Love Does (part 2)

The second main speaker at the Love Does Stuff conference was Joshua Dubois, the former Special Assistant to President Obama and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.   Joshua told a story of Bob Goff and a young boy who were visiting the White House one day for a very special outing.  He was having a really stressful day and things were really hectic and needless to say, his eggs were in way too many baskets.  He openly admitted that his attitude about Bob and this boy arriving was the last thing he wanted to do on that day. He was simply too busy!

Thankfully, he was able to give a tour to Bob and the young man and it brought such life and remembrance of redemption to his day.  He said:

"Spending time with children--this is what His Kingdom is about"

"We should be honored to do stuff with children"

and he mentioned a quote by his Pastor, Mark Batterson, who said this when questioned about the definition of true success:

"You are successful when the people who know you best respect you most"

and my favorite:

"Take orders from love, not from the calendar."

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, remembering that Jesus, in the midst of his talking to others about the Kingdom of God, welcomed children to come to Him.  The disciples were trying to push the children away, but Jesus pushed them aside to embrace them.  He said, “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.” (matthew 19:14:message)

I had the honor and privilege to attend the preschool graduation of my godson, Noah, yesterday and was reminded of the sanctity of life...the beauty of children and the sheer joy they can provide. I think I smiled the entire time while I saw these precious children singing and clapping and stomping to the music that was playing and as they all received their sweet little diplomas.  

I was reminded of Jesus' prompting to let the children come to HIm and remembering the times I've shut my children down or ignored them (or said "uh huhhhh...." when I really had no idea what they were talking about) because i was just too busy. My calendar is usually very full but I'm trying to be more intentional to love them by listening to them, looking them in their eyes, embracing them more and ridding things from my calendar that just....don't.....matter....

I want to take Jesus' example when it comes to my own and other children around me. I want to be intentional with my time. I want to take orders from LOVE, not my calendar.

peace.

Love Does Stuff (part 1)

On May 16-17, my family was given the opportunity to attend the Love Does Stuff Conference in Tacoma, Washington.  Bob Goff, the author of the inspirational book, "Love Does," and his organization named Restore International, were the brains behind this event that brought many people together such as Bob Goff,  Donald Miller, Kid President and Brad Montague, Veronica Tutaj, Dean Curry, Jeff Bethke, Cynthia Breihl, and musicians Brandon Heath, Crowder Band, and Ryan O'Neal.

Can you believe that these people were all in one room together? It's crazy to think of the uninhibited wackiness, the creativity, the passion, the fervor, the love for others and for Jesus....that permeated from that room and to think that all of the audience wanted to be there to be a part of the story....of the conversation....and to leave the room and put love in to action.

Session 1: Donald Miller

The first questions that Don posed were these:

1. Who are we?
2. What do we want?
3. What's the first step?

1. Who are we? When we pretend to be someone we aren't, it sets us up for a lifetime of loneliness or attack (yes, there are scorekeepers out there).  We really need to figure out who we arrrrre....who God made us to be....this is the first step.  Don posed a question: Do you feel like you have to be careful and its costing the Kingdom of God? ouch.  Yes.  There are times I am careful of what I do or what I say or what I reveal about myself for fear of judgment or rejection but I've never considered that it might actually be costing the Kingdom of God when I choose to act outside the perimeters of who I was made to be.  [still chewing on this....]

Don shares the fears that he has chosen to release on his journey of self-discovery: He is no longer afraid to sound dumb, he is willing to be wrong, and he is willing to accept failure. [i need to jump on this bandwagon and chuck these from my mindset, as well]

He also shared a story of a broken relationship with his former fiancé.  He shared how devastating it was for him....how he felt lost...and felt he was no longer good at relationships.  He met with Bob Goff and in the midst of Don's brokenness, Bob looked him straight in the eye and said, "Don...you are GOOD at relationships."  Bob spoke TRUTH about Don and over time, Don eventually believed it and began living it again.  Sometimes, you gotta speak the truth about someone....reminding them of who they are because sometimes, our vision is skewed of ourselves and we need others to remind us of the truth of who we are.

"We are not our feelings, emotions, mistakes or victories"

oh how I wish I could remember this daily....so many times I feeeeeel a certain way or I expect more of myself.  I have to remember that I am simply enough.

i.am.enough.

I am who God says I am.

isn't that liberating?!?

2. What do we want?

God lets us decide on what we do in our lives.  hold up.  What? He lets us decide on what we want??  Don said, "If your donkey talks to you..." or If a virgin becomes pregnant..., God has a plan for you that is very specific....but He gives us choices to make."  I remember Margaret Feinberg stating this during a breakout session once.  She told us of different choices that she faced and how she appreciated the fact that God gave her the freedom to be herself.  He still used her.  Still uses her.  He will still use her and speak to her and speak through her....isn't it amazing to think that He loves us, created us to be a certain way and then gives us the freedom to make choices that line up with how He created us to be? one word: liberating.

Don: "God says 'let's create something' and He wants to bond with us in the doing."

Lets chew on this for a minute.  So, God has created me to be a certain way (has placed passions and desires and beauty inside of me) and gives me the responsibility to make choices that line up with His creation of me and wants to bond with me in the doing??? 

Holy Lord, thank you.

3. What are the first steps?

Don: "How much time do you spend preparing for something because you are afraid?"

guilty.

What are the first steps?

The first steps for me are eliminating the toxins in my life that veil me from seeing who God has created me to be....learning to listen to the Truth of the matter of who I am and not the lies...learning to stop taking offense to everything that makes me feel a certain way....and walking in the freedom that God created me, trusts me with responsibilities in my life, and wants to bond with me in the process of being.

this is redemption, friends.  pure, sweet, holy redemption.

excuse me while I remove my shoes.