Ecuador recap #5

For me, one of the best things at camp this year was having Court lead some of the sessions. My wife is an incredible teacher with insight on scripture, prayer and God that just blows me away. The first session she lead was called ‘Imaginative Prayer’. There were a total of six groups and each group was given a section of scripture that fell somewhere between the Last Supper and the Resurrection.

The students were asked to pretend they were there, living out the passage. Court led them through a sense chart that was broken down into the following areas: sight, smell, taste, hear and feel. The poster boards were full of possibilities.

Following the sense chart, some options were given for us to work through individually. You could write yourself into scripture (i.e. Jesus and I were eating together and He said to me “This is My body broken for you Aaron”) or draw a storyboard that depicted what was happening in the scripture. The students were absolutely amazing. They blew me away with how well they responded.

I would encourage you to try this sometime. I know for me that it brought the scripture to life in a whole new way. The students talked all week about jumping into God’s word this way.

Word: A-Rae

Ecuador recap #4

One of our favorite places to be in Ecuador is El Refugio. It is a camp located about 45 minutes north of Quito and is the site we’ve used to host our junior high camp the past 4 years. Last year the camp staff began working on an amazing new project – a tree house built on the side of a mountain.  Our friend Paul has an incredible vision of the tree house becoming a place for people to individually connect with God through solitude retreats, as well as connect with each other when the platforms are utilized for team/group times. Last year one of the platforms was finished and they were working on a second as well as the rope bridge that connects them.

Courtney and I wanted to visit the tree house to get away for an afternoon before camp started. I found myself in the book of Numbers. (*I know, who reads the book of Numbers?!*) I was reading from chapter 22 and ended up focusing on verses 21-34. This section of scripture always makes me laugh, but it is also quite profound.

I won’t share all the scripture here, but I encourage you to read it. This guy named Balaam ends up riding his donkey and beating it three times. Finally, God enables the donkey to talk and Balaam has a conversation with the animal.

This prompted me to think. What will it take for me to listen to God? (*You know what I’m talking about?*)  Sometimes God is speaking so loudly in our lives and we find it easy to ignore Him.  Ironic, but true.

God used a talking donkey to get Balaam’s attention. What is He using to get yours?

For fun, read the scripture passage here. I put it in the King James Version because it will make you chuckle like a little schoolgirl!

Court and I were in the tree house on Good Friday. Before we left we sat together overlooking the valley and read the account of Jesus’ betrayal and his crucifixion. It was an incredible moment and a reminder – How many days do we not even take the time to acknowledge Him and the incredible sacrifice He made on our behalf?

Here are pictures taken in the tree house. It was truly amazing.

Word: A-Rae

Bien Venido a Ecuador!

I really love this country – these people get inside my heart. Especially those at Zambiza (the city dump).

Zambiza will always and forever break me. The workers at the dump are some of Quito’s poorest. Many used to live in the dump, but the government does not allow this any longer. I cannot comprehend a life that is lived in a dump. Raising children, searching for food, building a “home” from what can be collected, digging for materials to sell to the recycling… Even after 4 years, I still cannot wrap my mind around such a life. The workers may not live in the dump any longer, but most (if not all) still have an equivalent standard of living. For instance, many now build their “homes” directly outside of the dump. About 3 weeks ago, those homes were razed by the government – leaving many of these workers homeless once again. All I can do, the only reaction that is worth anything, is to pray and love.

Here is a video that shows the daily reality of those who build their lives on the city’s garbage:

Be sure to check out the other Extreme Response videos as well – I believe that they will show up as related videos in YouTube.

much love, Court

Oh, How He Loves Us

I stumbled upon this song/video, and it has gotten into my marrow.  Oh, how He loves us…

I love the hugeness of the chorus (it comes around 3 minutes into the video).  The imagery and passion of the words stun me:

He is jealous for me.

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realize just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

 

I’ve been dancing around my house singing… 

And oh, how He loves us,

Oh, how He loves us,

How He loves us so.

Oh, how He loves us… 

 

I pray that His love and passion will be real in your life & in mine – so real that we cannot breathe without His name on our lips.

much love, Court 

Sun to Snow

It’s so hard to believe that when Court and I left Florida Sunday afternoon it was in the 80’s. We arrived to Cleveland and were greeted with 18 inches of snow and temperatures in the 20’s.

(Florida before we left and our backyard at home)

The retreat went really well. The first talk was based out of Exodus 20:3 and Mark 12:28-33. We talked about what it means to live a life fully for God and not just give Him pieces here and there.

On Saturday morning Court led her Lectio Divina prayer session. She based it out of Psalms 145:8-10 and it was truly amazing. After the group session the students had 3 different options to choose from for their solitude time. This was incredible to be part of as well as observe. Watching junior high students embrace God in a new way was incredibly humbling.
Saturday evening we rocked out Mathew 26:6-16 and John 12:1-6. We looked at Judas and discussed his intentions as well as our own. The service went well.

Following the service we played ‘find the counselors’. The idea is for the adults to hide somewhere on the campground and the students have 15 minutes to find them. While Ken was giving the instructions to the students he mentioned that he had not been found ever. This must have stirred the students because Ken was the first person found during round 1 and the only adult found in round 2. This was a humbling experience for him. (I think I failed to mention that I was not found either round!)

The retreat ended with us looking at Genesis 25:19-34 Sunday morning. I asked the students what they are truly hungry for – Is it God or other things? Esau basically gave up his birthright for a bowl of soup. This changed his life forever. He was known as Edom for the rest of his life, which means ‘red.’ This is the color of the soup he sold his birthright for.

The retreat ended as all retreats should, with a trip to Starbucks!

Thanks again to Water’s Edge Student Ministry for allowing Court and I to be part of your retreat. We had a great time and look forward to hanging with you again.

Ken and I (and yes, that is a Stryper shirt that he’s rockin’)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Here is the final Nessy update.

Word. A-Rae

A brighter sunshine state

                      Today Florida got a whole lot brighter. Court arrived this morning shortly before 10 and Ken and I were there to greet her. We made our way back to Ken’s house to drop off some luggage and quickly realized we were hungry. After a quick rundown of local restaurants we decided on Smokey Bones. Court and I have not been to Smokey Bones since we lived in Columbus a few years ago.  There’s something about BBQ and sweet tea that makes me very sleepy.

I promised that there would be an update on how big the ‘grow a child’ was getting, so you will find a picture below. I also failed to mention in my last entry that Wes and Avery named him ‘Nessy’ in homage to Napoleon Dynamite.

(Avery, Nessy and I)

(Wes and I with his crazy hair)

I’m pretty stoked about the retreat starting tomorrow. We are putting together the retreat booklets tomorrow morning and so everything needed to be done this evening. I did all the questions for the reflection time after the sessions. Court did 3 different options for her Lectio Divina session on Saturday morning and Ken did a weeklong devotional guide for seven days following the retreat. If you think about it this weekend, take a second and pray for us as we lead the retreat this weekend.
Did I mention that it’s supposed to be 83 degrees tomorrow? Akron is supposed to be 30 degrees.

Word. A-Rae

confessions of a homebody

For the past 3 or 4 years, March has been crazy for this little Rae family.  This coming month is no exception. We are leading retreats in Florida, Ohio, and Ecuador, leaving us at home together for a total of 5 days the entire month!

 

Though I am a homebody, I am very excited for these trips – I will have the opportunity to lead Lectio Divina prayer sessions, set up multiple “worship experience” sessions, be a counselor, write devotionals for morning quiet times, and help where needed.

While away, I will inevitably go through my “I just wanna go home” emotional freak-out (Homebodies, you know what I mean!)  This will probably hit me about ½ way through Ecuador, as it always does.  I think the distance is a huge factor, plus it’s just a long time to be gone (2 weeks).

 

I think it may be different this year, though.  Lately, life has been a training ground for dependence on Christ.  I have felt so stripped – so bare, so emptied… with nothing left to offer.  I have discovered how it feels to have nothing to cling to except my dependence upon His mercy and grace.

Through His kindness and patience I am beginning to grasp how He provides, prepares, softens, loves, cares, gives… I group this all into the idea of His “goodness.”  This goodness is deep, solid, and truth.  It is not necessarily happy, but it is so deeply good.

I find myself compulsively trusting this deeply good God, striving after Him, seeking His face and heart…

I pray that He will help me to depend only on Him, even with the smaller things in life – like homesickness in Ecuador.

 

Much love, Court

To all the Marionettes

Court and I were asked to lead a retreat at Water’s Edge student ministries in Orlando, Florida. A good friend of mine named Ken is one of the youth pastors there. The retreat is for junior high students and will take place in March. I was asked to help come up with a title for the retreat. Ken shared that he wanted the retreat to focus on “being the church” instead of just “going to church.” I thought long and hard and the thought that kept resurfacing was a line from an old Thousand Foot Krutch song called “Puppet.”

“Wake me, c’mon and wake me up now I
Want to cut off my strings and break

Loose of your control of me,
Cut your strings and be free with me,

Everybody, shake your body,
Lift your hands, stop frontin’,
You’re just a puppet”

That led me to call the retreat “Quit frontin’ you’re just a puppet.” I pitched the idea to Ken and he shortened it to “Quit frontin’.” I’m pretty stoked. I sent Ken this image to promote the retreat. It may be a bit much for 7th and 8th graders but it works.

I have a lunch meeting today with Dr. Smith from The Chapel. I’m pretty stoked to get caught up on life with him. He seriously is one the most creative speakers I have ever heard/seen. Feel free to visit his blog “Incoherence” and check out what he spoke on December 30th of 2007. He actually has two entries on his blog regarding this sermon:

Happy New Year

Teaching Tool (peace of mind)

A full version of Dave’s message is available on iTunes for free (if you do not have iTunes you must download it. It’s a free application). Search “The Chapel, Akron, Ohio” in the iTunes search engine. This will prompt you to pick from Akron, Green, or Illuminate. Choose “Illuminate” and download their podcasts. Dave’s is entitled “Yoke” and was delivered on December 30th.

Word. A-Rae

Neighbor?

“The world is desperately in need of people who will break themselves open and pour themselves out for the reconciliation of all things – that’s what the world needs” 

I came across this quote today while in a bookstore at Legacy village called Joseph-beth. It caught my attention and made me ask a serious question. Am I truly willing to pour into a new community – To be broken and used however God chooses? We should be willing and daring enough to ask ourselves this question and to love our neighbors as ourselves. I know that the immediate question most people ask is “Who is my neighbor?” We quickly look for an easy definition to try to get out of the hard call to love. My challenge this week is to pray through these thoughts.

 

On a fun note, I was able to go to a concert Tuesday night with Court, Gatti, and Brumfield. Third Eye Blind is a band I had always wanted to see live but never had. A good friend of mine works at Kent State and we were able to snag tickets for $10. The show was great and they played some of my favorites. I was a little bit disappointed that they didn’t play “God of Wine.” All things considered, though, they were great live. 

After the concert, we braved the elements and made our way to the vehicle. I would like to start by saying that there are certain rules that accompany traffic patterns post event. For example… everyone knows that it is common courtesy to let every other car go when there is an intersection in a parking lot. This brings us to the situation at hand. I made my way to an intersection where I politely waited to enter in said line. I let the car to my right go and it should have been my turn to go, yes? Anyway, a lady that I will refer to as “Grumpy Pants” went out of turn instead of allowing me to go. Some nerve, right? I rolled my window down and explained to her how concert/event traffic is supposed to work. She didn’t respond. Maybe it was because I laid on the horn for a good 20 seconds before I rolled down the window. All that to say that after I read that quote this afternoon it made me realize that i had not been a good neighbor to Grumpy Pants. (Did I mention the band was great?)

 

Wednesday evening Court and I headed over to the Smith’s house to hang with Dave and Jen. We began the night with Market Spice tea and the ladies stayed in the kitchen talking while Dave and I entered the online battle known as Halo III. It was a great evening. If you have some free time, check out Dave’s blog which is linked to his picture.

 

Word. A-Rae

 

my to-do list

Rest.  A simple word, yet I feel that I do not understand it.  I am a list-maker.  I like to check the box, cross off the next line, or erase another task.  This may make my chore time effective, but I feel that it detracts from my time with God. 

Lately I have had a strong desire to rest in his arms.  I am reminded that I need to walk in his strength, not mine.  The problem is, I have found that I do not know how to do this foreign act of resting.  I cannot stop this feeling that I need to be productive, doing, going, working – as if my to-do list is always present.  I find myself justifying or explaining myself every time I sit to read, pray, soak in his love… as if I am being lazy and need an excuse.

I have read a wonderful book in my Pastors’ Wives group called Nice Girls Don’t Change the World by Lynne Hybels.  It tells of a period of time in Lynne’s life when she was drained of life and energy.  She sat in a comfy chair by the window watching seasons change, birds chirp, and flowers grow.  Lynne perfected the art of resting – not because she was seeking God’s rest, but because she was too tired to do anything else.

I pray that God will help me to rest in Him.  I want to run in his power, live in his strength, and serve with his hands.  I do not want to be bound by a to-do list until I am drained of life.  I want to be filled with God’s amazing life that needs no boxes checked nor another task erased.

Abba-Daddy, help me to rest in you.  Give me the grace to lay aside my business and to seek your face.  Help me to connect with your heart, that I may live out of your strength and power.  I love you.  Thank you for loving me.

Much love to all,  Court