Enjoying the Moment

Kira came home with some amazing news last week!  She is getting a new job as a school social worker.  This is something she has wanted for a long time, and we are both super excited about it.  However, it does change our schedule around a bit.  For the past 5 years, Kira and I have both been able to take Mondays off.  Since I’m pretty busy on the weekends, it’s been wonderful to have a day off with her.  However, this past Monday was our last day together for a while.  We decided to take advantage of the moment by heading up to Mount Charleston for a snowy hiking adventure.  We traveled up a canyon to Big Falls.  It wasn’t a particularly long or difficult hike, but it was so much fun to check out the snow filled landscape.  We climbed up to the falls and we slide down different gullies.  It was an amazing day.  It was also an important reminder to cherish the time we have. 

We are heading into a super busy season in the church.  It is my hope and prayer that you would be able to take the time to see all of God’s Blessings that are in front of you today.  I hope you can find a moment to be still and know that God is with you!

Blessings!

PB

A gorgeous day!

Down the falls...

Breaking through the snow bridge

Trying to fall into the Abyss... :)

Relationships!

It’s March, and that means we are already preparing for summer!  One of my favorite summer events is our annual mission trip to Los Angeles.  This trip is incredibly powerful, and our youth have done an outstanding job serving there.  However, I have to admit, the Los Angeles Mission trip is really challenging for me.  I prefer staying active building houses or cleaning up after natural disasters. The Los Angeles trip is different.  Most of the trip is based on relationships.  We spend hours sitting with people who are homeless.  We wash their feet.  We talk to them.  We listen… We learn about their joys, fears, and sorrows.  On other trips, if I am approached by someone who is really annoying or smelly, I can choose to work in another area, and I meet other people.  However, the LA trips force me to take a deep look at myself and my own biases.  I have learned a lot simply by forming these relationships.

Skid Row... It can be uncomfortable, but it is a
 powerful place to build relationships.

Today, our Scripture passage tells us how deeply Christ cared about each of us.  He didn’t just work where he was comfortable.  He reached out to everybody.  It is my prayer that we could all learn from His example.  I hope we can all remember that Christ came to this earth for each of us… We are loved just as we are!

Blessings!

PB

Lost and Found

Have you ever lost something really important?  Those moments that can bring about feelings of anxiety, fear, and anger… I know, because I lose things all the time!  I will tear my house apart on a regular basis looking for things that I have misplaced.  It’s not a fun way to spend my time!

A while back I lost my wallet.  I took it with me on a bike ride, and when I returned, it was gone.  I retraced my entire ride, but after a few hours, I thought I would never see it again.  However, later the next night, there was a knock on my door.  It was two 10 year old boys.  Both of them were named Jose, which I thought was kind of neat…  They had found my wallet on the street, and they saw my address on my driver’s license.  I couldn’t believe these kids had come all the way to my house instead of just running off.  In the end, I was blessed to catch a glimpse of God’s love in the world!

This week we are looking at a very famous parable about finding the lost.  Life is filled with chaos and stress, and it’s easy to become lost.  However, Christ is always searching for us.  God is always calling for us to return home to the joy of grace, love, and acceptance.  It is my prayer this week that we would never give up on ourselves as lost.  We are loved, and nothing will ever change that!

Blessings!

PB

Second Chances

God is nurturing each one of us until we succeed.
Let's share this love with others!

A couple of weeks ago, I rode my bike to the hospital to visit a patient.  I love bicycling, but going to the hospital can be kind of tricky… When I drive, I just walk in.  When I bike, it’s a little more of a process.  (I will be that awkward guy who you may see putting on a clean shirt and pants over his biking clothes in random parking lots.)  Anyway, I was just buttoning up my shirt when a couple of guys approached me.  They looked kind of rough, and I immediately judged them.  I thought they may be trying to steal my bike, but I decided I would say hello to them anyway.  Fortunately, they responded in a very friendly manor.  We talked about bikes for a bit, and when they found out I was a pastor, they asked for a prayer.  It was really an incredible moment!  It was also a really awkward moment, as I was still wearing my biking shorts and was in the middle of buttoning up my shirt, but it was a wonderful time of prayer.

It’s so easy for me to judge the stranger. I am guilty of this all the time, but if I had let my judgments get the best of me, I never would have had this wonderful experience.  God sees us each as we are, and God loves us just as we are.  The scripture lesson we are looking at this week discusses giving one another a second chance.  God will keep nurturing us until we succeed, and we have the opportunity to do the same for one another. 

God’s Peace and Blessings!!!

PB

Living in Lent

So, babies get sick… a lot! It seems like as soon as our kid recovers from one illness, he will catch something else.  That means my wife and I are always low on sleep, and we are forever trying to chase him down to wipe his nose. (Quite the process!) It’s getting a little exhausting... However, this is just what babies do, and we just have to try and care for our little guy as best as we can.

Providing for others can be difficult, but when I see a child suffering, I want to go out of my way to help.  However, there are other people that I find harder to empathize with.  They seem ready to tear others down in order to life themselves up. (This is certainly true for all of our politicians!) In this season of Lent, I want to be better at giving people the benefit of the doubt.  I want to start to get rid of preconceived stereotypes, and I want to look at each person as a child of God.  I hope to be better at seeing each person as someone in need of love.  Are you called to look at the world differently this season?  Is there some way you can incorporate more grace and love into your life?  I hope we can all give one another the benefit of the doubt and reach out to a world in need.

Blessings!

PB

Moments of change...

Earlier this week, I had to take a few hours to finish childproofing our house.  This was probably something I should have done a long time ago, but it always seemed like I had more time.  However, the baby has recently made it his full time job to try and pull everything out of our cabinets that he can.  Everything he can reach in the pantry has been thrown on the floor.  He’s pulling out pots and pans to bang on, and just a couple days ago I caught him trying to run off with the toilet bowl cleaner.  Needless to say, it was long past time to get the house ready. 

It’s amazing to me how quickly everything changes.  A month ago, our baby was a totally different person.  It’s hard to imagine what things will be like a few years from now… As humans, we are always changing.  It’s easy to watch the milestones of our 10month old baby, but I think growth and change are important at any age.  This week, we are looking at a Bible story of a very powerful moment for Jesus and the disciples.  It was a mountain top experience that changed everyone.  The disciples saw the power of a sacrificial love, and this forever changed their lives.  Today, I wonder how you have seen the power of love… Have there been moments where love showed up and forever changed you?  I hope we can all take some time in the days ahead to open our hearts and really feel God’s Spirit!

Blessings!

PB

Broken but willing to Love

“Feed my Sheep”

-John 21:17

Things can get out of hand on these mission trips...

Throughout the Bible we are called to serve others.  When we share God’s Love, the Word comes alive.  However, I am one of those people who will try to help someone, but I often wind up making things worse.  I remember on one of my mission trips to Mexico, I was supposed to be a youth leader.  However, the work site I was organizing was a disaster.  We wound up trying to build a house on a hill of fire ants and wasps.  The kids kept stepping on broken bits of trash sticking out of the ground.  I forgot to give a child his medication to treat diabetes, and I was pulled over by the Mexican Federal Police for driving too fast.  Finally, the other leaders and I had made a decision to take a kid on the mission trip even though he hadn’t provided the proper paperwork.  The child’s parents and his youth director had promised there wouldn’t be any problem.  (This was back in a simpler time when the border patrol never bothered to check documentation.  They just waved you through.)  However, on this day, the guards asked to see everyone’s passport or birth certificate.  Part of me wondered if I would have been better off staying home in bed instead of trying to share God’s love….

Those trips I took over the summer should have been a disaster!  However, we always walked away with an amazing experience… (Thankfully, the police did not ticket me or throw me into jail, and the border guards didn’t look close enough at our paperwork to realize there was a problem.)  All our kids made it home safely.  We built a house, and God was present.  In this world, we will never be able to serve someone perfectly.  However, if we love, God will still bring hope.  Today, I hope you are inspired to breathe life into the world around you.  Let’s take risks and share God’s Good News!

Blessings!

PB