Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. - Mark 6:30-32

I have a few friends who used to joke that they were studying to become a teacher for three good reasons: June, July, and August! While the truth is that they are excellent teachers who truly care for their students, the old joke about June, July, and August is funny because we all like the idea of having the time off. I also don’t know any teachers who actually take all that time “off”, and school schedules are not all alike any longer.
I’m sure my elementary and high school teachers were as ready for a break from me as I was for a break from school. Students and teachers alike counted down the last days of the school year. The math, language, history, and science work diminished and the incidence of nature movies increased. We celebrated with Last-Day-of-School class parties, and we all escaped into the warm summer afternoon.
My childhood summers were full; full of going to the lake or ocean with friends, late evening kick- the- can games, visiting grandparents, building tree forts, VBS, and some summer school fun classes.
For adults, summers are far different than those of our youth. That summer job that seemed like a neat idea transformed into a year-around commitment. Sprinkler parties turned into overtime. Lazy summer days when we complained that there was nothing to do are but a distant memory. When was the last time you had “nothing” to do?
The good news is that even as adults, summer is the season when many of us take vacations. Did you know that Jesus taught his disciples that it was important for them to take a vacation? Jesus’ disciples traveled from town to town telling others about God and God’s love for them. They traveled every day preaching, teaching, and healing the sick. They worked so hard that they often didn’t even have time to stop to eat or sleep. They became very tired.
When Jesus saw how tired they were,he said to them, “Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest.” The Bible then says, “So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place” - a break from our ordinary labors. Scripture is full of God’s telling us to take a break: God resting on the seventh day, the commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, Jesus’ frequent escapes to the wilderness, Jesus’ reminder that the Sabbath was created for us, ….
We are reminded to take these breaks in order to get away; to take a break from our labor and rest, to break free from the tyranny of the urgent, and to break out of our ruts to spend time with God.
Here’s a thought! Invite God to go on vacation with you. Spend some quiet moments talking with God about your life and listen for God’s reply. Include a time of prayer and devotion as part of your daily vacation routine. Look for God’s presence in your day and consider your many blessings that are often obscured in the daily rush.
If you include God in your vacation, chances are you will return with a renewed sense of God’s love and purpose for you that is far more important than an extra nap and a tan from the beach.

Blessings on the journey!!!

Pastor Cindy

“Let anyone with ears listen!” -Matthew 11:15

Listening is an important skill. Books and articles about Leadership often encourage Leaders to stop talking so much and listen more. Rather than seeking to always provide the right answer, effective leaders knowing how to ask the right questions and then to simply listen to those who are engaged in the endeavor.

Perhaps more importantly, listening is an important spiritual practice. At the end of a parable, Jesus often admonished his audience to “listen.” In the gospels, it was those who were able to listen deeply from their hearts that were able to comprehend the message and ministry of Jesus and know more authentically the path of discipleship. It was those who knew how to listen that learned to recognize the voice of the true shepherd and thus discern right action.

In the United Methodist Book of Discipline (the official policy and procedures of our church), pastors are encouraged to take a 4-week study leave every four years. Part of the purpose of such leaves is to allow Pastoral Leaders to step back from the daily tasks of ministry to reflect, learn, renew, and listen for God’s voice.

This year, our Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) has allowed me to schedule a 4 week Study Leave consecutively with a 3-week vacation and our week of Annual Conference. Thus, I’ll not be preaching or attending to normal duties for nearly 2 months. I’m grateful to the members of SPRC who are demonstrating confidence in Pastor Cindy Hamilton and our church leaders to lead our ministry while I enjoy this mini-sabbatical.

I have several goals for my study leave. First, I have committed to spend 20 hours listening for God’s guidance about our congregation’s priorities as I begin year number 9 serving as your pastor. I hope to return with a set of questions for our church leaders.

In various leadership classes, I’ve learned that knowing how to ask the right questions is cultivated in a practice of slowing down, calming down, and taking time to listen to one’s self and to others in our environment. Asking the right questions is a powerful contribution because it can cause a group to see their situation through a new lens, open new possibilities, see previously hidden assets, and gain clarity about what is most important. Asking and listening in this way is more impactful than telling and having the right answer.

Second, I have chosen three books (out of my pile of 35 unread books!) related to church leadership and preaching.

Third, I will complete some organizational education and tasks that will allow me to be more productive and efficient. I will be purging my book cases and bringing new order to them and creating a finding system for my books. You may want to check out the church library when I’m done as I’ll donate a few great resources for the use of the community.

Fourth, I will complete a DVD led Leadership Summit sponsored by the Willow Creek Association.
Fifth, I will visit three or four growing congregations in our county for worship and to observe what we might learn from them.

Finally, I do plan to rest and be more regular in sleep, healthy eating and exercise. I’ll be in our worship experiences in July but will return to preaching regular pastoral duties on July 18. I hope you will pray for me as I will pray for you. Don’t forget, in your praying, to listen!

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra

“And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God . . .” - Rev. 21:6

When we think about heaven, images from nature often pop into our minds: beaches, mountain ranges, lakes nestled in rolling hills. But in the book of Revelation (from which we have read for the Sundays after Easter), when John describes the vision given to him of the new heaven and new earth, a central image is a holy city. Why a city? Pastor Dana Ferguson answers that question: “Because cities are places where people live together in dependence upon on another. A city works when everyone in it does something to contribute to its welfare. It is the welcome place where people arrive home at the end of a long and confusing journey. It is where God lives.”

For 148 years, our church has been called by God to be world-changing disciples in the city of Modesto. Of course, Modesto didn’t exist when those first Methodists gathered for worship at Knights Landing. And it was a few years before Modesto gathered a population and status to be described as a city. But a bustling city it has become – and one with not a few challenges and struggles.

For a time, our congregation believed we could best serve God by moving to the edge of the city where new housing developments were thriving. The plan envisioned developing senior housing on our downtown property. But God closed those doors. The financing for such a plan did not coalesce. Many people who had worked diligently on that plan were disappointed. Yet in hind sight, I believe that God meant for our congregation’s ministry to remain anchored in the heart of Modesto.

We have a great opportunity to be a witness and bless the city with joy this summer. The Fourth of July is on a Sunday and as usual, the parade route will end at our church. Rather than complain about how the civic celebration will cramp our plans, we’ve decided to take our church to the streets.

The theme of the parade this year is “Lincoln – A Legacy.” Given that our church was founded in the second year of Lincoln’s presidency, it seems especially appropriate that we should be parade participants this year. I hope that each one of you will find a way to participate.

First, we will have an outdoor hymn-sing worship service at 10:00 a.m. on the front lawn (The parade starts at 10:00 a.m. but it takes almost an hour to wind its way to us). We want everyone to dress is red, white and blue, bring comfortable lawn chairs and be ready to sing your favorite hymns. On all the Sunday’s between now and June 25, we’ll be taking hymn suggestions by email, Facebook, and on the back of your Sunday registration cards. So let us know what you would love to sing that morning.

Second, we will have a float in the parade feature the Jamie Dubberly Jazz Ensemble which is featured in our monthly Jazz Vesper services. We need people to work on the float design and decoration team.

Third, we want some families to walk in the parade behind our float tossing out candy to parade watchers.

Fourth, we want 150 of you to be along the last two blocks of the parade route to join in a spontaneous-looking choreography and join our band in singing a familiar medley. Carolyn Hutton and Lynn Evans are working out a plan and will have several practice session in June so look for those announcements. The first session will be following the Jazz Vespers service on June 6th on the front lawn. Contact Carolyn for more information at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

We’ve referred to our plan as a “flash mob” even though it isn’t quite technically one. It is a public performance event meant to surprise the audience and evoke joy. So, don’t talk about it outside of our congregation. Shhh! We want to surprise our neighbors! If you would like to see some samples that have occurred in other cities, visit the website www.YouTube.com and put “flash mob” in the search box. You’ll see different links. Click on the one from Antwerp from March 2009 in which a group danced to “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music. Last Sunday in worship, we showed the one that occurred in Seattle on April 10. You can’t help but smile at this great celebration of community.

Finally, we will enjoy a Barbecue Picnic on the front lawn after the parade. Carrie Castillon is coordinating our fellowship event. Contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Let us continue be a blessing to our city and be channels of God’s grace. Join us in this opportunity to live in a way that allows the good news of the gospel to shine through us.

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. –Hebrews 4:16

“Hmmmm. That is puzzling,” said one. “Maybe it’s because we’ve had so many deaths and so many people are in bad health right now,” suggested another. “Don’t worry, Debra, it’s not your sermons,” consoled yet another.

These were the responses I received from members of our Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) in our meeting last week as I showed them our worship attendance numbers for the seasons of Lent and Easter so far this year. Our worship attendance has not been this low since 2004!

I shared with the committee that my experience of our worship seems more vital and alive than ever. We have been planning worship with diverse groups of people focusing on 4-6 week seasons and the creativity has been very invigorating for me as a preacher, and I’ve been moved to tears to see and hear the responses from those who have been in worship. God is doing amazing and transforming things in people’s lives. The members of SPRC enthusiastically affirmed my own observations and experience.

Therefore, the low worship attendance numbers puzzled me. Finally someone said, “I think it’s the economy.”

“Really?” replied another member. “Wouldn’t you expect that the terrible economy would cause worship attendance to go up as people really see the need to pray and be sustained in a difficult time?”

I saw the logic in this point of view. Human beings do have a tendency to try and to bargain with God. It is not uncommon to hear someone reason this way: “I’ve been laid off (or had my hours cut back). Maybe God is punishing me for not going to church. Maybe if I go to church, God will reward me with a better job or a raise.”

After further discussion, a consensus seemed to develop that indeed the economy has been negatively impacting our worship attendance. Some people have taken on more part-time work that interferes with getting here on Sunday mornings. Some people have been gripped by depression. Even though one part of their brain knows that the experience of worship will help with the depression, it takes miraculous levels of energy to overcome the inertia that depression creates in one’s life.

Another person speculated that some people are staying away because they cannot contribute financially to our ministries in general, much less all the special offerings we take to help earthquake victims and the various missions in our community that serve the poor. Guilt about bankruptcy and debt and shame about experiencing financial chaos creates a barrier between God and neighbor and thus makes worshipping in community seem impossible.

As I listened to the committee discuss the situation, I was initially surprised. It hadn’t dawned on me, but their observations rang true. It is true that several of our very faithful worship attendees have joined the ranks of the “Homebound” due to health. But this doesn’t explain everything. The collective wisdom of the group gave me insight into our situation.

If you are one of those people who have stopped coming because of depression, guilt or shame about your financial situation, let me remind you of the gracious life to which Christ invites you. Let me remind you of the freedom Christ offers. You do not need to remain enslaved.

In this journey of Christian discipleship, we gather in community to worship so that we experience anew the connection we have with God and with one another. We are reminded of the purpose God has given each of us. We are invited to take action through which God changes not only our lives, but also the world. When we accept God’s gracious invitation to life, we live with a dual consciousness of remembering all the sacrifices and gifts of those who have gone before us and also the legacy we leave to those who come after us. God blesses us and calls us to be a channel of blessing to others. You never know who God is trying to bless just through your physical presence! Life comes with dazzling energy when we are able to live into a future that God makes possible in spite of the sorrow of this present day. These are the leading causes of life!

Take one step. Ask for a Stephen Minister to be your companion in the journey. Let Deb Howey know you would like to enroll in the next Financial Peace University course. Come to worship in your sweats if you want. Sneak in late and sit in the balcony if you want to remain unseen. Send an email or leave a message for one person to let them know you need prayer. Do one simple thing and let God do a healing work in you!

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra

I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live . . . -Deuteronomy 30:19b
We are surrounded by the language of death. Have you noticed that? We live on a violent, troubled planet. The news of the day, whether we get it from TV broadcasts, print journalists, radio talk shows, the internet or chatting with our neighbors, is filled with stories of bomb explosions, earthquakes, hurricanes, and airplane crashes. The events are framed by how people died and what people who are suffering lack. If I asked any one of you, “What are the leading causes of death?” I fully expect that you would rattle off a list: heart disease, cancer, car accidents, etc. We are preoccupied by death.
But what if I asked you about the leading causes of life? What are the leading causes of life?
I became intrigued with this question when I discovered a book with this title written by Larry Pray, a pastor in a small Montana town, and Gary Gunderson, an executive at a large health system in Memphis. Larry’s wife and children experience pain from a rare and chronic genetic disease. Larry himself has had two strokes and heart attacks. Despite these afflictions, they continue to engage in a joyful ministry. Gary, whose hospital treats 3,000 patients every day, is surrounded by struggle, violence and brokenness that threaten to scatter hope like dry leaves. These two Christians live in the same world we do and face challenges at least as difficult as our own, but they have learned to notice life in ways that create something vital, powerful, and compelling. As I read their book, I realized that they capture the essential celebration of the Easter season: In the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has conquered death and given us the gift of life.
If we who seek to be disciples of Jesus and who also seek to make others disciples for the transformation of the world God so loves, then we need to be fluent in the language of life. Just as we learned rules of grammar in elementary school, so we need to learn the language of life. The authors argue that we need to use the vocabulary, name the parts of speech, underline the verbs, listen to its nuances, and trace the way it shapes the stories of our own lives.
When we remain obsessed with death, we become desensitized to deep suffering and emotionally bereft. Death does not lead to life. However, learning the language of life helps us foster an environment in which we can flourish, regardless of the disease, pathologies, and deficits we experience. When we discover life, we are empowered in ways that strengthen the whole community.
As we engage in the stories of Resurrection during our Easter Season Worship, we will learn to tune our ears so that we might choose life instead of death. As we engage in the scriptures, we will learn five leading causes of life: connection, coherence, agency, blessing and hope.
The language of life we find in scripture has the power to transform us in all aspects of our discipleship – as a parent, friend, neighbor, and in our vocation. This language allows us to talk to each other across many barriers that usually divide us. I encourage you to join us in worship during the Easter season as we learn God’s language of life.
Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Pastor Debra

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time . . . - Ephesians 5:15

When you ask someone how they are, what is the most common response you get? Most often you hear, “Fine.” That quick retort might mean many things. From the tone of voice you might decipher the real meaning. Here are some possibilities:
• “This is just a social nicety that allows us to move on to the real purpose of our interaction; I don’t actually mean to convey any real information about myself.”
• “It’s complicated, and this is neither the time nor place to go into it.”
• “I’m not fine, and YOU should know that because YOU are the reason I’m NOT fine.”
• “I don’t actually believe you care about my actual life, so let’s just say, “fine,” and move on.”
• “Things are really going well for me right now; thanks for asking.”

The other common response people make when others inquire about them is, “I’m busy!” Some time ago, I made it a point to stop saying that when people asked me how I am. What does it mean to be “busy” anyway? How do you know if you are busy? Is it good to be busy?
I realize some people mean this in a very good way. If you own your own business, you might say, “We’re busy” with a tone of relieved enthusiasm. “Hurray! We have lots of customers. Things are going well!” Someone who has known the scarcity of being unemployed or the doldrums of depression might say, “I’m busy!” and mean that they are fruitfully engaged in productive, meaningful activities – at last!
Most often, though, I hear things that concern me when people tell me they are busy. Sometimes it seems to me that people fill their lives with activity as a way of escaping from troubling thoughts, difficult relationships, fear, and nagging problems. Being busy is a distraction from living fully the life God gave us. If things slow down and people actually have time to think or feel, it frightens them.
Sometimes I see that people are overwhelmed. Day after day, they end the day with a list of commitments longer than when they started the day. Life feels frantic and overwhelming and stressful because there doesn’t seem to be a way to get it all done. Everyone in their lives is demanding something, and it is hard to meet everyone’s expectations. Often when I hear people say, “I’m busy,” I interpret it as, “Stop bothering me. I can’t handle any more. Don’t expect anything more of me. Don’t demand anything of me.” Saying that you are “busy” is a sort of shield of protection.
Several years ago, I intentionally decided not to say, “Busy!” when people inquired about me. Yet, I still fall into the same trap. I feel busy when I don’t get everything accomplished that I wanted to get accomplished in a day and my list for tomorrow becomes impossibly long.
Our Friday mid-day small group just finished reading the book, “Following Through – How to Finish Anything You Start,” by Steve Levinson and Pete Greider. One of the closing chapters suggested that we “date” an intention before we “marry” it. I’ve found that excellent advice. When an opportunity arises, it is part of wise living to spend some time prayerfully pondering whether this opportunity is the right one for us at this time. We might try it out a little to see how much time is really involved, if the activity is really the right thing for us before we commit to ourselves and others that we will do something. We are wise to give ourselves the option of saying, “no” before we get to the altar!
Certainly, we can always look for ways to improve efficiency and organizational skills. But we often have unrealistic expectations of what is possible. Too often, we move through life with a frantic and frazzled demeanor. Expecting ourselves to do everything on our daily “To-Do” list is a little like expecting to drive from Modesto to Washington D.C., in 12 hours. It doesn’t matter how well we organize the trip, how efficiently we plan the route, what breaks we get in traffic and weather, attempting to drive a normal automobile almost 3,000 miles in 12 hours defies the laws of physics. Yet we seem to expect this of ourselves in our daily tasks.
Lent is a time of self-examination and repentance. So if we find ourselves often saying, “I’m busy,” let us consider these questions. Is the life of Discipleship really about being busy and frantic and overwhelmed? Do your family and friends feel neglected and resentful? Do you know your neighbors? Are you engaged in community within and without the church? I think that Jesus did not intend the Church to become a place of burnout. Rather, I think that Jesus intended church as a community, Christ’s body, to help us experience God’s presence, to encourage us to authentically know others and be known in return, and to nourish us for service so that we might make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
We began the Lenten Season on Ash Wednesday with ashes applied on our foreheads hearing the message “Repent and believe the Gospel!” Jesus came to give us life. A real life. Not just busyness.

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra

Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come into you and eat with you, and you with me. -Rev. 3:20

When I was a child, a dominant metaphor of beginning the Christian life was “asking Jesus into your heart.” At the conclusion of every Sunday School class, Good News Club meetings, and youth events, we were asked to bow our heads and close our eyes for prayer. The leader would always include a challenge to raise your hand and then silently repeat a prayer of invitation if you wanted to ask Jesus in your heart.

I raised my hand and said this prayer of invitation many times in my childhood and adolescence. The church taught that one needed to take this action only once to be saved. I repeated the process lots of time because I wasn’t always sure Jesus actually came in. I thought it should feel more miraculous afterward. I thought I should behave more perfectly afterward. I was afraid that somehow I had inadvertently blocked the door or wasn’t sincere enough. Truthfully, while I found the possibility of an intimate relationship with Jesus compelling, I was equally terrified of the consequences (hellfire) if I didn’t do it right.

As an adult, I have found the metaphor of “journey” to be much more helpful in understanding my relationship with God through Christ. Journey is a metaphor which created compassion for the twists and turns of my life. It gave me a lens of grace. Journey is a metaphor I use a lot. In fact, I always sign my columns and letters using that metaphor: “Walking with you as we follow Jesus.”

Last summer, I was “shopping” for reading material to down load to my new Kindle (a type of electron book made by Amazon that allows you to download various reading material electronically and read it on a type of computer screen). I found a title familiar to me in childhood by Robert Boyd Munger called “My Heart – Christ’s Home: A Story for Old and Young.” It was first published by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in 1954 before I was born. The most recent edition was published in 1992.

I downloaded it partly out of nostalgia. And, I wanted to reconsider the heart metaphor for my own discipleship. The author describes his conversion and then narrates the process of Christian growth. The reader listens and watches the author give Jesus a tour of the new home. As they move together from room to room, certain opportunities for change become evident.

Much of the rhetoric reflects a much more private and narrowly moralistic understanding of the Christian life than is typical for the United Methodist understanding of faithful discipleship. It relies a little too much on shame for my sensibilities. Yet it stimulated my thinking about the potential power of this metaphor as I reflection upon the ways that conviction can lead to healing, transformation and a more powerful, purpose-centered life.

I’m telling you all of this so that you will understand the background of our worship theme for Lent: “My Heart – Christ’s Home: A Blueprint for Discipleship.”

I hope that you will be intentional about fully and regularly participating in worship this season. Pray for the courage to take these intentional, challenging and more intimate steps in your own spiritual life. Be open to what God will do in you and through you as you as you consider this opportunity to invite Christ to live in your own heart.

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra

Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor. –Ps. 29:2

Our worship during this Season after Epiphany is off to a fabulous start! When we read Psalm 29 out loud in worship (January 10th) – each one at her/his own pace and interpretation – it was a moment of “holy splendor.” One person emailed me and asked whether we had recorded ocean sounds playing as we read. We did not. But reading together created that sense of power and sound. It gave me chills as I felt God presence in the midst of our voice storm!

As we kicked off this series on “Things that Survive the Storm,” I sensed how much more engaged worshippers seemed. Worship happens when each person shows up authentically and actively participates. The word “liturgy” literally means the “work of the people”. Worship is not entertainment or a passive spectator activity. We create something different with God when each worshipper is fully engaged.

Many of you have commented recently that something seems different about our worship lately. I think it is because we have transitioned to a new way of planning and implementing worship. Traditionally, the pastors presented a sermon theme or ideas for series to a Worship Committee of people serving a 3 year term and then music and liturgical paraments were chosen accordingly. The preacher was the one who generated the majority of ideas.

We are now planning worship in seasonal Worship Design Teams. We have a core group that includes the pastors, music staff, lay leader, and three Worship Coordinators elected by the congregation. Other participants join the team to brainstorm, plan, design and implement a season that is typically 4 to 8 weeks in length. By bringing together a diverse group of people with different skills, gifts, ideas, life experiences and ways of being nourished by worship, we create a very rich environment for creativity.

Would you like to be part of a Worship Design Team? I know that some of you are thinking, “Oh, I’m not creative; I can’t do that.” Yes you can. All of us are creative in some way. God made us that way! We need extroverts and introverts; plan-ahead folks and extemporaneous; linear thinkers and organic thinkers; musical or artsy folks and engineers and mechanics; old, young and in-between. The more diverse we are culturally in our planning, the richer our worship will be!

A great example of the power of diverse skills is found in watching Bobbie and Bud Young work together with their daughter Mona Simas. Bobbie is the lead Worship Coordinator and she generates great metaphors and ideas that will connect with the scripture and theme of the season. Mona is a skilled Interior Designer and has a great eye for color, balance and other aesthetics. Bud can build anything and is a very skilled craftsman. The shipwrecked boat and accompanying stormy symbols that grace the sanctuary are a product of their creative teamwork!

Our next Worship Design Meeting will cover Easter Sunday through May 2. We will gather for brainstorming on Saturday, February 6 from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. If you participate (even if you don’t know exactly how), please email or call me and I’ll give you the details. I guarantee that you’ll find the experience very rewarding and it’s just a three month commitment. If you are interested but can’t make this planning session, let me know that, too.

As worshippers spoke with me after church, I was touched by the way God was speaking to them through worship and the connections they were making through the various metaphors we used in reflecting on the meaning of Jesus’ baptism and our own as part of our identity that survives and is honed through any of life’s storms.

Lynn Hansen went home and wrote a poem about her worship experience. She gave me permission to share it with you – even though she said it might continue to evolve as the series progresses.

Thank you for actively participating in meaningful worship. You never know how God is using you for good in the process!

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Sea Glass

I Sea glass is one of the few valuable items created by actions of the environment on litter.
II Against the dulled background of beach sand, glitter of sea glass catches the eye.
III Once solid, bottles, glasses, plates,broken by the sea, polished fragments of sea glass become art.
IV Smoothed by battering against rocks, abrasion against others, sea glass loses the sharp edge of brokenness.
V In our own brokenness, sea glass reminds us that we are also valuable.
VI Though divided into many pieces and worn, sea glass adds color and dimension to an otherwise uniform landscape.
VII Fragments of their former selves, sea glass never loses its integrity. It is still glass.
VIII Sounds of sea glass clinking together in baskets, a joyful noise sings back into the storm.
IX Sparkle of sea glass reflects rainbow colors of light, we can envision new possibilities for this form.
X Each piece of sea glass is unique, no shape, size or form is exactly like another. So too are we.
XI Once a strong container or protector from the elements, each had its unique breaking point when it became sea
glass.
XII With each wave of the storm, sea glass is sorted and distributed along distant shores where it can engage in a new
purpose.
XIII Sea glass is a gift of the storm, made possible and delivered by the collision of violent seas with rocky shores. We too are gifts.

© Lynn M. Hansen
January 10, 2009

“I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?” – Psalm 42:9

This edition of our newsletter is being sent out on Epiphany – the final day of the Christmas season. Last year, I still had some Christmas lights up in July but I imagine that most of you have packed away your holiday decorations and are moving with gusto into the new year.
I also imagine that some of you are working on New Year’s resolutions to end a bad habit, start a good habit, or do more of something you don’t do enough of (like spend time with friends and family). Many of you gave up making resolutions long ago as it just feels too bad to fail at them year after year.
Thus, I thought it time to give you an update on what I’m learning in the Friday lunch time “Following Through” group led by Brenda Morris. (If you missed my previous column on the topic, see the October 7, 2009 edition of the Cornerstone.). Our group gets its name from a book we are reading together by Steve Levinson and Pete Greider called Following Through – A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start.
The first part of the book explains the human dilemma of why following through is so difficult for most of us and why logical approaches simply do not work. We are now 80% through the book and have learned several very practical approaches to help us follow through on our intentions. I want to share with you one of the things I’m trying.
I have always been a “work-to-deadline” person. My husband Steve, just now reading over my shoulder, asked “Why don’t you just admit that you are a procrastinator?” Call it what you will, I find it impossible to get things done when it would be most convenient for me if my self-imposed deadline is prior to the real, absolute deadline. I even miss the deadline if there is any wiggle room no matter how early I start on the task.
I know how to plan, organize and manage both time and tasks and have actually demonstrated my competence at such skills. I really do desire to get things done early. I hate the stress of waiting until the very last minute. I earnestly pray for God to help me. Still, I find myself scrambling, cutting into my leisure activities, family time and sleep to finish an assignment. Looming deadlines have often felt like enemies and I have had more than one crisis of faith wondering why God doesn’t just zap me will more will power!
My problem isn’t a matter of needing more knowledge, skill, desire, priorities or faith. I have a problem with “wiggle room.” When it really matters, I get down to business. Until then, my brain is always flitting – creating new possibilities, being distracted by other things that need to be done and resisting my very good intentions. One strategy recommended by the authors of the book is to “create a compelling reason” to get your intention complete which allows no wiggle room, that also fits your needs and personality, and will make the intention matter now!
Modifying an idea I read in the book, I decided to try this approach with getting my Cornerstone columns turned in to our Editor on time. The deadline is always on a Wednesday usually one week before the newsletter is mailed. However, I know that the Editor always leaves a certain amount of space for me and even when I turn my column in the day before it is mailed, she always accommodates me. I feel bad for making the Editor wait and that it often causes her to reshuffle things and have no time for proof-reading. But my regrets have never been a compelling enough reason. Thus, I adopted a plan that will be a compelling reason.
I needed a no-nonsense partner in my plan and so I asked our Administrative Assistant (who also is the Cornerstone Editor), Deb Howey, to participate in my scheme. As I predicted, she was quick to whole-heartedly agree. She has something to gain, too! I wrote Deb a personal check for $400.00 and asked her to cash it and place 20 twenty dollar bills in an envelope marked “Cornerstone Deadline” and hide it. There is one bill for each edition of the Cornerstone during the year.

If I do not have my Cornerstone column done by the time our staff meeting begins at 1:45 p.m. on deadline days, then our staff meeting will begin with Deb removing one twenty dollar bill and shredding it in the paper shredder in front of the whole staff. Are you aghast? So was the rest of the staff when I told them! “Why don’t you just have Deb give it away to a homeless person?” they asked. “Because,” I replied, “that would make me happy. I’m a generous person. But I am also a good steward and I know that all of you could use extra help with your own grocery budget. I would be appalled and ashamed to have to watch you witness my lack of follow through result in destroying cold hard cash.” The authors encouraged us to choose something that pushes us to an extreme and this is what I think will do if for me.
If I do have the column complete, then Deb will take the $20 bill and place it in another envelope marked “Staff Retreat” to save as grocery money for our annual staff get-away. That feels very rewarding to me! Will this work? I think so but feel free to check in with Deb Howey. This issue is the first test and I have five minutes to go before my deadline.
I realize some of you are shaking your heads and wondering if I lost my marbles over the holidays. I can assure you that I’m very excited to discover some new approaches that are actually working in my life after many years of flailing. I’m sharing this rather vulnerable example from my own life as a way to encourage you to refrain from beating yourself up about the intentions on which you might not be following through. Where is God in all this? Right beside me. Smiling, maybe even a little impishly at having created such complicated beings as we are!

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra

You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. — Job 30:22

Job was a man who knew what it meant to be tossed by the storms of life. Through no fault of his own, and through the seeming capriciousness of heaven, Job lost his children, his livelihood, his savings and his health. His friends berated him and exhorted him to confess his sins, give up his arrogance and get right with God. Job answered his friends and defended his character. Finally toward the end of the book, Job loses his patience and begins a rather vehement conversation with God demanding an explanation or at least a response of some kind.
As I listen to your life stories, including the dire predicaments many are in right now due to the economy, I’m reminded of Job. Most of us know what it feels like to be battered by the storms of life. Many of us feel uncertain about how we are going to survive. Joblessness, uncertainty, mortgage payments, health, family troubles can feel like crashing waves threatening to sink our boat. We wonder where God is. Who will save us? How do we keep our faith?
As I reflect on my journey of faith, the truest thing I know about God is that God can redeem all things for good. Even the worst things that people do to us, God can hone into compassion and gentleness. Even frightening economic times and poverty can be honed into a passion for justice, faith, and excellent stewardship. The people with whom I most enjoy being in relationship are those that have a deep wisdom and compassion that comes only after weathering some tough storms and coming out on the other side.
After Epiphany, we will begin a 6-week sermon series called “The Things That Survive the Storm.” One of the key metaphors that will help guide our worship is Sea Glass. Sea Glass was once trash thrown overboard in the ocean or left discarded on the beach. After years of being tossed in storms and bashed on the rocks, the very thing that was once trash is transformed into beautiful and much sought-after pieces of art. In our worship we will study the scripture and identifies the things in our lives of faith that survive the storm when everything else is washed away. How are the storms of life a tool that God can use to shape us into something beautiful and allows God’s light to shine through us? What are the essential things about us in our life as disciples that won’t be washed away?
I trust that God will use this series to bless and encourage you in the storms you are facing now. I encourage you to invite a friend who is struggling to join you in worship. In the meantime, may you grow in grace as we continue our preparation for and celebration of the birth of God’s Messiah.
Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra