my burden

Wow. Has anyone ever been to Willow Creek Community Church? I returned home last night from the 3 day children's ministry conference. I knew Willow was a large facility. But, I am speechless in trying to describe the enormity of it. I will just say. . . . WOW. Can I tell you how enocuraging it was to be in the presence of over 4,000 people who are totally commited to children's ministry? Not only that, but they are gathered together in an effort to equip themselves with as many tools as possible to do their ministry to the BEST of their ability! Four thousand adults who are affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children for the kingdom. It was awesome to be a part of that.
Well, among many other countless things I was able to take away from the conference, I feel like I was clearly able to identify my "burden". You see, not all burdens are a bad thing. God doesn't want us to carry burdens on our own, because He is right there to help us lift them. But, I learned that he does allow us to feel burdened and weighed down by things in our world, and He is glorified when we turn to him and proclaim "Lord, you can count on ME to do something about this!" I learned that 50% of children raised in evangelical christian homes will walk away from their faith. I learned that less than 10% of kids who attend church have spiritual conversations with their parents. I learned that our church programs for kids have never been better, but that faith transference to our children has never been worse, and that family challenges have never been greater. I learned that as a culture, we have learned to outsource for everything. And, we are outsourcing our children's spiritual training to the church, where the child spends about one hour each week. These things burden me. Children's ministry needs to be more than just teaching kids about the bible and God. That job is awesome and the church needs to do it. But, we need to train FAMILIES on how to have spiritual conversations. We need to address these issues in the FAMILY. We need to teach parents how they can have a powerful role in the spiritual development of their kids. And another burden that I feel is that we need to equip families with a biblical world view. And we need to encourage them to KNOW that their children CAN and WILL change the world. And they are worth SO MUCH MORE than just pursuing pleasure or fun or some form of success. If a child knows that he/she is made in the image of God and are designed for a purpose and will change the world. . . . if the child truly KNOWS this because they were raised in a home where parents believe this. . . I believe they will use this knowledge when they are making decisions. When they are faced with tough choices, they will know how much God values them and that they are worth SO MUCH to him, that their deicsions really are important and their behavior really does matter and they have so much to offer! Anyways, I'm rambling. But, I am so pumped. I know God wants me to use this burden I feel for families. He wants me to do something about it! I'm not sure what. . . . but I trust that will be revealed in time. And there are so many things that I get excited about, I need God to reveal clearly what I can do. So, it was a great conference and there were many other things I was able to take away as well.
I came home last night at 9:30pm to a houseful of my Communitas team. Ahh, it was great to see them all. And it was a gorgeous night. We were even able to sit outside and build a little fire. It felt like July weather! And one of our team members, Kate, just happens to be a "home stager". Gee, how convenient. So, she gave us a free consultation on a variety of things in the house. She helped us rearrange some furniture and gave some helpful hints about what home buyers look for. Very cool. And while she was doing that, Sonyia served me by cleaning my entire kitchen. Wow, that was such a gift. Showing love is such a cool thing. I think Jesus knew what he was talking about when he repeated over and over and over "love one another".
OK, now it's back to life. We get to go to Collin's baptism today. Matt (timm's cousin) and his wife Tracy chose Timm to be Godfather. How cool. He is honored. And I am excited to share my "burden" with them as a family who is committing to raise their beautiful little boy in the ways of the Lord.
And now I am going to visit with my husband, who had to go the extra mile this week while I was gone, and did not feel the energy to do it. Thanks to all who gave him a hand.