Far off cries

Given…

Evie…Cleire…

Erin…Trystan…Ginny…

Gillian, Elan, Zoey…

Alex…

God in Northern Ireland

I came across this very endearing ministry about a month ago while researching how God is at work in Northern Ireland. This place and these people, as I’ve talked with a few of them now, are bringing God’s healing touch of reconciliation to an area that has sort of been forgotten by the world.

Not more than 10 years ago this area was waging its own holy war, killing one another in the defense of denomination. The bullets have ceased but the bitterness and hatred has infected the generations to come. God bless the Murlough House and His many other brave outposts throughout the UK.

The boy and the Lake

A young boy named Reese came to stay with us this past week. He was/is your typical boy, at least nowadays. He came armed to the hilt with stuff. He brought his X-Box Live, his I-Pod, his Rockstar gaming equipment (two guitars, drum set and microphone), he had golf clubs with him, his trumpet (which he didn’t play) and a slue of other things that for all intensive purposes have become what he and many of us have come to call our passtime. Reese is 11 and full of imagination…all the depths and nooks a young boy created in the image of God is made with…

Reese is interesting in that he spoke of fishing, and hiking, and tennis and biking…many things that by default act counter to spending hours on end in front of a tv watching dvd’s, or gaming away the day while the sky outside goes from light to dark without him even noticing. I heard in his very young voice a tension between his wild and what has become his domesticated self…an all too familiar yarn that defines young boys today (and older ones for that matter too).

my little pastors

So…why I thought I’d be able to head out into the rekindled warmth of summer’s approach up here in Portland, and not be completely deterred from my agenda of afternoon homework in anybody’s guess. I’m a sucker for good weather…and for me, especially being up here in the Pac. Northwest, good weather is defined as almost anything not consisting of gray sky.

So, toss a little sunshine in the sky with white billowy clouds floating free and alone; throw some worship around my neck as I walk draped in guitar, and…and this really is what does me in forever and again…sprinkle some runny-noses and smiles running at me with awkward wonky 3 year old legs…(sigh)…and watch me melt.

The house just across the street from my Seminary apartments is often teeming with kids…literally escaping out the doors. The Mom there, along with the Dad, run a day-care of sorts for the better half of the neighborhood, providing much needed care for Seminary parents who otherwise would have to have their kids play tag along to work…no fun for anyone.

Today it was Jade, Josie and Eva, although there were others, who bid for my attention. I might as well have walked up with a circus act in my hands because these kids just flocked to the music coming from my guitar. I have to admit, I felt like the pied piper a bit…and then as if confirmation came down straight down from heaven itself, my friend Ben turned the corner a good ten minutes into my children’s sermon/worship session and said…”Hey, there’s the Pied Piper.”  

Pancakes, Prayer and a Princess…

If you know me you know that I usually don’t ever have trouble sleeping…I’m not necessarily what you’d term a deep-sleeper, as I in fact wake up a good few times through the night, but, heading back toward dreams has never been a problem I’ve suffered.

And such was the case, and the exception late last night around 3:00AM. I literally opened my eyes after only one or two clarifying blinks smashed against the pillow, then, as if led by the strangeness of it all, sat straight up in bed. Very odd. I started to look around the room wondering if I my computer’s volume had malfunctioned turning the  violined night into screaming strings. I then looked over at my roommate wondering if he had simply woken, and, in turn, caused me to. He was however rhythmically busy with sleep. I then looked down at my cell phone sitting at the foot of my bed charging away its night…it too looked fast asleep. But for some reason I thought, grab it and have a look anyway. 

Multi-media message awaiting…

I thought to myself, “great, now my phone is busted…I don’t get media messages…I can’t even send texts (yeah, I’ve been rockin’ the super-cheap phone for 3 years now…and love it).” Sure enough, after one little click to bring up the multi-media in-box, which I had never seen ’til that moment, there it was…God’s little rise and shine. I saw a picture of my mentor/pastor’s wife Shauna and a caption that I knew came from Brian’s fingers…”off to the hospital!”

I escaped my bedroom with as much stealth as possible, wanting to leave my roommate sleeping fast…hurried across the apartment to the furthest corner to talk without waking anyone and called the man and woman of the hour.

What a gift from God it was to be able to share in an event that I relish from afar, having not yet met someone to live such beauty with. My thoughts sprinted through all the emotions that one must go through in the midst of such baby-times. The shoulder-tap Brian was probably given, rousing him from sleep and off to the hospital…listening to his wife breathe just slightly different than normal on the car-ride over…the wonderful war waged between butterflies and knots in his stomach as he enjoyed every moment of anticipation (they did not know whether it was a boy or a girl before-hand).

(sigh)…I felt elated and exhausted in the very best of ways after Brian hung up the phone around 3:30AM. Amidst the whirlwind of thought I did know one thing with certainty…I could not sleep. And so, I did the only thing I could think of…I made pancakes in honor of what I now know is the Princess that entered the world this morning. She does not know it yet, but she will be growing up in Scotland. Brian’s family is moving to Glasgow to serve at the church I just spent last semester at. They are following God’s lead to eventually plant a church in the Glasgow area.

I thank God that I was awakened from sleep early this morning…how thought of am I… that given any other circumstance other than His hand, I would have kept my eyes shut right on through. I…in a way…was allowed to experience the birth of a child! Having been born again in Christ, given new life, I sat early and in the dark, listening to the joy that is a child coming into this world.

You are blessed little one…your Dad is a strong man with a heart I would consider lucky to follow into ministry, anywhere in the world. Your Mother is like clockwork… resplendent most when she is simply in the throws of being Mom, loving, tending, leading and inspiring her husband to in turn lead well. They, side-by-side, make a concert of leadership and Love that you, one day, will see for all it’s worth.

You have another daughter in the Luse family to Love on Lord. May she be Yours from the moment she drew her first.   

In our current lack of Eden rejoice that the house of God just became a bit more crowded.

Thank you Lord.