lilly's pad

off to the abbey!

i am off today for a week of silence at the abbey of gethsemani.  it's my birthday present to myself.  this will be my third visit to this amazing place where thomas merton hung out. solitude and silence...it takes me two days to unplug and for my brain to quit talking so i can actually hear god speak. and yes...total extroverts can enjoy silence, in fact, when i missed my time last year i felt it all year! it's a great way to reflect on last year and  pray through the year to come! see you friday!

mac update

thanks for all the continued prayers for mac and his hand. he survived exams last week...writing  most left handed and having a scribe to type his AP history exam. we were back at physical therapy on friday and got a great report. she feels it is healing well and that mac should make a full recovery! yeah god!
i am grateful to have a husband who is a partner in parenting. anything i can do rob can do better! : ) rob has been the one changing the dressings every night and helping mac wrap up his arm for showers.  it makes me pray more for my single parent friends and folks who have special needs kids and kids with long term health issues. it definitely takes a lot of time and energy, not too mention the emotional side of it. 
so thanks for the prayers...and keep them going if you would and add  some prayer time for a friend who might not have family or a spouse for support in an illness or just in plain ole parenting, cause it is HARD WORK!

tri-state emerging church cohort

we had a great gathering of the emerging church cohort (tri-state/cincinnati area) yesterday. fun to meet new people and hear their stories and to catch up with everyone since our december meeting (photo).  great to have russ and julie
with us, while we missed several regulars and especially will samson! hope ya'll can come next month. our meeting will be feb.11 at 11 at the glendale pub on sharon road in glendale, ohio.  many in the group are reading or have just read velvet elvis by rob bell.  there is a discussion group on yahoo if you'd like to join in the conversation. we also have a mailing list and another yahoo group if you'd like more info on what were up to as a cohort. this spring there are plans to create an experiential stations of the cross. vineyard central will be hosting this during holy week in april.  different folks and communities from around town will be designing/creating the stations and there will be various worship services within and around the installation. i'll keep you posted on this or get in touch with aaron klinefelter for more info.
i am always amazed and encouraged by the conversation at the cohort.  it helps me stay sane and know that i am not alone on this journey with jesus ...learning to live out the kingdom in the real world. so thanks gang for taking time out of your busy lives to share your life with me! and if your interested in joining the cohort, please email.

praying for mac and the bengals

spent friday afternoon back at children's hospital visiting the surgeon getting mac's hand checked. after getting a good report on the healing process, we headed to the occupational therapist to discover the next adventure in having one hand.  amy was great! she remade the cast and  now it is much smaller than in this photo and she showed us what we'll be doing each morning to help mac get to school...rewrapping each finger and encouraging finger exercises 4 times a day!
rob spent friday morning working with mac's principal and teachers on just how mac will take his semester exams which start on monday.  spent and emotional saturday morning trying to encourage mac that life isn't destroyed because he has only his left hand (being totally right handed)..it's really hard to listen or your kids express pain and frustration and not be able to fix it.  and you cannot tell them that this is just temporary and others are suffering far more...that just won't work..especially when they think their entire life sucks and that god really doesn't exist and really doesn't care about their life. 
he's worried about getting into a "good" college and that almighty grade point average...all those things our culture has taught teenagers to worship and bow down to...while rob and i just want him to do his best and know he can always re-take a course or even an entire year if necessary!
so please keep mac in your prayers as he studies this week.
and pray for us to have the patience and endurance and compassion needed.
and we'll be praying too...especially for the cincinnati bengals to do well today against their arch rivals the pittsburgh steelers...it will help the entire city and our entire family to have a positive attitude!
hope you're having a great weekend and that your favorite teams are doing well in the playoffs!

epiphany...follow the star!

Matthew 2

The Visit of the Magi

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magie from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[b] and have come to worship him."
3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
      are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
   for out of you will come a ruler
      who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

there is so much in this passage, so many things that pop out and could become prayer stations.
themes:
searching for the king...following the star
pilgrimage/journey...willing to leave your comfort zone
light to the gentiles...who needs the light now?
gifts...gifts for the king
worship..

since epiphany is the season of celebrating the mission of the church and light in the darkness
one of my favorite things to do during epiphany is use glow in the dark stars(world market/cost plus carries these). using a map of the world, have folks place a glow in the dark star on a country or countries that need the light of jesus. spend time praying for that country, for peace, for god's presence to be there and for missionaries in that area of the world. you could also have a list of missionaries that your church or community support or know and have folks pray for them specifically.  then have a basket of additional glow in the darks stars so each person can take home a star to remind them to continue to pray for this country and to remind them to be light in the darkness wherever they live, work, interact this week.

so just what does it take to follow a star? what does it take to be aware that something special is happening in the heavens that declares god's glory?  have folks make a list of these qualities on a large poster sized star...
then flip the question...what prevents us from following the star? what things keep up from watching for signs of god?  run off some stars on yellow paper and cut them out.  have folks write the things that block them or keep them from following the star, keep them from seeking king jesus on these stars and then place these stars in a manger or in a manger scene and let king jesus have these...let him remove these things for you.

another stary idea is to have folks go outside and actually stare at the sky, or if it's too cold, wet or not the right time of day, have a video or photograph of stars and have folks consider the majesty of the heavens and the creator of the stars..you might even have a sound track on a cd with backdrop music to inspire contemplation and/or worship.  have paper or art supplies so folks can write or create their worship for their creator. 

hope these ideas will inspire you a little and encourage you to continue the celebration of epiphany in the days to come...

lord jesus thank you for entering our world and for allowing us to come and worship. help us to bring your light and help us to be willing each day to look for your glory and to follow your star. amen.

epiphany...getting started!

epiphany is this friday. january 6th.
it has become one of my favorite days in the church year.

epiphany is traditionally the day we celebrate the visit of the wisemen to baby jesus. it also is the celebration of LIGHT coming to the gentiles...since the wisemen were not jewish.  epiphany is the season of light...the season of following the star and leaving the palace to seek the newborn king.  it is also the season that reminds us of mission of the church, and for many churches the season of epiphany goes from jan. 6th through ash wednesday.

once upon a time it was when folks gave gifts in honor of the wisemen's gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and today in places like mexico, it is called "three kings day".

epiphany is a great way to re-kindle the story of christmas. in the hustle of the season, the shopping frenzy, the party going that sometimes takes over, the power of god actually moving into the neighborhood sometimes gets lost. and  too often we get quickly on with our lives as soon as jan.1st roles around and the tree starts to shed. 

in the last few years, i have used epiphany as an opportunity to bring my students back from "the holidays" and remind them of the true meaning of the season...beyond the mall and the movie theater, beyond the sleeping late and the returning of gifts, beyond the exams and worries about the new semester.

maybe you need to be reminded yourself.  maybe you need to light a candle or find a star in the sky to remind you of those who left the comforts of their homes to go worship a baby in a manger in a distant land. maybe you need to contemplate why folks don't leave the comforts of the palace and go to the stable. maybe you need to really celebrate the god who came to all people...a LIGHT for the gentiles... a LIGHT to illumine our darkness and set us all free.

for some more info check out the link below, and i'll have some more ideas for celebrating experientially tomorrow.

Download epiphany.html

turning 21

still crazy after all these years! and passionately in love too.  last thursday rob and i celebrated 21 years of marriage! we had great thai food for lunch with the boys, took mac in for his hand check up and later in the evening we had a romantic dinner at an amazing restaurant called boca. (just the two of us)
we'd hoped to finally see "pride and prejudice" as a part of the date, but the times didn't fit with the doctor's appointment and the dinner reservation, so we made it a part of friday's festivities and took the whole clan and some friends. it is truly a great date movie and even got high praise from the boys.
back to being 21.  when you say it out loud, it sounds so ancient...someone last year on our 20th said we must have had a sandbox wedding. it doesn't feel long and it's never been boring. it is truly a gift from jesus to be married to my best friend. and rob, as mr. darcy says " you have bewitched me body and soul" and i am blessed to be your bride. here's to being crazy in love after twenty more!

happy new year!

greetings and happy new year! cannot believe it's been so long since i've posted and so sorry for the delay in updating everyone on mac's surgery. thanks so much for all the prayers and comments. the surgery went extremely well and he's been living on advil, but he hasn't had to hit the hard stuff for pain.
he learned just how hard it is to open gifts one handed and realized that his exams and homework will be difficult since he'll be in some form of a cast for a month.  mac got a good report at his check up with the cheif resident this past friday and he'll see the surgeon this coming friday. then he'll start physical therapy sometime after that.
the hardest part for him is having to lose his independence...needing help with showers, opening things and not being able to drive for a month!
he spent the week after christmas watching the first season of HOUSE on dvd. it's his absolute favorite tv show.
if you haven't seen house, check it out on tuesday night...we love the fact that dr. house takes sarcasm to an art form.
my new year's resolution is to be more consistant in blogland, so more tomorrow and thanks again for all your prayers for our family. we really did have a great christmas...and really did know folks were sending prayers our way!