bread...

I was really inspired over this last weekend by my brother and father. My family used to work in concrete construction and when I was a boy my parents worked part time as caretakers for grave yards. A little over a month ago, my brother's newborn son, Joshua, died. They decided to bury him in the graveyard next to my grandparent's home in Michigan. This last Friday my brother and father went and poured the concrete foundation for Joshua's tombstone. I think this was a very therapeutic next step for them in their grieving process. After finishing what was no doubt, a very emotional experience, they both got in their vehicles headed towards Mishawaka to deliver 280 loaves of bread to needy families. Despite the fresh pain and grief that they were experiencing that day, they chose to turn their focus outwards - towards helping others. One man that they encountered mentioned to my brother how much this meant to him as my brother shared God's love for him. This man was a father who had just moved into the area with his 5 kids. They don't have food stamps and they've been living off of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. They had just run out of bread and were wondering what they were going to do. I'm reminded that no matter what season we are in, no matter what storms we are going through, God still longs to use us in significant ways if we will allow Him to help us fix our eyes on others. It's absolutely important to grieve, to work through our stuff and to give it to God. And yet some of the most powerful times are when we allow God to use us despite our pain, suffering and heart ache. It's in those times that we don't have the strength or the power to do it on our own so we have to rely on Him.

Yesterday I had the awesome privilege to help deliver 600 loaves of bread with my 3 year old daughter along with other families and individuals from Epic. It was pretty cool for me to see the excitement of my daughter as she wanted to help carry the bread and help knock on doors. I love it that she gets opportunities to see the "real world" and she's learning at a young age to take her eyes off of herself and begin looking towards making a difference in the lives of others. I wish I would have started doing that at age 3 instead of 33. It was really cool to see her process and ask questions along with making observations of the different people and homes we would encounter. I'm grateful for Kim Selis who coordinates our Outreach Ministry at our church and the hearts of many within Epic that help make these learning moments happen for both my daughter and I.

As we were handing out the bread and sharing God's love, I couldn't help but to be reminded of the communion time that we often celebrate at our worship gatherings at Epic. I began to reflect on Jesus fixing His eyes on others and how the bread at our communion tables represent Christ's body which was broken. In the midst of His brokenness He fixed His eyes on us and what a difference it made!

cherries and blueberries...

I recently found out that a family member of mine was pulled over and given a ticket for following too close. She is planning to try and appeal it before the judge. In hearing her story, it reminded me of the time that I had received a notice in the mail several years back. The notice informed me that I had to take a Defensive Driving class or be faced with the options of getting around like my Amish neighbors or turn my wife into my personal chauffeur. I decided the latter options seemed too cumbersome so I decided to pay and take the class.

I was reminiscing with my wife this week about the incident that led me down the road to defensive driving school. It was actually our first wedding anniversary and I decided to take Ann to Chicago where we went on our first date. I had a fun and romantic day all planned out - I was planning to splurge a little, as money was usually tight but this occasion was rather significant.

The day started out with us arriving in Chicago around 4pm to catch an early dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. It just so happened that there was a parking spot open right in front of the restaurant. We got right in, the food was great, and forty-five minutes later we were ready to continue on our romantic adventure...only to discover that our car was missing.

I immediately flagged down an officer and told her that my beautiful black Nissan Sentra has been stolen. Only to have her say to me, it was probably towed away. I said, but there's no signs. To which she replied, "It's the law that at this time of day there's no parking on the streets. And there is a sign, but you can't see it from here, it's at the end of the block." She then told me to flag down a cab and tell the driver that my car had been taken to the pound and that they would know exactly where to take me...it happens all the time. I then thought, it was peculiar to see tow truck parked in the parking spot directly in front of me. I evidently made his job easy!

Sure enough the cab driver took me to the pound and $200 later plus a parking ticket I was able to get my car out. Unfortunately, Ann and I are now in a part of Chicago that we are completely unfamiliar with and we don't have a map. To make matters worse, it's now dark and it begins to rain. It became incredibly difficult to see and as we were driving we noticed that a squad car was parked in the middle of the road with every single light off. I said to Ann, "Did you see that police car, that is unbelievably dangerous I can't believe the officer would park his car in the middle of the road like that." As I'm looking over my shoulder to tell share my righteous indignation with her, I suddenly glance forward to notice that the stop light in immediately in front of me is red. The most unfortunate part of this is that we were going down hill and the rain made the roads slippery so I slid halfway into the intersection. I thought, "Wow that was lucky that we didn't get hit." Since my car was now literally stopped in the middle of the intersection I decided to proceed...but with caution.

Suddenly in my rear view mirror I see the "Cherries and Blueberries" on what looked like a little golf cart. While I considered outrunning it, I figured the golf cart was probably faster than the Sentra (lol). I pull over, and the officer comes up and tells me, "I see that you're from out of town and you ran through that stop light, so give me your license and registration and I'll go write you your ticket." I was completely stunned.

When the officer came back, I had finally composed myself, and asked him if I could appeal to his good nature. I shared with him my sad story of an anniversary gone bad and how it ultimately caused me to slide through this intersection. To which the officer just grinned and said, "Yeah I set at this intersection all night long because people never see that stoplight. I'm not going to be able to give you a break because I've already written the ticket, but I hope you have a better night." I then asked the good officer for directions.

After getting directions and doing a quick calculation of the now $335 that I've now spent on towing and tickets I said to my wife, "Well I think we've spent enough money for one night...do you think we could just go home now." To which she agreed.

As I think on all of this, I can't help but to be grateful for the Grace that we have in Jesus. As we stand before the Eternal Judge one day, despite our sin, mistakes and brokenness, it can be declared of us, "not guilty...for the price has already been paid."