As promised in the August 28 Parish Notes of Grace Mennonite, here is a new blog. It has been a long time since I have written a blog; February 25 to be exact. In my last blog I was writing about the snow we thought would never end. A lot has happened since then. Once again, I will try and be faithful with having at least one blog a week. Maybe there will be more once I get started writing.
A lot has happened since February. Let me first catch you up with our family. Ryan (our oldest son) is this week finishing a 2 year stint with Mennonite Voluntary Service in Madison, Wisconsin. He is presently looking for employment as he hopes to stay in Madison as he likes the city and especially the Mennonite church there. Unfortunately it is not an easy time to look for a job.
Philip and Mary are beginning their last year at the Mennonite Brethren seminary in Fresno, California. They will both be graduating in early May 2012: Mary with a degree in counseling and Philip with a Masters of Divinity degree.
Julia has completed two years at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She was in San Antonio, Texas for the summer participating in the Ministry Inquiry Program with San Antonio Mennonite Church. She had a great time doing that. Presently she is beginning a semester abroad in Brussels, Belgium where she is attending Vesalius College in Brussels. So far she is enjoying Belgium a great deal and has already had spent a week-end in Paris. Julia has a blog you might what to follow.
http://julia-exploringtheinfiniteabyss.blogspot.com/
That’s enough for the kids. Our life as empty nesters here in Pandora seems a little boring in comparison. We are excited about the newly renovated sanctuary in the church that should be finished in the next several weeks. We had a good trip to Pittsburgh for the Mennonite Church USA convention this summer. Other than that, we have not done much travelling as we are saving our vacation time to take a 13 day trip to Europe at the end of October and the beginning of November. It will be great to get back to Europe as it has been 30 years since we lived there for a year learning French for missionary service in Congo. I should have a lot to write about after that.
What I am Reading
The past week or so (I am a slow reader) I have been reading Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder. It is the story of Deogratias, a young medical student from the central African nation of Burundi. Through no fault of his own, he was forced onto a terrifying journey, a journey that split his life in two. First there was a six-months-long escape on foot from ethnic violence in Burundi and from genocide in Rwanda. Almost by accident he ended up in New York City, where he lived for a time in Central Park.
I am so far inspired and challenged by the book. I find the senseless genocide in Burundi and Rwanda appalling and wonder how this could have taken place in our modern world. Yesterday, I was privileged to hear Deogratias speak as he was the speaker at Bluffton University for the school opening convocation. It was amazing that he seemed to have no bitterness about his tremendously difficult life but a genuine hope for the future. In fact he has gone back to build much needed health clinics in Burundi. More about this later.
Where in the Bible is Dennis Reading?
I have made it a practice for the last several years to read through the entire Bible every year. The plan I use has me reading the Psalms and New Testament twice and the rest once every year. I have found this a good discipline to help me get the bigger picture of God’s story of salvation and gets me into sections of Scripture I would not normally turn to. Some sections are like old friends that come around once a year and every year I seem to get a little more understanding.
Right now I am beginning my journey through the prophet Ezekiel, just finishing up 1 Samuel and am in the middle of 1 Corinthians and the Psalms. I will have more specific reflections in later blogs.
More Snow and Job
I look out of my office window to another blanket of snow. This is the 2nd major snowfall this week. Tom and Jeff Schumacher are cleaning the parking lot and sidewalks with their blade and snow blower. Even though Putnam County is under a Level Two Snow Emergency, I had no excuse for not coming into the office as I only need to walk less than 100 yards through the snow and the drifts were not that big. I will get our snow blower out and clean our driveway and walks over the noon hour. The snow is to be finished by that time.
Even though I have complained a lot about the snow this winter, I must admit that there is something nice about a fresh covering of clean, white snow. It reminds me of Psalm 51: 7, “Cleanse me with hyssop(a plant with purifying properties), and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
Each year, for about 5-6 years now, I have been reading through the Bible using a schedule that takes me through the whole Bible one time and the New Testament and Psalms twice. I read a chapter or two from four different sections of Scripture. February and March take through the book of Job. I am not sure that I would read Job regularly if it was not on my yearly schedule. While it has been a difficult book to understand, each year I am getting a little more out of it. It reminds me clearly “what not to say” to a person who is suffering. Certainly our minor suffering with all the snow this winter is nothing compared to the suffering Job went through.
The Season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 9. Now is the time to plan for a Lenten Discipline. I know that Lenten disciplines do not get me any brownie points with God or put me on a higher spiritual plain, but I have found that they help me to know who God is and how much dependence I place on stuff and certain habits that are not the most helpful. I haven’t quite decided what I plan to do this year. I am challenged by “40 bags in 40 days” that I found on the website, thepracticaldisciple.com which has lots of ideas for Lenten Disciplines. Let me know what Lenten Discipline you will be choosing so we can pray for one another.
Simplify your life-- 40 bags in 40 days
What to do
Place 40 grocery sacks in a visible place. I put mine in
my closet so that when I would pick out clothes I would come
face to face with my bags. Then every day during Lent, except
for Sundays, fill a bag and either toss it out or give it away. I gave
many bags to the bargain box and some directly to people who
might benefit from them.
Some tips to keep in mind
• Resist doing more than one bag per day. Stick with just one bag a day and you will develop a habit of eliminating clutter. I only doubled up when I knew something conflicted with my discipline. For instance, I doubled up for a week before Spring Break, since I would be gone.
• Never make an exception. Once you skip, the discipline typically starts to unravel. If you do miss, just pick-up where you left off. Do a bag and don’t worrying about catching up. Pick-up the bag you missed on a Sunday or on a day where you really have an easy time filling it.
• Starting will be easy, but you might find yourself groping for ideas of what to toss after you fill 10 or 20 bags.
Here are some suggestions:
Books Clothes Shoes
Old files Stored boxes Drawers
Closets Cleaning supplies
Cupboards Dvd’s
Cd’s, Audio Tapes
Albums Toys
Video Tapes Sports gear
Don’t forget junk in your cars or garage!
• When struggling with whether or not to get rid of something you may suffer from the “I’ll use it someday” syndrome. Consider these 3 questions—
-How long have you been waiting for ‘some day’ to come?
-Are you realistically likely to use it?
-Could someone benefit from using it now?
Answers to these questions might help you let go.
Benefits
Simplifying your life yields practical and spiritual benefits. De-cluttering relieves stress, helps you efficiently use time and space, and frees you up for greater priorities. Letting go of things, expands your trust in God. Many of us horde to feed our sense of security and control. When that occurs our trust in God atrophies. Blessings on your Lenten journey and please share your successes.
Published by: http://ThePracticalDisciple.com.
Permission granted to reproduce for non-commerical purposes.
Copyright 2009
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