September Session Notes

I think I might have realized why God makes a big deal about the Sabbath. Its sometimes difficult to understand the ‘keep the sabbath holy’ command. What does that mean anyway? Does it mean we can’t work, we have to go to church, and it gives us an excuse to put off mowing the lawn for another day? It seems like one of those things God tells us to do that we just don’t want to agree with because it takes away the one day we have to sleep in, catch up on house work, and visit grandma’s house.

It is rare that I feel well prepared for a week-long trip with the youth. It doesn’t matter where we are going or what we are doing I’m always in a rush the 24 hours before we leave.

We left for the mission trip to Florida pretty much on time on Friday, but it was Thursday afternoon that God tried to slow me down for His purpose. My plan was to spend a couple of hours in the office early on Thursday afternoon and be home around 2:30. I didn’t make it to church until 1:30 and I didn’t leave until after 4:00. I had to rush home to get Leslie so we could be in Halton City by 5:15 to pick up the rental vans. Needless to say, I was in a rush when I left the church.

I jumped in my truck, backed out, and started out of the parking lot only to be slowed down (and annoyed) by a big red pickup in the middle of the church parking lot. I’m pretty sure I yelled ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ as I tried to squeeze by. Just as I passed him…I noticed a guy on the ground under the vehicle taking a spare tire off to change a flat tire.

It was hot outside, he was in the parking lot of my church, he was sitting on a black asphalt lot, and I was in too much of a hurry to offer him some help.

If I would have been prepared like I had planned. If I had offered help, do I trust God enough to make it all work out anyway? I guess I didn’t that day.

So, keeping the sabbath holy? Its just like most things. Its not so much about the command to do something in particular…its about God being so involved in our lives that He is always trying to teach us how to live as He intended. Did I listen enough this time to learn? I guess I’ll have to keep my eyes and heart open to see.

After our adventures with the water, we made our way through Memphis stopping to eat at a park next to the University of Tennessee Health & Science campus. A police officer sat in his car not too far from us, so the kids walked over to him and offered him a bottle of water and chatted for a few minutes.

After lunch we made our way to the National Civil Rights Museum that is at the site of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. We bought our tickets and made our way inside to see a few simple exhibits as we waited to be seated for a 30 minute documentary about the events that led up to Dr. Kings murder.

In the video we learned about the situation surrounding the sanitation workers’ strike, the poor peoples march on Washington, and a little about the personal life of some of the leaders of the civil rights movement. Most of the documentary was narrated by Rev. Billy Kyles, an area minister and close friend of Dr. King’s. Rev. Kyles arrived at the Lorraine Motel an hour before the shooting because the group was to have dinner at his house that evening. As they prepared to leave for dinner, Rev. Kyles was only few feet from Martin Luther King Jr. when he was shot.

As the video ended a young man came to the front to give us further instructions for the remainder of our visit to the museum. A voice then came from behind us thanking the visitors for their visit to the museum. As we turned around, the voice and face were immediately familiar. There stood Rev. Kyles himself.

Some of the kids found an opportunity to speak to him and I snapped this picture of a couple of our girls with him.

We continued our tour of the museum that covered much more than the life and death of Martin Luther King Jr. The last exhibit was across the street in the building where the shooter was. There were details of the man hunt and the conspiracies that surround the assassination.

After our visit to the Civil Rights Museum, we made our way to Beale St. where we walked through shops, listened to some live music and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Mike was quite entertained by the music and didn’t move from this spot until we told him we had to leave.

We ended our evening relaxing at the hotel, watching some movies, and closing with our devotionals.

Monday. It comes after Sunday, and no matter where you are it always seems hectic. But somewhere in the midst of hectic you see glimpses of God – at least I hope we do. Without that glimpse, I don’t know that there is much to look forward to.

I wanted the kids to look beyond themselves this week. I had hoped that they would notice the world around them and find ways to live with a servants heart. That goal proved to be a bit harder than I thought. I don’t really blame them. They are, however, teenagers whose lives are centered around…well, themselves. I remember high school. I remember being important and the center of my parents’ world. It was great. Food showed up like it was right out of a magicians hat, time to spend with friends at the movies, and the dishes were always clean and in the cabinet.

Today, though, it started out a bit different. The kids wanted to find a place to volunteer some of their time. They made a few phone calls to local food banks asking if they needed volunteers. On such short notice it was all but impossible to find someone to take on a group. They then decided to take up an offering from each other and with that, we purchased 12 cases of water. We then looked up the Red Cross and started to follow the little purple line on the GPS to the Red Cross office with the hopes of donating the cases of water.

As we drove down the highway I asked the kids to keep their heads up, pay attention to the world around them, and to be creative with their thinking of ways to be a servant and to lend a helping hand to the community that surrounded us as we drove into the heart of Memphis. At one point I asked, “what have you seen?” The responses varied from, “I saw a Goodwill store,” to “farm fields,” to “I see cars.” “STOP looking at things, and start looking at people,” I replied. It was at this point that I turned on this song and told them to let it be their prayer as we drove into town:

Not long after, we noticed a couple of gentleman sitting on a curb with a young boy probably no older than 9 or 10 years old. From the back of the van I heard a, “look at those people.” I said, “what about ‘em??” Then emphatically, a voice said, “turn around.” So we did, and we began to see people…and we offered them bottles of water. We continued to follow that little purple line, with a few extra turns here and there, letting the GPS recalculate to help us finally reach our Red Cross destination. As we zig-zagged through a part of Memphis I probably will never see again, we gave away 20-25 bottles of water to people sitting at bus stops, a gentleman walking down the street pulling some luggage, and a couple who were having car trouble at a gas station. We didn’t change the world, but we gave away a few bottles of water. We finally made it to the Red Cross, unloading 10 cases into their lobby for use however they saw fit. We also kept a part of one case. Who knows, maybe tomorrow God will lead us to someone that needs a bottle of water.

Who do you see on your way to work on these hot summer days? Who could use the blessing of a bottle of water? I think I might start carrying a case in my truck – and hand them to the workers I pass on Dirks road as I drive to the office each day, or maybe pull into the bus stop at Hulen Mall or the one next to Walgreens and offer a bit of bottled grace to those enduring the heat as they wait for a ride to work.

When you pay attention to your world, what do you see? Fields? Cars? Stoplights? Or do you see people?

Our evening devotions on Saturday night were coming to a close. The kids were picking up their Bibles and packing away their journals when someone piped up and asked, “are we going to church in the morning?” I had not mentioned the idea of attending worship since long before the trip. In fact, the last time I even hinted at it was in the ‘what to pack’ list telling the kids to bring a nice pair of jeans or slacks just in case. I was hoping they would recognize that it was Sunday and choose to make worship a priority. Well, no need to doubt these kids. Not only did they want to go to worship, but they also wanted to get up early and go to Sunday school.

We looked up Presbyterian churches in the area and found that St. Charles Presbyterian Church was only a few minutes away from the hotel. We all agreed to get up around 7:15, pack our stuff, meet for breakfast, and then load up and go. We were even early, pulling into the church parking lot at 8:50 a.m. We walked in to the surprise of the early service usher. The members were very kind and welcoming. They showed us around the church, offered donuts and coffee (one gentleman actually warned us about it instead of offering), and introduced us during the worship service. The service was very much Presbyterian and I think all of us were at home with our brothers and sisters in St. Charles.

We got on the road a little after 11:30 a.m. looking to conquer the 285 miles between us and Memphis. We decided to get a few miles behind us before stopping to make grilled cheese sandwiches at a roadside picnic area. We finally pulled into our hotel in Millington, TN (just north of Memphis) around 6:00 p.m.

I haven’t posted anything about our devotions today because things were a little different for the kids today. I had hoped that we would make worship a part of our day, and we did. In addition, our evening devotions will be to look at the daily lectionary readings and to talk about how it can be used as a devotional tool. A part of this trip is to hopefully give the kids the confidence in knowing that they can be learners/disciples/followers of Jesus Christ even at home. In order to do that, they need the tools and skills to sit down at home alone or with friends or (gasp) with their families and look at scripture or music and to seek some time in the presence of God. So, I want to share with you exactly what they kids have as their devotional guide for today.

Take a look below and follow the simple instructions. What would you add to this to make it more your own, personal devotion time just by using the lectionary readings provided? I hope you’ll consider talking to the kids about how you do personal devotions so that they know they aren’t alone in their desire and struggle to be consistent with seeking time with and understanding of our God.

Church Seasons

Lectionary Readings

Today’s Scripture:

Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

What the heck is a lectionary?

The lectionary is a collection of scriptural readings from the Bible that can be used for worship, study or other theological uses. It follows the Church year in a 3-year cycle and provides scriptural recommendations that go along with the current season of the church year. The lectionary has readings for every day of the year.

My Devotion for Today:

Pick out two of the lectionary readings for today and read through them.

The Main Idea Was:

I Think It Might Mean…

The Questions I Have are…

Walking to the Arch

Today was our first day without any place to be other than where we are. It was a nice change in pace. We had a great evening last night at Cameron’s house with dinner and a movie outside in her beautiful lawn. We watched Princess Bride if you were curious.

Today we left the hotel a little before noon. The kids wanted to go see the Gateway Arch, so we set out to find it following the little purple line on the GPS. With a little help, it finally led us to the 630 foot tall arch overlooking the mighty Mississippi. It was an impressive sight, both the arch and the river.

As we drove up to the arch right next to the river with it’s waters lapping just a few inches from the sidewalk, we noticed something sticking up out of the water about 30 feet from the bank. It was the top 2 feet of a statue of Tom Sawyer…almost completely under water. The flood waters were probably 12 feet or more above normal. I asked one gentleman how high the waters were and his response was, “I don’t know, they’re higher than I’ve seen in 20 years, though.”

The Gateway Arch

The kids enjoyed the sights at the arch. The huge green open areas were a welcome sight compared to our dry and rough lawns at home. The Arch stood magificantly in the clear sky.

It was a bad idea to go sight seeing at a major tourist spot on a Saturday in July. The lines were long and the crowds were big. Despite all of this, four of the kids jumped in line to buy tickets to ride to the top. Two hours after they got in line one of the kids called to say they just bought their tickets and it was going to be another hour before they could even start the trip up to the top. The rest of us found a way to pass the time by taking a paddle-boat tour or trying to take shelter from the sun in the shadow of the arch.

Our Rations

After the kids made it to the top and back down, we were all tired and hungry, so we made our way back to the hotel for dinner.

I’m sure that you have been wondering how we have been surviving since we’ve basically been living out of the back of a trailer and coolers. Well, I’ll just have to say, it is difficult, but we are making it. We have been relying on the generosity of a lot of people as we’ve made our way here. Tonight we struggled to make it by on grilled chicken, onions, bell peppers and extras like sliced apples, carrots, and ice cream sandwiches for dessert (a surprise from Cameron).

A Selfless Act

Mike wasn’t sure if it was safe, so he decided to sacrifice himself and eat more than his fair share to make sure it wasn’t going to get any of us sick. We are blessed to have such selfless sponsors on the trip. I’m not sure what we would do without them.

We stay one more night here in St. Louis. We are thinking about visiting Forest Park tomorrow as we leave town for Memphis. It’s one of the largest city parks in the nation (500 acres larger than central park). We’ll let you know if we visit.

Jesus says, "Go Frogs!"

I left something at the church in Springfield Friday morning. Thankfully the church secretary was driving through St. Louis Friday evening and she was able to bring it to us. The only problem is that it was after dark and I didn’t know where I was going to meet her. Let me just say that “lets meet somewhere around the intersection of I-44 and I-270″ are not good plans when you’re a Texan lost in St. Louis.

OK, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’ll let you know what our plans are for the day….honestly I don’t know. The girls have been in their room scheming and planning. I’ve heard rumblings of the arch and some park that’s supposed to be bigger than Central Park. We’ll see how the day goes and tell you about it later tonight.

We stopped at a candy store and a place boasting to be the “World’s Largest Gift Store.” I know you’re impressed. I did affirm one thing that I always suspected: Jesus is a TCU fan and I have proof!!!

Our Music Spotlight for the day is Everything I need by Kutless. It comes from an album titled “It Is Well” and has both modern and traditional hymns.

I hope you enjoy the song. It would be great if the kids could get some feedback from some of you about your thoughts on this song. We have been having great discussions each evening based on the songs and a scripture for the day. The scripture selected for tonight’s devotion is Psalm 23. Here are the lyrics to the song:

When every step is so hard to take
And all of my hope is fading away
When life is a mountain that I can not climb
You carry me, Jesus carry me.

You Are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need

When every moment is more than I can take
And all of my strength is slipping away
When every breath gets harder to breathe
You carry me, Jesus carry me

You Are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need

I need You
You are everything I need
I love everything about You

You Are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need