2015 KICK-off!

We had our first KICK of the season yesterday. It is amazing how much things change in a year. Last year, I knew none of the kids or their families. I had my shy little 1^st grader just a few weeks into a new school system as my only window into the child’s psyche of KICK…and that little one had no idea what to expect much like myself.

This year, parents of KICK kids are my Facebook friends, and I got to see them post the announcements about upcoming KICK. I got to hear my daughter’s excitement, and questions every week, “When do we have KICK again? Is Kick THIS week?” I got to hear her describe KICK to her little kindergarten brother. I got to see his excitement. The day of KICK, I received a text… “I had lunch at the elementary today with my daughter…she and her friends are super excited about this afternoon.” I got to here our nervous crew wonder if we had enough room in the church van for everyone. Best of all, I got the bear-hugs of our returning crew. And when my own little ornery kindergartner got home, he told me it had lived up to his expectation of awesome-ness. That experience as a pastor is one you hold on to when things look bleak.

I have to admit, I am just as excited about KICK as the kids. I think our focus this semester is going to be one that God really uses in their lives. This semester we are going to be talking about The Patriarchs and mapping the great-great-great-etc grandfathers of Jesus. As I have been getting ready, I have noticed that Jesus’ ancestors had anything but a “traditional” family. I think many of our kids will identify with the challenges having a mixed family brings. In fact, as we finished the day, one little one shared with me that his dad was in the process of moving out. It was one of those moments when you know God was picking the lessons intentionally.

It makes me wonder how God will use our lessons through the semester...

1. This last week we started with Abraham and Sarah and the 3 strangers who turned out to be angels. I wonder if any of our kids have had to share their house or even their bedroom with an unexpected house guest?

2. Next week, we will be focusing on Isaac’s half-brother Ishmael and Ishmael’s mom, Hagar and how God provided for them when Abraham kicked them out of the house. I wonder if any of our little ones have had to move out abruptly?

3. Then we will be talking about Abraham taking Isaac to be sacrificed. Do you think any of these kids might have been asked to do hard things and been unsure that God would provide?

4. Next we will talk about Isaac lying about Rebekah to the Egyptian king. I bet each of these kids can think of a time they lied because they were scared to tell the truth.

5. Then we will talk about Jacob tricking his father into giving him the blessing of the first born. How many of these little ones have experienced a family member taking advantage of another family member?

6. Then we will talk about Jacob being named Israel. Even though these families messed up, and did the wrong thing, God still kept his promise to Abraham. I think all of us can think of a time that we messed up, and we all need to know, that God can forgive ANYTHING.

The thought makes me thankful that God is there for us when our family life is not ideal. God is used to working with families like that!

"Mom, What is Cancer?"

“Mom, what is cancer?” Lydia asked innocently as we made our way to walk in the Relay for Life event. It is hard to answer that question. There are so many things that cancer is.

“It is a disease, a sickness,” I answered.

“Can I catch it?” I hear the fear in her little voice, a fear that reflects how most of us feel about cancer.

“No…” How do you explain the complexity of cancer to a seven-year-old? I am not a doctor, or a scientist. I do my best. “The smallest pieces of your body, they are called cells. Your whole body is made up of different cells. There are skin cells, heart cells, blood cells, brain cells. Every once in a while, the body makes a mistake cell. It’s called a mutated cell. In cancer, that cell starts making lots of cells just like itself, cells that can’t do a job like the healthy ones do and they get in the way of the good cells doing their job. Those are cancer cells.”

“Can I get cancer?”

“Yes.”

“Will I die if I get cancer?”

“Maybe…but not everyone who gets cancer dies. That’s why we are walking, so doctors and scientists can find better ways to get rid of cancer and the people with cancer can live a long happy life.”

“Do we know people with cancer?”

“Your Aunt Christine had thyroid cancer…and she beat it.”

“Aunt Christine had cancer?!?”

Relay for Life is many things for many people. For our church it is a way to add our feet to our prayers, and to bring transformation to the world we live in. It is a way to say we walk with those who suffer and struggle. For me this year, Relay for Life was a chance to talk about something scary with my child. Because I am a pastor, Lydia sees and hears about death a lot more than most kids her age. Often times, she asked why they died, and some of her favorite church-people have died from cancer. Relay this year allowed me to say, “Not everyone dies from this…and part of that is because of what we are doing today.”

Thank You, Relay for Life, for giving me that opportunity. 

Old LaFontaine School

Today is my day off, and sometimes on my day off, my mind wanders to places it doesn’t have time to when I am busy as the pastor of LaFontaine UMC. In its wandering, it ended up thinking about the old elementary school building. Now I don’t know about the structure or maintenance cost of the building. In fact, I have never been in it. I have heard through the grapevine that part of it needs to be torn down, but the other part is could be used for something. And I have heard many people dreaming about what that part could be used for. So here are my two cents of what I think would be cool.

I think it would be really neat to make the structurally sound part into a mini-mall of sorts. Almost all the businesses of LaFontaine are owned locally, and I sense there are many other entrepreneurs among us that just don’t have the capital to get started. But what if we as a community bought that building, removed the nonfunctional part, and rented out the rooms for small local start-ups? These are the businesses I would be excited about:

A small coffee shop with baked goods and comfortable seating (think Modocs with more bakery items)

A “Garage Sale” Room that could charge a nominal fee for renting

A consignment shop with clothing

An after school and e-learning day room with wi-fi for doing homework

A community garden to share fresh produce with our community

A “kids room” with simple toys for a place to go on rainy days to get out of the house

We could have a “HELP” board and a “I CAN HELP” board so that we can be good neighbors to each other.

A small babysitting service

An exercise room

What would it take to make something like this happen? Well, it would take a leader. I am not that leader. But I believe that leader is among us. It would take organizing as a group. If we were serious about it, we could see about getting volunteers knowledgeable about the do’s and don’ts of starting your own business to provide support for new entrepreneurs. It would be really neat to have some grants available for helping with overhead that first year. Most of all, we would need to raise the funds to get the building in working order…removing the dangerous part, and cleaning up the rest.

So I’m just putting the idea out there. Feel free to discuss on our LaFontaine Facebook Page what you would like to see in a “community mall,” to say whether you think we could make this happen, or if you would like to head up or be on a team to make this happen. You may just want to put up your dream of the business you would like to start. 

My Brother’s Keeper

^“Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.  Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” Genesis  4:8–10

My five year old was in the bath tub when he asked his sister to get his boat toy.  She shrugged her shoulder’s and answered, “It’s not my responsibility.”

I called her into her room. She had been doing this on and off for awhile, and every time it grated on me. It was time to have the conversation.

So where do you start in that conversation? With Cain killing Abel and telling God, “I am not my brother’s keeper”? I have noticed that this particular story is left out of all of her children’s Bible story books.  And she wasn’t murdering her brother, she just was being apathetic about helping him.

So I started with the holocaust. Okay, I know that is pretty extreme. But there were many individuals, and nations who were apathetic as World War 2 began. Many people died because of the apathy of others.  After all, it wasn’t their responsibility. I am sure I could have thought of other moments in history as well. The group Sojourners began because Christians were watching the turmoil of civil rights and realized their white churches were saying, “it isn’t our responsibility” and thought the church should be helping those seeking equality. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the hero is the first of four bystanders who took responsibility for the man at the side of the road. But, the first thing that came to my mind were those who died at the hands of evil men because it of a “it isn’t my responsibility” attitude.

But as I am finishing up the lecture, I realize I just made EVERYONE EVERYWHERE her responsibility. That was not right either. So I added a little to this.

“We have to help those who can’t do it themselves.”

Zeke was in the tub, and clearly couldn’t reach his toy. Lydia was inches away. She could have helped. So she should have. That doesn’t mean she has to go get stuff for him when he is perfectly able with same amount of effort to do it himself. It doesn’t mean caring for others trumps her own self care.

But our response should not be, “It isn’t my responsibility.”

So I am curious, how do you teach the next generation to help others in a balanced way? I feel like I am still learning where this line is myself, especially as someone who is often asked to help. It is a fine line to walk, and an important lesson to learn. So how do you do it?