So, at 7:30 this morning in prayer chapel at Bethel College, I participated in a little 20 minute, Ash Wednesday ceremony. Let me tell you why. . . and a little more about what it means to me

First some history – where does this all come from anyways?? (Dr. Richard P. Bucher – http://www.orlutheran.com/html/ash.html)

Ash Wednesday, originally called dies cinerum (day of ashes) is mentioned in the earliest copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, and probably dates from at least the 8th Century. One of the earliest descriptions of Ash Wednesday is found in the writings of the Anglo-Saxon abbot Aelfric (955-1020). In his Lives of the Saints, he writes, “We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.” Aelfric then proceeds to tell the tale of a man who refused to go to church for the ashes and was accidentally killed several days later in a boar hunt! Throughout the Middle Ages ashes were sprinkled on the head, rather than anointed on the forehead as in our day.

As Aelfric suggests, the pouring of ashes on one’s body (and dressing in sackcloth, a very rough material) as an outer manifestation of inner repentance or mourning is an ancient practice. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. What is probably the earliest occurrence is found at the very end of the book of Job. Job, having been rebuked by God, confesses, “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). Other examples are found in 2 Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1,3, Isaiah 61:3, Jeremiah 6:26, Ezekiel 27:30, and Daniel 9:3. In the New Testament, Jesus alludes to the practice in Matthew 11:21: “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

 - So, I received the ash cross on my forehead as the leader said to me “From dust you came and to dust you shall return” – (Genesis 3:19) – This is what God said to Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. I do not have a lot of ancient rituals in my lifestyle, but they can be powerful to partake in.

It is not for show – in fact one of the traditional readings for Ash Weds. includes statements about not being boastful! (Matthew 6:16-18)

If anything it is a public proclamation that I have surrendered my life. In other words, I am telling the world that in order to be who I was created to be – I cannot operate on my own strength, wisdom, or reasoning. . . I have sinned, and though there is great joy in my salvation, sometimes the joy of freedom cannot fully be experienced without reflection on my personal dissappointment, mistakes, weaknesses, and failures. . . . . all the things that, apart from Jesus, hold me captive.

You see. . . sometimes I forget that I am called to a higher standard. I look around and have a sense consciously or unconsciously that I am doing alright – you know. . . . compared to a lot of other people.  I am faithful in marriage, I love my wife and children well, I have integrity at work, I have friends that I care for and pray for, I even have non-christian friends that I care for deeply, I give back to my community, I volunteer, I am slow to anger, I keep my body in shape, yada yada yada. . . . . . it’s easy isn’t it. . . .to compare ourselves to others to see “how we are doing”. . . . . NOT TODAY.

Today is a day to look at the distance I have yet to travel, to be reminded of where I have fallen short – not in the world’s eyes. . . but in God’s eyes.  Today (and really Lent in general) is where I have the opportunity to contemplate soberly what I have done so as to prepare myself to appreciate even more deeply what Jesus has done for me, and the hope that I and the whole world have . . . not in my strength, wisdom, and perseverance. . . but in Christ’s.

Some of the things that we recited this morning were:

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind and strength

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves

We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ has served us

We have not been true to the mind of Christ

We have grieved your Holy Spirit

- — and then we went on to pray for our forgiveness, for God’s mercy and grace to cleanse us. . .

This cross today on my forehead represents a choice for me. . . I am choosing to be dependent on God and to accept the full life He has for me (John 10:10) over my freedom to be independent. 

In case you forget what this choice looks like – check out 2 Corinthians 6:3-13 – I added the bold for my emphasis today

³ We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. ⁴ In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. ⁵ We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. ⁶ We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us,^[a] and by our sincere love. ⁷ We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. ⁸ We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. ⁹ We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. ¹⁰ Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

Amidst these very busy times in my life right now, I wanted to put forth some of the thoughts I have had (or been reminded of) recently:

1. If God asked me to give up _________, could I?

2. An “idol” is anything in which I find a source of security, identity, and comfort in outside of God’s will - where and what am I putting more trust in than God today. . . right now?

3. Really? . . . . . people who treat you and me like complete junk. . . . they’re just hurting – hurt people hurt people.

4. Why do I sometimes feel the need to exaggerate the truth – to make it sound like “it” was bigger, better, or brighter than what it actually was. . . in a way, . . . am I saying to God that the witness he gave to me is not good enough??

5. Why sometimes do I have to act like I saw “it” coming. . . when I didn’t. . . . or act as if I already know something . . . when I don’t. . . .   . . in a way, am I telling God that He can’t teach me anything?

6. In showing that you care – Initiating communication/time to be with that person is priceless

7. No matter how others treat me, or what the world is doing to me . . . .I refuse to take refuge in the snowballing comfort of being a “victim”, where complaining and excuses reign.

8. If there are 2 or more gathered in God’s name and I do not feel His presence. . . it’s on me, because He’s there.

9. There is a fine line between believing the lie that “I don’t have what it takes” and the lie that “On my own, I do have what it takes” – that line is where God and I can really do some damage to darkness.

10. I can’t wait to hear Jesus laugh

There are so many things to say about how appreciative I am for my wife, and all that she does for me. BUT, it doesn’t stop there – with her being at home with the kids, she is also the foundational element of how are family is being raised. . . . . . and I couldn’t be more proud!

I ran across this video that is a tribute to Ruth Graham (Billy Graham’s wife), but I wanted to show it as a tribute to all of the women, wives, and mothers out there that CHOOSE to do amazing things in their relationships and circles of influence. Those who CHOOSE to put others’ first, love well, have patience, model integrity, persevere through double standards, forgive your loved ones, and give – though you are rarely thanked for it. . .

Though I shouldn’t speak for all the men. . . I will anyways, and say – THANK YOU!!!!

So, most of you know I enjoy playing soccer/futsal/indoor/etc… – I played soccer in college and loved it.   Ran across this video from a friend of mine (thanks Bruno!). . . – wow this kid is unbelievable!!

Wow – what a crazy few weeks – sorry for the lapse in posts; I should be getting back on track soon .

These words and song by Brandon Heath really have come alive to me these past two weeks as I have thought/experienced a few things:

- a valentines weekend with three little miracles, and my wonderful bride

- the pain of revisiting the tragedies of bonded slave labor, infanticide, and seti in India as I prepared and gave a Colloquium on my Justice trip to India with Jack Magruder (more of that coming BTW – later post)

- as I contemplate the value of greenLockers to impoverished people here. . . and around the world

- hearing about the trajedgy of a family member’s death in my student’s prayer requests this week. . . in 3 different families

- that God truly loving others through me - requires my sacrifice . . . of something – time, money, resources, convenience, comfort, etc…. but, it is worth it!

- as thousands of people lose their jobs

- watching the ultrasound of my next child. . . Dane Justice. . . and being so proud of my wife!

- as I revisit the revolutionary idea of loving other people first. . . before judging them

God’s love NEVER fails. . . it is a promise. . . and one that I desperately need to be reminded of sometimes.

Here are the words by Brandon Heath:

Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all
Matters the most

Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside

Love is the river that flows through
Love never fails you

Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time

Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don’t

Love is the arms that are holding you
Love never fails you

When my heart won’t make a sound
When I can’t turn back around
When the sky is falling down
Nothing is greater than this
Greater than this

Love is right here
Love is alive
Love is the way
The truth the life

Love is the river than flows through
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love is the place you will fly to
Love never fails you

Here is him singing it

I am still somewhat new at this whole “founder/CEO of a non-profit organization” - can I even call myself CEO?? – not sure what the stipulations are for that??  Anyways. . . I started greenLockers (formerly known as Trash to Treasure) back in the Spring of 2006, and this year it has really taken off. Check out what has been happening lately at www.greenlockers.org.  Even though I am still somewhat new at this – I have already learned a few things that I thought I should share with you – just in case it could help someone else out??  

1. You can’t do it on your own. . . or you can. . . and it will just not be as good as it could be.

2. Don’t bring on people exactly like you. . . A car made of one type of part doesn’t run, much less have the ability to move anybody – if you want a vehicle capable of changing/moving hearts and minds - build it with the diversity of people that God has placed in front of you.

3. When thinking of people to bring onboard in a leadership capacity – integrity over skill every time. . . .now – you need both. . ., but don’t settle for the second without the first.

4. Faith and Stupidity are about 0.5mm apart from each other – That keeps me focused – because I want to leave room for God, but not make idiotic business decisions

5. In marketing and networking – it’s not just who you know, but. . . the people that you know . . . who do they know??!

6. A hand-written thank you card, hand delivered to someone who sacrificed for you and your organization – - that’s pricelss. . . it’s worth the extra effort!

7. Pray – not only as an offering to God and a plee for some sort of provision – but, it’s amazing what happens to the stress, weight, and “What if’s” in your own heart when you submit everything (daily in my case!) to Abba – knowing, trusting – that He is in control

8. There is never a small decision of integrity – any such “oversight” could sabatoge an entire operation in the long run.

9. Keep Dreaming. . . . . deal with decisions in reality, but. . . . never stop thinking of what could/can be

10. It doesn’t matter if it comes naturally or not. . . I MUST communicate clearly. . . if they aren’t getting it. . . I am responsible.

11.  Organization with flexibility is CRITICAL in order to reach your maximum capacity for impact. . . it is a delicate balance between being organized/having a plan and being flexible – it’s a fine line. . . . find a way to walk it! 

12. Through everything – ups and downs. . . . . . . love your family well (wife and kids in my case) – never let them doubt your love/priority for them.

WOW – I can’t believe our little girl is 5, and more beautiful than ever. . . . Ok, I know that I am biased, but seriously – she is so precious to Ang and I. Here are some of the highlights of her birthday celebration:

First off – do you want to know how many people bowl at 9am on a Sat. morning?. . . zero, but we do!!!

Elliana was actually beating all of us the first game (ok. . . with the bumpers, but still) – check out the form:

Here’s Kya doing some celebration after a big roll

Our Philosophy – Celebrate even when you leave an impossible spare

Boys just chill’in – I personally love the shirts!!

They look so innocent. . .don’t they?!!

Dakota’s first bowl. . . kind of looks painful – lol, but it was good!

A little Steak and Shake afterwords – yes. . . kids eat free!

Gotta have a Shake!

Finish the afternoon with an iron-on craft . . . waiting for Dane

Cake Time!!!

Thank goodness for sister’s having birthdays!!

She sure does take care of us!!!! We love our sister!!!

Finish off with a sleep-over with the cousins:) !!

What a Celebration!!! Thank you God for letting us borrow your treasure for a few years – Ang and I will do the best we can!!

I saw this, and just cracked up! Enjoy a little humor today

I am not a perfect parent . . . and I will never claim to be. I do have 3 (soon to be 4) small children of my own, and I teach Child Growth and Development, Adolescent Growth and Development, School-age Growth and Development, and Lifespan Growth Development here at Bethel College. . . . so, I am allowing a little room for me to speak on the issue.

PARENTS, we can do better on many things – I’m picking 5:

1. pay attention to our children – listen to them like we care (i.e., eye contact, etc…). Do we realize how simple it is for children to understand. . . . . “Mommy/Daddy have choices – just like I have choices. . . . I like to choose what I want to do. . . what’s important to me. . . . . . if mommy/daddy chooses TV, work, cell phone, internet, chores, etc… – then it must mean those things are more important than me. . . . they must want to do those things more than pay attention/play with me. . . . “. – parents we can do better.

   – do we all need breaks, are there things that need to get done - absolutely, but if this is the consistent pattern - there is no doubt about the message that we are sending.

2. Do what we want our children to do –  we can talk all we want, but all the research that I know says over and over and over – the most powerful and frequent way that children learn is through imitation and modeling. . . translation – “do what I say, not what I do” – NOT GOING TO CUT IT!!  

So, if we want our children to be better TV/movie watchers than readers/creative thinkers/problem solvers/relationship makers, etc… - we know what to do, . . .  if we want them learn how to just do enough hard work to “get by” – then go ahead and lets show them, . . . . if we want them to learn how to be an expert at complaining then let’s keep it up, . . . .  if we want them to learn how to take first and give/serve/ask later. . . . then don’t ever let them see you serve or give without getting anything in return, . . . . if we want them to not know how to resolve conflict in relationships, marriage or just general frustrations. . . then we should continue to blow up and just accuse people, . . . . .if we don’t want them to know how much more of life they can experience and enjoy if they are a physically healthy – then we should never let them see us exercise or eat right, . . . .if we don’t want them to understand the value of good physical contact/comfort – then never hug them, never hold them. . . . .If we don’t want them to know how important our faith, the bible, our husband, our wife is. . . . then never talk about them - -  at least not in a positive way, . . . . and if we don’t want them to know how much we love’em – then by all means . . . . never tell’em.

BUT IF WE WANT THE OPPOSITE FOR OUR CHILDREN – then know. . . . . it needs to start with us. . . and it can! – we can do better.

3. Monitor what goes in and how often - this is a tough one, because I am not one to say that “we should shelter our children” – so let me explain with some academic stuff. What is stored in our Long Term Memory (LTM)?  The things that really last are things that are important to us in some way (i.e., relevant, useful in life, etc…), and the primary way of getting things from short term memory (STM) into LTM is through repetition (i.e., rehearsing information, stories, people’s names and faces, etc…). So, in a sense, . . .  anything that gets repeated enough has a semi-free pass into LTM, which means it will likely be tagged as “important” – useful in our life. . . trustworthy in some sense. . . . . the question is then. . . . what is repeated that much in our children’s lives – relationships, parental dialogue, adult TV/movies, very violent video games, etc…. - – Their filter of processing information is NOT THE SAME as ours – - and know, that if repeated enough. . . one of two things will happen as the information is stored in LTM - 1). they will come to think that it’s ok – and thus, start to apply those modelled behaviors as trustworthy in their life 2). they will become numb to them, and in essence, lose their ability to see how damaging such behaviors could be. – - – again, this is a tough one, but trying to walk this fine line is worth the effort – we can do better.

4. Let them play - most of the major cognitive-learning theorists agree that “play” is the best way for young children especially, to learn new information – not football lessons at age 2, or piano at age 3. . . . these are ok too, but repeatedly – we have seen that children take in more information during “structured play” than during some of these other “lesson” activities. In fact, much research suggests that around 6  is when “lessons” can start to be most effective, and children that have “not had lessons” before this time – are able to “catch up” easily. . . . we can do better.

5. Keep sports fun – let’s not embarress ourselves and our children by acting certain ways at sporting events. I know that many of us think that we are just “helping” the referee see things so that he/she can call a better game, or that we are just “encouraging” our kids to do better by pointing out their flaws “or areas of improvement”, or just rewarding them about their good job by paying them money, etc….. – - – - that is not how it works . . . . time and time again, children are hurt and embaressed by our actions – so much so that they may rather quit something they used to love just so they wouldn’t feel the eyes of their teamates when we (the parents) yell during games, or because of the pressure they feel to perform, or because they no longer are free to just have fun. . . .

I have witnessed these things as a child, young adult, and as a parent – we can do better!

I saw this commercial and it struck me -

BUT, I really do believe that we ALL can do better – these are not just our children, they are the hope of the future. . . . our future. . .

For example, there is such value in sports – team/collectivist mindset, learning to share the burden of defeat and the celebration of victory with others, work ethic, fun, enjoying your abilities, creating great memories of all that happens on your bus trips, etc……

This is how my love of sports collides passionately with my role as a father. I feel like this video (thanks Corey) really brings out the best in all of us. Watch the teenagers come together – listen to the words of the Father. . . . I think God was really smiling about this

WOW! What a Day!!! I first and foremost just want to thank God for allowing the event to be pulled off without a hitch. Secondly, most of the credit goes to many of you. . .  the people that gave up so much of their time and energy (primarily through shivering) on Saturday to be the face of greenLockers. This was the first public appearance of greenLockers (this year – new name, new nonprofit status, and new logo) to the public as a whole here, and I could not have been more pleased!

Let me give you some of my highlights:

1. Dark and early 7:35am on Sat. morning go on camera with Nick from WNDU – trying to get the word out early – interviewed by the entrance to Martin’s or what I like to call – the “Wind tunnel” ~ -8 wind chill they said. . . . I was praying for the commitment of my team and my community – that all would turn out – they did not disappoint!

2. ~ 8:00am -  The Martin’s manager – Doug – at Ironwood and SR23 – helping me shovel the sidewalk for 10 minutes. . . with no coat on (just a short-sleeved shirt) – and then bringing out coffee and and a fresh round of donuts – free of charge!!

3. My neighbor – Barb – gets a promo on the 8:15 live broadcast of WNDU’s morning show. . . I asked her the night before if she wanted to be on TV – why?. . . because I think everone over the age of 65 around here watches that show on Sat. morning – if they saw her up and contributing maybe they would too.  Once, again, saw many senior citizens on Sat. – I love their commitment and their smiles! – you can see some of WNDU’s video reports HERE

4. ~8:35 – My unbelievable sister-in-law Jennifer Thursby shows up (my partner in crime in organizing all of this!), and she is ready to ROCK! – I love her energy – she really made this thing work!!

5. ~8:45 – One of my great friends – Kevin shows up early to get things rolling at the ND Martin’s – - 2 stories involving Kevin – 1). good thing he was there, he had to call 9-1-1 later that morning for a woman who slipped on the ice . . . 2). people often pulled up to our table and then just popped open their trunk for us to get out the container . . . well, one time a car pulled up, and so naturally Kevin went back to the trunk and opened it. . . . that was until, the driver yelled back at him “what are you doing?!! – oops. . . . guess he didn’t have a bin   – thanks Kevin for your leadership and commitment.

6. ~ 9:00 – Trek down to the Western Avenue Martin’s where my good friend, and fellow Bethel professor, Josh Sauerwein had set up camp, along with some great volunteers! I was at this location – not because I thought it would bring in a ton of bins, but 3 other reasons: 1). This is an area that Entermission is pouring into with its community center (MC3), and I wanted to be an extension of that 2). This is an area that will be receiving a lot of our supplies come June, so I wanted to have a presence now, so they will trust us then 3). This area of town is desolate in many ways – this recession has pummeled them so much already – I wanted to be a light of hope on Sat., and the people I met were amazing! – at the end of the day, they ended up with 100 Bins- GREAT JOB! . . . . The information cards and green mints were an especially big hit here!

- side note – Ben Sanders (professional photographer and videographer) is AWESOME, and I so appreciate him hanging out with us today – got some great footage – thanks Ben!!!!

7. ~ 9:45 – over to Erskine Plaza to check on Amy Sipe and her crew. Soon after I show up . . . an older gentleman rolls up in a souped-up (sp?) Corvette and gives each of the young ladies roses – like a half-dozen each!! . . . . I also heard that there had been a guy there earlier yelling at them for being “green” – asking “why do you care about the environment anyway?!!!” – and then also commenting that “China is the real problem, and all we have to do is . . . .sell them FLORIDA – that would solve everything. . . . . . WHAT?!” – so, one of the volunteers commented “we are just collecting old recycling bins, man” . . . . . . . he said “Oh . . .” and then went away. . . . . . . . . . – at the end of the day, they ended up with 271 Bins- GREAT JOB!

8. ~11:00 - Over to Bittersweet to check out Marlyn and her crew – this was a tough location because a lot of Mishawaka residents did not get new recycling containers – they’re on a slightly different system. Once again, though, I want to be in Mishawaka schools come May, and so I wanted to make a good impression in the area – mission accomplished.  – at the end of the day, they ended up with 100 Bins- GREAT JOB!

9. ~12:00 noon – Back up to ND’s Martin’s . . . I am surprised to see around 10 volunteers hanging out collecting bins – GREAT! considering I only had like 3 scheduled. It just blew me away to see the performance of my volunteer team. . . I couldn’t be more proud!!

10. ~12:30 – get a call that WAOR – the Bear is having a super bowl contest at the Granger Martin’s, and Tia Brown (the volunteer leader at that location) has asked them for a spot on their live broadcast. . . . they said yes!!! So, I get up there, and watch some guy go nuts when he won the contest!! . . .and then walk outside to the van and do a live remote with Mike – GREAT!! – thanks WAOR for the free air time! By the way. . . well done Granger – between Heritage Square (which was NOT a drop-off site) and the Granger Martins – 200 bins!!

11. ~1:30 - Back to ND’s Martin’s to see that J aquila, and his volunteer team, has taken over the reigns nicely – and leading the charge into the last 1.5 hours. He also coordinates (and later stars in. . . ) another round of WNDU footage/interview (you can see some of WNDU’s video reports HERE). A South Bend Tribune reporter and photographer also stops by and gets some more information from us. . . not sure when that will be in the paper, but looking forward to it !! – way to go ND – at the end of the day, they ended up with 450 Bins- GREAT JOB!

12. ~2:45 – Brian Young and his crew load up the containers at ND (he donated his box truck – which was huge!), and I headed back down to Erskine Plaza to help out my second warhouse/truck team of Brian Thursby (my incredible brother-in-law) and Jacob Rendall. Just want to say thanks for Penske trucks as well, for helping us out with a truck this weekend!!  I was told that FOX 28 news had shown up and done an interview with Robert – one of the volunteers – check it out HERE.

13. ~4:00 – meet the two trucks at the 5-star warehouse in Elkhart and unload the bins. . . . . what a day. . . . . over 1100 bins . . . 34 volunteers . . . . and scores of ordinary people in the community wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves!! – Can’t wait to see what’s next!!