers and the unapologetically real in need of rest.

“We cannot lead and influence others successfully without taking time to stop, listen, and focus.”

Do you need a sabbatical?
Do you need a moment to breathe?
Do you need refuge?

Then consider coming with me. Come hang out with my girl, Mandy (and not only because she says “because” with way more vowels than is actually written in the English language), and me… and some other really RAD people, like this guy (Ian Morgan Cron):

I canNOT wait to listen to Ian speak live. If you haven’t read any of his books, at least check out some of his stuff on YouTube.

You can leave as you are now… but come home refreshed, renewed and restored… ready to continue being what it is God has created you to be. I don’t know about you, but I need and am TOTALLY ready for that!

So what do you say? Wanna come play?

In the Snack Aisle at Costco…

August 23, 2011 in Faith, Friends, Life Experience, Ministry, Paseo with 22 Comments

I love Costco. For many reasons… but mostly because it often saves me quite a bit of money. It stretches my grocery budget especially when I don’t have much of a budget to work with.

Yesterday was my bi-monthly visit. I had my fruit, veggies, bread, cheese and some meat all loaded in my cart. I had carefully counted out exactly how much money I was about to spend, discounted with the use of my coupons and was ready to head out of the store JUST IN TIME to get our shared car home to Brian so he could go to work. Last stop, snack aisle to get some fruit snacks for Chance’s lunches.

As I turned into the aisle, a petite blonde gal stood smack dab in the middle of the aisle with her cart, reading over ingredients. Politely, I made my presence known:

Me: “Excuse me, ma’am… sorry!”
Her: “Oh… sorry! Let me move that.”

We do the grocery cart shuffle.

Her: “I can’t seem to ever get food WITHOUT the ingredients my son is allergic to!”
Me: “I understand! My youngest was allergic to everything before we had him treated. It was expensive.”
Her: “I just don’t think I’m capable of doing this anymore.”

Her lip started to quiver.

The next thing I knew, this beautiful, but extremely tired looking blonde unloaded. Within 30 minutes, I knew how burdened she was. She has 4 kids. One is allergic to LITERALLY every kind of food out there. Epipens fill his pockets. She’s spent the last 14 years working and saving money to keep him alive. They’ve driven all over Texas, New Mexico and more to treat his allergies and keep them from killing him. And now, her marriage is falling apart. Divorce papers have been filed.

As the contents of my shopping cart warmed to the temperature of Costco, I looked into this strangers eyes and held her hands. All I could see was devastation, exhaustion and the overwhelming feeling of being completely alone and isolated. I didn’t have any brilliant words. I just listened and asked more questions.

Then, before I knew what I was doing, I hugged her.

A complete stranger.
In the snack aisle at Costco.
I held her little body in my little arms.

I don’t know how long since this woman was hugged and told she was worthy… by a stranger, much less… but in that moment, I was reminded how much we all need each other.

We were made for community. Without each other… we wilt away to nothing.

I need you.
You need me.
At the snack aisle at Costco.
And anywhere else there’s breathable air.

I grabbed an old airplane ticket out of my purse and wrote my number and email address down for her. I invited her to Paseo and told her to call or text anytime she needed to. And she did tonight.

In all of this… I lucked out… ‘cuz I gained a new friend.
A new connection.
Increased my community.

And one day… when I need it most, my hope is a stranger will hug me.
Even in the snack aisle at Costco.
… Especially in the snack aisle at Costco.

When’s the last time you hugged a stranger?

Conflicted

August 17, 2011 in Church Planting, Faith, Friends, Ministry, Paseo, Personal Entries with 12 Comments

Last Sunday, Steve (our Community Pastor), announced he was leaving his on staff position at Paseo.

In the last seven months since joining Paseo, the staff team has melted into a pretty tight-knit family. I’ve written times before that I felt each and every one of us served a specific purpose on the team and just about every need and area of concern could be covered due to the variances of each team members strengths and expertise. Steve has always been a part of that.

Steve has also lived here in El Paso (though he is a native Oregonian) the longest out of all the staff members and was the other start-up Paseo staff member alongside Greg. That’s a lot of history.

I know God has released Steve from his position here at Paseo… and part of me is extremely proud of him for following God’s prompting. The other larger and more selfish part of me is extremely sad to not have him be a part of the team anymore because he always helped make the difficult parts of ministry easier with his team work and lovable (and laughable) personality.

Aside from just the “work” side of it… The Jolly’s have quickly become good friends of ours. They are some of our favorite people. Anne has always made herself available to me and my kids (she’s a Nurse Practitioner) and has extended a lot of help and resources with our family not being medically insured. She has made life and health a lot more attainable and given us comfort within our spirits. Not many friends can do that.

Then, there are Steve & Anne’s kids: Abby & Caleb. Chance loves, loves, LOVES Caleb because he’s the bigger boy and Chance learns the most amazing things from him. Caleb has an incredible imagination and is a very good artist. Chance is a better artist and a more well-rounded, imaginative boy because of Caleb’s leading. Abby is older and is the most hands-on “Mama’s helper”. She is one of Paxton’s favorite people. He actually asks for her in the middle of the day or before he goes to bed sometimes (I would be more concerned about this if Pax was 16, but he’s 2). To know my baby loves someone that I know loves him back so much just melts my heart.

I know they’re not going anywhere as a family… but let’s be honest… you really have to put in extra effort in relationships when you don’t see each other on a regular basis. And though the Jolly’s don’t currently have any plans on leaving Paseo (as members) or El Paso… I think anyone who’s ever been in ministry knows we don’t get to make those decisions if we are really following God’s calling.

So, I’m conflicted. I want to be happy for them… for moving forward… for following God’s call to not be as comfortable… but all I really want to do is back up a few weeks and somehow help them change their minds… and God’s call in the process. Because I’m not like Steve & Anne…

I would prefer to stay comfortable in what I know.

How about you? Do you prefer COMFORT or CALLING?

———————

Sidenote: if you have a moment, please CLICK HERE and pray over every person on our staff team. It’s been a tough year, and it doesn’t look like it will be easing up anytime soon. Plus with the adjustments of losing a team member, the balance we currently know as a team will be tested and rebalanced. That won’t be comfortable… so please pray for us.

Thank you!

POTSC: Never Beyond Poster Series

August 15, 2011 in Faith, Forgiveness, Ministry, POTSC, Second Chances with 28 Comments

We’re all willing to give people a second chance. At least the humanitarian in all of us SAY we are.

The truth is we’re willing to give them a second chance, till they’ve done something in our eyes that seems unforgivable. Until they do something we’d NEVER do. Until they hurt us. Then we’re DONE with them.

People of the Second Chance has invited me to join them in their Never Beyond Posters Series. Here’s what they wrote:

We all have people we would and wouldn’t give a second chance — lines drawn and beliefs formed about who we could forgive.

Right?

POTSC is launching the NEVER BEYOND Poster Series: 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. This campaign consists of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.

The campaign draws out themes of forgiveness, grace and what a pathway to a second chance looks like.

So… here’s our first one:

Casey Anthony.

She’s free now. The jury found her not guilty. If you bumped into her at the grocery store, what would you do? What would you say? What if she walked into your church next weekend, would you treat her as if she were not guilty? Would you give her a second chance?

Why or why not?

And The Winner Is…

August 13, 2011 in Adultery, Books, Faith, Friends, Marriage, Ministry with 0 Comments

LAURA with the word “SERENDIPITY”!

Congrats, Laura. You’re about to receive an amazing book!

Please email me to send me your mailing address by clicking on the “CONTACT” button on the left.

Thank you all for playing… and if you didn’t win… PLEASE STILL GO BUY CINDY’S BOOK HERE.

Have a great day!!!

A Close Call

August 11, 2011 in Adultery, Faith, Life Experience, Marriage, Ministry with 14 Comments

I receive emails every week from other people experiencing the pain of infidelity.

Often, they are emails expressing relief of now knowing they’re not alone in their journey. Sometimes, a spouse has just found out about an affair. Sometimes, the unfaithful is looking for advice on how to confess. And sometimes, someone just wants prayer because their spouse doesn’t want to make it work.

Each person that writes to us ends up getting their name hand-scribbled into my journal so I remember to pray over them. This is my privilege. This is the reminder of WHY I shared my story publicly. This is what keeps me humble.

But rarely, do I receive “close-call” emails.

I received this one from “Eve” last week. I’ve received permission to share her letter as long as I kept her anonymous, so “Eve” she will be for now:

Hi Jenni,

I have to confess I have been reading your website for a couple years now and have always meant to send you an email but haven’t. I wanted to say that the courage in your story and the raw emotion that you have shown along with your commitment to be closer to your husband and God is awe inspiring and has really assisted me in putting things in perspective for myself. I am married now but this is my first marriage and the second for my husband.

About 6 months ago I could see myself distancing, and we were starting to become “glorified roommates”. It was one day I came home from work and a male coworker had asked me if I wanted to grab lunch the next day that I got to thinking. I was giddy, excited, and felt “special”. But when I really started to think about it I asked myself why was SOME OTHER man besides my husband making me feel like this?

I read your blog one more time and I snapped out of it. Not only was going to lunch with him very inappropriate but it was asking for disaster. I knew he had a supposed crush on me and I was walking into the fire.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the courage, grace and love in your heart for others to be able to come forward and share your story so unabashedly and wholly. I know that sharing your story had to be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done but please know that you are changing lives by eliminating the shame and stigma of the subject. We are all after all human and as such will fall down but it’s not how you fall down but how you pick yourself back up that counts.

I’m happy to say I sought counseling, turned things around and my husband is now in Afghanistan on deployment with the Army. We are happily planning our “real wedding” as we only had a courthouse wedding in the first place.

I guess I just wanted to say, the truth is life changing. And you assisted me in seeing that.

My heart to yours,
“Eve”

This is why I shared my story. And this is why I’ll keep an open dialogue about infidelity till I die. Because sometimes, a marriage can experience a “close-call” instead of devastation.

So… here’s my challenge to you:

SHARE YOUR STORY!
The good, the bad and the ugly.
SHARE IT.

You never know what it can do for someone else.

————————-

Don’t forget to COMMENT HERE to win a free copy of Cindy Beall’s new book “Healing Your Marriage When Trust Is Broken”. I’ll choose a winner at midnight (mountain time) on Friday night.