My Lenten Devotional as a rerun!

Daily Lenten Devotional
Sunday, February 17th
Read: Luke 4: 5-8

And Jesus answered, and said unto him, “Get thee behind me, Satan;
for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and God only shall you serve…”

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There are days when I really enjoy grocery shopping. When I know there’s money in the bank account, when I’m planning healthy, yummy meals, when I have the time to wander the aisles looking at everything. And then there are days I detest grocery shopping. I’m in a hurry and it’s raining and the line at the checkout is six people deep and they don’t have my favorite chips and I drop my coupons and I’m outraged that lean ground turkey costs a dollar more a pound than the fatty kind.

And some days it’s the same with worship and serving the Lord. I know, I know, it’s blasphemy. But it’s the truth. There are some Sundays when I wake up and am excited to put on my best clothes and drive to church and see all my friends and serve communion and sing loudly along with the choir. But then there are those Sundays when I just want to stay in my pajamas and drink another cup of tea. When I want to turn off the alarm clock and roll over. When I want to go out to breakfast and beat the crowd to Target.

And you know what? I think that’s okay. I realized long ago that I couldn’t beat myself up over every little thing, every teensy tiny bit of guilt I experienced. I grew up attending church every single Sunday. And we were often there on Wednesdays and Thursdays and other days doing whatever needed doing. It’s okay because I can worship God at home in my pajamas. I can serve God by helping out at the Homeless Ministry on Tuesday. And I can pray whenever and wherever and God still loves me.

Don’t get me wrong; I still have to continually tell Satan to get behind me. I have to remind myself that I’m a Christian not because I go to church regularly (which I do love doing) but because of my faith. Because of my worship and my service and most of all, my relationship with Jesus. And I love that my God, your God, our God, has taught me that.

- Sarah Knapp (from 2010)

PRAYER
Gracious God, may I always feel that connection to you, whether in the church pews, on a mission outing, or sipping tea in my pajamas. In all that I do, may I continue to worship and serve you. Amen.

Ash Wednesday & Angela's devotion

It seems like we just celebrated Christmas. And we did, 50 days ago. It seems like it was just January. And it was, 14 days ago. It seems like it shouldn't already be Ash Wednesday but alas, it is. The day we begin the Lenten journey. The day the world talks about ashes on foreheads instead of love in hearts. The day we should see things a little differently, but I'm not sure we do. (And by we, I mean me, always me.) 

But this morning, reading over the devotion Angela wrote for our church's Lenten devotion guide, I was reminded of my need to listen. My need to be humbled by the world that's much bigger than me and my tiny corner. I was reminded that God is the only one who can help me through it because, as I've proven to myself time and time again, there's no way around it. No way. You've got to go right through the middle. And thankfully, God's by my side, on this, Ash Wednesday, throughout Lent and always. 

Here's Angela's devotion: 

Ash Wednesday, February 13th
Read: Psalm 51: 1-17

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

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Each December 31st we are ready to face the new year with a big list of resolutions. Lose ten pounds (or 25), do a juice fast, go back to school, clean the silverware drawer, watch less television, read more, travel often, the list goes on and on. Fast forward to today, a month and half into the new year, how far have you gotten? Have you accomplished what you set out to conquer this year?

Whether you have or haven’t conquered your new year’s resolutions, fear not because it doesn’t matter. Yes, you read that correctly, it doesn’t matter if your resolve lasted one day or one month, God is not interested in the ten pounds you lost (or didn’t) or the juice fast you stuck to (or the cheeseburger you ate instead). He wants to know you, to spend time with you.

This Lenten season we should resolve to renew our relationships with God in His way and time, not ours. We need to allow Jesus to create a clean heart with a right spirit in us. We need to spend time in prayer, reading the Bible, and most importantly, listening to what God is asking of us.

- Angela Knapp

PRAYER
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Amen.

God & the Prada Suit

I've been volunteering at my church's weekly Homeless Lunch since the first month I moved to Los Angeles. For the first two years I was there every Tuesday and then when my work schedule changed and I couldn't go as much I realized how much I missed it. Not so much the volunteering and helping out, which I did miss but got to do in different ways, but I missed the people and the sense of community that's present there. It's hard to imagine that two hours every week, three if you count set up and clean up, is long enough to create a sense of fellowship and togetherness but it really is.

This year I've been able to start volunteering on a regular basis again and I've been enjoying my time in the church breezeway, passing out sack lunches, helping people find just the right shirt or shoes that don't squeeze their toes, and making sure everyone gets a pair of new socks. But this week was different. Special. Very special.

Last week we had a guest come through the line who needed some clothes for interviews. Normally the need is for jeans and t-shirts, sweatshirts and gloves, and always a pair of shoes. But once in a while we have people who need clothes for work or something specific, an interview, a hearing, a court date or an ID photo (the woman today who was on her way to get her photo taken? She left with a cardigan sweater and a very short bright blue skirt she was going to wear under it as a top - hey, in the spirit of Tim Gunn we made it work). So the guest last week? He left with a few great finds, including a very sharp looking Prada suit, shirt and tie. (Yep, we're the church in the heart of Hollywood and more often than not our donations include designer duds.)

And this morning? He arrived for his sack lunch wearing that Prada suit, telling us he'd slept in it and had hoped it didn't look too bad this morning because he didn't have the $12.50 the dry cleaner wanted to wash it. I felt my heart sink in that instant. He'd slept in his suit. The suit he'd gotten to wear to interviews. Oh, dear. But then...he told us that he'd had an interview this morning and guess what? He'd gotten the job! HE GOT THE JOB!

We applauded. All of us - volunteers, security guards, even some of the other guests. He got the job. He wore the suit and now he was looking for some other duds to wear to work. How great is that? Granted, he's still without a permanent domicile. He's still hungry. But more than that? He's got a job and he proudly shared how he'd been drug free all year and was determined to get a better job soon. Awesome.

He spent a long time looking through the clothes this morning, selecting something that was just right. Someone got him an extra bag to carry them in. And then off he went, still wearing that Prada suit.

At the time, I couldn't have been happier. None of us could have been. You see, some of the guests at the Lunch have been coming for the better part of a decade. Some of them have a tendency to steal from us (hence the security guards). Some of them have severe mental illnesses. Some of them have kids (one woman today told me her twin daughters were named Sarah and Brook - both from the bible, she loved that I shared the one's name - and I didn't have the heart to ask where the 12 month olds were at the moment). Some of them bring their kids with them (today there were 4 little ones, none school age but all of them loving the raisins!). Some of them are high. Some of them are perpetually drunk. Some of them are in wheel chairs and so dirty you wonder if they'd ever come clean. Some of them are lonely and just need a hug (which I am happy to help out with). Some of them are quiet and embarrassed. Some of them are joyed to see a familiar face and shoot the breeze for a moment or two. And some of them leave wearing a Prada suit and ready for that first paycheck.

It wasn't until later, when I was recounting the story to Angela over lunch, that I broke down and cried a little. Happy tears really. Because this was an awesome moment in the life of this person, in the life of our ministry and in the my life. It was a reminder that God works in tiny ways we could never imagine and in big loud ways full of applause. And as the man in the Prada suit said today, through tears, "God is good." And several of us echoed back, "All the time." And it's true. So true.

The Little Schoolhouse

That's what Grandma used to call the Fleming School which was located on Grand River just outside of Howell (well it was, it was burned down two weeks ago). The little schoolhouse.

Grandma MacDonald loved that little one-room school, she served on the board, keeping the school in working order so that elementary school children from all over could visit and spend a whole day learning in the classroom there. I remember her spending long hours typing notes on the typewriter from the meetings, or making lunches to take so the volunteers could spend the day cleaning, getting ready for the kids to come visit.

Mostly I remember how much she cared about this place, this little building on the side of the road that, blink and you'd miss it, most people wouldn't think twice about. I wish I had asked her more about the project, why she cared so much, invested so much time and energy into the schoolhouse. But I didn't. Back then, I was in high school and she was busy. She did things, didn't just talk about them. She took action. She swept the floors and bought the pencils and loved hearing about friends' children who got to take a field trip with their class to Fleming School.

The day mom emailed me to tell me about the fire, I was crushed. Grandma would have been so sad to know that the school was no longer. I'm glad this didn't happen on her watch. On her watch, the little schoolhouse flourished. And we're all a bit better off for that.