Skip to main content

Without power...

Today, Laura and I are preparing to embark on a mission trip to Haiti. As we prepare, my thoughts race to recent mission activities that I have participated in and my role as the pastor of St. Paul UMC in Bridge City, Texas. This past spring, as part of a group of those ordained this year, I went on a mission team to the border with the bishop and cabinet. I was asked to give the first devotional. It was a little intimidating. I prayed for the right words to help the team, but I could not get the vanity of our efforts out of my mind. How would our team make a difference? I was struggling with my thoughts. I had a text and a good quote from Dietrich Bonhoefer. But, something was missing from what I had prepared. As I got dressed, a previously unnoticed note from my daughter fell out of my folded shirt. It read, "Dear Daddy, I hope that you have fun working on houses (Houses was crossed out and stuff written above.) with the bishop. I hope they know how very important you are. You are a nice Daddy and a good pastor. I love you!". It was a great letter and the first multi sentence letter that Kate had written me. But, she had misspelled important. She had dropped the are an put an e instead of an a. Her inspired note read “I hope they know how impotent you are.” Wow! What a word of truth. Impotent - without power! Me and the entire team were without power. We would not make the difference. God would make the difference!
The power of the Holy Spirit would transform our impotence into a display of God's power. This morning, as I'm away from St. Paul at a wedding in San Antonio, I have no power to change the pre-work I did to prepare the congregation for my ten day absence. I can only have faith that God's power will be displayed through the lay leadership of the church. Likewise, as I prepare to depart for Carrefour, Haiti tomorrow, I know that my gifts are not in cinder block construction. But, I place my whole trust in the risen Lord! In the power of the Holy Spirit, I will proceed boldly. May God bless our efforts beyond our understanding.

Comments

  1. Sarah BJune 14, 2011 at 10:50 AM

    I was really touched by these comments Sunday morning. And I'm enjoying your updates. Not sure if you'll have the energy to keep it up all week, but I can tell you, it's worth the time and effort to capture the thoughts in the moment. Blessings as you build!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Now there is something you don’t see very often!

After the halfway point on my walk this morning, heading back towards home, I saw something you don’t see every day.   It was a mockingbird chasing a hawk.   The hawk was probably five times the size of the mockingbird.   But the chase was all in the attitude.   The mockingbird was squawking and chirping in a language that would make a sailor blush.   The hawk wanted no part of it and was trying the flee but could not get away from the mockingbird. What had the hawk done?  What had agitated the mockingbird so much?  Had it been a transgression?  Was the hawk just too close for comfort?  Or did the two have a history.  I was walking a bit later than normal and had not yet seen this routine.  The unusual scene distracted and entertained me as I reflected on a myriad of permutations. As I’ve felt like the one receiving the squawk most of my life as a leader, I was surprised at how proud I was of the little mockingbird.  Maybe ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grace lessons from the sidelines...

The game had gone horribly wrong.  For that matter, the whole season had been a struggle.  My nine year old daughter Kate’s soccer team were woefully bad.  They were so consistently out played by their opponents that the other teams would try to change up their formations and pass the ball so as to not run up the score (at least the classy ones would).  Her coaches were nice people doing the best they could and I appreciated their dedication to my daughter and our team, but they were not really soccer people.  Losing a soccer game is not the end of the world, but consistently watching girls you care about be beaten ten plus to zero because on goal kicks your team kicks the ball to the center and not the outside is heart wrenching to someone who is a soccer person. However, losing was not the most difficult thing.  Watching Kate become demoralized was the worst part.  In our family, we have a rule that you try and give your best... always.  It is o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Appreciation

What a different experience the second trip to Haiti has been.  Better and different in many ways.  Knowing what to expect really changes the experience.  The lack of sleep on the first day was anticipated.  Instead of focusing on my own experience as a team member, I focused more on the experience of the team. Gone was the intense fear of the unknown.  Fear had been replaced by knowledge and a sense of preparation.  The airport and chaos of tap-tap travel was not nearly as daunting.  But, do I risk loosing a spiritual part of my journey because some of it seems familiar.  It is difficult to measure. Incredible, visible progress has been made in Haiti.  Tent cities remain, but in many places clearing of the tents had happened.  There we significantly fewer tents than in June.  Also, the cars had been cleared from the streets.  In June, abandoned cars were everywhere.  Today, tragic was still crazy, goats tied to the front ...
Post a Comment
Read more