~ An Open Letter to My Church Family

On this, the eve of our last Sunday with you, I am compelled to write down some of my thoughts. Last night was a wonderful night of celebration with our church leaders, staff and spouses as approximately 60 of us gathered to remember and look forward. Ken and I were blown away by the beauty of the night and the outpouring of love from so many of you. We shared stories and we laughed (mostly at Ken's expense), and every time I tried to say something, I cried. So I decided this might be an easier way to say what's on my heart. (You won't see the tears but you'll hear my heart!) I could write books with all the things I want to say to you, but I will try to be brief. Here goes!

You probably know this story. Thirty-two years ago (1985), this young girl looked into his blue eyes on our first date and said rather passionately and confidently, "I'm pretty sure God is calling me to be a pastor's wife." That young man boldly replied, "Good! Then we can go ahead and date and have fun, because I am never going to be a pastor." Ten years later, you called him to be your Associate Pastor, and this young, confident young girl was not so sure she was ready for that!

Here's part of the story you may not know. Before his first day on the job, we were told eight families left the church before they even met him because he had a background in psychology and counseling. And then, in his first few weeks on staff, he came home, and I could tell something was bothering him. Someone had left a little "bomb" on his desk. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. It was just a few words scribbled down, but they were enough to blow up any illusions I had of what ministry might be like. The words were so hurtful, I have never repeated them to anyone. So began my introduction to career ministry.

In those first few weeks, I remember thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" I knew right then I couldn't do this thing on my own. I knew I would need thicker skin and a greater capacity to love. I asked God to give me His love for you when mine wasn't enough. He answered that prayer over and over through the years and somewhere along the way, I learned this lesson: when you understand how much you have been loved, you want to love much. And when you truly understand how much you have been forgiven, you want to forgive much! 

In twenty-one years of ministry, you see a lot of people come and go. God gives, and He takes away. There is grieving and celebration. We have loved and lost many. To you who call Community Church home, you are our family. On behalf of our family, I would like to thank you for a few things. 

First, thank you for being a place and a people of grace. This has been our first and only ministry experience. We have grown much in these 21 years. You have allowed us to be exactly who we are, never expecting us to be anyone else. You have allowed our kids to be kids and have not expected them to be perfect or anything other than what and who they are. You have accepted us, weaknesses and all. You have believed the best, given second chances, and extended forgiveness when we messed up. You have extended loyalty to us, and in a day where people make vows and don't keep them or stick around only as long as something is beneficial to them, loyalty is a rare gift. You have allowed us to grow in the areas where God has gifted us. You trusted our leadership. You gave me a platform to do what I believe I was created to do. I will never forget being on stage and seeing your hands in the air and your hearts engaged in worship. It is my favorite place to be. You have understood that there were seasons when I needed to just be mom and wife, and times when family demands made Ken less available. (I want you to know that it was my joy to share him with you!) You have taught us much about grace!

Second, thank you for your generosity. I think one of my doubts when Ken decided it was time to use his gifts in full-time ministry was a hesitation to give up the security of a successful counseling practice. I can honestly say I have never doubted our decision one day since then. God has provided every single thing we have needed and has lavished us with good things. He has used your generosity time after time as His provision for us. Through two adoptions, surviving twins, and having an unexpected little bundle so late in life, you were the hands and feet of Jesus to us. You filled our shelves with everything we needed and gave of your time so unselfishly. Over the years, you lavished us with many good things, and we are grateful for every card, gift, trip, meal, etc... And I want you to know, as we were able, we shared with our children that the meal they were eating or the place they were staying or the gifts they were enjoying were because of your generosity - because you followed God's leading! You taught us and our children what it means to live with open hands! We know without a shadow of a doubt - where God guides, He provides.

Finally, thank you for your faithfulness to the vision for which God called us and knitted us together. It was in the church's DNA before we got here and will be long after we are gone. We will never forget going out into the community with you for The Church Has Left the Building, showing Fond du Lac the love of Christ. How could I ever forget Living Rooms. It was audacious of me to stand before you and say, "I only need 250 volunteers",  but you stepped up and we stepped into the community again to share the hope of Christ with a hurting world! Thank you for helping us fall in love with the people of Fond du Lac, Romania, Senegal, Haiti, the Bahamas, and so many places around the world. Thank you for keeping the vision clear - to become a movement of disciples radically committed to loving others for the glory of God. Ken and I believe that your best days are ahead, and in all of them, God will be glorified. It has been our pleasure to serve alongside you these 21 years. You will always be in our hearts and welcome in our home!

All my love,

Karen

~ A Great Start to a Great Sabbatical

Every five to seven years, our church gives my husband a sabbatical.

Really, it's a gift for our entire family. 

Even though he usually has a sabbatical project he's working on, we get to see dad way more than we normally do. 

We get to have dinner together almost every night and read together as a family. 

He gets to tuck the kids in bed every night.

We get to accomplish all the things on the last five years of honey-do lists that have been neglected. 

He gets to take the kids out for special lunches and dinners, and mommy even gets a few dates! 

We get to drive to church together and actually sit together during a sermon. 

We get to play silly games and see Dad in a different, relaxed light. 

We get to spend time with extended family and friends that we rarely see. 

And usually, because of the generosity of a great church fellowship, we get to travel to some wonderful places.

It really is a time for making wonderful memories.

Since Dad isn't really used to "down" time, it usually takes about two weeks for him to begin to unplug and relax. Before we can enjoy any of the above benefits, our first objective is usually to help him get his mind off work. 

So this year, here's what we did!

His first day of sabbatical, we had a silly string war. I think dad lost!

And then, we painted him blue - just for the fun of it!

The next morning, we took him to the bagel shop where my son works and treated him to the best bagels around. 

(shameless plug)

Knowing a few silly games and some great bagels wouldn't be enough to help him wind down, we did what needed to be done. We took him to the water and put a pole in his hand.  He always relaxes when he's near water, especially if there are fish involved.

I think it worked. Who wouldn't be relaxed after 24 hours like that!

(More about our travels later!)

Feed My Starving Children

It was only two hours, but they experienced more in that short time than I could have possibly hoped to teach them.

It wasn't book-learning, head-knowledge stuff.

It was open-your-eyes, break-your-heart kinda stuff.

The kind of stuff only God can teach.

We watched the training video that told us, "10.9 million kids under age 5 die each year in developing countries? Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60% of these deaths."

 

We saw the heart wrenching photo of the distraught three-year-old girl who weighed little more (14 lbs.) than my youngest did the day he was born (9.2 lbs.).

We saw the amazing photo of the same little girl after she had been fed consistently for seven months, her pudgy face smiling and happy!

 

I had come to this MobilePack prepared to serve, but not quite prepared to be so moved, to be so grateful for our blessings and yet so convicted of our excesses.

 

 

This amazing organization, Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), prepares enough food packs every day to feed 420,000 children. They send these packs to nearly 70 countries "to quickly reverse and prevent malnutrition."

Each pack is filled with chicken, vegetables, soybeans, and rice and all the vitamins and minerals a child needs to grow healthy and strong.

 

Each little rice pack contains six meals.

Each of those meals costs less than 25 cents.

There are 36 rice packs in every box.

If you do the math, that's 216 meals in each box.

 

One box of Manna Rice Packs is enough to feed one child for seven months.

And it only costs around $50 per box.

I had not realized how meaningful it would be to watch my children's hands work to make a difference in someone else's life.

They scooped and poured and measured and packaged and did it all without complaining. 

 

We cheered as we filled each box.

 

Today, in an hour-and-a-half, our crew packed 81boxes.

That's enough to feed 47 children for an entire year.

Last night my children ate until their bellies were full.

They went to bed satisfied and secure.

In the last 24 hours, 18,000 children died from hunger.

I wonder to myself, how will I ever sleep thinking about those 18,000 children,

and the 18,000 who will die tomorrow

and the day after that and the day after that...

How will I ever recover?

I hope I never do!

And I hope my children never do!

Tonight, they will go to bed satisfied and secure - again.

And tonight, we know there are 47 other children who can go to bed satisfied and maybe a little more secure.

Thanks to the efforts of FMSC, enough food will be produced tomorrow, every day in fact, to feed 420,000 more.

 

And they do it all through volunteers working a two hour shift. Visit FMSC's website to find a MobilePack near you or to host your own MobilePack.

 

Two hours is all it takes to save 47 lives.

It's a very small price to pay!

 

 

...if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

Isaiah 58:9-11

~ Never Forget

I will never forget the day the glass shattered, the ash fell, and our world was changed forever.

I was a not-so-young mother of three. I had just dropped my three-year-old off at Moppets and was sitting in the auditorium at MOPS waiting for our leader, just chit-chatting with my friends.

My two middle children had just been born the previous month and probably didn't weigh much more than their three pound birth weight. They were possibly still in the hospital or had already gone to live with their foster parents (who sacrificed greatly to keep them in the same home). I didn't even know they were mine, yet. We were still full of hope and waiting anxiously for news that they had found us a child.

In the next moment, our leader approached the platform and told us that a plane had flown into the 1st tower. At the time, we had no way of knowing the extent of what would happen that day. We prayed for the people who lost their lives and for the city of New York. And then we went about our morning.

I remember flipping on the TV later that morning and watching the devastation - people running, buildings burning, smoke and ash chasing people down the streets of NYC. I remember desperatley wanting to hear my husband's voice, to be with him.

Today, I think of all those who would desperately like to hear the voices of their loved ones - the voices that were silenced on that dark day.

On my way to church this morning, I told my 10-year-olds about that day, about the planes, and the selfishness of those pilots, and the selflessness of those passengers. And I choked up when I told them that there were people who didn't want another plane to kill more people, so they sacrificed themselves. They put others first. They gave their lives.

My children won't remember the events of that day. They were too young. They only know what they learned in school or saw on TV. They won't remember the hands stretching out to offer hope to their neighbors and people choosing to see the needs of others as more important than themselves. They won't remember how a country gathered up its courage and refused to live in fear or how for a brief time, a nation cried out with one voice to its Creator for help.

The Bible tells us to remember the past, not just so we can mourn all over again. Remembering helps us have hope.

Never forget!

Never forget that evil is real.

Never forget what happens when people put away petty differences and selfish motives.

Never forget what happens when there is clarity and unity of purpose.

Never forget that there is One who can take whatever evil can dish out and use it for good.

Never forget that He is the one who is in control!

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15: 1-6)

Photos were taken in a very dark auditorium at our 911 memorial service on my husband's Android phone. (My apologies!) We started the service with "I was..." and ended with "I will..." The challenge was, "Where is your hope and what will you do to trust God in that hope in the days ahead." People hung their responses on a chain link fence much like the one at Ground Zero. Powerful service!

~ To Love Is To Go

Even though the work is hard,

And the conditions are difficult,

And the area is in turmoil,

TO LOVE IS TO GO!

Even though you don't know the language

or the people

or their ways,

TO LOVE IS TO GO!

Even though others have stopped going,

TO LOVE IS TO GO!

In July, my oldest went to Mexico to build a house for a family who had little more than a broken down shack. I was scared to send my son into a country with so much unrest, where thousands of people have lost their lives due to drug-related killings, but I knew God would honor his desire to serve the poor. More importantly, I knew God would BE honored by his obedience. God loves the poor. And God calls us to love the poor. And in that moment of trying to be a parent and make the hard call to send him or not, I could not deny the truth that sometimes to LOVE, you have to GO!

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. (Proverbs 14:31)

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (I John 3:17-18)

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard... and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. (Isaiah 58:6-8, 10)

Pictures are from Josiah's trip to Tecate, Mexico: working at the house site, finding ways to make friends when you can't communicate (soccer in the streets), dedicating the family's new home, and giving a new truck to a lady who is tireless in her efforts to help her people - God's ambassador in Tecate! (The second week, our volunteers and youth pooled their money and bought a truck for this special lady and her incredible ministry to the area.)