Journals from the end

or beginnning, depending on where you stand. We are two weeks back into school routines and structured days and I'm weary already this morning, missing our wide open summer days. And so I reminisce (yes from only two weeks ago). Here are some notes that closed out this sweet summer.

"monkeys again. in cool unusual end of summer air. the crushing stillness of bugs and birds, air rattling leaves. somehwere a motor runs, whacking back nature grown over.

cheeto smears on mosquito bitten cheeks. a good summer sign. sign of time outside. sign of carefree messy snacks. (and questionable hygiene). a good summer sign.

I don't want to go back home! to tvs and computers. I want nothing to do with software or plastic, brochures or email blasts. I just want the breeze. even the occassional menacing insect I welcome. I want imaginations laughing and running unconifend by furniture or carpet or walls. I want space.

the sudden crescendo of crickets and tree frogs that rises up all around. then fades slowly only to swell again. creature sounds carried on the wind.

it isn't an attic fan or the whir of the washing machine. the electricity that brings o house to life tires the soul. there's a new electricity out here. rather, an life unconfined by time and flesh, One that simply is.

crunching through end of summer grass, dried and weary beneath our feet, we stalk butterflies.

moments to etch on backs of eyelids:
-Sedona squeals as she dives onto the swing, belly flops, arms and legs flailing as gravity yanks her out of the sky.
-Jordan remembering the differences between dragon and damsel flies. Slow and quiet enough to make not of which it is on the purple flowers and which tend toward the yellow petals.
-the feeling that we could have (should have?) spent all summer on trails and swings.
-orphaned spider monkeys in snow"

Cross Collaborating

This morning we had our fourth Cross Collaboration Event. And was fantastic!

We had 19 people in attendence representing, again, all sorts of non-profits and churches. There was a great energy today around the vision of collaboration and the recognition of the power of our personal networks.

Mark Levesque talked a bit about strengthening and nurturing our networks by taking care of those relationships and building trust with tose people.

It is only in nurturing our collaborative efforts that this vision can come to fruition.

Another excercise we tried to day was to re-write a children's book. Each group was given 10 pages from a Dr. Suess story but the text had been removed (thank you Jana for 2 hours at the copier!!). So, working together, they were asked to write the story, using only the pictures to guide them.
I think it was a huge success. I know my group had a blast and we learned a lot about the ways people self-select in their gifts as well as the ways that we can stumble over non-essentials, keeping us from reaching our goals. Point well made.

Over the course of this next month we will all be praying for increased guidance as to the direction SENTralized should head. We are searching for the place to jump in as a network. We believe that God has already laid out the steps for what He wants to accomplish here and we are looking for the starting line.

Will you join us in this prayer? Please share any revelations or suggestions you might have.

New websites and exciting developments

Our Cross Collaboration meetings are going so well. We are excited about the connections being made the encouragement we are receiving. We meet monthly with 10-20 representatives from local churches and other non-profits to discuss leadership, prominent local issues/problems,existing resources and ways to encourage and support the overall effort. The room is so charged with ready hands and willing hearts.

In that same vein, we've launched a new SENTralized website at www.sentout.org that better facilitates networking and communication of all kinds. If you'd like to join us there visit www.sentout.org and click Join this Group Now on the upper right. And as always, email or call with any questions or concerns.

still
jana

Alas

We usher in April and realize that yes, more than a full month has passed since last I posted here (or anywhere, truth be told).

Well, to each days its own and to today - a quick post about a newlsetter that we're doing for our church, Discovery Church (DC), as a function of SENTralized. As SENTralized is the primary vehicle for local mission and service at DC it just so happens that I am doing this little dance in the gray areas where DC stops and SENTralized begins.

The monthly newsletter, entitled Reaching Out features various projects that DC is participating in and usually that SENTralized is sponsoring. I've sent this last one ou to a number of our supporters and after stamping and dropping them in the box realized they might not have, probably will not, have the foggiest idea that it is from me/us and/or why.

So. .. . keep an eye on your mail. Check it out. My hope is to expand the audience of this small publication so that it can move outside the walls of DC and become a larger function of SENTralized.

let me know what you think.

Urban Farming Fun

In earlier posts I mentioned our brief involvement with Urban Farming in Saint Louis. One of our cronies has a particular love of all things gardened and organic and I know that she has had her eye out for like-minded service opportunities. (I won't, however, mention my near-debilitating envy of her green digits. It seems each year that she throws some seeds out the window and soon enough has a garden that puts the rest of us to shame. At least she is good about sharing her spoils. My little bean-eaters can't get enough.)

Well, check this out:
http://www.newrootsurbanfarm.org
http://www.stlconfluence.org/article.asp?articleID=272
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanreviewstl/sets/72157602652476008/

In the infancy of our little organization here we stumbled across an article about these folks and were inspired. While we didn't exactly move downtown and rehab abandonned buildings "off the grid", it has been influential in fueling our developing vision of community and sustainablity and service. Here is the article: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2007-01-31/news/cool-to-be-kind/full.

I think we'll be looking into a tour and some volunteering to help New Roots out a bit. Really, though, what we are learning time and time again is that while our efforts may be of help to others, they are of help to us as we develop servants' hearts and start to chip away at the ways we think we know things, that we might be re-educated, better educated by the Spirit.

Stay tuned. I'm excited about this.

The Thousand Gifts

"Let them give thanksto the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men -" Psalm 107.

And with this we begin a prayerful list of a thousand gifts. What lists have you made lately? I know mine - groceries, chores, books to read, movies to see, but what are these but counting what we do not have?

Instead, we turn with gratitude and pray for eyes open wide. Let me see the unending stream of gifts, Lord, that you so graciously bestow upon us. Open my eyes, that your gifts not go unnoticed, unappreciated or unrecognized. It is all from you, Father, Provider.

As John Milton wrote: "Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world."

Change me, Lord, that I will forever experience your world with awe and gratitude.

1. Tiny feet sneaking through the darkness for a hug.

2. the sweetness of piano falling on thoughtful ears

3. warmth on a blustery, wet day, the crackle of pipes warming

4. a hand on beloved's back as we settle into sleep

5. the temporary thaw, the squish of mud and the laughter it brings





6. feverish child comforted by mama's heartbeat

7. a family larger and stranger and more beautiful than we ever could have dreamed

I'll be scratching out my own list daily, posting some to share occassionally. One thousand gifts. And somehow I'm sure that will only begin to gesture toward just how much we are given. We are so blessed.

Thank you.

One piece life

Ann so beautifully puts to words what we here are thinking and praying.

http://holyexperience.blogspot.com/2007/05/one-piece-life.html


Setting out on an icy, blustery day with flu-wearied bodies, stir-crazy souls and three hearts needing more to listen, needing more of Him.
always
jana

So what were all those slideshows about?

Well. . . let me tell you:

Urban Farming
(http://www.urbanfarming.org/ for more info):
Urban Farming is a non-profit organization that seeks to eliminate hunger in impoverished urban areas by optimizing the production of unused land for food and alternative energy. Among their objectives is to increase diversity and community by motivating youth and seniors to work together educating others and maintaining the garden. In the St Louis area, Urban Farming partnered with Starbucks and The Home Depot to fund the project and we, through a connection at Starbucks, were able to serve as well. We had more than 10 volunteers with us working to break ground, dig trenches, and plant everything from okra to watermelons. We are also scheduled to provide occasional support in the upkeep of the garden.


OASIS Food Pantry
(http://www.oasisfoodpantry.com/ for more info):
Serving as a member on the Board of Directors, I was able to secure a regular shift for SENTralized to staff while assisting in additional monthly openings. OASIS serves over 300 families each month and provides food as well as personal care/hygiene items. Our clients range from ongoing, long-term needs, to very temporary, emergency help while they get back on their feet. God has really opened opportunities here to extend a loving hand, a warm smile and a trunk full of groceries to so many people. Our clients remember us and just tonight, as I am writing this, told us how much more comfortable they feel just being around us. Our service at OASIS will remain on our Outbreak schedule as we volunteer the third Thursday of every month and every fifth Saturday. We also have the opportunity to assist in the unloading and stocking of perishable items that we receive from local grocery stores on an ongoing basis. This has been one thing that Sedona and I (Jana) really enjoy doing together.

Roofing Christ’s Church
(http://www.celebrating.org/ for more info)
In June, we had the opportunity to help put a new roof on the church where we were meeting. We rented their building on Saturday evenings for our meals and service and have really grown to appreciate the mentorship and encouragement of their pastors. When we learned that they would be roofing the entire church building without any professional assistance, relying only on volunteer help (some of which came from out of state) we offered our hands as well. About 8 of us pitched in to help get that roof on with very conscious effort to further the relationship between church bodies and combat the competitive nature of churches in our area.

Debbie’s House
(http://www.bridgewaycounseling.com/ for more info):
Bridgeway Counseling Services, a prominent treatment center in St Charles County, houses women in domestic abuse situations and substance abuse recovery. One of their facilities that houses up to 20 women, was in serious disrepair. Over the last few months we have worked to repaint, repair and refurbish two units in particular. We have provided days of manual labor as well as material donations of bathroom fixtures, towels, rugs and a shower curtain. A primary objective in working to restore the accommodations there is to demonstrate that the women living there are valuable, are loved, by God and by extension, us. We have established an excellent relationship with the staff at Bridgeway and look forward to serving them in the future.

Other 2007 Outbreaks

Debbie's House Apartment 2

Debbie's House Apartment 1

Of human weakness and divine parenting

It is nearing 7am and I sit with one child on the couch, another burning up in bed, a husband shivering beneath blankets, and I am so humbled(/astounded/confused/intrigued maybe?) at the very nature of our Father.

To be so wholly God, and to know us in our very flesh, having graced the earth with heavenly steps, and yet not to tire (or sicken) the way we mortal parents must. To be vigilant, watchful and caring with each unending hour of sickness, weakness, fear. . . .

As the sun settles with great relief on this now quiet house, I wonder what magic lies in this early light. What mystery does the Master unfold in this ethereal light I rarely visit? I've long been told the significance of morning "quiet time" and that early rising starts the night before and I've longed to be that person who wakes in the quiet dark, tiptoes to the kitchen table to drink in the Word before the long dry day begins. To quench the already burning inadequecies first so that other needs might be met throughout the day.

We pray daily to be filled to overflowing, leaving no empty spaces wanting for earthly things. We pray for discipline and for strength to obey. And while our Bibles flop open at breakfast, verses repeated and prayed over before sending one out to the bus, is there something more that I am missing?

I have always resisted this notion of "quiet time". Long ago I carved a picture in my head of a God who waits there in the kitchen for his alotted time while the coffee brews. I imagined that this notion of quiet time somehow suggested a relationship that stayed there in the early morning. I realize now, of course, just how wrong that assumption was.

So now, having watched the light slowly creep in through the windows, having spent hours in silent 15 second prayers, and feeling the weight of bodily need, I am reminded anew of One who does not rest. Who does not grow weary with the coming of morning light, but who deserves praise at morning's first light and with the first breath of the day. Lord, give me strength in this faulty body to be one called unto you. To be one disciplined to make you first. Not to schedule only 30 minutes each day but to offer you my time at the start of each day you breath into existence so that I might see you in everything, that I might be more intent on hearing your voice all day long.

“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake.” ~Isa. 55:3