HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

That's right people... no I'm not crazy, or 3 months late... my favorite holiday is actually upon us... so it's only fitting that I wish you a very merry Madness!

I will be glued to a television, or to realtime score on my computer at work, for the next three weeks... except for those three days when i'm IN Atlanta!

Think with me folks... it really is like Christmas all over again!
At Christmas you decorate a tree, for Madness you paint your face.
At Christmas we send Christmas cards to friends and loved ones, for Madness you send them a copy of your bracket for the annual pool.
At Christmas there are carols, for Madness there are fight songs.
At Christmas you get presents, with madness, every game your squad wins is like a little gift wrapped just for you their loyal fan.
At Christmas the number 12 plays a significant role (twelve days...), with Madness there's always a No. 12 that busts brackets and gets attention.
At Christmas we love to tell fairytales, Madness IS a fairytale... with giants and cinderellas and dreams come true...
And finally, at christmas we have that loud, jovial, portly character we all know as Santa Claus; and this year at madness... we have the Vols' Bruce Pearl.

So I hope you enjoy all the festive merriment this season has to offer. And don't forget "JJ is the Reason for The Season." :) Go BlueDevils..... who WILL be cutting down nets in Indy!

I'd LOVE to hear anyone's thoughts and predictions about the tourney... or praise for the blue devils... or rude comments about UNC or UCONN...those are always more than welcome... :)

The Curtain of Heaven

Do you ever have a moment when you feel like you've SEEN God? Like the curtain of heaven got pulled back and you suddenly got a glimpse of His very face, and the intersection bewtween the physical and spiritual realms becomes a little more obvious than it was before?

I had one Friday night. I was watching 12 high school girls literally BE Jesus to one in their midst who got them all together to announce that she was pregnant. This broken but resilient young lady was brand new to our group, basically kicked out of her old church not long before, b/c they decided she was going to hell. That rejection led her down a dark path that led to some big mistakes... including this one, where the was life-changing, and her friends were now few. Not a good situation. And she DESPERATELY needed to see Jesus in the eyes of some girls her age. She needed to know someone would let her be a teenager again, love her like they meant it, and "have her back" when others will rumour, gossip, and judge.

And they did not let her down. In the minutes after her confession, I sat back and watched with tears filling my eyes as the girls laid hands on and prayed beautiful prayers over this girl, and then they all stood up and moved on. Talking, laughing, including her, and letting her know by their actions that is was going to be ok after all. One found out her birthday had been two days before and so she snuck to the kitchen, found a brownie and a candle, and came in singing. And as the soft glow of a birthday candle illuminated their faces, I looked on in awe... because if I'd taken a snapshot of that moment and asked you to pick out the "pregnant girl"... the one whose life was "over"... you could not have done it. Her face had a new joy and peace...She was getting to be a teenager again... she was feeling accepted. She was meeting Jesus all over again in the love of these girls.

God's presence was so real to me in that room because HE IS LOVE. John doesn't say "God is lovING" or "God loves people"... he just says "God IS Love." And therefore, anytime we are truly being love in action...then it is no wonder people who witness it say "I feel like I've seen God." When we love without judgment, without holding back, with joy and sincerity... the curtain of heaven is opened.

"8 Miles and a shade of blue"

Seriously people... THAT was a game! There is just nothing I love more than seeing the Tarheels get beat in their own house. YEAH BABY! I could not love college basketball more... and I luuuv-love my Blue Devils-- Dockery for the quiet leadership and clutch shots, Paulus for being a freakishly confident rookie, McRoberts for being a serious diaper dandy, Shelden for the D and all the chances to scream "Rejected!", and then there's JJ-- I am actually becoming increasingly certain that all men are lost to me now if I cannot have him. The shots just kept falling like shooting stars... I made a wish on one of them as it was raining down on Carolina... I wished that JJ would propose to me. I think my chances are pretty good. So just go ahead and start callin' me Mrs. Redick.

I am absolutely salivating in anticipation for the regional finals in atlanta on March 23/25. Oh wait? Did I not yet mention it... Oh that's right... I've got TWO TICKETS TO THE SWEET SIXTEEN AND ELITE EIGHT LIVE IN ATLANTA!!!! I will actually be witnessing JJ and the boys march their way to the final four in person... screaming like a woman posessed. (i know i cannot be 100% certain duke will be in this region but the chances are REALLY good... and Andy Katz tells me they will.) All parties interested in joining me on this UNBELIEVABLE journey into the nirvana of college hoops should contact me immediately before i take some else and you miss out. : ) (Can you tell i'm a little excited??!)

Mel

"Five year old eyes..."

When you're in Children's ministry, the verse "Let the little children come unto me" gets WAY overused. It's like "the mantra." Equally over-played is the stellar, but often perplexing verse, "The Kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these (little children)." As trite and common as those passages can become in my line of work, they can also become incredibly powerful, deeply theological, and ultimately life-changing, if you take the time to absorb them. So I have... I've tried to spend some time meditating on these passages, and calling them to mind as I encounter kids... and I think I've decided that that these verses teach me how to walk with God better than ANY I've ever read... Allow me to explain...

When asked to draw her favorite super-hero and list his "superpowers" at the unveiling of our "Harpeth Heroes" logo and theme for the children's ministry (We're Harpeth Community Church), 7 year old Bryce took her pencil and drew a squiggly man in a white robe, arms outstretched. Underneath she wrote "This is Jesus. He can rise up from the dead!!!!!!!!" Most kids were drawing superman, batman, or... my personal favorite... "Toilet Paper Man." (You never know what you'll get with 3rd grade boys). But Bryce had tapped into something. A simple yet absolutely central truth of our faith: Our greatest hero is Christ... and NOTHING anyone could EVER do would be as cool as rising from the dead! And Ephesians tells me that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in ME! Now, That's deep. And her childlike faith tapped into that.

During an Easter-week lesson last year, a small 1st grade boy was moved to tears during the video presentation about the last week of Jesus life. We hadn't even gotten to the crucifixion yet. I came over to see if he was ok. "I just don't want him to die!" he said in shaky gasps. This little guy was really experiencing the sadness of The Cross. The anticipation of what was about to happen brought out all his little emotions. Me... I get desensitized. I've become "conditioned to the cross" somehow in my 24 years. But this child was seeing it fresh... scared for Jesus, sorry he had to die, sad he couldn't stop it. And those were real tears. Should I not feel the same about my Savior, even now? THAT challenged me.

These are only two examples. I could list hundreds. Hundreds of moments where I speak to a child or look in their eyes and see something Divine. Experience something real. It's faith without the baggage, minds still searching, hearts still open, eyes of wonderment, arms willing to hug, laughter that flows freely... all of these things. They all come from the Father alive and well in these young ones. No wonder he wants us to be like them! No wonder His kingdom is reserved for such as this! What better way IS THERE to be?

So anyway... I feel challenged and convicted every day to be like a child before the throne of God. To regain my sense of wonder, to never stop learning, to come with joy and humilty, to love and play and cry without shame. I hope you will too... for the Kingdom of Heaven is yours if you do...

From the book "Prayers" by Michel Quoist

God says:
"I like youngsters. I want people to be like them. I don't like old people... unless they are still children. ... I like children because my image has not yet been dulled in them. They seem new, pure, without a smear. ... And I like them because they are still growing. It is disastrous--grown-ups thinking they have "arrived." I like youngsters because they are still struggling, because they are still sinning. Not because they sin, mind you, but rather because they know that they sin, and they say so, and they try not to do it anymore. ... In my heaven there will be only five year old eyes, for I know of nothing more beautiful than the pure eyes of a child. It is not surprising, for I live in children... it is I who look out through their eys."

"We're all just ministry assistants, really"

One of my best new friends here in Nashville, is Aaron. Aaron is on staff here at HCC where I am the Children's Minister. Aaron's title is "Ministry Assistant", which basically means he does a little of everything.... fill-in preacher, video and media editor/operator, set-up guru (we meet in a high school), office assistant, gopher, resident "post-modern", etc. Aaron is a REALLY hard worker, a good preacher, and I believe he will make a great senior pastor some day, truly reaching people with message of the kingdom. But he said something in the staff meeting the other day that was really profound... and he really wasn't trying to be...

We were in a feverish discussion in which Aaron piped up with a "challenging" or "dissenting" comment. At the end of it he said something to the effect of "But what do I know? I'm just the ministry assistant." And then.... after a moment of thought... out of his mouth it came... "But we're all just ministry assistants, really."

Needless to say, this ridiculously esoteric comment brought on a fit of laughter from the staff... "Really, Aaron?! Did you just say that?" It was, it was funny. Cheesy even. But later, as I thought about my ministry that week... Aaron's comment grew less and less funny... and more and more truthful...

Case in Point:
Two Sundays ago, I was having a REALLY bad day. Things were hectic, not going well (as we all know sometimes happens... just one of those Sundays). I personally was a bit tired and worn out, and had lately been questioning just how much ministry we were actaully accomplishing and whether anything I was doing was working at all. But there I was, checking in kids, greeting guests, doing "my ministry" as "as best I could."
The next week, one of our dads whom I deeply respect came up beside me at the greeting table and said "I want to tell you something.... " It was about a conversation he'd had with his 8 year old daughter Emily that week. The conversation went something like this:

Emily: Dad, I've been thinking about something.

Dad: What is it Emily?

Emily: Miss Melanie said in class that God KNEW Jesus was going to die when He sent Him to earth... is that true?

Dad: Well, yeah sweetie it is. God knew what would happen.

Emily: But... Daddy that would be like YOU sending ME anyway...

Dad: (after a moment's stunned pause) Yeah, Emily. It would.

Emily: (takes a second to think) But dad, God loved Jesus, right?

Dad: Of course sweetheart, and it was hard for him, but that's how much he loved US too, that he would do that.

Emily: (Taking another moment to reflect) That's what I thought dad.

He told me about the conversation and then thanked me for making that moment possible. "There's nothing better," he said "than seeing my daughter get it for the first time. Knowing she's learning the gospel message and it's touching her heart means alot."

That moment with the father (in the midst of my feelings of inadequacy), coupled with Aaron's statement in staff meeting, brought on sort of a revelation for me... I AM A MINISTRY ASSISTANT. It's NOT about ME. All that I do in the Children's Ministry, or in my daily life for the kingdom is merely assisting the work of God in this world. I am God's right-hand girl, his side-kick, his assistant. God is the one pulling the reigns, calling the shots, running the show in this crazy world... not me!

You see, the revelation Emily had about the sacrificial love of God... I would never have predicted that. It happened unbeknownst to me... God used me as a weak vessel to reveal himself to her. He did all the work. I was feeling inadequate, nothing was going right in class that day... but the Lord got through to her in a powerful way. In spite of me. I played a minor role, I work hard and do my best, but all in all my work only assists the MasterI

So, Aaron I'm sorry I called you cheesy. You were right all along. We ARE ministry assistants... Children's ministers, senior pastors, soup kitchen volunteers, godly parents... we're all just playing "Robin" to God's "Batman"... and even my small role in bringing God's revelation into an 8 year-old heart is enough to keep me coming back for more.