Sunday, March 26, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
A Go Giver
It wasnt supposed shake me like that. At least I did'nt think so. I walked in and my daughter was scribbling some notes like only a seven year old can. Concentrating. Focused. Deliberate.
Her upper lip gently bit down on to her lower lip as she got lost in a glaze looking off into the blank roof of her room. With her fingers tightly wrapped around her pink colored pencil, I broke her thought.
"Whacha doing?" I asked. "Making a Christmas list daddy."
I wasn't shocked, this is what kids do. As I glanced at her list, I noticed the toys and dolls listed were of things she already had. Why would she want to buy duplicates? My inner thoughts formatted a half puzzled questions of her.
"Baby, don't you have these toys? Why would you want more?"
Then she spoke. With the wisdom of Solomon and the sincerity and compassion of a seasoned Mommy.
"Daddy, these arent the gifts I want to get. This is the list of my toys that I want to give. Your outreach is coming and I am packing bags of my toys to give away."
I stumbled away in a web of my own emotion. I didnt know if I should cry, smile or do a combination of the two.
At that I moment I was so proud of her.
I grabbed the camera. I did'nt want to miss this.
She was learning.
She was living.
She was loving.
I snuck out and then back again. I wanted to capture it. I'm not confident my mind can remember all I am feeling.
Maybe she'll have a great goal. Rather than being a "go-getter", she'll be a "go-giver"
In love,
jas
Her upper lip gently bit down on to her lower lip as she got lost in a glaze looking off into the blank roof of her room. With her fingers tightly wrapped around her pink colored pencil, I broke her thought.
"Whacha doing?" I asked. "Making a Christmas list daddy."
I wasn't shocked, this is what kids do. As I glanced at her list, I noticed the toys and dolls listed were of things she already had. Why would she want to buy duplicates? My inner thoughts formatted a half puzzled questions of her.
"Baby, don't you have these toys? Why would you want more?"
Then she spoke. With the wisdom of Solomon and the sincerity and compassion of a seasoned Mommy.
"Daddy, these arent the gifts I want to get. This is the list of my toys that I want to give. Your outreach is coming and I am packing bags of my toys to give away."
I stumbled away in a web of my own emotion. I didnt know if I should cry, smile or do a combination of the two.
At that I moment I was so proud of her.
I grabbed the camera. I did'nt want to miss this.
She was learning.
She was living.
She was loving.
I snuck out and then back again. I wanted to capture it. I'm not confident my mind can remember all I am feeling.
Maybe she'll have a great goal. Rather than being a "go-getter", she'll be a "go-giver"
In love,
jas
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Who Am I?
Who Am I?
I tend to a be a complex, even a contradiction of emotion. I am tender, yet extremely calloused when dealing with those who propel injustice. I think to much. I talk too much. I type too much. I am loyal to a fault. Intentional. Calculated and strategic. Confusing and compassioned. Loving. Questing. Tenacious. Moody. I like salty food. French fries are clogging my veins. I write. I read. I talk. Occasionally I listen. Sometimes I hear. Ambient music moves me. My thoughts indict me. My actions convict me. My God rebuilds my broke down path. It's a pretty vicious circle.
Who I'd like to meet?
Bono. [u2.com] Nelson Mandela. [data.org] Jack Bauer. [fox.com/24] Steve Jobs. [apple.com] Billy the Kid. Al Capone. Abe Lincoln. Eminem. Charles Manson. Ganges Khan. Sun Tzu. Dahlia Lama. Cat Stevens. Patrick Nagel
I am a paradox.
I tend to a be a complex, even a contradiction of emotion. I am tender, yet extremely calloused when dealing with those who propel injustice. I think to much. I talk too much. I type too much. I am loyal to a fault. Intentional. Calculated and strategic. Confusing and compassioned. Loving. Questing. Tenacious. Moody. I like salty food. French fries are clogging my veins. I write. I read. I talk. Occasionally I listen. Sometimes I hear. Ambient music moves me. My thoughts indict me. My actions convict me. My God rebuilds my broke down path. It's a pretty vicious circle.
Who I'd like to meet?
Bono. [u2.com] Nelson Mandela. [data.org] Jack Bauer. [fox.com/24] Steve Jobs. [apple.com] Billy the Kid. Al Capone. Abe Lincoln. Eminem. Charles Manson. Ganges Khan. Sun Tzu. Dahlia Lama. Cat Stevens. Patrick Nagel
I am a paradox.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Masata
A Miracle For Sure...Masata
I met her at the FTH SCT Dinner Premier. I've met people like her before but something about her moved me. She told me with great excitement of how she and her 2 yr old son were moving from a shelter to their first ever government assisted apartment.
She did not ask me. I engaged her.
"How are things coming?" Great she replied. Her heart jumped at the response. I pressed. Do you have everything you need? She continued to smile and say, "No, but I have my first place." As if to repeat what she is embarking on.
She was thrilled, yet having nothing. I asked a third time. "I know you said you have nothing, but what do you have...?"
She pondered the list of what she had.
That's when Masata's words melted me. She said systimatically, "I have a blanket, a sheet, and a pillow... well it is a pillow from a couch.
I smiled and said "I am proud of you."
Sure. I was thinking the same things. How did she get there? What's her story? Is she working? But God interupted. At that moment it didn't matter. What mattered is that she was His princess. And a princess in need.
I told her I would call her next week by Tuesday afternoon (12/6). It was a promise I made. It's a promise I will keep. I am calling her today to tell her that one of my unchurched friends has offered a sleeper sofa. She will be estatic.
But what else is out there?
Is there a bed frame or matress in the corner of your garage?
Is there a 2nd or third fridge that you use to cool food in the garage?
Is there a dresser...maybe even a coffee table?
Think with me? I want to show Masata God's love in a practical way. I believe people can partner to do extra-ordinary things.
Be a part.
For Masata, it's impossible. Together, let's disrupt the impossible.
______________________________________________________
If you have interest in being part of the "Masata Miracle" email with the item and it's condition. I am committed toi given her good stuff, though it may be slightly used.
Thank you for loving. Thank you for listening.
Jas
I met her at the FTH SCT Dinner Premier. I've met people like her before but something about her moved me. She told me with great excitement of how she and her 2 yr old son were moving from a shelter to their first ever government assisted apartment.
She did not ask me. I engaged her.
"How are things coming?" Great she replied. Her heart jumped at the response. I pressed. Do you have everything you need? She continued to smile and say, "No, but I have my first place." As if to repeat what she is embarking on.
She was thrilled, yet having nothing. I asked a third time. "I know you said you have nothing, but what do you have...?"
She pondered the list of what she had.
That's when Masata's words melted me. She said systimatically, "I have a blanket, a sheet, and a pillow... well it is a pillow from a couch.
I smiled and said "I am proud of you."
Sure. I was thinking the same things. How did she get there? What's her story? Is she working? But God interupted. At that moment it didn't matter. What mattered is that she was His princess. And a princess in need.
I told her I would call her next week by Tuesday afternoon (12/6). It was a promise I made. It's a promise I will keep. I am calling her today to tell her that one of my unchurched friends has offered a sleeper sofa. She will be estatic.
But what else is out there?
Is there a bed frame or matress in the corner of your garage?
Is there a 2nd or third fridge that you use to cool food in the garage?
Is there a dresser...maybe even a coffee table?
Think with me? I want to show Masata God's love in a practical way. I believe people can partner to do extra-ordinary things.
Be a part.
For Masata, it's impossible. Together, let's disrupt the impossible.
______________________________________________________
If you have interest in being part of the "Masata Miracle" email with the item and it's condition. I am committed toi given her good stuff, though it may be slightly used.
Thank you for loving. Thank you for listening.
Jas
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Heroes
Two HEROES , One MOMENT
So about half way through a regular Sunday AM Presentation at Capital, I get this call on my Guest Service Radio. I carry the radio on Sundays to be in the loop re: the Guest Services process.
The radio squelched. "Uh we got a lady down in the S-11 Bathroom... Please advice. Over"
I moved quickly through the crowd, thinking, if she is in the bathroom, how can I get to her? I radioed for my Guest Services Director, a female, to get to her...hopefully. She was hunkered down at the other end of the lobby, making sure the free distribution of The Gutter book was going to work...who knows, maybe she just wasn't available.
Anyway, I arrived at the bathroom and one of our female attenders emerged with this death look on her face. "Jas, there is a severely handicapped woman down in the stall yelling for help. I went to help her and her colostomy bag is hurting her. She needs someone to help her...." [Pause and look up colostomy bag]
I was frozen. I stood thinking. What in the world do I do? Because adjusting the bag had internal consequence and she had fallen, maybe hit her head, we called 911 immediately. But now comes the tough part. How can we comfort her?
I asked a few 50 something woman to help as they walked by and they assured me "they could not do anything..." They said they were not “experienced in this area? They were not equipped.
Frustrated at what I originally thought was a lack of compassion, I realized I do the same thing. At times, I am called just to help…do something, but I feel so unqualified. I was in the middle of a possible God moment.
This God moment was draped in irony. As a church, we were jazzed about passing out over 1000 copies of The Gutter. But at the same time, there is a lady who had fallen on the bathroom floor. It were as if God were saying, "a person will never be ready to love in the world if they can’t love, help, and serve the ones already here. We have a moment primed to do the miraculous.
I saw one of my friends walk by. Her name is Lisa. She has incredible heart to love people. She sings at CCC. Hesitant because the other 50 something year old women had flat out rejected me twice to help, I ask Lisa to help.
She did not even pause....she just said Sure, where? As she went in the bathroom, she helped. I was not in there. I have no idea what she did. She was just there.
Four minutes passed.
A former student passed by. Elise; She is miracle in her own right. I asked if she would help Lisa who was already in there. Her response... Sure, where?
No questions, no assessments, no clarifications, no explanations needed. They just gave a good ol' fashioned, all American, SURE.
The ambulance arrived and the fallen lady was loved. We heard she will be fine.
But here's what I walked away thinking.
Lisa missed the ministry assignment to sing, but actually excelled by loving the lady where she had fallen.
Elise? She had about four ministry assignments on any given week. I guarantee she missed one. Yet, in a second, without hesitation, sat in the restroom floor and loved the needy.
In a place that society would call the grossiest of environments, a bathroom floor, my two friends loved.
***
Who do you know that has fallen?
What is covering them that make them hard to embrace?
What environment did God send you up to love in?
***
It might be a moment where the hero in you may emerge.
Much Love
Jas
So about half way through a regular Sunday AM Presentation at Capital, I get this call on my Guest Service Radio. I carry the radio on Sundays to be in the loop re: the Guest Services process.
The radio squelched. "Uh we got a lady down in the S-11 Bathroom... Please advice. Over"
I moved quickly through the crowd, thinking, if she is in the bathroom, how can I get to her? I radioed for my Guest Services Director, a female, to get to her...hopefully. She was hunkered down at the other end of the lobby, making sure the free distribution of The Gutter book was going to work...who knows, maybe she just wasn't available.
Anyway, I arrived at the bathroom and one of our female attenders emerged with this death look on her face. "Jas, there is a severely handicapped woman down in the stall yelling for help. I went to help her and her colostomy bag is hurting her. She needs someone to help her...." [Pause and look up colostomy bag]
I was frozen. I stood thinking. What in the world do I do? Because adjusting the bag had internal consequence and she had fallen, maybe hit her head, we called 911 immediately. But now comes the tough part. How can we comfort her?
I asked a few 50 something woman to help as they walked by and they assured me "they could not do anything..." They said they were not “experienced in this area? They were not equipped.
Frustrated at what I originally thought was a lack of compassion, I realized I do the same thing. At times, I am called just to help…do something, but I feel so unqualified. I was in the middle of a possible God moment.
This God moment was draped in irony. As a church, we were jazzed about passing out over 1000 copies of The Gutter. But at the same time, there is a lady who had fallen on the bathroom floor. It were as if God were saying, "a person will never be ready to love in the world if they can’t love, help, and serve the ones already here. We have a moment primed to do the miraculous.
I saw one of my friends walk by. Her name is Lisa. She has incredible heart to love people. She sings at CCC. Hesitant because the other 50 something year old women had flat out rejected me twice to help, I ask Lisa to help.
She did not even pause....she just said Sure, where? As she went in the bathroom, she helped. I was not in there. I have no idea what she did. She was just there.
Four minutes passed.
A former student passed by. Elise; She is miracle in her own right. I asked if she would help Lisa who was already in there. Her response... Sure, where?
No questions, no assessments, no clarifications, no explanations needed. They just gave a good ol' fashioned, all American, SURE.
The ambulance arrived and the fallen lady was loved. We heard she will be fine.
But here's what I walked away thinking.
Lisa missed the ministry assignment to sing, but actually excelled by loving the lady where she had fallen.
Elise? She had about four ministry assignments on any given week. I guarantee she missed one. Yet, in a second, without hesitation, sat in the restroom floor and loved the needy.
In a place that society would call the grossiest of environments, a bathroom floor, my two friends loved.
***
Who do you know that has fallen?
What is covering them that make them hard to embrace?
What environment did God send you up to love in?
***
It might be a moment where the hero in you may emerge.
Much Love
Jas
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Average Joe
We Met. Remember the guy I called Gay Joe. By own admission he had come to despise Christians. He was coordinating friend’s wedding that I had been asked to officiate.
After the ceremony, he asked me what it was like officiating a wedding at a church where people were accepted. He was referring to the church I was standing in, not Capital. His back handed inquiry bugged me.
I paused and said "I love doing weddings at Capital." He smirked and realized that I was serious about connecting to people beyond my comfort of Christian belief. The conversation faded as we both had responsibilities. Before he walked away I told him I wanted to get some coffee sometime.
I would guess by his expression that this shocked him.
Days passed, but we finally connected. I went and had coffee with Joe. It was a great hour of learning for me and understanding how so many Christians, with miss directed zeal, and had shunned the very ones that Jesus embraced. He embraced people despite their belief or struggle.
As we finished chatting, I slid a copy of The Gutter across the table and told him it was a manifesto for my life. I said it chronicled a new found friendship with a porn producer, a prostitute, a pimp, a prisoner, and a pastor.
Maybe that could be the next book...The Pimp and The Pastor.
He laughed.
I laughed.
Jesus smiled.
Get out of the box today and love.
jas
After the ceremony, he asked me what it was like officiating a wedding at a church where people were accepted. He was referring to the church I was standing in, not Capital. His back handed inquiry bugged me.
I paused and said "I love doing weddings at Capital." He smirked and realized that I was serious about connecting to people beyond my comfort of Christian belief. The conversation faded as we both had responsibilities. Before he walked away I told him I wanted to get some coffee sometime.
I would guess by his expression that this shocked him.
Days passed, but we finally connected. I went and had coffee with Joe. It was a great hour of learning for me and understanding how so many Christians, with miss directed zeal, and had shunned the very ones that Jesus embraced. He embraced people despite their belief or struggle.
As we finished chatting, I slid a copy of The Gutter across the table and told him it was a manifesto for my life. I said it chronicled a new found friendship with a porn producer, a prostitute, a pimp, a prisoner, and a pastor.
Maybe that could be the next book...The Pimp and The Pastor.
He laughed.
I laughed.
Jesus smiled.
Get out of the box today and love.
jas
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
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