lilly's pad

thanksgiving renewal...

After leaving NYWC Monday afternoon , I went to Meyer (grocery/dept store) to shop for Thanksgiving dinner and the regular stuff.  As I was pushing my cart to the car I noticed a woman walking out to her car with her cart filled with Christmas decorations.

So much for Thanksgiving!

It seems that Thanksgiving really is the forgotten holiday.

It’s gotten lost in the hustle and the frenzy of the “holiday season.”.

It’s become the break we need to get ready for Christmas.

Thanksgiving has been lost in the mail…due to all the flyers and adverts filled with what we can buy on Friday! And I noticed in today’s mail that if I chose to shop on Thanksgiving itself, I can save even more!!!
One store that happens to feature boat loads of Christmas decorations and crafty items will be open til midnight Thursday through Sunday!

I don’t want to sound like Scrooge but I am more than a little discouraged by all the focus on Christmas before I can even buy my Halloween candy. 
And if you’ve actually finished all your Halloween candy and attempt to get to Thanksgiving you have to go against the cultural grain. Last Sunday
My Mom was outraged upon arriving at the Church building when she found Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees decorated and ready to go!!!!
The pastor apologized to those who might be offended in the early arrival of Christmas, the staff finished their staff meeting early and didn’t have anything else to do (hah). My Mom just felt that they just wanted to get it over with!
Last Sunday night during NYWC< we were evacuated from McCormick and Schmidt’s restaurant because it was attached to the Westin where a  Christmas tree had caught the carpet on fire. My friend Jennifer had to walk up 10 flights to her room when they finally called the “all clear”

So much for Thanksgiving. 

Just how does one celebrate and honor Thanksgiving in the midst of a culture caught up in consumerism?
Thanksgiving once meant being grateful for all the land had produced that year. It provided an opportunity to be Thankful for the harvest of the year. 
Since most of us no longer live close to the land, and we get carry out/take away on a regular basis (including entire thanksgiving meals) it’s hard to remember the original reasons for the season.  We’ve forgotten the pilgrims and the Native Americans being thankful together…thankful for food, friends and faith that helped them survive hardships and hunger. (1621)

We’ve forgotten Abraham Lincoln and his desire to establish a national day to be Thankful after the long months of war. (1863)

While we cook our turkeys, and make the stuffing/dressing and all the fixings…could we pause and consider how blessed we’ve been this year?

Would it kill us as a nation to actually stop and rest for a weekend and NOT SHOP?
I know that the retail industry counts on the day after Thanksgiving to make their bottom line, but what if we ignored the bottom line for once and considered what we already have and what we’ve already been given and actually took time to be thankful for those things?

I guess I want to step back and consider just how much I’ve been blessed this year.
How much I am blessed to have a great husband, two amazing sons, the gift of good health, the gift of a home, friends, and fun dog.

Blessed to get to share my passion for worship and teaching the Bible with so many.

Blessed to do my dreams and share my vision with others and especially with Rob.

Blessed that what they found on the mammogram was nothing
Blessed that my computer was resurrectable
Blessed to travel and meet new people.
Blessed to get to speak and write
Blessed to have made progress in my ability to slow down, rest and actually practice Sabbath.

And I’m grateful for the simple but expensive things (those things we take for granted everyday , the things that so many folks around the globe are still praying for)…for running water, hot showers, heat and electricity, medicine, food, clothing, and a roof over my head.

Thanks Jesus for music, chocolate, good books, old jeans, college basketball, walks on the beach, sunsets, sunrises, changing seasons, long kisses, laughter, thick sweaters, smelly candles, fireplaces, smiling children, wifi, rich coffee, digital photos, great conversation, old family recipes, creativity, and freedom, just to name a few,

So I’m leading the charge to put the thank you and thankfulness back in to thanksgiving.
Want to join in?

good morning NYWC cincinnati!

it's great to have youth specialties and all the gang here in my town for the national youth workers convention! welcome to the queen city!

thanks damien for bringing the sunshine in from california yesterday too!

nywc began on thursday in the pouring rain...dark, dank, dripping! but the revamped duke energy convention center looked warm and inviting and filled with smiling ys volunteers and excited youth workers ready to start the weekend.  there are even a few real palm trees in the lobby of the center to make the southern california crew feel at home!

and thankfully, cincinnati has changed a lot since nywc was here five years ago.
honestly, five years ago i was embarrassed by our downtown...nothing open, very few restaurants near the convention center and the side walks rolled up on sunday.  we still have a 9-5 downtown here in cincy and much of the action has jumped the river and blossomed in northern ky, but new life is happening and i have new hope that we just might be creeping into the 21st century!

mark twain said about cincinnati " if the world ends tomorrow, move to cincinnati because it won't happen there for 20 years!"

oh how true that often feels!

being a very old, german town, change doesn't happen quickly and the city council is known for talking things to death...
but there are old office building being turned into  lofts and condos, main street is morphing into a dining and nightlife area and the legendary fountain square is getting an extreme home makeover including big screen tv...
not sure i like the big screen, but at least it looks like there is life down town.

still we need to love our city...
there is still much poverty and crime downtown and  folks in the burbs don't do much
adventuring into the city to learn to love on it...

that's why i'm excited that my friend archie is here with YS and nywc. he's on the YSsoul shaper board and brings his missional ywam heart to our fair city. he'll be leading a prayer walk around town
on sunday at lunchtime 12:15pm ...

also it seems that i only get to see my cincinnati friends at conferences...so it was fun yesterday to run into several great cincinnati friends whom i sadly haven't seen in ages!

my heroes joann ashley and gary loomans who do inner city youth ministry in northside.
benji sayers methodist youth guy extrodanaire.
the crew from vineyard central, especially my new friend sandy brock who volunteered to set up and be my assistant for my workshop friday morning!
andrew and mandy who now do youth ministry in illinois but who used to be at the baptist church in our neighborhood.

and last but not least, my great oasis team from christ church glendale. joe snavely is now the director of christian formation there (my former job) and he and sharon and sandy were the team that "built the plane and flew it at the same time " when we created our alt worship service "sacred space". they didn't need to hear me talk because they lived it but it was so great to get hugs from them as my seminar began.

the oasis crew sat together friday night to hear donald miller (blue like jazz) at the friday night general session and rob (my husband for my new friends) got to come down and hang out with us too.
he and marko and tic had a "guys night out" on wednesday night before all the fun got started. he's gotten to know marko through the ys/emergent connection.

it's great fun to get to share my nywc experience with rob and hudson too. mac won't be home for thanksgiving til tuesday night. but today hudson will play my assistant at our super seminar and we'll do the ONE LIFE experience together.

rob is giving dan kimball a ride to the airport so he can make his flight right after our seminar ends....

ah the joys of speaking and "being on the road" in your home town...sleeping in my own bed is great thing!
but i'm not quite as organized as i am out of town...so i'm off to collect a few items for the super seminar at 2pm!

and for those who will be watching tv rather than attending any seminars this afternoon, i'll be cheering for michigan! GO BLUE!!!

celtic advent...the season of preparation

so i'm late in posting this, but today is the first day of advent...if you follow the celtic christian calendar that is.
for celtic christians advent is the full 40 days before christmas, like lent is the 40 days of preparation before easter. 
in the regular church calendar, advent is the four weeks prior to christmas and begins this year on dec.3rd.
advent is the beginning of the new year for the church...it begins the story of jesus and is the season of preparation for the coming of the king...the season of already but not yet...as we anticipate the birth of jesus the king of kings and his return again.
if you've never celebrated advent, it's a great way to focus the season on jesus rather than on consumerism. more in the days to come.

today, nov. 16 is also the beginnning of the National Youth Workers Convention here in cincinnati, got to sleep  fast so i can teach and early bird class in the morning.

NYWC revisited

sunday at NYWC in anaheim...
shane claiborne blew us away with his stories of living out God's kingdom. many of these can be found in his book
the irresisitable revolution:living as an ordinary radical
he told of putting his faith in action by standing up for homeless families in philadelphia, going to work with mother theresa, and worshipping with christians in iraq in the midst of the "shock and awe" bombing of bagdad. he even cashed out his YS speakers check into one dollar bills and stamped them all with the word LOVE. he invited us to come down front and take a dollar as a symbol that we would live lives of love, and give away to those who need love in our worlds.

i remember the first time i heard tony campolo speak. the gift of a prophet who moves one to action. i believe shane is the tony c. for this generation. just so happens that shane studied with tony and duffy robbins at eastern univ. and when i got to see tony after shane's talk, he agreed that the torch is passed and he was so excited by what God is doing in and through one of his former students!

i got to attend shane's afternoon workshop/seminar and he packed out a huge ballroom!
he challenged us to take what jesus did seriously. not just the being born again, saved for the future bit. but living out the kingdom now, today too. i got a chance to walk with him to his next meeting and talk to him about how we shared the wealth in our suburban youth ministry. i also shared how rob and i are simplifying and seeking to live out the kingdom in a new way...God's dream verses the American dream. he was excited that a couple of over 40 suburban types might consider being revolutionaries for the kingdom.

shane will be a part of at least one emergent village gathering in 07, so i can't wait to hear more!

sunday afternoon was spent getting the worship gear organized for my 9am workshop (held in the same huge room as shane's ) sunday dinner was spent in the disney village with some great folks from asbury methodist church in tulsa. thanks for the great meal and the fun conversation. and thanks kerry for our new sunday night tradition.

up early on monday setting up for the "creating sacred spaces" seminar. i have several prayer stations on advent and epiphany for folks to try as they come in. i am always grateful that anyone shows up for this class. it is 9am on the last day and folks are checking out and getting ready to go home. i always tell the crew that it is the workshop that i slept through as a participant! meaning i never got up to go.
we definitely didnt' pack it out like shane, but it was nice to see several other episcopalians in the
audience and make some new friends. i try to encourage folks that are in small churches and with small youth groups that they can do experiential worship...they don't have to have a worship band and all the expensive technology...so many seminars seem to be from the "big/mega" youth ministry perspective and i'm glad to provide an alternative view. i like to remind folks that experiential worship can be done in a group of 12 or 1200 it just takes thinking differently for each type of gathering. looking forward to next week in cincinnati when i'll be doing an early bird session on friday, not the final workshop on monday!

probably the only negative about experiential worship is packing up the gear to go to the next city.
the fun part is hanging out with shelly's team. you just would not believe the hours of labor that go on behind the scenes and the great volunteers who work tirelessly to make the convention run smoothly.
thanks to michelle, and all her great staff and volunteers for all they do!

tues. flight back from anaheim... up at 4:30am, ride to airport at 5:30am, flight 6:45am.
took off really late due to the weight of the plane and noise ordinances in OC.
got into minneapolis at 12:50 for a 1:08pm connecting flight to grand rapids. thankfully the
connecting flight was delayed til 1:30pm, then 2:00pm and we finally took off sometime
around 2: 45pm. made into grand rapids at 5pm grabbed my luggage, found the shuttle bus
and remembered where my car was parked and then drove to smokeybones restaurant for
the journey group meeting scheduled for 5:30pm!

since i basically don't get much sleep at NYWC conventions, i decided to camp out another day with
denise van eck and head home thurs. morning. still no cell, but i was able to check my messages and denise gave me the gift of a beautiful place with internet access and total quiet for the day.

wed. night, my mars hill friends celebrated the adoption of baby selah! so i joined my friend nate and his lovely bride, and others from the community life team to celebrate their beautiful daughter selah now that all the official paperwork is over! yeah God!

now it's on the road again...home to do laundry unpack and get ready for YS cincinnati. the team heads in over the weekend and youth workers will arrive on thursday.
so if you're coming to NYWC cincinnati, please send me an email and let me know.
i'd love to say hey to you while your there.
and make sure you try graeter's ice cream while you're in town! chocolate chips the size of quarters.
try rasberry chip or mocha chip(my fav).

and prayerfully i'll have a new phone by the weekend so my cell number will still work and i won't feel like an outcast anymore : )

why you shouldn't taunt your spouse!

greetings from the NYWC in anaheim!
a great place to be anytime of year, but really nice when it's in the upper 70's and sunny.
had a fun lunch with some great presbyterians, andrew seely (my guardian angel), liz and john
how i've missed fast food terriaki chicken!
followed by an
amazing opening session on friday with kenda. teaching 2000 folks experientially!
my new heroine.
kendall payne preached to me through her music and story before kenda even got started.
dinner friday night...girls night out with jeannie, mindy, jamie, and my new friend and editor roni and her beautiful baby girl adrianna.

yesterday started out great.
picked up breakfast at the hotel take away and went out by the pool to eat before going over
to set up for my workshop (it takes about 3hours to set up..2 with help...due transporting and unpacking gear and waiting for tables to be set up etc)

anyway...just thought i'd call rob and rub it in that i was sitting by the pool enjoying sunshine while he had walked the fred in 20 degree weather friday night!...

then i walked over to the hilton to check in with dan kimball, who'd had his favorite 8am slot and
he mentioned he'd lost his phone recently and had to find everyone's numbers again.
i said it was like losing one's brain...

went over to check in and get my worship gear.
and in the midst of setting up i realized i'd LOST MY CELL!

yikes! BRAIN LOSS! #2 for me this year.

prayerfully someone has found it and turned it in at the hilton, or convention center
but no luck at the sheraton where i'm staying.

so friends, neighbors, LORI, rob i am without communication.
so email
send phone numbers...
because as every good english major knows, there is no such thing as memorizing phone numbers!

running out to hear my other new hero shane claiborne. his book is very powerful. read it this summer.

if you want the play by play check out andrew seely's blog or YSMarko's. sorry no links...i've had trouble with the free wifi.  but very thankful for it !
and phone recovery prayers are always welcome.

off to anaheim

so much for starting the new month with a fresh post. just discovered that the post i wrote yesterday didn't actually get saved! so a belated all-saints day to you! spend some time today remembering those folks who blazed the trail of faith for you. thank jesus for them and thank jesus for the opportunity you have to blaze a trail for others today.

leaving grand rapids for anaheim...snow flurries to sunshine!

had a great time with denise van eck yesterday.
great time at the beach before that michigan beach that is...

and looking forward to seeing the california beach with lori tonight