Community 4:12

Parents United in Action

Let me introduce you to some of the most amazing women I have ever met.  This is the Brady Parent Mentor group for 2007 - 2008.  Last year we had 5 Mentors, this year we have 9.  I spent an awesome week getting to know these women.  7 of them speak very little English, and I speak very little Spanish, but with the help of a couple bilinguals, we managed to bond quite well, I'd say.  These ladies, most of whom work evening jobs on top of caring for several children and running a household, will be working at Brady for 10 hours/week for a very small stipend.  Monday - Thursday, for two hours they will work in a classroom assisting struggling students.  On Fridays we all meet as a group.  I'll bring in some trainers to help equip the women in educational, life, and parenting skills, but more importantly, we will "do life" together.  The Mentor group will become a support network who will help each other get through the tough circumstances that will come up this year in each of their lives.  We will laugh a lot, and cry a fair amount, too.  And we will eat some awesome Mexican food every week!  I've said it before, but I can't say it enough . . . this is absolutely my favorite part of all the work we do in Aurora.  And Aurora better watch out, because these ladies are Parents United in ACTION and they are becoming empowered to transform their school and community.

Fighting Against the Odds

Had a very humbling experience this morning.  I am working with a terrific group of kids at Bardwell Elementary.  All six of them have great potential, and my job is to provide them a little extra challenge.  Today we talked about Problem Solving and I asked each of them to share a problem they wanted to solve.  Two of them said they wanted to get their dads out of jail.  One of them said she wanted to get her dad to stop getting drunk.  At least half of this group is already in a battle to fight the odds . . . the odds that they will become a captive to crime or drugs. God, PLEASE help something in their lives spark a flame in these children that will inspire them to become the world-changing people you created them to be.

Hybels on Social Justice

Just read a great post on Jim Wallis' blog entitled, "Save Souls or Feed the Poor?"  He links to the Beliefnet blogalogue that this week focused on a "debate" between Billy Hybels of Willowcreek (representing evangelisim) and Paul Rausenbush (representing social justice).  It actually isn't a debate at all, but a refreshing dialogue that tries to eliminate the idea that the gospel is "either-or."  Both agree it is a "both-and."  I love the message Hybels consistently gives--in word and action--that the evangelical church can be a "both-and" kind of church!

When There's Nothing You Can Do

I have begun to accept the fact that there are some things I can do something about and there are those things that I just can't.    I could do something about the fact that a neighborhood kid was playing in our yard with his only pair of shoes on--and they were virtually soleless.  Well, actually, my son could do something about that--he could give him a pair of his shoes, which he eagerly did.  But, we can't (at least easily or obviously) change the circumstances in this little boy's life that cause him to walk around with soleless tennis shoes.

I am learning to accept that.  But, I still have a very hard time accepting the fact that there is nothing I can do when a friend is struggling with depression.  I intimately know the darkness of depression, but thankfully I have not been there for a while.  So I know that there is no way to "fix it" when someone is struggling in that way.  But I still find it hard to accept that when I see someone I care about suffering.  I have a friend in that place right now.  Sitting with her doesn't help.  Talking with her doesn't help.  Praying with her doesn't help.  It is hard to hang up the phone or leave her side knowing she is in the same miserable place she was before I talked to her. 

I am thankful there is a God who can do those things that I can't.   

School-Business Partnerships

Finally!  I think we have found a way that some CCC attenders can actually serve in their area of expertise.  I have always thought it seemed a little sad to have doctors or lawyers volunteering their time to help collect school supplies.  Not that serving just to serve is not a good thing, but when people have such expertise, it seems like a waste not to be able to put those skills to work in under-resourced areas.  Thanks to an innovative new program at East Aurora High School, we may be able to do just that.  They are forming a Career Advisory Board this year.  The purpose of the board is to get representatives from a wide variety of careers who can serve as speakers for high school students or provide job shadowing or internship opportunities.  I attended the Community Advisory Meeting at East High today where they presented the new Career Pathways program that will start during the 2009-2010 school year.  They are doing many things to prepare for that academic restructuring, and this Career Advisory Board is one of those things.

The kick-off meeting for this new Carere Board is next Friday at East High.  I already know of 2 CCC businessmen who plan to attend and join this Board.  I hope we can get lots and lots of Christ-followers representing all kinds of careers to be a part of that Board so they can mentor and help provide new opportunities for low-income students.  You just never know what kid might decide to become a civil engineer instead of dropping out of school because one person chose to serve in their area of giftedness.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in being a part of, let me know!

Finding God's Love

I am praying for a little boy that lives down the street.  Lots of stuff going on at home.  Lots of people who have given us plenty of reasons why our boys shouldn't play with him.  Lots of reasons why he probably does not feel a lot of love.

This weekend as part of our Fall Ignite series at CCC, we have all been praying about who we could invite to church with us, to help more people find their way back to God.  The boys had several new friends they wanted to invite to come with us this first weekend.  None of those friends could come.  A few minutes before we were to leave for the Grand Opening festivities at the Yellow Box, this little boy shows up on our doorstep wanting to play.  Without even asking us, the boys invite him to come with us.  He claims to go to a church every Sunday, but he doesn't know the name of it, so he said he'd like to visit ours.  He asked whatever relative was at home if he could come with us for about 6 hours.  They didn't need to talk with us--just said, "yes."

So, off we went and had a great time.  Our little friend was very well behaved the whole time.  I sat through the adult message where most of us had tears in our eyes at one point or another hearing about God's love for us, and I just kept praying that as our little friend was hearing a similar message down in Kids' City that he was feeling a love like he had never felt before.  And that love would be enough to fill him up so that he would not wind up in a Juvenile Detention Home in Wisconsin like his older brother.  He didn't say much after the service, but the boys asked him if he'd like to come back and he said, "Every week."

There may be lots of reaons not to love this kid.  But, I hope we have the courage to help him get a glimpse of what God's love feels like.

Headline Hits Close to Home

The headline in the Beacon News yesterday read, Auroran Killed on His 19th Birthday.  We all read it as we sat around the breakfast table.  That night around the dinner table, Brian says, "I found out why my new friend Dominic wasn't at school yesterday.  The boy we read about in the paper was his cousin."  I usually pray for the boys each night before bed, but last night I asked Brian to pray as I lay next to him.  My mind had long since moved past the story from the paper.  But Brian's hadn't.  "God, please help Dominic not be too sad about his cousin dying."  His first, but unfortunately probably not his last, experience of having a friend lose a loved one to gang violence. 

Churches Unite

The churches of Aurora and the Fox Valley have recently united in ways I have not seen before . . . on a common mission to prevent Planned Parenthood from opening in Aurora.  Across all denominations, churches are coming together for prayer vigils, community forums, and in public statements.  I know such unity is what God desires.  I pray that the unity and passion we are seeing to protest the abortion center will continue around such life and death issues as the atrocities in Darfur, the war in Iraq, hunger, and lack of access to basic medical care.  There are so many things that break God's heart.  I dream of the day that churches everywhere are working relentlessly to rid the world of all life-destroying injustices.

Young Minds at Work!

I love seeing children excited about learning.  One of the advantages of having our kids at a District 131 school is that they are incredibly receptive to and encouraging of parental involvement--maybe in part because it is not a very common thing to see parents in classrooms.  Early on this year, I proposed to Erik and Brian's teachers that I come in every week and work with some of the more advanced kids in each class to provide a little extra challenge.  Both teachers jumped on the idea, and I started our "enrichment groups" today.  There are five 4th graders and six 3rd graders the teachers identified.  I was so impressed with the enthusiasm for learning these kids showed.  I am no teacher by any means, so I plan on feeding off their interests and ideas to create engaging activities that challenge them to think outside the box.  I fully expect that I am going to learn more than any of them do and look forward to this opportunity to build relationships with these kids from the community.  If anyone has any experience doing this kind of thing or has any ideas or words of wisdom for me, please do tell!

Discerning God's Call

I love how God works.  It was just about two years ago that Scott and I sat down with a family who had made a missional move to East Aurora many years ago.  One of their sons had grown up here and was off at college, and the youngest was still in elementary school.  They sat so patiently with us as we shared our sense that God might be calling us to East Aurora, but our strong fears and hesitations about heeding that call.  We listened to their children tell us that they would not change the experience they have had for anything.  We listened to the parents talk about what an incredible bonding and spiritual growth journey their family had been on.  And we walked away from that meeting feeling like a move to East Aurora might be more of an opportunity than a sacrifice.  It was a pivotal evening for us.

Today, we had the honor of sitting "on the other side of the table."  There is a family from CCC that is feeling God is calling them to a different kind of lifestyle.  They aren't exactly sure what that looks like, but there is a sense that He might be calling them to East Aurora.  They are much further along in their journey than we were when we sat down with the Gerhards, so I am not sure we were able to provide any perspective that they didn't have, but it was still a joy and pleasure to talk with them about our experience of living here for a few short months and listening to some of their dreams and promptings.

Not sure where God will lead them, but I just had to smile at what one two hour conversation had done for us, and pray that we might someday help another family have the confidence to make a missional move the way the Gerhards helped us.