Giving More Presence

A few weeks ago Bobby and I attended a conference called Pro Athletes Outreach. It was a powerful time for athletes and their wives to refuel and refocus who we are and what we do.

One of the featured speakers was a pastor from St. Louis. He was one of those guys that you love to listen to. Hip but not trite. Authentic without being pushy. On the last day of the conference he shared something that has blown across the nation like a storm. He called it The Advent Conspiracy. It's wildly simple in its tenants- yet considered a "conspiracy" because it's so counter to the direction our culture swims. Even Whoopi Goldberg is talking about it- and that's huge...

*Spend less on yourself
*What you don't spend on yourself try to give to someone or something
*Give your loved ones more presence than presents

That last one really got me. What does it mean to give people my presence? Presents are easy. You buy them, wrap them, and give them away... But presence is different. Presence means that I will really listen to what my kids/husband/ and friends are saying. Instead of token nods and hurried listening- I will truly engage in what they are saying. I will think about their concerns and pray for them sincerely after our conversations are through.

Jesus was the master of presence. Everything about Him oozed authentic engagement. He fed people that were hungry. He healed people that were hurting. He laughed and cried with His friends. He pleaded with His Father for the hearts of people.

Have you ever noticed that Jesus never gave a present that was bought and wrapped? You don't read about Him popping into the Jerusalem Target to pick up a few gifts. He simply gave His presence- and that was big enough to alter the world.

I still have wrapped gifts under the tree, and I can't wait for our family to enjoy them, but this year I'm more concerned with presence...a gift that no price tag can define.

Blessings...
Gari

Life is Like a Sticky Note

I am addicted to sticky notes. I've been known to walk around for a full hour with a sticky note attached to my forehead. The fluorescent colors make me wild, and don't even get me started on the sticky notes that come in the shape of a heart or flower...
I use stickies for a myriad of purposes: to remind me of something I need to do, someone I need to talk to, or something I need to pray about. To mark a powerful part of something I'm reading, something I need to use in my writing, or something I want to use when I teach.

When I was in Uganda this summer working with kids and teachers at an orphanage, it was fascinating to see their reaction to sticky notes. Just the colors and fact they stuck on everything, including skin, was enough to hold the kids spell bound- regardless of the purposes we were trying to introduce for their use. Let's face it- sticky notes are one of the great inventions of the last few decades. If I could personally thank the creator of the colorful little square paper with a glue-like tab at the top I would.

As I ponder the wonders of sticky notes I'm reminded of the picture you see at the top of my blog. I snapped this photo at the end of a gathering I led. We all had piles of sticky notes in front of us, and we silently wrote out sticky after sticky reflecting on what we feared- the voices that plagued our minds reminding us of how we fall short or somehow seem to disappoint God- or the ways we constantly seem to boomerang back to old patterns of behavior we hate.

When we were done writing on the stickies, I asked the group to gather around a table where we quietly stuck them, one by one, on the cross.

At first it seemed a little contrived and weird. Sticky notes on a cross? But when we were done, and the tears were falling, it was actually quite beautiful. Like a Christmas tree that is adorned with lights and sparkles, the cross was now adorned with pain, conflict, and a kind of fluorescent hope.

To be able to put our fears on the cross is the ultimate sticky note. You can write them out, then get rid of them- not needing to keep them attached to your forehead as a reminder of past failures. They now stick to the cross- where Jesus bears their print.

"For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His Cross..." (Colossians)

If you need a little sticky note therapy this week, I encourage you to get a pack and write like crazy. But don't keep the sticky notes around you or on you, put them on a cross.

Blessings-
Gari

Does God Like You?

As I sit at a table in my office (Panera Bread) and write, I am struck with how many holy encounters seem to take place in this restaurant. Behind me I hear a woman sharing her broken heart over a failed relationship. Next to me a team of teachers meet to discuss the problems they encounter with a certain troubled teen. Across from them sits an elderly man, alone, while he brings his hot chicken noodle soup to his lips.

Christmas is nearing, and as I look at the cookies and bread displayed on the counter, and the "huddles" of people gathering to talk or share a problem- a question stirs in me... "Does God like us?" I mean it. Does He like us?

We hear the litany of religious phrases that say God loves us. He has a plan for our lives, and so on. But does He like us?

The last few days one line of scripture has circulated and percolated in my mind. It's from the gospel of Luke in a scene that is utterly unexpected and wild.

After Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable filled with animals and manure, she may have been questioning whether she had missed God's best. Was this really the way that God planned for His son to enter the scene? At the very least maybe she could have expected a bed with sheets rather than straw and animal sounds. But here's where the story comes full circle.

In that same region some shepards were on a hill. We tend to romanticize shepards now days because when you really think about it- how many shepards do you know? But during Mary's day, the shepards were the blue-collar workers who did the hard work with little pay or glory. Think of them as modern day truckers... So on a cold winter's night all of the sudden heaven ripped open and thousands and thousands of angels are singing and partying, the likes of which we can only imagine- and do you know what they said?
" Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to mankind
with whom He is pleased."

In the midst of the Christmas story, and the pain or busyness of life, we tend to overlook these words. God is pleased with us.

It's not because we have behaved well. It's not because we are the most attractive religiously. The shepards certainly weren't the most attractive, influential people of their day. As a matter of fact they were somewhat snubbed and looked down on. Yet isn't it mind blowing that they were the first to hear this life changing news?

God likes you. He is pleased with you. And He has sent a gift beyond compare in His son Jesus. A baby born into the manure of a stable- much like the manure of our life.

From that event rings the cry of God to the world... I like you. I am thrilled with you. Let the angels party and sing with abandon because this is still His love song over our lives.

Blessings-
Gari