Father

Sent

31 Hours a Day

There was some research released recently based on a study in the United Kingdom and in the United States that found that typical urban middle class people now have so many timesaving devices that they can squeeze into 24 hours the same quantity of tasks that used to take 31 hours only ten years ago. Multitasking has dramatically increased our productivity, and the result is that we are squeezing more and more into our 24.

And this multitasking doesn't end with our work day. We are multitasking at home, sometimes carrying on as many as three tasks at once (watching TV, talking on the phone, and internet social networking). For the first time in history, eating has taken second place to internet activities in the evening at home.

When I first read this study (admittedly while surfing the internet), I immediately wondered about the social consequences of our evolution. It only makes sense that the more we compress into our day, the more something else is going to be forced out. I have a feeling that it is our relationships that are being strangled. Clearly, Americans are spending less time face to face with our friends and family in meaningful connectedness. Social networking and mobile communications give the impression that we are connected, but they are a poor substitute for the flesh and blood intimacy that our humanity requires -- and the relationships that we were created to have.

Thirty-one hours a day sounds like a formula for disaster. And while employers are rewarding our abilities to multitask, the cost to families, friendships, and wholeness of life maybe taking its toll.

I enjoy the simplicity of life spent with people. To love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves seems to be at the center of the message of Jesus. Love is pretty shallow when it's reduced only to words or an idea, but it takes on a greater depth in the time spent with the people we care about. If we're going to sacrifice anything to "get ahead", it seems to me that we ought to be sacrificing some of those things consuming the quantity of our existence in order to ensure some quality to our life.

"Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live" (Margaret Fuller).

"We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years" (George Carlin).

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

The Center

Indifference

Update from America's West

The move is complete. We arrived in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, May 16th. It was a long and miserable trip across the country. I went to a doctor in Iowa who diagnosed me with acute bronchitis. I am still feeling the lingering affects of it since I have not been able to take the necessary time to rest and get well.

Brenda had her first experience with her new job on Tuesday. She met everyone she will be working with and got a flavor for what all her job will entail. She will begin full-time work on Tuesday. I had a job interview on that same day, and I was offered a job teaching at risk youth at an alternative high school. I will begin teaching in July. We are so grateful for the Lord's provision. Income should start coming in mid-June...

We will have internet at our home next week, so I will begin to post more regularly on The Wayfarer at that time. Thanks to all of you who have supported and prayed for us! We are thankful for you!

Appreciation

When Brenda and I made the decision to return to the States from Ireland, we knew that one of the challenges we faced was finding a place to live. We didn't know where we were going to call home or where we were going to put down our roots. To be honest with you, we felt a bit lost and homeless. That's when we got the email from Brian and Amanda Moore inviting us to come to Maryland and make the transition in their furnished basement until we figured out where we wanted to go.

Since February, the Moore's have been our most gracious hosts, and we have valued our time with them. Brenda and I are so thankful for their generosity and hospitality. Not only have they provided a place for us to live & meals for us to eat, but they have provided an atmosphere for healing accompanied by their most valued friendship.

Brian and Amanda, thank you!

"I was a stranger, and you invited me in" -- Jesus (Matthew 25:35).

Mothers

Today we pray for:

• New mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility
• Expectant mothers, wondering and waiting
• Those who are tired, stressed or depressed
• Those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family
• Those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty
• Those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities
• Those who have children they do not want
• Those who raise children on their own
• Those who have lost a child
• Those who care for the children of others
• Those whose children have left home
• Those whose desire to be a mother has not been fulfilled
• Those who are grieving the loss of their mother
• Those who never knew their biological mother
• Those who have experienced the wonder of an adopted mother's love
• Those families separated by war or conflict

Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender, and that they may lead their children to know and do what is good, living not for themselves alone, but for God and others.

Amen.

Author Unknown

I've Got Some Explaining to Do

It's hard to believe, but come autumn I will have been serving in ministry of one sort or another for twenty years as pastor, youth pastor, or missionary. I have spent most of my life among the Brethren*: baptized at age 10, called to ministry at age 18, licensed at 19, ordained at 30, and married at 33. I have been nurtured at the bossom of the Brethren and have been shaped by their unique approach to life and faith.

Suckled on the Word and immersed in the Great Commission, my understanding of Jesus illicited a response from me to give my life to serve him and his people. That adventure of faith has taken me to places far beyond where I could have imagined I would find myself and filled my life with the countless faces of people I have come to love. My experiences in the church have profoundly shaped my life -- for the better, I might add -- and it is those experiences and the example of Jesus that continue to shape me.

Things changed dramatically for me eight years ago when I moved to Ireland. For the first time in my life, I was taken out of church. I confess: I liked it out there. Catch your breath while I explain...

Being a missionary took me out of my culture (and my colored world-view), out of my country (and my surroundings of familiarity), and outside of the church. Never before had my life been filled with so many people who weren't part of my church (or any church for that matter). The whole experience led to a wonderful transition in my heart.

For years I felt an inner tension between what I read in the Gospels about Jesus and his interaction with people and how the church (me included) interacted with people. I couldn't reconcile the difference in my heart although I had found many reasons to justify it with my reason. I've struggled with the growing chasm between the church and everybody else. I've struggled with the church's attitude towards those outside itself. I've struggled with the concept of a church turned outside in -- a church chained to the pew and bound by the walls with little or no regard for those outside it.

To some, this may seem like criticism, and I'll be the first to admit that it probably is. But I know first-hand how the love of the church can change a life (I am one of those), and it grieves me when the Body of Christ is so turned inward and does little else but gather. As I lived on the "outside" as a missionary in Ireland, I began to notice my heart changing towards people. Honestly, the more I was among those "out there", the more I loved them -- and the more I feel called to them.

Brenda and I are leaving the paid employment of the church, but we are not leaving the church. How can you leave yourself? My heart always has been to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) -- to see lives transformed by the love of God -- and that's something that we will continue to give our lives to. To some, it may seem as though I am leaving my calling. To us, however, we're actually walking into it. We are making this move not out of protest but out of a growing love for those who need to know the love of God found in Jesus.

We're moving to Denver with no agenda but to love our neighbors and serve the community in which we live. What the Father wants to do with that is his prerogative. In the meantime, all I can do is be obedient to his stirring in my heart as we follow the example of Jesus.

*I grew up and was licensed to ministry in The Brethren Church. Most recently, we have served as missionaries to Ireland with The Brethren Church. In 1995, I became a member of the Church of the Brethren and was ordained by the Northern Indiana District in 2000. The Brethren family of churches celebrate their 300th anniversary this year! To find out more about these two Brethren bodies, you can go to http://www.brethrenchurch.org or http://www.brethren.org.

Live

Instinct

Another groundhog met its grim fate beneath the wheels of my truck today. I always feel a bit of remorse when I hit an animal, but today I felt responsible for the untimely death of this wayfaring woodchuck. You see, there's an abundance of groundhogs here in western Maryland, and I've been noticing a trend among those that have been found in front of my truck: their instinct causes them to run back to where they come from when they sense danger.

Today as I came upon my victim, I saw it crossing from the right to the left. As it neared the left side of the road, it noticed me bearing down on it...and ran back to where it had come from, crossing right into my path. I had a feeling it was going to do that, but I didn't slow down in time.

Squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks and others all seem to take this suicidal path their instincts tell them leads to safety. I don't know if it's the remorse of this event that caused me to become retrospective today, but I began to think about how often I've been tempted to do the same. In tough times in Ireland, my thoughts were constantly drawn back to the security of my friends in Indiana. During our challenges here in Maryland with our transition, we've been drawn back to the security of our home and friends in Ireland. My fear instinct always draws me back to where I think it's safer.

Having said that, we have the ability to over-ride our fears. I wonder how many times I've missed out on something really good for me or someone else because my fear convinced me to pursue what I thought was the safe option? At this point in our lives, Brenda and I are making the decision to move forward even as I deal with the anxieties we face. There is something (Someone) compelling us to move forward.

"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe" (Proverbs 29:25). I would add that fear in general can be a trap. How many of us base our life decisions on fear? How many followers of Christ allow our fear to convince us that security and safety should be our number one pursuit?

The lesson of the groundhog for me today is simple: don't let your fear take you back to a place offering only false security.

"Jesus said, 'Anyone who begins to plow a field but keeps looking back is of no use in the kingdom of God'" (Luke 9:62).

It's Official...

It's official.

We're moving to Denver.

We booked our Penske truck for Wednesday, May 14th

and are due to arrive in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, May 18th.