This Morning, we wrestled hard with God, at the 12-Man Table... By the lamplight, we laid down our hearts in regard to our situation here in Northside, cincinnati.
You see, we have Chris living in the Big Living Room, Tim (exchange son from Germany) living in the 1st Floor Quarters, The Rosses on the 2nd Floor, and the Third Floor Dwelling is occupied by Prari and Lauren. Chris has no legs and has been homeless. He is a brother in the Lord with a good reputation for living harmoniously and good deeds and has proven a real help to daily life, cooking an sharing... He loves the Word and risks a lot to serve the Lord, preaching and sharing with the homeless and the drug dealers he rubs elbows with.
We're getting callbacks on apartments for Chris, but everything is too expensive. We have people shuffling around their living arrangements soon, too, so there may be an ability to combine roomates and what not to get price down for Chris. But all the details are so hard to sort out. I just can't make sense...
You see, JP and Prari are gonna get married in April. That's gonna create a spot on the Third Floor of our house, and over at the Guy's house, too.
That'll shuffle things around.
I'd like to prep up our First Floor Quarters for someone like Chris, with Zach as a roomate, or for Zach and Smitty, or some combination that would maximize the use of that important first-floor room. Mr. Weiss used to live there, but he's not sure he will, again. He's presently in CA.
There are people wanting to move into our area to get into our community life, too. I worry for them. None of us are very sure of what will be forming up in the next months. There's a strong desire to craft a common life built around simplicity and prayer, out of which will come mission and Family Life for the Church.
Meanwhile, everyone involved so far is still very used up in their personal struggle to juggle all their details and debts. There are students who work fulltime as well as schooling to the max. There are newlyweds and soon-to-be-weds who are thrashing out the first steps of togetherness. there are homeless brethren who are sheltering with us. There are tons of kids around...
At this point, it's herculean just to MEET together, because all our schedules are too busy! How are we to remodel a room? How are we to arrange a home? Judy works like 80 hours a week (she is World Famous in her field!). It's hard to even hang out, and we still struggle on basic stuff... I spend my time stretched between my student supervisions and the pressing concern to help this ministry community grow... getting into the word/getting the word into people...
So, we're really stretching ourselves and looking to God to fill in what is lacking. We're dwelling in the willingness to stay here and the thankfulness that our first steps into community have taught us that we need to simplify and sacrifice more...
and a key in leading here has been to avoid compulsion, as I encourage people on the Way. I mean that, as a teacher and overseer in the Church, I strive to leave that "holy vacuum" where the Holy Spirit is truly the teacher for people... as a result, our folks are looking at serving God, not as replicas of Me (ministry gurus) but as EMTs and Nurses and Mechanics. I am ecstatic! and "lost"... I can't see where we're going, but It'll be god who gets us there...
Here are our readings:
Psalm 90
1God, it seems you've been our home forever; 2 long before the mountains were born,
Long before you brought earth itself to birth,
from "once upon a time" to "kingdom come"--you are God.
3So don't return us to mud, saying,
"Back to where you came from!"
4Patience! You've got all the time in the world--whether
a thousand years or a day, it's all the same to you.
5Are we no more to you than a wispy dream,
no more than a blade of grass
6That springs up gloriously with the rising sun
and is cut down without a second thought?
7Your anger is far and away too much for us;
we're at the end of our rope.
8You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed
since we were children is entered in your books.
9All we can remember is that frown on your face.
Is that all we're ever going to get?
10We live for seventy years or so
(with luck we might make it to eighty),
And what do we have to show for it? Trouble.
Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.
11Who can make sense of such rage,
such anger against the very ones who fear you?
12Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
13Come back, GOD-how long do we have to wait?-
and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
14Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we'll skip and dance all the day long.
15Make up for the bad times with some good times;
we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
16Let your servants see what you're best at--
the ways you rule and bless your children.
17And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!
Ecclesiastes 12
1Honor and enjoy your Creator while you're still young, Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes,
2Before your vision dims and the world blurs
And the winter years keep you close to the fire.
3In old age, your body no longer serves you so well.
Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen.
The shades are pulled down on the world.
4You can't come and go at will. Things grind to a halt.
The hum of the household fades away.
You are wakened now by bird-song.
5Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past.
Even a stroll down the road has its terrors.
Your hair turns apple-blossom white,
Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body.
Yes, you're well on your way to eternal rest,
While your friends make plans for your funeral.
6Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.
Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.
7The body is put back in the same ground it came from.
The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.
8It's all smoke, nothing but smoke.
The Quester says that everything's smoke.
