Update on Hope

It gives me great joy to give you a little update on my last post.  Hope, my friend Amy's three year old daughter, had a fantastically successful surgery!  She was released Friday and is doing very well.  She is on lot's of antibiotics and has to take it easy for six weeks, but so far it is looking very good!

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers!

Hope for Hope

Hi Ladies!

It has been quite a while since I last shared anything with you on our illustrious (however unknown) blog.  As most of you know, I defeated the odds and drove an ancient car--a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue--halfway across the country with a 7 year old, a 6 year old, and an infant without major incident.  Yep, that was me!  Crazy but Triumphant! As I'm sure you can imagine, my days were long and my adventures many.  So for the next few weeks I will be sharing just a little bit about my trip.

I've decided not to share my stories in chronological order; you'll be able to see why in just a minute.  So to begin, I would just like to say that this is really not my story, and my part in it is very small.  But the people in this story have had a great impact on my life and I know that you will appreciate that.
So without further ado...

Four years ago my friend Amy shared with me that she believed the Lord wanted her and her husband Tim to adopt a little girl from China.  Now, at the time, Amy and I were barely getting to know each other and I wondered if I would ever get to see this come true--especially because she and Tim were moving away from St. Louis to Seattle.  But despite the fact that we weren't very close when she left, our friendship actually deepened as time went on.  She would always visit me when she came to St. Louis, and would keep me updated on how things were going with the adoption process.  Amy told me that they had already chosen a name--Hope.  When we spent time together we often cried and prayed with each other, because the waiting was so hard!  But finally, things started turning around for my friends.  In the midst of their long wait, they became pregnant and had a baby boy in January of last year.  And because of how much they loved Baby Max, I'm pretty sure it only increased their longing to bring home their little girl.

They were told by the Chinese government that they would only be allowed to choose from special needs children.  They pored over images of tiny unwanted faces looking for their little girl.  Incredibly, when Tim was away in Houston on business, and Amy was in their new home in Austin, they received a set of profiles; and--without consulting each other--they chose the same child! Her name was Pan Pan.  When Tim had her name translated just guess what he learned.  Yep,  Pan Pan actually means hope!  I was in tears when I got the news.  I felt so privileged to watch a miracle literally unfold before my eyes.  Finally, in March of this year they got to bring Hope home.  In May, I got to meet Hope just briefly, but in June on our vacation, we got to visit with Tim, Amy, Max, and Hope for five days!  That was so stinkin' cool!!!

Now, I mentioned before that the Chinese government would only allow children with special needs to be adopted.  Hope is really a walking miracle.  She was born with a large hole in her heart, so it has to work extra hard to keep the blood pumping.  When she came home to Austin she weighed just 17 pounds, and was very malnourished.  In order to gain weight she consumes nearly 3,000 calories a day!  But thanks to the great care she is getting she now weighs about 22 pounds.  Yay!  But this isn't the end of the story.  Until three days ago, Tim and Amy thought Hope would probably be having open heart surgery at some point in September, but after their consult with the cardiologist in Houston on Friday, it became clear that the surgery needs to happen right away.  The surgery will be the day after tomorrow--Tuesday morning.

You may be wondering why I shared this story.  The most obvious reason is that I truly want everyone I know to be praying for my friends and their little girl--especially while she is on the operating table on Tuesday.  But beyond that, I want to share just a little bit of the inspiration I get from this story.  A story about waiting in great expectation for a faithful, gracious God to do exactly what He has promised to do.  In my own life, I find that it is so hard to sit still and wait for God to do His work.  And yet, I find that when I do, it is so worth the wait!


Is there something in your life that you are waiting for God to do?  Something you know that you can't do yourself?  Something you can't change or get rid of?  I would encourage you to trust and wait.  And while you wait, meditate on this Scripture:

But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  Then will walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:31


P.S.  Here is a link to video about my friend and her beautiful family.   Enjoy The Journey for Hope!

What was needed, not expected

I attended Show Me Hope, a benefit concert for Joplin last night. I expected to see The Word at Shaw's very own Harry Walls singing original songs with a group of fellow worship leaders from other Saint Louis area churches. I was not disappointed.
Spoiler alert-shameless cause plug: For those of you interested, you can purchase the original music online and should contact Harry Walls or speak to him after church, because he loves conversing with people, and also really, really wants to help the people of Joplin with the proceeds from this cd.
I expected to spend eight dollars of Scarborough money on a cd last night, and was not disappointed there either. I woke the house this am by blaring the song, Middle of it All.  The volume was way past eleven, but the hour was too, so I have no guilt.
My kids expected it anyways, as I warned them last night that I was doing a musical alarm today.
So all things about and around the benefit concert were as expected both last night and this morning.
No wait. That isn't 100% correct. Because while we had planned to go to the concert, and I knew what I would be hearing-songs of hope, and from whom I would be hearing them-local worship leaders from several churches, I did not expect to be transported backwards to the frustration of my day by my friend Harry, before he even began to sing.
But God is so good. Harry shared last night just a little bit of how he and his wife Eva were feeling in their job search prior to coming to partner with us in ministry at The Word. He shared how he came to write the song,  Middle of it All ,  around that same time, because he realized that in the middle of all our struggles and attempts to make our dreams happen, and efforts to play out career moves like pieces on a game board God is there. He is with us, and He is orchestrating His own plan for us in The Middle of it All.
Before Harry sang a note of the song he composed amidst his struggles, he acknowledged his aha-moment, which was the exact same aha-moment I needed to have last night. Never expected, but needed.
God is so good.
I had spent the day trying to slip the binds of red-tape between two higher learning institutions, praying that they would cooperate in the way I wanted so I could have things my way. Yes, I am guilty of thinking the world is my Burger King. I had shared with the World's Best Husband what I wanted to happen, and what obstacles stood between me and having higher education my way.
I was frustrated, kinda irritated with a particular department of one of these institutions, and looking quite forward to escaping thoughts of my life to listen to some really beautiful music. I knew that nothing more would be resolved after five pm, and I expected to feel somewhat grateful upon considering once again the blessing of a roof over my head, while I listened to music meant to give hope to those with no roof over theirs.
I never expected to get exactly what I needed from God, my aha-moment, through the words of a friend. But I did. This morning as I blared Harry's song, I had what I needed to move forward, seeking God's will for this aspect of my life which I had thought to manitain control over. You know, because God is busy, and I have given over all these other areas of my life and blah, blah, blah-list reasons we all use when we try to put God in a box-here.
I am so silly sometimes. But God is so good all the time.

In Genesis 14:18-20, Melchizedek who was the king of Salem and a priest, blessed Abram saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who has helped you conquer your enemies."

My understanding is that this is the first place in the Bible where we see God referred to as God Most High, more specifically, Sovereign God. (El Elyon in Hebrew).

Sovereign God. In other words, In charge of and with dominion over everything. Everything including me and my dreams and my future; including institutions of higher learning. God has dominion over red tape just as He had dominion over the enemies of Abram. Just as He had dominion over Harry and Eva's lives. I am so grateful that He brought them to our attention when we were prayerfully seeking a Worship Leader.
Many of you who attend the Word, volunteering at and through its' ministries, were also prayerfully sought by Pastor Keith and I. We knew God could and would bring those He chose to be our partners in ministry. We remembered that He had dominion, that He was and is El Elyon, The Lord Most High.

Now if I can just remember this for all the other areas of my life. I welcome your prayers, friends. Pray that I would not only recall God's sovereignty, but give myself over to it in more and more areas of my life. Pray that I will see His hand in my pursuits, and more importantly that I will see what He would have me pursue.

If recalling God's sovereignty is something you also struggle with, please share how you are doing with that in the comments section. This is a safe place to share our failings and successes, as well as encouragement.
Blessings-Lorilise

Our Preamble, Our Declaration

As the arsenal of fireworks our neighbors have purchased for tonight's midnight display are set off in a caucophony of missile-like whistles, bangs and pops I wonder if our country's independence might be celebrated in a way which doesn't involve my trying to determine if the projectiles will put a hole in our pool liner.

When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776 did John Hancock put his quill to parchment paper first because he was in a hurry to finish and get to lighting a bottle rocket? I think not.

The colonists had had it! That is why a team was formed to draft the Declaration. It included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston and Thomas Jefferson-though Jefferson is most associated with the document. They chose Jefferson to compose the document because he was the best writer/communicator amongst the men, and because if the measure were to pass, it would need the support of the territory of Virginia-which Jefferson represented.

Interesting isn't it, that Jefferson was chosen because he had a gift for the task and because his involvement would insure success.

Jefferson began with the following, "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

This fancy introduction, called the Preamble,  communicated that the colonists had had it, and that they felt it only right to say why they had had it, with whom they had had it, and what they intended to do about it.

Of all the words in the Preamble, I like words eight, nine and ten best:: "...it becomes necessary..."
The colonists had tried letters to the King, requests for policy change, visits to England to more strongly convey their grievances, a few protests, some product boycotts-all to no avail.

So as Jefferson wrote, it had become necessary for them to do something more.

Whatever your politics, religious beliefs, education, upbringing, there comes a time in life-or their will-when you too have had it and it becomes necessary for you to do something more. And that will be your Preamble. The moment when you choose to say why you have had it, what or whom you have had it with, and what you intend to do about it. Your Declaration will follow. The time and place where you declare what comes next for you, with regard to the circumstance and/or persons you've had it with. Your preamble and declaration may take the form of a conversation in your head, followed by prayer, discussion with friends, loved ones.

Your Preamble and Declaration may not involve two weeks of locking yourself away from others to draft a document bound to become the foundation of an uprising. It may be even more tenable, involving your specific gifts for the task. Your involvement may be exactly what is needed to insure success. God places callings in His people to stir them to action; He places gifting to move the action forward.

Recently our Children's Ministry Team asked all of us at The Word at Shaw to pick up an empty plastic, lidded box and to fill it with items from a list. These newly filled boxes will be delivered to children of Joplin who have been affected by the tornado. Because for those in our Children's Ministry, they had had it when they thought of children in Joplin who had lost everything, not having a venue to express themselves, or to play. To those of you who purchased sidewalk chalk, crayons, markers, small toys for the Boxes of Hope, thank you. Your gifts will impact positively the lives of children you may never meet.

Our Outreach Ministry Team couldn't stand the idea of not helping to physically rebuild Joplin. They will be taking a team there later this month. If you have had it with tornadoes creating great need in this state, and feel it has become necessary to help restore Joplin-this is your Preamble moment. See Pam or Ryan Gassar to sign up. Don't let this moment pass. Because God doesn't place a gifting and an ability to succeed at something in His people, for it to lay in wait. We are called to be a people of action.

Maybe you have picked up and filled a flood bucket, a Box of Hope, and you plan on being on the Joplin Mission Team because your call is to do everything humanly possible to help members of a slightly distant community in every conceivable way.

Or maybe there is something else stirring in you, something you can't quite name, but a restlessness about something in the immediate community of Shaw. If God is calling you to do something, I would reccomend obedience. The dogged persistence of some ministry teams and Word at Shaw Pastors is nothing compared to the chasing after our Lord is capable of.

Pastor Keith and I feel called to this church. Not to leading a church somewhere, but the church on the corner of Shaw and Tower Grove, at 4265, in the Shaw Neighborhood, in St. Louis, Missouri. A number of people felt called to Shaw with us-some for a period of three months, some for twelve months, some indefinitely. Some living in Shaw, some living farther.

The commonality is our desire to Know God, Love All and Serve Others. In fact, that is the mission of The Word at Shaw, with good reason. We feel called to do all three of these things. And we agree that through serving others, meeting various needs as God creates a passion in us commensurate with gifting and an ability to succeed at the task, we will draw closer to one another, to others, and to God.

1 Corinthians 12 talks about how each of us is given different gifts to perform the tasks needed for God's kingdom. In verse 4, "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit."
Verse 5, "And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord."
Generally this chapter of the Bible is quoted when discussing unity or the equal importance of each task performed in the name of Christ, be it up-front or behind the scenes. Being a different thinker, I am always drawn to the truth that our gifts are placed within at God's bidding. Therefore we have a responsibility to use our gifts for God's calling on our lives.

I don't point this out to apply pressure, but instead to confirm what you may already suspect. That stirring you can't quite name, that sense that it has become  neccesary to do something, may very well be God's calling on your life to be actively involved in your community.

Now is a good time to ask yourself, "How am I called? What have I had it with?" If you are actively involved-thank you! Seriously. I pray that you feel God's blessing on the tasks you perform as part of His calling.

I know some of you may feel conflicted because you feel passionate about so many things and aren't sure if you are choosing the task or tasks that God has for you. That is a tough one, especially in balance with family and school and work. There is no easy answer for this dilemna, but I do reccomend prayer, and talking to others whom you trust have your best interest at heart, as well as a desire to serve God themselves.

If you would like to share where you are at with God's calling in your life-successes, stirrings, frustrations, questions-all are welcome and can be posted in comments to this blog. Lets start a conversation about our preambles.
Blessings-Lorilise.