I just picked up this CD. It is A-mazing. Very prayerful, centering, and powerful. "The Prayer Cycle" by Jonathan Elias.

Spiritual memories...

This is a simple song by Third Day that takes me to a fond place of spiritual memory in my life...It's crazy how songs can remind us of places we've been in life, physical, emotional, and/or spiritual...this one takes me to Epworth Forest on a retreat with a bunch of high school kids who met at summer camp. Nothing fancy, but kids loving Jesus and pursuing Him in a sacred place...

Though the treasures of
This life may fade
Your love endures forever
They will pass away Things that man has made
But your love endures forever

Now I can't explain, or even understand
Why you gave your life, to save sinful man
But I know it's true, I've seen it myself
Your love endures forever

Though the seasons change With the passing time
Your love endures forever
And the sun will fade If just for the night
Your love endures forever

Though our pains and joys Will come and go
Your love endures forever
Even in my fears I will always know
That your love endures forever...

Family.

It's been a rough weekend; I'm not gonna lie. If I could wrap it up in a few phrases, it would be "God shows up in unexpected places, especially through complicated circumstances." I was with my Mom's family this weekend, and it was really amazing. I haven't always gotten along with them as well as I would have liked, but the older I get the more I realize that they're still my family and I love them. To be honest, I saw God more in my family this weekend (who are not necessarily believers in the God I know) than I have in my church for a long time. I get glimpses of eternity when I feel their acceptance as "one of them" and the identification with something internally mysterious that takes place when we're together. I know that God wired it that way, but it's so unique to see it pan out, that even when I'm angry and sad, he soothes my spirit through their presence. I can show up with out pretense, be present and alive without fear of judgment or how my behavior might affect my reputation at church. It's just a fantastic feeling, and I want more please.

Templates

After a fantastic meeting with my warrior brothes this week, I was enlightened by some wisdom regarding how we desire things from each other in inter-personal relationships...I was asking what I thought to be a good question, IE, "what does respect look like for you" when I was shown that this kind of question forces a kind of "template" upon the way that one desires love, respect, admiration, etc.

Now, growing up in the shadow of Gary Chapman's "The 5 Love Languages", these kinds of questions seem legitimate, considering that I do buy into humanity all being wired in a unique way by a Creative Designer. Thus, it would make sense that we all love and want to be loved in different ways. But what if this view is incomplete? The idea of templates would seem to point that direction...Asking a question of oneself, "what does being loved" look like for me places an expectation and standard upon all those who try to love me, and thus I don't receive the love they have to offer. Though it seems like I am getting in touch with how I'm wired, it also allows me to get into my selfishness and expect others to love me on my terms. Am I saying that there should not be boundaries? Not in the least. But what I am saying is that by expecting others to come to me on my terms, through love, respect, admiration, etc, I am missing out on the blessing I could be receiving from them.

Food for thought.

Greetings!

So I'm new to this whole blog thing m'self, but I'm intrigued by the idea...This summer, I led worship at a weeklong camp called "Summer of Service" in Mishawaka, IN. As the week unfolded, it became more clear to me and my brother (electric guitar extraordinare) that our week was not panning out as we had hoped...technological failures marked our every turn and frustrations got the best of me. At one point, while I was debating packing up my guitar and hopping a plane back to Minneapolis, my brother looked at me and said in his best scottish accent, "dunna worry, for we are worth many sparrows".

It occurred to me then, that I was not remembering the truth that I was proclaiming to the students who trusted me to minister to them.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:27)

In the midst of trying to serve God, I had forgotten about God entirely. I forgot that I was worth the death and resurrection of a son, to a God I had lost in the midst of electronic malfunctions. But what my brother had reminded of, even in jest, sustained me through the rest of the week, and I was able to follow the Spirit more closely.

Thus, the title and picture of my fledgling blog, "Many Sparrows" arose. The question of worth is a valuable measure of our faith...do we believe that of all the other things God could pre-occupy Himself with, God chooses us? Do we really believe that when we have no faith in ourselves, that God believes in us?

Let us remember that our image is hidden in the mysterious image of an invisible God, and that we are worth many sparrows.

Plotting Peace,

Andy