Thursday, February 26, 2009

Give up...

A Lenten Reflection

Give up complaining——focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism——become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments——think kindly thoughts.
Give up worry——trust Divine Providence.
Give up discouragement——be full of hope.
Give up bitterness——turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred——return good for evil.
Give up negativism——be positive.
Give up anger——be more patient.
Give up pettiness——become mature.
Give up gloom——enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy——pray for trust.
Give up gossiping——control your tongue.
Give up sin——turn to virtue.
Give up giving up——hang in there!

"The spiritual quest is not for interesting "spiritual experiences" but for the expansion of our capacity for mercy, the opening of our hearts wide enough to embrace the world, and not just the fragments of it, here and there, which at present we manage to feel with and care about." (Martin L. Smith, A Season for the Spirit, p. 27)

I found this poem and I thought it did a great job of showing how we need to give some things up for this season of Lent but how there are so many things we can gain at the same time. The one I wanted to focus on today was "Give up discouragement ---be full of hope". We have been struggling at work lately with the lack of hope some people have for our kids. I think when they started out in the social work field they were very hopeful. But after 10-20 years of seeing kid after kid go through our program and only a few of them "succeeding" in the terms of going to college, not falling back into the same things, etc...those things weigh on you. For me, new to all of this, I have so much hope for them, maybe unrealistic hope, maybe I am just too new to understand, but either way I have hope. It is very discouraging to hear when other people don't have hope for the kids I work with, and honestly overall the world has no hope for them, that is why they are at our agency. Last night at our Ash Wednesday service we gave ashes to the kids that wanted to come up. I got the opportunity to give them out to half of our kids and staff. It was an experience I am still processing, but one that will last a life time with me. As I made the sign of the cross on their foreheads and said to them, "You were made of dust, but because of Christ you will live forever", and saw them in awe of a new ritual of the Church they had never seen, and I took my time to look at each one of their faces. They are my hope. The staff that day after day work with these kids even when they punch them, spit on them, kick them , cuss them out, they still love these kids unconditionally. And our kids who have been through hell but still want to come to Chapel, receive Ashes and praise the God they love so much. Giving ashes was a humbling experience, one that set the tone for Lent. Hope is all around us, and as the quote from A Season of the Spirit, says, these spiritual experiences we will have during Lent, is much more than just an experience but an "expansion of our capacity for mercy, the opening of our hearts wide enough to embrace the world". Open your heart wide enough to embrace the world this season, and be full of hope to share with others.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Lent is hard

Everytime I think of Lent, I can't help but remember when we lived in Buffalo, NY that everyone thought my dad was talking about Lint in your belly button not the season of Lent. This is one of those words that in the south people say them the exact same way, but some how in the north they can pronounce these two words to sound differently. Personally, I just think they are supposed to sound the same, like Ginny and Jenny. But I have been told I am wrong. But Lent is more than just an issue with accents.

As I have been preparing how to approach these lenten devotionals I have promised so many, I feel like I am trying to work on an impossible project. The Advent devotionals came so much easier to me, it's so easy to write about your favorite christmas songs and the joys that surround advent. Advent is a time of waiting and I guess my patience has grown from working with these kids, so maybe that is why it was easier to write those devotionals. Lent is hard, its more vague, people go about observing Lent in various ways, it makes you focus inward on ourselves, its makes us vulnerable. Each year I try to give something up for Lent, and I try to be more reflective and observant. I feel like each year I fall short, I get too busy and loose sight of Lent. Last year I decided I was not even going to bother giving something up because I knew I wouldn't last. This year I have to make a change and really observe Lent.

When it comes to our lives we get so caught up in the hustle of life, of the everyday to-do list, our life plans and the pressures of a consumer society. We run from silence because we're afraid of being alone with God. So, like Jesus, we need to take some serious time to pray and figure out where God is in our lives, and where God is calling us to serve. We need to re-focus our lives to be more in line with God.

So somehow through the next 40+ days of devotions I am going to stretch myself to be vulnerable to God and take some serious time to be in silence, pray, figure out what God wants for me and also to re-focus my life.

Below are some links to blogs/websites with ideas on things you can give up for lent, add for lent, or just ways to observe. So as we prepare for Ash Wednesday tomorrow, let us stop and be still and listen to God and see how he wants us each to observe this season of Lent.

http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.2514885/k.63E6/Lent_and_Easter_Resources.htm

http://www.greendaily.com/2009/02/24/how-about-going-green-for-lent/

Tomorrow I will post some more practical Lenten ideas.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Ash Wednesday




A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

(extinguish candles)

The darkness asks us questions.
You are out there and we do not see.
You invite us into the night,
the stillness, the loneliness, the desert place.

We cannot see our shadow;
the cold damp of unknowing rises up from beneath
our feet.
We tread cautiously, tentatively.

We are afraid,
afraid of ghosts
haunting us with specters of guilt
and shame.

We would like to run back,
reach the river bank,
swim the Jordan,
sit in the sun by the sea,
mending our nets.
But you have brought us here
- with no bread.

When we look we can see only ourselves,
our darkness.
When we read,
it is invisible words which cannot be grasped,
thoughts we cannot clutch,
hope we cannot capture.

Yet the wild honey remains a taste in our mouth,
a memory for a new day.

Why have you brought us here?
What miracle will you perform for us?

The darkness sighs around us,
dense with your unseen presence,
close to our breathing,
close to our breathing.

O darkness, enlighten us,
embrace us with your invisible love.
Let us see your glory in the ashes.
Take us by the hand that we may trust the
darkness.
Minister to us by your Spirit that we may not be
afraid.
Jesus, keep the beasts away.

Amen

(light candles)
~William Loader~

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Leaning on God


This is going to be a typical "Babbling Brooke" devo today, so sorry if it doesn't make sense. I feel like this weekend has caused me to have a lot of questions, some doubts, frustrations, and has just caused me to just need some where to lean, to rest awhile and figure out all these thought that are racing through my mind. I think after spending about 6 hours in a car by myself, going to a retreat with a good speaker, and just spending a lot of time trying to reflect on life, it has caused me to search for answers. Some answers I will never figure out, some that I am ok with never knowing, and some I struggle with letting go of. I love this poem, I just picture myself leaning on all these different things before I finally lean on God. Joyce Rupp does an amazing job of displaying my thoughts and feelings and I am sure yours as well into this poem below. Let it be your reflection today.

Some people lean against fence posts
when their bodies ache from toil.
Some people lean on oak trees,
seeking cool shade on hot, humid days.

Some people lean on crutches
when their limbs won't work for them;
and some people lean on each other
when their hearts can't stand alone.

How long it takes to lean upon you,
God of shelter and strength;
how long it takes to recognize the truth
of where my inner power has its source.

All my independence, with its arrogance,
stands up and stretches within me,
trying to convince my trembling soul
that I can conquer troubles on my own.

But the day of truth always comes
when I finally yield to you, God,
knowing you are a steady stronghold,
a refuge when times are tough.

Thank you for offering me strength,
for being the oak tree of comfort;
thank you for being the sturdy support
when the limbs of my life are weak.

Praise to you, Eternal Lean-to,
for always being there for me.
Continue to transform me
with the power of your love.

~Joyce Rupp~

"Which of you walks in darkness and sees no light? ....lean on God." Isaiah 50:4-10

Seeking and Finding

I search for God
elusive, hidden God,
I long to dwell
in the heart of Mystery.

I search for my true self
more of who I already am,
knowing there's so much
yet to be discovered.

I search for love,
the unconditional love
that enfolds me
and asks to be shared.

I search for vision
in the shadows of my soul,
impatiently awaiting
the moment of lighting.

I search for a quiet heart
amid life's harried schedule;
my soul cries out,
yearning for solitude.

I search for compassion
in a world gone deaf
to the cries of the hurting,
and the please of the powerless.

I search for a Home,
always for Home
unaware, of course,
that I am already there.

~Joyce Rupp~

"When you search for me, you will find me; when you search wholeheartedly for me, I shall let you find me."
-Jeremiah 29:13-

1. Reflect on the inner moments of your life. has God ever come seeking you? If so, how did this happen? what did you do in response? Did this seeking change you in any way?


2. Look within yourself. What are the deepest longings of your heart? Who and what do you most seek? make a list of these or draw a heart and fill it with words or images.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Preperation for a Lenten Journey

So the season of Lent is just around the corner. I can't believe it is already here, it seems like we just finished Advent. These feelings could be because I have just recently finished a United Methodist Women's Program for Advent for their 2010 book, so I have had lots of Advent ideas flowing through my head. I am not excited to switch gears though and move into Lent. It seems that every year I try hard to start some way of observing Lent, and I never see it through. Well this year, all my trusty Blog followers out there are going to hold me accountable and maybe I can help you out as well. Each day I will reflect upon a question, scripture, quote, song, etc...here on the blog and I urge you to comment on the reflection, reflect on the same thing as I do, or respond in whatever way you feel appropriate. This will not be like my Advent Devotional Book because we have already prepared ways for our kids here at CCH to observe Lent. But don't worry I will have an Advent Devo next year because of multiple requests. Below is an excerpt from a book by female UMC pastors (I figure I should start learning from this wise words if I am going to become one someday soon) that I am reading and this is from Margaret W. Bickford from the New England Annual Conference.

As you embark on your Lenten journey, consider the following questions:
1. Am I impatient with God? other people? myself? why?
2. Am I too quick to judge and dismiss God or other people when they don't meet my expectations?
3. Am I suspicious of GOd or other people because of my own doubt or fear?
4. Do I really want to know the truth about myself, to confess my shortcomings, and to repent (turn about and go in an entirely new and better direction), so that I may be renewed?
5. Am I really open to God's presence in my life, or do I still distrust the Divine Presence?
6. Am I really open to GOd's unconditional love, or do I still feel unworhty and unable to give as I have received?
7. Am I really ready to become Jesus' disciple, to put everything else in second place or into God's hands?

I also recommend that you keep a journal to note issues and questions you consider, challenges, who and what you have prayed fro, and how you have changed during these forty-plus days. The record may suprise you. In any cause, your journey will take on a deeper dimension as you focus on your soul's health and your relationship with the Lord. When the darkness of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are finally dispersed by the light of Easter morning, you will feel that light deep in your soul and will truly be able to rejoice.


I am going to try to answer these questions myself before and during the Lenten Journey. I urge you to as well. Please join me in this journey of Lent.

Friday, February 13, 2009

New Kid on the Block

We have a new kid at CCH and he is just adorable! It's hard when you know the kids background before you meet them. For this kid I thought he would seem really "hard" or "bad" on the outside, and that it might appear that it is almost "hopeless" for this kid due to their past. But then I walked into the kids room as he was about to go to sleep and he is all cuddled up in his quilt and has his teddy bear in his arms. And I saw a whole new kid, a scared kid, a lonely kid, a kid that desperately needs to feel loved, I saw God's child, and everything I knew before I walked in that room vanishes and he is just a kid that needs love. He needs love that I can attempt to give, and love from God that I can share with him. And as I finish the book I read to him, I pull his covers up and say goodnight. He says, "Miss Brooke...can you say a prayer for me?" And a little caught off guard but so glad he asked, I say yes. I asked if there was something specific he wanted me to pray for and he said, "You will know what words to say". I almost teared up as I prayed for this kid, that I just met the day before, the kid I had pre-judged, the kid that needed to just be embraced by love, and I prayed for his new journey here at CCH. Sure enough God did give me the words.

Society has rejected him because they only new him from papers, reports and incidents.

I saw a glimpse into his heart. There is no way I can reject him now. This New Kid on the Block, makes me smile.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Quote of the Day

Kids say the best things, this made me laugh today...and he was VERY serious about both comments

We were listening to some kids sing & I was also telling him about Praise Dancing and he said
"We have such good talent here at Cunningham we should go join American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance!" -11 year old kid at my job

Then I was talking to the same kid about reading the bible and he told me last night he was trying to find the 10 Commandments and he said,

"Man Brooke I was looking through that whole dang bible to find those 10 Law things and I kept trying to think of that dude's name that wrote them on those stones and I thought forever and finally I remembered his name was Noah and I got so excited I looked in the back of the bible and found Noah's name and turned to that page. Then I read some more and realized that it was not Noah it was Moses. I am forever getting those 2 mixed up in my mind. But I found that and then I read it in my New Living Transformation (he meant Translation) and I read it in my Old Living Transformation and then I read it in the Message thing you gave me. But you know what Brooke?...I think I need to also read it in the NIV to get the full effect you know.."

I said, "Do you really want to read it in the NIV, because I can go make a copy of the 10 commandments out of the NIV for you right now"

He said, "Ummm I really want the bible for myself so I can read it tonight..."

I said, "So are you trying to get me to give you your 6th bible?"

He said, "Well I thought I could with that whole Moses thing, but I guess you caught me"

I said, "Well you did a good job, but when you read the whole bible from Genesis to Revelation on all of your translations I will give you another bible for sure!"

He said, "Well I guess I should get on that starting tonight, I might not sleep for a year!"

Gotta love what kids will say to get things:)