S.O.S. Prep: Courageous

About a year ago, I took Caleb to see a special screening of the movie Courageous.  The message of the movie was excellent and challenges husbands, fathers, and all men to be 'courageous' and resolve to   live a life honoring God and leading your family in the same way.  It was during that movie that I first heard the song 'Courageous' by Casting Crowns and from that point on it had a natural connection to the movie for both Caleb and I.

Fast forward to this weekend and my final S.O.S. prep session with Caleb.  I could think of no better song than Courageous because the idea of being Courageous and living a God honoring, obedient, and intentional life applies not only to grown men, but certainly to the youth of today.  Choosing to sacrifice part of your summer to go serve others flies in the face of the selfish nature of our culture and certainly the selfish nature of the teenagers of our culture, but as the song inspires:

We were made to be courageous.

We were made to lead the way.

We could be the generation

that finally breaks the chains.

It is a great call to action and this S.O.S. trip is the perfect response.  I encouraged Caleb to remember this song and the lyrics and to be praying each day during his trip for courage and all that the word - in the context of the song - encapsulates.  

As we loaded him into the van this morning, I gave him a hug and reminded him how proud of him I was.  I said a quick prayer for courage, protection, and blessings on Caleb and all those going to serve and be served in Memphis.  I can't wait to hear all the stories Caleb comes back with...

S.O.S. Prep - All About Love

So imagine you're in middle school and you're sitting outside a busy Dunkin Donuts shop on a beautiful Saturday morning with friends from school walking in & out of the shop.  You say "hi" to some friends from school and try to act cool even though your with your Dad who keeps dunking his donut in his coffee - gross!  Then to top it off, your Dad tells you - in a not so quiet voice - "I want to talk about Love today." If it was 25+ years ago, I probably would have been mortified, but that's about how Caleb's Saturday morning started out as we did our third S.O.S. Prep session together.

We began by listening to the Steven Curtis Chapman song "All About Love." Caleb may not be the biggest SCC fan, as his songs may not match Caleb's style and preference, but these conversations have been about the words and meanings behind the music.  As you might imagine, SCC isn't talking about a romantic kind of love in his song but God's love when he says:

Everything else comes down to this,

Nothing any higher on the list than love.

This is the reason we were made, 

to know the love of our creator

And to give the love he's given us away.

1 Corinthians 13 (NLT)

Caleb acknowledged that he's starting to get a little nervous about going on the trip - he leaves in less than a week now!  When we talked about why he's nervous, I think it comes down to the unknown and uncertainty about what exactly he's going to be doing.  I tried to encourage him that the most important thing he can do while he is on the trip is to love others.  Certainly those he is going to serve, but also his teammates and leaders.  We also did a bit of a dive into 1 Corinthians 13 - the Love Chapter - for some reassurance that it doesn't matter what we know or do in life, but it is that we love and share God's love that is important.  I told Caleb that if he is looking for a manual in the bible on what is expected of you when serving others or when you are on a mission trip, it probably doesn't any better than 1 Corinthians 13. 

As I dunked by cake donut into my coffee, I also made sure to remind him that it also applies to life at home with the family - especially his younger brothers! ;-)

Faith, Family, Health, & Job

I missed my Wednesday morning Bible study at Northview today in order to participate in the very first Prayer Fellowship meeting at work.

My employer, Harrison College is not a faith based institution, but we have a work place culture that centers around the values of Faith, Family, Health, & Job.  Harrison College recognizes that all four are important in an individual’s life and is supportive of employees finding a healthy balance between commitments to their Faith, Family, health, and their Job.  I could share numerous stories about how I have personally experienced and benefited from this awesome culture, but until today I would be challenged to identify intentional actions around Faith within the work place and outside of 1 on 1 interaction.

Today was just about sharing.  It was a bit surreal at first though, to sit in our training room without laptops and projectors front and center, but with Bibles in hand and a sharing of stories and testimonials – opening and closing in prayer.  Although I sat quietly through most of it, inside I was very excited to be participating in this first meeting. Just being there was a blessing and an energetic start to the day.

It is uncertain yet, how these meetings will evolve, but I look forward to them continuing and growing.  Our first meeting had 11 participants, but I am sure that through word of mouth the participation will increase and these morning fellowship meetings will flourish. I am also excited that our next meeting will give me the opportunity to begin to share and walk our group through the same Leadership study we did while in Ghana.  It's amazing how that mission experience continues on today!

I am thankful that God has placed me in a job with an employer that acknowledges my relationship with Christ as the central part of who I am as a person, leader, and employee.

S.O.S. Prep: Give Me Your Eyes

This has been a week full of S.O.S. prep conversations with Thursday night being the highlight evening of our young summer so far.

Northview Church's 2012 S.O.S. Team

Thursday was the Pack-n-Pray for the students and adult leaders going on the S.O.S. trip.  The purpose of the evening is a commissioning by the church for those who are going to serve on short term mission trips.    It's quite the site to see the nearly 100 youth and adult leaders who are giving up part of their summer to go and serve those less fortunate through hard manual labor in the hot summer sun - tangible acts of God's love for the people in the Bing Hampton community. My favorite part of the evening was the time Marcy and I were able to spend with Caleb talking with him individually about what we are praying for regarding this trip and our expectations of Caleb.  Most meaningful to me was the opportunity in this special setting to tell Caleb how special he is to us, how humbled we are that God has entrusted Caleb to us as his parents, and how proud of him we are.  I'm anxious and excited to see how God uses Caleb's gifts on this trip and what he learns from the experience.  I'm also confident that we will have a great conversation around the topic of What's Next? after he returns as God continues to move in our family with a growing focus on outreach and missions.

We also continued our own prep work, just Caleb and I, this weekend as we broke down Brandon Heath's song Give Me Your Eyes, discussed issues of compassion and surrender, and then shared what we both felt we could learn and apply from James 1:22-27.

James 1:22-27 (NLT)

²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
²⁶ If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.


While there are certainly important points I am wanting to convey to Caleb through these discussions, God is challenging me through this experience in how I can learn from Caleb and his perspective as a 12 year old.  His fresh eyes on scripture or the application to his life he hears in a song is awesome to hear and I am so thankful for his willingness to share them with me in these moments. My prayer is that this openness will extend to his peers on this trip and through that openness he will be able to grow personally and spiritually.

S.O.S. Prep: I Refuse

Counting the days down to my trip to Ghana and sharing the experience leading up to it was a great way for me to focus my attention on the mission trip/opportunity ahead of me.  As we lead up to Caleb's S.O.S. trip, less than a month away I find myself in a different seat for this experience, but one equally exciting.  I am the sending party in this mission trip and as a result have different and new ideas, concerns, and thoughts about the experience.

This will be Caleb's first short-term mission trip.  I'm not quite certain he is really prepared for the manual labor that awaits for him, but I want him to be very aware of the support he has from family and friends in his decision to go and serve in this way.

As his Dad, I feel the responsibility to help him prepare spiritually for the trip.  I know the youth group at church is doing their prep work each Sunday leading up to it, but I have felt compelled to make sure Caleb understands that his mom and I are his partners in this journey and his work for this mission trip has already started as his intentional preparation is equally important as his service during the trip.

I've struggled, however, in HOW TO communicate such a serious topic to the typical attention span challenged 12 year old that is my son.  If I get too serious with him, he would likely just shut down. If I make it too light, he may not understand what I want to convey to him.  I've found myself feeling rather anxious about this issue of communication over the past few weeks, but what I was reminded about during a sermon a couple weeks ago is that I should be lifting this entire process up in prayer and trusting that God will work in both Caleb and I through this process.  No matter how much I want to control it, I can't dictate how much Caleb absorbs of what I have to share or that he even processes and applies the information exactly as I envision.  The reality is that I really shouldn't try to dictate how he applies any lessons learned.  My prayer is that through our studies and conversations in preparation leading up to the trip, Caleb would be 'armed' with knowledge and the spirit to face whatever God has in store for him on the trip.

Caleb, like most kids his age, loves to listen to music.  So, as mission prep work, we have decided to meet each Saturday leading up to the trip for breakfast and together we listen to a song (one that I've pre-selected) and discuss the message of the song and how it applies to different aspects of mission work.  I'm trying to focus on themes of Attitude, Surrender, Prayer, and Love.  We met for the first time last Saturday and had a great breakfast and discussion on Attitude as we listened to and discussed Josh Wilson's song I Refuse as well as some corresponding scripture.

I know there are a number of other parents doing similar or other types of prep work with their kids and I would love to hear about their ideas, thoughts, and experiences.

Learning from & Challenged by my Boys

I don't pray with my kids nearly as much as I need to, truth be told it's probably a statement about my overall prayer life and an acknowledgement that it is an area I am constantly working to improve.  Having said that, I am daily encouraged by my two youngest boys in my own prayer journey.  

As I previously shared, the boys have taken to remembering Noah and Joshua from the village in Ada, Ghana each night in their bedtime prayers.  Three months after returning from my Ghana trip they remain faithful to their commitment to lift these boys and their families up each night.  What is even more encouraging is to hear their prayers developing and changing.  What started out as simple petitions to 'please bless Noah and Joshua. Please protect and bless their families.' have evolved to include details they are feeling led to pray for or references from their own daily experiences and thoughts about how our friends in Ghana may handle the same issues.  Topics from rain storms to school to family to sunday school lessons have come up in prayers.

So, I'm blessed that my boys are teaching me, reminding me, and challenging me to continue to pray for Ghana and many others outside my daily circle of interaction. Through my boys I am witnessing the personal and spiritual growth that comes as a result of this type of behavior!  How awesome and inspiring is that?!

On the note of remembering to pray for Ghana, Northview Church is sending another small group to Ghana this week. I wish I was part of this team, but I'll remain behind as one of the many praying over their trip.  Please join me in praying for Matt, Chris, and Jenny and that they would have safe travels, remain healthy, build relationships, and that they would have the courage to and be open to being used by God for great things during their time in Ghana.