lilly's pad

celebrating women...ready, set, PRAY!

many of my friends are heading south today and tomorrow for a special gathering of women, Emerging Women's Leadership Initiative National Consultation held outside of atlanta. there will be 30 women from all walks of ministry life, multiple denominations and all age groups and various cultures. it will be an exciting time to share stories, dreams and visions and a time to build friendships and challenge each other to dream big for god!
my good buddy
bob carlton is organizing a prayer vigil for this event...so check out his link in my blog list and sign up!
even if you don't have a chance to sign up...pray for safe journeys and for all the details to come into place as the event begins.
as a woman in ministry and a mom, it is often soo hard to get out of dodge! not only do you have to get yourself ready, but you have to get your entire family ready for your departure! and this is the end of the school year in many areas, which means that stuff at home is super busy!
and while we are praying for this special gathering of women, let's pray for all the women in ministry that we know! those who have blazed trails for us! those who have encouraged us to be who we are and do what we do! why not send an email to someone who has been an encouragement to you this week, in honor of the 30 women who will be representing us in atlanta!
Download emerging_women_leaders.html
jesus thanks so much for the wonderful women in my life who have encouraged me to be who i am! thank you for all amazing women who are gathering in atlanta this week! fill them with your holy spirit! inspire them with your love and your vision! protect them as they travel and keep all they love safe while they are away! may their be a new wind of your spirit in all of us this week as we keep them close to you!
love lilly

celebrate the wait!

today is pentecost! the birthday of the church! the day the holy spirit blew into town and the followers of jesus were changed forever! just think about preaching a sermon and having a mega church appear! 3000 folks in one day! the guy who couldn't declare his love or even friendship with jesus just weeks before...is now telling his story to the masses! and the masses are responding and choosing to follow jesus....
the holy spirit blows into town...falling on men AND women, young and old,
all who were together in the upper room waiting and praying as jesus had told them...

i often think that i would have missed the holy spirit's outpouring.
i wouldn't have been in the waiting room that day!
after jesus had given the instructions to go into all the world and make disciples,
i would have been off...ready to start the mission...not wanting to wait...not wanting to go back to jerusalem!
too often in my life...i want to do things my way and i run ahead of god...
i just hate waiting...i just want to go and do ...instead of stopping and BEING with god.
i am glad the peter and the gang actually listened...actually went back to jerusalem and waited for the promised gift!
their wait was worth it ..they got to see the miracle and experience the power of the holy spirit moving among them and through them...and they got to experience the fruit of their obedience.

since waiting is a skill i lack, i am going to practice some waiting this summer...
and i would love to have FRIENDS TO WAIT WITH!
rob and i are going to use phyllis tickle's the divine hours: prayers of summertime
as a practical guide to wait upon jesus.
it's rather pricey book...but i know jen and adam and some others did one of her books during lent and got a lot out of it.
so let me know if you want to WAIT with us this summer...
and thank you jesus for sending your spirit and leaving your spirit to remind us of you and your love and to empower us for your mission! lil

check out the discussion

Download aidanslegacy.html

rob has started blogging again! yeah!
he is actually hosting a lively discussion on the usa church verses the uk church...
not in who is better...but rather contrasting the two and looking at just how much we in the usa
have to learn from our brothers and sisters in the emergent uk!
check it out! and cheer rob on as he re-enters blogland!

holy spirit on the way!

Download a_fresh_blast_of_the_pentecost_spirit_be_lit.html

Download catholic_encyclopedia_pentecost.html

sunday is pentecost! the day of the church calendar that marks the pouring out of the holy spirit...
i love pentecost! and it makes me sad that many folks just pass it by and don't even notice! pentcost is also known as whitsunday. this name comes from the white garments that were worn by those getting baptized on this day! in our church, we still have baptisms on pentecost. this particular pentecost marks a visit from our bishop and our confirmation class will be confirmed...accepting their journey with jesus and announcing to the world that they are choosing to follow christ!
check out the links above for more of the history of pentecost and ways to celebrate...
in italy they often dropped rose petals from the ceiling, we have used red balloons and dressed all in red to symbolize the holy spirit and the tongues of fire...
you might light candles at dinner...or as the guy in the first link suggests...have a dinner of spicy and or red food. i like the idea of standing in front of a large fan on pentecost ( we use this at sacred space a lot)
and allowing the holy spirit to refresh you and refill you!
you can also check out maggi dawn's blog and the prayer link ...sacred space for more insight on pentecost. see my blog links left.
check out the book of acts! and prepare your heart of the coming of the holy spirit! more soon! lil

pilgrims on the road

after having a few days home from emergent, (still catching up on the sleep!)
folks are asking me about the conference...did you have fun? what was it about?

my staff was amazed when i told them there were atleast 20 episcopalians present...and that
doesn't include our anglican friends jonny, gareth, dave and joy t...and that there were actually two key note speakers who declared themselves episcopalians...
it is so hard to get free of the sterotypes that anything "new" isn't threatening!

most of my church friends still don't "get" or understand what the emerging church is all about...
yet when i describe my own take on what emergent is...to friends who aren't in the church, they usually think it sound great! community, questions and answers....doing church outside the box and with an openness to folks who "aren't here" yet...with a desire to include art, mystery, experience, and dialogue, not just linear teaching... living a life of intentional mission, service, worship...rather than just living and getting caught in the "american dream"

my emergent convention experience is driven by a need and a hunger for community.
i go to share my gifts....like atmosphere architecture and experiential prayer (03) and i go to
encourage others that the road is friendly...not scary...i go to build community and to receive
from this group of pilgrims, what i just don't get on my piece of road.

i need this group of pilgrims...
i need to be challenged to go deeper, to go forward, to keep on keepin on,
i need to be reminded that i am not alone
i need to be able to eat loads of bbq and cornbread and laugh out loud and not worry about the sauce!
i need to be able to say i don't get it yet and help others to know it is safe to say that too.
i need these pilgrims who have journeyed longer to keep me moving...
i need to be a pilgrim guide for others who are just stepping on to the trail....
hand them a flashlight, or a walking stick, or water bottle and tell them that the view ahead is truly amazing!

i really want to challenge us as we go on our way this summer....
as we get back into "real life" and work that doesn't always reflect our inner souls or our new value systems....

let's BE PILGRIMS together! let's keep in touch!
let's continue to challenge each other to walk on down that path...
let's choose someone to walk with...maybe someone we met at ec or someone in our neighborhoods
who need our "wisdom" our story and let's make a commitment to pour water and plant seeds in their lives.
and allow them to teach us as we walk together and learn their stories and seek their visions and dreams so that the richness of friendship grows and expands
and that the love of jesus and the riches of his kingdom are made visible....

encouraging women

perhaps the most impactful piece of the emergent pie for nashville 04 was the women's leadership breakfast...
i agree with jonny and gareth...it was a great alt worship experience...and felt a lot like the worship we create at sacred space.
i really appreciated the care and time that went into the atmosphere architecture ...we felt welcomed and cared for...the prayer/meditations set up around the room, invited us on the journey and asked us to reflect on where we have been and where we are going...we were encouraged to remember the hard stuff and not be ashamed of the pain ...to reflect on those who have been lights to us on the way and to look at just who we might encourage and impact as we blaze trails in our ministries and beyond...
i am thankful that heather didn't just see the need...she acted and stepped out in faith to see this event and the one in san diego become reality.
thank you kelly for the amazing questions and stations...
thank you holly and grace for your powerful prayers and encouragement
thank you jen for blazing the trail and reminding us of why we are on this journey and that we really do need each other ...we don't have to go it alone.

i was blessed and encouraged by the male presence in the room...
i had been discouraged earlier in the week during a main session when one of my tablemates had heard the announcement for the breakfast and complained that the 20 somethings had their breakfast and the women had theirs but he was feeling left out. when i told him he was invited to the women's breakfast too, he replied that there would be too much estrogen in that room for him!
sadly, that is what kind of junk we have had to fight for too long...
so the presence of many male friends who are strongly supporting women in leadership was a real gift!

i also appreciated the openness and honesty of the group.
the questions were not easy...they brought up areas of deep pain...but also areas of great joy...
i was able to remember the women in my life who have encouraged me to keep my dreams of ministry alive...folks like kay and diana at university presbyterian, mrs. williams in high school, and martha vetter today.

i shared that it is often hard to let our dreams soar when so often they've been squashed...it is hard to share dreams when most of the friends in the neighborhood aren't thinking "ministry" they are thinking decorating and carpooling...
not that these are bad things at all...but rather when one is called beyond the home and has a passion for
mission and ministry, it is a gift to find others who can understand and speak your language...
as my new friend hannah says..."i want to talk about deep things...not just hair"...

that is my heart as well, to go deeper with jesus..to become the woman i have been created to be...
to enjoy god's pleasure and to live out his dreams for me.
thank you emergent women for the opportunity to be with other women and men who believe in god's big dream!
may we continue on the road together...blazing the trail, wiping away the confusion, picking up the pieces when needed, and patching the potholes together so that the road for our daughters ( and sons) can be less rocky and be smoothed with love, honor and respect ...so that we can see his kingdom expanded

i am excited about the future and looking forward to what god has up his sleeve...
i am also excited that my photos were not deleted from the camera after all! and if i can get typepad to quit giving me error messages, i'll post an album of both the breakfast and the rest of the fun of ec nashvegas!
it's 10:31...sleep tight!

emergent women's breakfast

recovering from ec nashvegas

yesterday seems like a hundred years ago...
that just means i came back from emergent and had to dive back into the busyness of real life!
(remind me to take the sunday off after emergent next year!)
michael toy is a real saint! he volunteered to drive the infamous rv back to it's home on my parents farm...
check out his great posts at the lingering lemon of death...
while we were waiting around for keys, battery cables to be reinstalled and my dad to arrive with the truck for the construction and road sign stuff,
i caused michael to fall off the wagon by going to jacks for bbq ONE MORE TIME!
i hadn't read his post the said he was a barbequeaholic!
wish you could have seen the joy on mark scandrettes face and his plate at that lunch at jacks!
bbq heaven!
but now it's time to go back on the cleansing diet i started 2 weeks before ec!
my no white sugar, no white flower diet go shot to you know where with all the friend okra, chess pie, and bbq!
i lived on the energy of being an extrovert this past week...absorbing every minute with new friends and old...as adam says, ec is like a big family reunion...it was a true gift to spend time with folks i only see once or maybe twice a year and then meet those who have helped me survive thru their time in blogland.

have so many thoughts to share about the conference!
i did have tons of photos too...found out sadly that my pics of the emergent women's gathering
have all but vanished! i am SO SAD!
i am going to try one more time to download and see if they turn up!
i want to continue the conversation and the evalutation ...what worked what didn't...
and more details on the highlights...
but my painful lack of sleep over the last seven nights had taken its toll...also a five hour drive and working all day back at ccg....teacher/student appreciation day, including brunch, final confirmation class, and senior sunday!
just to let you know...that craziness wasn't all supposed to be on one day, or all on the day i returned from a conference...
it all got reorganized and took over the universe.
anyway ...my 10:30 deadline is quickly passing, i am so tired, but so happy to have connected and been a part of a great gathering of talented, amazingly intelligent folks!
i am compiling a list of improvements and thoughts for next year if you'd like to email me or comment with your thoughts...i'll pass them along!
more tomorrow after a good sleep...finally over 4 hours! lil

the road ahead ...and hitting the wall

having an amazing time at emergent nashville!
but i have had sporadic internet access which has made it hard to keep up with the news!
highlights...and i will post more tomorrow or later tonight!
1. great dinner with my friends from blogland...blogger dinner hosted by bob carlton..
i got to be the token woman physically present!...jen lehman called in with her love!
great laughs ..stories of our most strange or embarrassing blog moments....i am now infamous for blogging from bed after 10:30pm!
2. late night mac session in the bar! just like the three bears...baby mac, mid size and grande...
another laughing marathon....jonny baker and gareth, michael toy, myself and adam c. and others who joined the fun!
3. AMAZING breakfast for women in ministry...perhaps the most powerful thing at this event!!!!!!
great job jen and holly!!! and all my new friends ! and special thanks to all the men who got up early to join us and listen!!! MORE SOON and good photos when i find my camera!
4. new best friend! lauren winner! so blessed to have her as a key note! thanks to bob for the intros
5. great wifi time with coffee and pastries at provence bakery....(sadly missed joann b. and the morning session, but the folks from london are too fun to miss !
6. while at provence ....great experiential worship "workshop" with my new friend hannah from vintage
faith...can't wait to continue the collaboration
7. the fun at provence continued thru lunch...the anglican, episcopalians gathered there! great talk and
great time meeting new folks
8. tried to take a nap....but have now entered extrovert overload! and never made it upstairs!
9. did the labyrinth ....have walked it before many times but needed the quiet ....loved the mirrored ceiling!
10. planning a party at the end of jonny baker's session tonight....road trip to brentwood for snacks yall come!
now i have about 15 minutes to shower before dinner and the next session...

nashvegas day 2

breakfast with my buddies from last year's emergent
in san diego...adam c. and gregg and cyndi from illinois....
off early today working on the atmosphere architecture of the emergent room...great to see thom and mark s. doug p and marko!

spent most of the day gathering PROPS to enhance the venue ...
the space is soooo huge it looks like an airplane hanger! if you've been to a youth specialties event in nashville you'll know the space at the bottom of the convention center...we have only a third of the space, the area ys uses for the booths and displays...im too tired to remember the actual name for that!
so the space is huge..the THEME: the road ahead...so naturally i think RV! everyone should have an RV
to party in with several great friends don't you think?!
my brother carson bought this one off ebay a couple of years ago! and it's perfect...
anyway...we are using a van, the large chevy chase vacation rv...road signs, and our car to get the road ahead theme going! along with this
gregg hampton and i collected some bikes from the salvation army for props and actual biking!
( he and his great wife cyndi are staying with me out at my parents farm...thanks for putting up with me guys and for all your help)
had a great time riding bikes from the loading dock thru the convention center to the venue with michael toy and laci scott! we just forgot about the critical concerns courses happening down the hall! it was great fun!

and speaking of friends and fun...i have run into and hugged many friends...old and new!
jen lemen...that's pronounced lemon...yeah! we have finally met in real life! glad you made it safely!
laci and michael toy! you guys rock!
thanks for walking thru muddy fields and michael thanks for getting the huge rv safely to the convention center...
sorry maggi d. that i am too tired to remember the the uk word for rv...help me out uk readers!
thanks! i think it might be caravan....

welcome to shane and tara, joe meyers, jim henderson of off the map, brian mclaren, ryan, josh, dan kimball, my new friend chris from pittsburgh, and cory from spokane ( great dinner storyteller) ! just to name a few!

and adam cleaveland...hope i spelled it right after all this time...and my new friend rev kev! thanks for an amazing road trip to franklin and all the fun at the kmart!
watch adam's blog for photos of bike riding inside kmart and kiddie rides out front!
doug pagitt actually has photos to prove that i biked today...we'll watch for those too.

dinner ( which was actually before the franklin road trip) was at the southern icon...cracker barrell
introduced folks, including adam and kevin...to sweet tea and fried okra!
had a great time with cory, shane and tara (from texas) and adam...we all have blog envy and requested aid from the blogging guru ....mr. pomomusings and heard a great story of faith from cory! he'll have to blog that one!
blew my diet on cornbread and biscuits, not to mention the meatloaf....but it was a fun, laughter filled evening!
rob is getting in from cincinnati about 2am....
i have to hit the bed very soon but just couldn't resist rambling on .....
we'll keep you updated...
bob c. gets here tomorrow....
still looking for my hug from jonny baker! and holly rz!

in the midst of my craziness i am very thankful for all the amazing folks at ys /emergent (marko, tic, cindi, and sarah come to mind...not to mention carla and all the volunteers behind the scenes..)and extemely blessed by god to get a chance to hang with so many creative, talented and inspiring people!
thanks jesus! more tomorrow yall!
lil