Who Is My Neighbor

Your Neighbor Is Who God Puts In Your Path.

Final full day on the work site and I've still got a thing or two I want the students accomplish, including pulling up some ugly holly bushes from the front of the house. So first thing after lunch, I place all 6 of the students in the front yard with the instructions, "Holly bushes have to go!" After passing off leadership to Anna, the whole gang (students, adult staff, next door neighbor Bobby, and myself) starts working HARD!

I'm a little engrossed in the work, but all of a sudden I realize a man has come up and is saying something to the students. I tune in as he is repeating his request:
"I'm sorry to have to ask, but I just spent all of my money on a bus pass down here to pick up my medicine at Walgreen's. All I need is four dollars for the co-pay. Could you please help me?"

Instant reaction was denial. A small shrug of my shoulders and mumbled apology, "I'm sorry, I don't think I can help." I don't tend to carry cash on me very often, and after 23 years of being told to be "safe" I hit auto pilot whenever anyone on the street asks me for something. As I look at my fellow workers they are giving similar responses, and they are probably being honest - they were told not to bring any money or valuables to the work site.

Then I hear it. "Your Neighbor is who I put in your path." and I remember I have a little cash with me today.
"Hold on sir, let me go check and see if I can help you out."

As I walk to the backyard where we dropped our backpacks I take stock of the situation God has pulled me into. Four dollars, not a big deal right? Then why has my first response so easily become 'no'?
I pull out my wallet and find 3 crisp five dollar bills. Pulling one out, I fold it in my hand and head back to the front yard.

I hear it again. "Your Neighbor is who I put in your path, and most often they need more than just money."

I'm about 10 steps away and find myself holding out the five dollars. "I just happened to find a five."
"Ask his name." - "What's your name sir?"
"Arthur"
"Pray for him." - "Very nice to meet you Arthur, is there anything that we can pray for you for?"
"Just my health please."

Now that I've quieted God's voice in my head by taking his prayer request and praying for him silently, I'm about to send him on his way. I see out of the corner of my eye a student watching and then take a step forward.
"Can we pray for you right now?" he says. 

"Sure" comes the timid response from Arthur.

The student lays he hand on Arthur's shoulder and they bow their heads together. As the students words are lifted I also awkwardly bow my head and place my hand on his arm. Beside us the team begins to notice what is happening and the tools and scuffling stops. I realize the whole team is silently praying from where they stand. 

When the student finished praying, Arthur headed on his way and the team got back to work. However, not even 30 minutes later I see Arthur headed back down our street waving a white medication package.
"I got my medicine, thank you so much!"

I know nothing else about Arthur or his story.

I do know that for that day Arthur was my neighbor.

Loving and (Be)Loved

So I've been a little out of the blog-sphere and I feel like I've got too much to explain - so I'll try this coming week to crank out a few more detailed posts.

But for now, I want to share with you Brennan Manning's postmodern Beatitudes:

You are blessed! God's desire is for you. And Jesus is the incarnation of God's furious longing. He is your supreme Lover. It's true.

You are blessed. Your soul's winter is over. The snows are over and gone. Flowers are blooming inside of you. The season of joyful songs has come. To You.

You are blessed! The love of God is folly. No one is excluded. All (really!) are called to the banquet table. Come, and be filled.

You are blessed! Be-YOU-ti-full. Be you. Just be. Love supports you.

You are blessed! You have learned the purpose of life: LOVE

You are blessed! You can pray like a child, and enjoy God.

You are blessed! Heal, and be healed. Reclaim affirmations for the kingdom of God.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

The Life Equation:

"Living Out LeaderTreks"  - A series on the core values and leadership principles of LeaderTreks. I'll share how they are lived out in the company and in my own life.  To start from the beginning click here  

or "What is my Purpose?"

If I had a quarter for every time I got asked this question, I'd be a millionare by now.

It starts in Kindergarten - "What do you want to be when you grow up?" 

Echoed in high school - "What are you going to college for?"

Thrown at you in college - "What are going to do after college?"

Even now at LeaderTreks I get asked - "Oh, it's a two year position, what are you going to do after?"

Different questions all centered around the same idea 

What is my Purpose?

What should I be doing with my life?

I believe the answer to this question is a simple statement by Jesus right before He left the earth after his resurrection:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations..."

The problem with this is not the WHAT do I do... but HOW!

Thus I want to introduce to you the first of 10 Leadership Principles that LeaderTreks teaches -

   Burden 

+ Passion 

+    Vision 

= Mission

Ritual Stretching

I love when God speaks clearly to me.
When there is no guessing game.
Just listening. 

This morning was one of those mornings.

I headed to my normal Starbucks where I spent a wonderful hour with God eating my scone and drinking my delicious Earl Grey Tea Latte.

Over the past three months I've been methodically making my way through a sermon series titled  "Learning to Love Leviticus"

This morning I studied Chapter 24 where the priests are directed to continually light the lamps inside the Tabernacle and change the 12 loaves of bread weekly and then it gets a little serious about not blaspheming God. The pastor linked it all back to religious ritual.

Valued at the Core

"Living Out LeaderTreks"  - A series on the core values and leadership principles of LeaderTreks. I'll share how they are lived out in the company and in my own life.  To start from the beginning click here  

Over the past month I've talked to you all about the Shared Values of LeaderTreks - the five categories that we keep at the core of the company. Along with the company having its own set of core values that we share, each individual also has a set of core values that is true for themselves. LeaderTreks offers a simple assessment that we can take to help us qualify what our specific values are. 

Below are the five key words that I ended up with:

Faith/Spirituality: 

My relationship with God is NUMBER ONE! He is the core of who I am and why I do what I do. Inside of my faith I value Truth, Love, and Joy.

People: 

If I were a dog I would definitely be a golden retriever. I give whole hearted commitment to my family and friends. I have no problem forming new friendships quickly and feel a strong connection to most anyone who will sit down and have a conversation with me.

Integrity: 

My key phrase is this - "I just want an open and honest answer. It can even be "I don't want to talk about it" if that is what you are honestly feeling. Within integrity I look for authenticity from anyone I meet. I work to meet this same standard in my own life with anyone I meet.

Growth/Improvement: 

This is probably the hardest of my values because growth and improvement is difficult. However it is so worth it. Times of challenge and risk-taking bring me closer to Christ and the transformative work is He is doing in me. I pray that those around me seek similar guidance from Him and do not get complacent in the life that they have been given.

Adventure:

My theme for the year: ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE! Much like Carl I feel like I've been whirled off my feet into a grand plan that Elle is so passionate about I can't help but follow. God is often like that, inviting us to join Him in this grand adventure that he is writing. 

So there you have it  folks, my five core values - the values that guide and drive my everyday life.

If you would like to take this assessment for yourself please leave a comment here on my blog.

Thanks for walking with me in the "Shared Values" section of Living Out LeaderTreks. Return next week to hear about the next section of this series: "Leadership Principles"

Grateful In Love

So as you saw in this post, one of the things I created was a yearly "Grateful Journal". I'd like to take sometime to share with you some of my favorite "grateful-s" from February.

During the Month of Love I've been grateful for: