Ah, a rest...

Hello to my faithful readers…I have been getting a lot of good response about my blog so I thought I would acknowledge those of you who read my musing each week.

This past weekend I was in Hale, England, visiting my friend Richard. On Sunday before I left we went to Richard’s church and during the worship time we sang the song, “Everything” by Tim Hughes. I was reading the lyrics and at first I found them quite tedious and repetitive, but then it hit me. Tim Hughes in this song was building a need in us, by creating a list of seemingly monotonous list of everyday emotions, activities, and thoughts in the first part of the song, he in a way opened me up. By listing, the monotonous things of life, sleeping, waking, eating, working, breathing, the instinctual things of life. Which I give no thought to, Tim Hughes created tension in me.

The second half of the song is us crying to God, “be my everything.” Now, I have heard this song before, many times, but at this point, at this place, it really hit me, that I need God to “be my everything” in my life. With the future and the present being so uncertain for me, the thought of God in my life was an overwhelming realization to me and brought me into a, now multiple day, reflection time, which has been hard but extremely delightful.

I have been reflecting on the question of what does it mean for God to “be my everything?” I have not been getting cognitive or logical answers, but rather feelings, which for me is not always helpful, but in this case it was, because I know, rationally, what it means for God to be everything, but I don’t feel that, if I am really honest with myself, I wasn’t even asking the question, do I feel as though God is my everything and this was a tension in me that I didn’t even know was there.

It is funny how God shows up and is able to get directly to the center of your troubles. The image I get is of a doctor who knows exactly where the problem is and can go directly into your wound or weakness and begin to heal. Yes, there is pain, and yes it is not comfortable to feel so exposed, especially in a church, which you are visiting, but it is so good and honestly, who better than the God of the universe to do such a work.

The last month and a half has been very busy, very challenging, but also, the most rewarding time of my life. I have been able to do so much, most of, which, a year ago was merely a faint dream. With all of that happening, I became pretty tired and this trip to Manchester came at the right time. I went to visit my friend Richard, who I met two years ago at Connect (the CAI Staff Conference). Richard invited me up for a weekend and I accepted. We had a great time, touring around the country side, from Hale, to North Wales (Conwy, Betws-y-coed), stopping by Dunham Massey and a day in the Peak District hiking the plateau ridge there, with people from Richard’s church. It was an amazing weekend.

Some of the best times of the weekend were the conversation that Richard and I were able to have. Richard is a lawyer and we both love talking about politics, history, and theology, yes we are nerds, serious nerds. It was such a fun time. I am very grateful to Richard for his hospitality and generosity throughout the weekend. It truly, was the holiday I needed.

We ended the weekend by eating at a little restaurant that has particular significance, the name of the restaurant was “The Bells of Peover” and it was where General Patton would eat during his time in England. On more than one occasion Patton and Eisenhower would meet at this little restaurant deep in the English countryside. Next to the restaurant was a little church that had been built in 1296 and is still running! It was amazing to go in and see the church itself, equally amazing was to see how they had services and programs still running I was really touched by this sign of perseverance and faithfulness. What a way to end a weekend in England and what an encouragement it was to me to see a church that had not only survived 700 years, but was still going, if that’s not hope for the future I don’t know what is.

The other big news this past weekend was, at 5am on Sunday morning I got a call from my sister to announce that she was now engaged to her boyfriend Ben. I knew this was coming, but now that it is here I am so happy for them both. Truly, if there was a match made in heave this is it. Not that they are sunshine and lollipops all the time, but they fit each other so well. I can’t wait to see them married. The other surprise what the invitation to be part of the wedding service, this is a huge honor for me, I really can’t put into words what this means. It will be a highlight of my life, I am sure of that.

Coming back to The Netherlands, I came crashing back down to reality quite quickly from the restful high of the weekend away. Seminars that need to be planned, vision’s that need to be thought up and cast, and decisions that need to be made soon, but I was up lifted by the events of the past weekend I leave you today, with a message of hope. In our waking, in our sleeping, in our work, in our weddings, in our churches, God is there and God is our everything. This has been the lesson from the past week for me. I don’t mean to be cliché about this, because I believe this statement is so far from shallow that you can get. Saying God is our everything is an incredibly deep and broad statement that I think only God can show us how it is even possible.

Anyway, to stop the musing I hope you are all well, and it has been great to hear feedback about the blog, and to be able to speak with a few of you over the course of the week.

Take care,
Jason

Pray Requests:
1) Long-term: I was able to have a very good discussion with Nick Webb a member of the CAI European board. This helped to get a more objective opinion on my current situation and some good ideas about how I could fit into CAI Europe. Pray that the decision would become even more clear and that the details would fall into place.
2) Short-term: My sister’s wedding and marriage. My travel, to Sweden, Portugal, and Morocco. These are work related trips, which will help, if not, make the decision on where I end up for the next couple years here in Europe.
3) Personal: That I would be protected from myself and from anything that would hinder what God is doing here. I know the biggest thing I have been facing lately is my own fear of stepping out. That process has been draining, but extremely good, in that I have been acting out in ways that God has created me too.