“Have We Met Before? I think I’ve heard about you. Oh….you are that person they warned me about.”

Character is who you are when you are by yourself. These wise words have often been close counsel to me. I recall them when traveling alone for business or pleasure. They help me to keep perspective and accountability to my God, my spouse, my family. I found that in reading Proverbs 22:1 that my character is directly tied to the value of my relationship to God. This scripture says ‘A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.’

Have you ever bought a car and wished you could know for certain if it is mechanically sound. Sure the paint looks good, the tires are new, but what about the parts you can’t see? It could be soaking in a new coat of wax, received a super detail job, but if it doesn’t move you more than a few feet down the road, its real character only existed on the surface. It hid its flaws, it tried to dazzle you. Once paralyzed with your eyes on its beauty, you dropped your guard and assumed everything under the hood must surely be as great as the exterior. Before you know it…..this cars value is not as high as you thought.

I’d like to relate that illustration to you in another way. Have you ever had several well-intentioned people tray and help you form an opinion about someone you have yet to meet? They are sharing with you their interpretation of this person’s reputation. I know all of us have met people that have extraordinary reputations of the highest quality. We admire & respect them. On the other hand, you may have had the unfortunate opportunity to deal with an individual that has a ‘less-than-desirable’ reputation. While we may not always be able to stop people for trying to help us form opinions about others you are in control of your reputation. Sometimes our ears itch to learn what others opinions are about us. Are they speaking favorable of us, are they casting you in the best light possible?

Whatever people may say, we should always strive to be above reproach when it comes to our dealings with others. I encourage you to approach a brother when there seems to be an offense, speak a kind word that will turn away wrath, let folks speak well of you as they watch you deal with difficulties in ministry. I figure you can dig a trench and fight battles so you can feel a sense of justification or you can take Proverbs 22:1 to heart and realize that your real favor should come from God. Your desire to gain favor in the eyes of others should be more valuable than silver or gold. But beware in trying to earn the favor of others. Avoid being like the car I mentioned earlier. A big Bible, attractive wardrobe and using the latest buzz words are surface characters only and your ministry won’t go more than a mile before breaking down. What’s deep down inside of you? What drives you to success? Will others say it’s your strong devotion as a true servant to God. Will your character truly reflect Christ so others can no longer see you? Are you willing to be decrease so the He may increase? Now that’s what I call character!

Lastly, take time to get to know someone before you determine their reputation. I have several friendships that would have never been created if I acted on the opinions of others and avoided a person that was thought to have a poor reputation. This type of attitude would have literally kept Jesus from talking to the Samaratin woman at the well.

Jedi Ministry

I remember seeing in a Star Wars movie how Yoda was trying to teach young Luke Skywalker to 'use the force' as he did battle with a floating orb while bindfolded

Our walk with God can be a lot like this. We can't see the step ahead, but God asks us to step out anyway, step in faith

Today is going to be like a snowy day. Unable to see more than one step but needing to press onward.

Growing up along the east coast we had blizzards. Once, while in kindergarten I remember the bus dropping me off in the middle of a blinding snow storm. It was a long walk down a dirt road to our farm house and I was certain I would be eaten by a yedi & never seen again. What a relief when I saw my mom standing defiant against the storm waiting for me. She opened her jacket to shelter me from the pelting ice and we walked. I was quickly feeling frozen and pleading that I could not go on. Mom said just take another step and you'll make it. Eventually I ended up with hot chocolate, a warm blanket, slippers & a toasty fire This was mom at her finest to help me forget my 'near death' ordeal. Remember, I was just in K.

Wow..God is just like this illustration:
1) God knew the storm was coming
2) He runs into the storm to meet us
3) He stood defiant of the storm
4) He comforts us during the storm
5) He encourages us through the storm
6) He delivers us out of the storm and leads us to a place of rest & peace

I don't like being in a blizzard but I know I'm never alone. We're gonna make it to heaven one step at a time. Looking back, I know in the moment of that wintery walk it caused me discomfort. My mom passed away many years ago but the memory of this storm has often brought me great comfort and fond memories.

SPECIAL BUDDIES

I just opened up a new ministry environmental area. I had several kids that were diagnosed within the Autistic Spectrum and some kids with Asperger syndrome. It made it very difficult for both the kids and parents to participate in church. I also had several kids that were undiagnosed yet we highly suspected that some type of condition existed. We also had a few parents that were unwilling to acknowledge any problem existed and these were the most difficult to try to minister to.

Here are few things we did.

1. I consulted with a professor from Portland State and a special needs teacher that both attend my church. Very few books dealt with these issues at a ministry level.
2. We created a special environment for special needs kids. We call it “The Cabin”. It has low lighting, soft music, tactile objects and unique furnishings from IKEA like the cocoon chair, beanbags, crawl tunnel, etc. Total cost was around $800.
3. We put a group of volunteers through special training that the above listed experts conducted to help our volunteers understand and work through ministry with these kids. We also encouraged all other teachers/leaders to audit this class to gain greater insight to this challenge. Many did just that.
4. Our intent is to always strive to have any of our ‘special needs’ kids stay mainstream in ministry where possible. An example is when a child can function in a Sunday School class but cannot go to kid’s church due to issues like volume, lights, media distractions, etc. Therefore, this child goes to Sunday School class and then reports to The Cabin during second service.
5. We recruited and trained strategic volunteers called “Special Buddies” that are able to accompany a special needs child to their mainstream class or work more one-on-one with them in The Cabin if needed.
6. Only children that have been screened by an evaluator (people listed in bullet point #1) and have a completed application turned in by the parent(s) are allowed to utilize the program. The reason for this is that mainstream teachers thought this new area was going to be a great way to outsource their 'challenging kids' that did not meet a special needs category.
7. I established the initial Special Buddy/child rotational schedule. We made it the responsibility of the parent and the volunteers to coordinate ongoing coverage in The Cabin. We wanted to encourage their relationship to have plenty of communication between them and work out details if the child would be absent or the volunteer was unavailable.

So far, it has been a huge success. Both parents and volunteers are doing very will with the program. We were taken by surprise at the number of folks who signed up for this ministry. About half of them were auditing the class but enough were there to be ongoing Special Buddies.

One last thing we had to stress was that the parents of our special needs kids not advertise in their unique Autistic and Asperger networks about this. The result would have been over 30 new families showing up with their kids and we would not be readily staffed or able to accommodate them. Eventually, it is our hope that this would change.

It is my prayer that you will find this helpful if you minister to, or have a child dealing with this subject matter.

A Time Of Rest

 It was great for Ronda and I to be able to get away this weekend.  We actually slept in (thanks to blackout shades in our hotel).

We did not worry about having to shuttle kids to their next destination, we met some cool people over dinner, and enjoyed even walking through shops with no agenda in mind.

Today is Sunday and I spoke with the kids in church about Jesus taking time to pray.  He took time away from everything that was pulling for his attention and he prayed.  You see, Jesus found a quiet place, a peaceful place, a place prone to communication with God and He went for it.

This weekend reminded me that we are to do the same.  Fooling ourself that our prayer time/quiet time takes place while we are driving in the car does not cut it.  I doubt the eve of Jesus' crucifixion he would have chosen to take his closest disciples on a road trip to pray while driving.

Where is your quiet place?  When is your quiet time?  How consistent do you devote time to prayer?

For me, it happens at 6am in my family room all by myself (and coffee of course).  I love to talk with the Lord about my upcoming day, His plans and how I can serve Him.

Remember, to do the same in your life.  Our heavenly Father longs to spend time with us.  Don't be too busy in this world that you fail to find time to talk with your divine creator.....he's nuts about you.  Go for it....have a conversation with God...what doesn't harm you only makes you stronger.

To Thine Own Self Be True

Wow....I'm not even close to keeping my word on my blog.

Can it be that I have not updated my blog in months?

Very busy.....Easter was huge success.....love the pace....ready to go camping.

Heading to Medofrd, OR for a match this weekend. Should be a good time with the family.