A Cup of Cold Water

I went to church yesterday at A Restoration Church, Pittsburgh.  No surprise there!  That's where you can find me on any given Sunday morning!  Yesterday was different: we had music, singing, a good sermon on Joshua 22, great time with our church family, and Holy Communion.  And, that's where things took on a whole new flavor........

At A Restoration Church, Pittsburgh, we work very hard to include, to welcome, and to make feel special every person who comes.  As my husband passed the communion elements, the passing of the bread went as usual.  Then he began to pass the wine/grape juice.  I wasn't looking behind me, but apparently a lady shook her head at him and must have quietly told him she couldn't have it.  He knows this particular lady has a number of really significant health challenges.  She hasn't been attending very long. He quietly said, I'll be right back.  The accompanist kept playing.  We meet in banquet rooms in a corporate facility.  He went over to the sink and filled one of the communion cups with water and took it over to her. When everyone was served, and he was back in front, he raised his cup to indicate we would all drink together (as is our custom).  As he did, I saw the quick start of tears in his eyes.  For all of us, and obviously for him, it gave totally new significance to a cup of cold water given in My name!  

Post Birth Abortion??? NOT!!!!

Timing is everything! Sometimes it's breath-taking about the timing thing! Our women's Bible study sponsored by A Restoration Church is studying various ethical issues in light of God's truth. The last two weeks we've dealt with abortion. We have also tackled stem cell research, autism, self-image, violence and more.
Yesterday was Dr. Seuss' 108th birthday.
What in the world do abortion and Dr. Seuss have in common?
In its February 28, 2012 issue the Journal of Medical Ethics published and featured an article entitled "After-Birth Abortion: Why Should the Baby Live?" In any other world after birth and abortion would never remotely have anything to do with each other! This article is all about the birth of children who have previously "unexpected" disabilities and what to do about them. The article - in a medical ethics journal no less - suggests post-birth abortion is the option for parents. How can after-birth murder be the same label as pre-birth murder (abortion)? Part of the answer in the article is that newborn babies as well as in-utero babies neither one are real humans.
I looked but I could find NOTHING in God's Word of truth that remotely suports such an egregious travesty! But apart from that - it would seem to me that reason alone would cry "foul" on this one!
AND what does THAT have to do with Dr. Seuss? Well, among many other wise, pithy sayings, he wrote “A person's a person, no matter how small.”!
That's NOT Scripture but it is the truth and we better wrap our minds around it before as a nation we lose our ethical and moral souls forever!
What a opportunity to be salt in such a rotten world and light that pushes back darkness!

For Shame!

every-story-has-two-sides-but.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email" name="1">every story has two sides. but.
(Posted: 26 Jan 2012 09:01 PM PST Written by my friend Shannon Dingle)
Every story has two sides.But.I’ve heard enough first-hand stories from families with special needs about churches who have rejected them.I’m not talking about stories like “well, they just weren’t sure what to do with us.”No, I’m talking about conversations like the one I had with one of our moms after respite, when she, with tears in her eyes, told me, “We love the church. My dad is a pastor. But we don’t go to church anymore, because our last church asked us to leave.”
Please take a moment to process that before you move on. Take a moment to consider how you’d feel if you were asked to leave the church because of your eye color or skin tone or height
or IQ or some other attribute you can’t control. This child wasn't aggressive or dangerous; they were asked to leave because the children's ministry leaders said his autism was too distracting. If I were writing about a church that kicked out a family because their son was black, we’d be outraged. But sometimes when I share the stories I hear from the families we serve in Access, someone responds, “well, you can't really fault the church. They probably just didn’t know how to handle it.”
Maybe it’s because I’m dosed up on enough prednisone to work me into a bit more of a ranty state than usual (and to allow my asthmatic lungs to work), but let me tell you what I think of that sort of response: it’s baloney!
When church leaders kick out kids who aren’t up to the general education expectations they are used to, they don’t need our excuses. They do need grace. And repentance. And yes, training. And prayer. When I see tweets like this one (related to this story) three prayers come to mind: Jesus, help this family.
Jesus, let this church learn from this situation, even if the facts being reported aren’t completely accurate.
Jesus, please come soon. Amen.

Read this and weep!

Denum Ellarby Refused Communion Because He Has Down Syndrome, Parents sayEllarby Re

Denum Ellarby Refused Communion Because He Has Down Syndrome,
First Posted: 1/21/12 04:10 PM ET Updated: 1/21/12 05:34 PM ET
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/denum-ellarby_n_1220896.html?view=print&comm_ref=false" rel="nofollow">React
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Ellarby says her child wasn't allowed to take his first Holy Communion because he has Down Syndrome. In a letter from the Diocese of Leeds, Ellarby was told that her seven-year-old Denum Ellarby lacks the "concentration" necessary to prepare for Communion, according to the BBC. The Diocese also said children can "only proceed to the sacrament of First Communion when they take part in the Church's life and understand the Church's faith"."It's just disgusting," Ellarby told the BBC. "I feel really let down by the Catholic faith."A spokesperson for the diocese told the Catholic Herald "Denum's family has not participated in the regular life of the Church or in the preparation preceding First Communion. We hope that this will change as Denum grows and we are working with him and his family to help him achieve this."The Christian Post reports that Clare and Denum's father Darren have started a petition in support of their son. "They need to have more compassion," Clare Ellarby told the Post. "What they are doing is so cruel." CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Denum Ellarby has autism.

My response:
Thanks, Shannon! This is EXACTLY why there is A Restoration Church in Pittsburgh! This very issue is a huge travesty, great shame and blight on the name of Jesus (Who spent most of His time on earth hanging with sp needs individuals and Who came to restore brokenness in every form!)!
But we must not hide behind the church as an institution clicking our tongues and shaking our heads in Phariseeical disdain unless we personally are clear that this kind of rejection even secretly and silently is NOT
God's way and is hugely destructive of a person's heart - a person Jesus values, loves and died for!

Heart for Love and Life by God's Amazing Grace!

Our 38-year-old son fell in love in February 2010 to God's "perfect" answer to his need and hers. Both have journeyed a long, lonely, rugged road to find each other! They married last August 2010. Yesterday was their 1st wedding anniversary. July 24th 2011 their first "together" child was born - our 7th grandchild!
Our God who loves to surprise His children has been busy doing so for them and us! Even the "mistake" of a "botched" reservation last August charged and paid last October turned into an anniversary celebration at just the right time!
It's a beautiful beginning of two hearts loving each other and loving God and their children together in a pretty incredible story of how God puts broken pieces together into a beauty of restoration and grace!

A Canine Heart Lesson

Our wonderful black Lab Susie left us two weeks ago. She isn't here, and we miss her terribly. She taught us lots of life lessons. Those lessons live on in our hearts!

Some time ago, I made some notes for this blog related to lessons we learned from Susie.

Susie didn't bark. We don't know if she could or if sometime before she came to us she lost that ability. We know she barked before she came to us. Perhaps she was so happy that she didn't feel the need to bark. Susie communicated with her eyes, her tongue and her "stance." When she wanted a treat she would "lick her lips" - it was a clear message. When we took her out to walk, she would "bound" down our driveway and keep looking over her shoulder to be sure one or both of us were following. She loved for me to run with her.

The night she died, she just kept looking straight into my eyes. I knew she was telling me something; I just didn't know what the awful truth was she was communicating. She was dying very soon. I think she knew that. I think she wanted to say, "Thank you for a wonderful life." I think she wanted to say, "I'm going away." All of a sudden her head fell and she collapsed. She was gone!

After she got so sick, she didn't bound down the drive any more. She would very painfully get up and get down very slowly.

One day not too long ago, I was walking her down our steep driveway. All of a sudden her ears stood straight up. I glanced down the drive to see a bunch of deer running across our drive much further down the drive. She didn't bark. But she knew and remembered younger days when she might have gone in chase of those deer.

Susie taught me a "heart lesson": There are people in my world who also have no voice. They may be almost "invisible" living in the shadows. Many of these are people affected by some disability - emotional, physical, mental and certainly spiritual. Susie taught me that I can "hear" and "see" those with "no voice" when God opens my heart! Susie taught me to watch for communication even when there is no voice.

That's what we are doing in ministry to individuals and families affected by brokenness. God is opening our hearts to hear and see - even the unspoken need. Who would think we could learn such a powerful lesson from a dearly loved old black lab?

William Cowper was disabled by severe depression and other emotional brokenness. He spoke in and through his pain in his wonderful hymns. In 1774 he penned these lines:

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill
He measures up His bright designs and works His sov'reign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

... Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.

I'm looking for God's wonders today! I want to hear His voice! I have learned that God's voice sometimes thunders and sometimes it's just a still, small voice. Either way my heart needs to hear and respond!

Ending or Beginning?

NOTE: Restoration Heart has been on an extended "vacation" due to neglect and the tyranny of the urgent! I'm back....................... !

There are many "endings" in life and it seems their "tribe" increases:

• Too little money and too many bills
• Loss of a job
• Loss of a home
• Lies, deceit, slander from "friends"
• Rejection by family and significant others
• Reaching the threshold of heaven personally or with a loved one
• Foolish choices and their consequences
• Growing old(er)
• Depression
• Disease and disability
• Taxes and the IRS
• Too much to do and too little time
• Unrelenting pain of all kinds
• Fear of the future
• Dillusion with government and alarming changes in society

All these circumstances and heart-breaking "milestones" happen and more beside! It may even seem like the end! You may wish for the end!

In the last two weeks, we reached "the end" with our beloved Susie. Susie was our black lab - 13 years old - and one of the greatest gifts we ever received! We never expected her to leave us so quickly and so suddenly. Exactly two weeks ago today our wonderful vet told us that "nothing matters any more." We went to the appoointment with a list of food and snacks wanting counsel on changes we should make or not. We left knowing it wasn't going to matter. Dr. Jim grabbed John's and my hands as we turned to leave the exam room with Susie. He prayed with us thanking the Lord for our wonderful Susie. She was sick beyond healing! No food or care was going to change her plight. Dr. Jim couldn't even hear her heart beat due to all the fluid that was in her chest and belly.

On a scale of 1 to 10 expecially up against the list above, losing our sweet Susie seems way down the list. BUT when our hearts are involved in the pain and loss we experience, the loss - the "ending" - the depth of the pain is HUGE!

Last night I watched a video - "When Disability Hits Home" - which features interviews with Chuck Colson and R.C. Sproul. Each man opens his heart about how his own pain over his seriously disabled grandchild "crashes" into his theology of the sovereignty of God and the ways of God. In the video Joni Eareckson Tada helps tell their stories as well as being living evidence of her own loss and pain. Joni, Chuck and R.C. all affirm their confidence in God!

Most people in our world would consider such devastating circumstances and heart pain clear evidence that God is absent and not benevolent or benign! NOT TRUE!

The truth is that no matter now final the end seems - no matter how pain may drive us to wish this is the end - It is NOT THE END! God is still God! God is still on His throne! God did walk into our world and put on our skin and live in our neighborhood in the Person of Jesus! (John 1:14, The Message)

The end hasn't come. It may be just around the next curve or miles down the road. That doesn't matter! For those who know and love Jesus the end is not the end anyway. It is the beginning of restoration of all that is painful and broken!

Jesus came to meet people - all kinds of people at his or her point of need. He acted to comfort the broken! He didn't just pat them on the head or shoulder and wish them well. He knelt to wash dirty feet. His healing hand touched blind eyes, mute tongues, crippled feet and hands and broken minds.

My heart prayer for you today is that God will reach into your brokenness - that brokenness that seems so final - and bring you restoration. Your brokenness and pain may seem beyond repair or escape. Hang on to Jesus! He WILL take care of you! He still kneels to wash dirty feet and touch blind eyes! Your broken heart matters to Him! Remember this isn't the end when it's the beginning of restoration. That's something ONLY God can do!

Restoration "Epiphany" !

I just came home from teaching our day women's Bible study. The study is "Beauty and the Beast: A Study of Esther, A Restoration Story."

I had an epiphany of sorts while I was teaching. 42 plus years ago John and I had 2 Corinthians 5:18 engraved inside our wedding bands: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (restoration)."

How amazing to realize that A Restoration Church is part of that vision that began so long ago!

Our God is so awesome even in such details of life - gently leading and guiding and bringing us to His place of commitment and service! What incredible, amazing grace!

The Kingdom of God is Like ... The Church!

Jesus told many stories describing the Kingdom of God: as a sower sowing seed, as hidden treasure, as a fishing net, as workers in a vineyard, as a wedding reception, and others. Jesus instructed His disciples to pray: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Dr. Duane Litfin, President of Wheaton College, wrote in a recent alumni magazine: "The Kingdom of God is multinational, multiethnic, multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural, a mosaic whose diversity pleases God." I believe that is true as far as it goes, but I also believe Dr. Litfin left out a huge group that the institutional church largely ignores as well.

The Kingdom of God is also (as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12) like a body made up of many parts - some strong, some weak and all needing to function in concert with each other. Just as it is ludicrous and arrogant for an ear to tell an eye, "I don't need you!" or for any part of the body to say such to another part - it is preposterous for the church to say to some who are in God's Kingdom, in essence: "Go away, we don't need you!" The words may be couched more gently but the result is the same. The segment of our society who bear the label "disabled" are largely disenfranchised by the Church of Jesus Christ. They are too difficult, too much trouble, too costly to include.

Jesus went out of His way for the beggar, the blind, the lame and others like them! Jesus was all about restoration! The Kingdom of God is ALSO multi-able!

When Jesus was at a party one day, he told another story. It is the story of a great banquet party. Jesus explained who should be on the guest list: "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives or your rich neighbors; ... when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed." (Luke 14:12 - 14)

That's the call and commission of the Church of Jesus Christ with all its inclusion of many nations, many ethnic backgrounds, many languages, many cultures into this diverse mosaic - for all these to include yet one last group: the "multi-abled"! That's when the body - the Body of Christ, the Church - is truly complete! When ALL are included, then God's Kingdom has truly come and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven!

When the church on earth looks like what Jesus described and modeled as He walked this earth, then God's Kingdom will truly come on earth! THEN the mosaic is truly complete and truly pleases God! That's the kind of church mosaic A Restoration Church is all about! And there's a seat ready and waiting for YOU!

Sinus Infection, Canoe and FireTeam

Currently I'm battling a sinus infection. Last week it was the aftermath of a canoe trip on the Youghiogheny River which proved to be bone-jarring and muscle cramping. My head hurt and I ached in places I didn't know existed on my body.

So I reverted to my favorite relaxation activity: reading. I chose a "mindless" novel - a book that doesn't require a lot of thought, that is more entertainment than anything else. This book is the story of four brothers who live like a fireteam. They relish any opportunity to take on danger together. They are much stronger together than one by one. That is the idea of a fireteam - a military term for a small unit (usually four or less) who train and fight playing to each man's strengths and compensating for each man's weakness.

My reading started me thinking about the fireteam concept. I certainly don't know much about being a warrior nor do I have military combat experience. BUT I do know more than I wish I did about "combat" - in the home, in the church and in relationships. It's generally nasty stuff! There are always wounds - seen and unseen. Those times and situations are when a real time, real life fireteam is a great resource: one brother or sister locked in a tight unit with two or three others to face the danger together, to strengthen and encourage each other and to form a "safe zone" of protection and hope. It's the one for all and all for one model!

It is the heart wounds of life that cut the deepest. It is those "combat" situations when we most need our own personal "fireteam"! It is the two or three loyal, willing to "go to the mat" friends who stick through danger and never falter who make the best "fireteam."

This word picture could describe A Restoration Church. A Restoration Church is a safe place just and especially because we ARE that fireteam for each other! That is part of what makes A Restoration Church such a safe, special place for heart and life restoration!

Having Jesus as part of the "fireteam" is the Secret Weapon for every struggle! He makes the difference in the outcome of every "battle"! He is the Source of strength and hope anyway and always!

Restoration Heart

It is a long time since I blogged - long summer, lots going on!
Just this week I have been challenged to think about what a restored heart looks like. That would specifically be a heart restored in the only way that works - by the restoration only God can work into a heart and life.
We live in a world no more scarred and marred than it has ever been since just past the dawn of time. In the USA at least there is no longer the thin Christian veneer that existed from our founding to cover the evil that springs from hearts in desperate need of restoration.
William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies. It is the allegorical story of some English schoolboys marooned on a deserted island who try to create a framework for society and governance with catastrophic results. The title of the novel speaks of chaos and the power struggle that exists between God's standards for living and evil. The "lord of the flies" is a reference to Beelzebub or Satan.
That's really the ultimate choice in every relationship, in every culture, in every government or any other structure of life. It's the choice between living under the standard for which we were created - to love God first and most and others next OR reverting to "type" by becoming the worst we can be in those same relationships, culture, government and other structures of life.
God alone can restore the scars of sin. God alone can renew brokenness at the heart level.
Just this week I have personally encountered the same sort of contrast Golding depicts in his novel. My faith is an in-your-face confrontation to those who reject and rebel against God's standard for life. My dilemma is fight or flight. Flight is the easy way. Fight requires standing for truth and right. It's by far the harder path. However to stand and "fight" is ultimately the reason God places His people in any culture. Jesus called it being salt and light. Salt and light both have positive effects. Salt preserves and brings flavor. Light pushes back darkness and reveals truth.
When I was walking our dog Susie in the dark last night, I saw shapes in the shadows. Only light can reveal whether those shapes and shadows are fearful or not.
Being salt in a rotten world and light in darkness requires action. Flight is not an option. Standing firm to be salt and light requires wisdom and effort. It requires seeking strength for the fight from God Himself. He alone has triumphed over sin and evil when His Son hung on a cruel cross outside Jerusalem and then rose triumphant over death and sin. God alone has the power to bring restoration to hearts broken by sin and shame!
Without God's intervention there is no remedy. He is the Creator for all of life. The perfect world He created is broken in every way because of sin. God alone can do something about that brokenness to bring true and total restoration.
The schoolboys lose the thin veneer of civilization that kept them from being the worst they could be. Left to their own devices, their true nature slithers forth in all its ugliness. They cheat, murder, lie, steal and spiral into total savageness. With no adult supervision, they revert to the worst kind of depraved behavior. They lose all restraint. They become on the outside all that their depraved hearts really are on the inside. They don't respect their Creator and they savage each other.
That is what life looks like without Jesus! That is life without God's restoration!
It is not that any of us becomes all that we could or should be in this life. None of us can, but we can start on that path with God's help. When God begins His work of restoration in my heart or yours, His work begins restoration in every way! And then the watching world sees the beauty of God's restoration whether they like it or not!

Cinderella

My husband and I went to Disney World in March 2008. We flew to Orlando for a nephew's wedding and then joined our son's family for two days at Disney World.

We arrived the first day and went straight to Cinderella's castle. In the courtyard we encountered the step-mother, two step-sisters and then Cinderella. Each one signed autographs and spoke with the children who came up to them.

My two little granddaughters were enthralled. They gazed at Cinderella, and I don't know exactly what they were thinking but I can imagine! One of their all-time favorite stories is the Disney story of Cinderella with its beautiful pictures. It's the same book I read to their daddy and uncle so it's well loved!

A few weeks ago at Joni Camp I heard a beautiful Cinderella story. Max Lucado tells this story in his book, A Gentle Thunder.

My friend Kenny took his family to Disney World. He and his family were inside Cinderella's castle. It was packed with kids and parents. Suddenly all the children rushed to one side. Had it been a boat, the castle would have tipped over.

Cinderella had entered. Cinderella. The pristine princess. Kenny said she was perfectly typecast. A gorgeous young girl with each hair in place, flawless skin, and a beaming smile. She stood waist-deep in a garden of kids, each wanting to touch and be touched.

For some reason Kenny turned and looked toward the other side of the castle. It was now vacant except for a boy maybe seven or eight years old. His age was hard to determine because of the disfigurement of his body. Dwarfed in height, face deformed, he stood watching quietly and wistfully, holding the hand of an older brother.

Don't you know what he wanted? He wanted to be with the children. He longed to be in the middle of the kids reaching for Cinderella, calling her name. But can't you feel his fear, fear of yet another rejection? Fear of being taunted again, mocked again?

Don't you wish Cinderella would go to him? Guess what? She did!

She noticed the little boy. She immediately began walking in his direction. Politely but firmly inching through the crowd of children, she finally broke free. She walked quickly across the floor, knelt at eye level with the stunned little boy, and placed a kiss on his face.

Isn't that a totally awesome story? God tells us a similar but much better story on the pages of my Bible. The names in God's story are different, but the story sounds a lot like an echo of this Cinderella story.

On the day Jesus died on His cross, Jesus - the Prince of Peace - encountered a guilty thief beside Him on another cross. Like the boy in the castle, the thief yearned to be part of God's forever family. In fact, he was the first person to enter God's forever family after the cross.

Cinderella bestowed the gift of her attention and a kiss on the twisted face of the little boy. Jesus did even more for the thief. Both gave a gift - Jesus and Cinderella. Both shared love with an outcast. For both the boy and the thief, each was accepted by the beautiful one.

But the gift Jesus gave was far more valuable than Cinderella's. When she walked away from the boy, she took her beauty with her leaving the boy still twisted and deformed. What Jesus did was to give the thief the ultimate make-over forever.

He took our suffering on Him and felt our pain for us. ... He was wounded for the wrong we did; He was crushed for the evil we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to Him, and we are healed because of His wounds." (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Remember:

Jesus gave the thief more than a kiss. And Jesus offers you and me much more than a kiss. He gave His life to take your and my punishment. It was a terrible trade for Him - a life-saving one for us. He traded His righteousness for all our sin!

Jesus did much more than pay the thief a visit. He paid the price the thief should have paid because of his sins. He wants to do the same for you and me!

Jesus took more than a minute or two with the thief. He takes more than a minute with you and me. He took away my (and the thief's) guilt and sin and brought both the thief and me into God's forever family forever!

It's awesome and amazing!

At A Restoration Church, we are reaching out to all the lonely, twisted little boys standing against the wall all alone and offering each one the love of Jesus! It's an awesome, exciting opportunity!

Wheelchair, Sewing Machine, Baby-sitting Evangelism

A Restoration Church is participating in WORD FM 101.5 's annual Wheels for the World fund-raising campaign this week. I've been thinking about a wheelchair as a gift of hope to soften a person's heart toward Jesus.

God uses so many different ways to reach hearts. I guess He uses about as many different approaches to individual hearts as there are different fingerprints. We are all different. We process information differently. We hear the same words through different filters. It's pretty awesome that God can use you and me with our distinctive differences to make a difference for His Kingdom!

Just today I spread a little of God's love by sewing this morning and keeping twin brothers this afternoon. See what I mean? It's not rocket science! It's just being myself - you being who you are - and both of us can be the hands and feet of Jesus for someone or several someone's any time, anywhere.

Think about it. What do you do well? What skill or interest do you have? Personally I don't like walking up to a stranger and trying to engage in a "God discussion." But I love to share my story of how God has changed my heart!

Disability and Shoes

What in the world could shoes have to do with disability and people affected by disability?

Recently the news in Pittsburgh has followed a disabled Ohio man's story. Apparently he arrived by plane at Pittsburgh International a week ago. No one was there to pick him up due to miscommunication issues. SO he took off on his own walking. He walked 18 miles into Pittsburgh and has apparently been living on the streets until yesterday when a policeman recognized him near a convenience store. In the interim he has done a LOT of walking! The man is now home again in Ohio safe and sound.

The news article about his being found talked about his black dress shoes, no socks and blisters from so much walking. The man wasn't complaining but apparently doesn't plan to do much walking except next door to see his neighbor for some time to come. I was impressed that this disabled man has such an incredible attitude about his swollen, sore feet as sore feet make me cranky! His statement to the police officer (and the condition of his feet) was that his feet were swollen and blistered from all the walking, in black dress shoes and without socks, but that they didn't hurt.

At A Restoration Church we have a very good friend who is also disabled. He had an encounter with another disabled man on the street in a small community near Pittsburgh where both of these men live. The other man actually took off my friend's shoes and socks on the street. He didn't steal the socks and shoes but just apparently has some kind of fascination with feet. The local police know this "shoe man" well. They said he tries to take their shoes off, too.

Who would think of shoes as a disability issue - especially a social issue? My friend has a very good attitude about his own encounter with the "shoe man." My friend now understands that there is a healthy boundary to draw about his own shoes, socks and the "shoe man" or anyone else. In fact he calls the "shoe man" "Triple F" (translation: "Foot Fetish Freddy")!

At A Restoration Church we really care about people affected by disability. We particularly and intentionally want to love these dear folks with the love of Jesus. We want to reach out to them with the hands and heart of Jesus in practical ways. Apparently that includes shoes! Who would think it?

Obviously there are therapeutic, medically related issues regardidng shoes and disability for folks who are paralyzed, etc. but who would think there are social and safety issues as well?

The lesson in these stories is that I have a lot to learn about this HUGE area of caring about people affected by disability. God is teaching me and the rest of us at A Restoration Church some things we can learn from our disabled friends! That's a good thing!

Disability and Extreme Home Makeover

The Easter Sunday 2009 segment of Extreme Home Makeover last night was fascinating. George and Barbara Kadzis opened their hearts and enlarged their family circle to include six disabled children from China. Melody is blind. Julia is deaf. Martin's right arm and hand are deformed. Phoenix anbd Celeste have cleft palates in the process of restoration. Aileen was orphaned by disease and desertion and facing emotional challenges as a result.

Barbara is a lifelong teacher. George worked as a dentist in a prison. Their resources were limited. Their home in Florida was badly damaged by a hurricane, and then George contracted terminal brain cancer. His dying wish was for his family to have a safe, appropriate home to live in.

George and Barbara didn't know a word of Chinese when they adopted all but their one biological son Chris. To communicate they used the medium of music. Several of the children played musical instruments: piano, violin, flute, zither and guitar. Julie dances to every note though she is deaf.

Extreme Home Makeover and their vast crew and main character designers madeover the Kadzis home in one week. During that week George was dying in the hospital. He died three days after his family moved into their new home.

I have lots of questions about the extreme home makeover concept and how much or little help it gives permanently. How can people who need so much pay taxes on this new and much more expensive home? and more.

But what was compelling about last night's episode wasn't the new home. What was compelling was the hearts - George and Barbara's obvious love for all their children and the reciprical love of their children. George and Barbara offered a whole new world and life to their six adopted children. To do so, they made significant sacrifices. Their example of love radically and obviously impacted their community.

That started me thinking. People affected by disability are all around us. The question is: how are we taking these who have such great need into our circle of love and friendship? Do we care enough to take the risk and step out of our comfort zone? Obviously George and Barbara benefited as much from their adopted family as did the children they adopted. By not including people affected by disability in our lives we run the risk of missing an incredible opportunity to be blessed and to be a blessing! Here's to warm hearts willing to include others who may have a different way of being into our circle and hearts and homes!

George and Barbara did in their home and family what A Restoration Church is doing in being a church in the South Hills of Pittsburgh - reaching out with genuine love and acceptance! George and Barbara needed the help of the crew for Extreme Home Makeover and their community. At A Restoration Church we need God's help to push us out of our comfort zone to make a radical difference in our community.

Barack Obama and the Special Olympics

Recently our new president got himself into hot water over bowling in the White House alley. Appearing on Jay Leno's late night show, he compared his score to "Special Olympics."

"It's like - it was like Special Olympics or something," he said, smiling.

There has been much appropriate outrage over his remark. Stupidity is the best excuse he has! I fear his gaffe may stem from much deeper roots than stupidity, however.

One political figure with close ties to disability in her own family described the President's remark as "shocking." Her own view of persons affected by disability is that they are "our world's most precious and unique people."

It is both sad and interesting that those who think the most of themselves and their abilities disdain and discard as insignificant the "precious and unique people" of the special needs community.

People with special needs often have no voice in our culture. Shame on the church of Jesus Christ for not aggressively working to include all these who have a different way of being! By their very differences, they have so much to contribute. They have much to teach the "able."

At A Restoration Church we intentionally include individuals and families affected by disability! It has nothing to do with the Special Olympics. It has everything to do with completion! Paul said, "... you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Cor. 12:27)

Live Like You're Dying

The sermon at A Restoration Church today is Luke 21:5-38 - "Serene Living in Turbulent Times!"

The bullet points are:

• Norhing is permanent
• Nothing is easy
• Nothing is hopeless
• Live in HOPE!

How can these concepts be translated into "child language" for a children's page?

Lots of thoughts going round in my head:

• Noah's family on the ark. They were sure living in HOPE when they walked up the gangplank into that huge boat with all the smells and sounds of all the animals and birds in the world.
• Peter walking on the water toward Jesus, getting scared, starting to sink and finally taking hold of Jesus' hand. Once I took a Red Cross life-saving class. One thing they taught us was to rescue a drowning person from behind so he/she can't get a "death hold" on you and drag you down with him or her. I can only imagine how scared Peter was and how much he needed Jesus to reach out His helping hand of HOPE.
• Then there's the story Jesus told about the two contractors. Each built a house - one on sand, the other on rock. Then the rains and storms came. The house on the rock stood. The house on the sand went smash!

Well, I went with the "Three Little Pigs" instead. They each built a house: one of straw, one of sticks and one of bricks. When the Big Bad Wolf came calling, he huffed and puffed and blew down the houses of straw and sticks. Only the brick house offered HOPE and safety from the Big Bad Wolf!

In the story of the two builders, one was smart and one was stupid. In the "Three Little Pigs," two were lazy and stupid and one worked smarter and harder.

Then I checked my email and read a church planting blog giving the advice to "live like you're dying" when planting a church. I guess that was the essence for both Noah and Peter. They had to face the reality of the alternative before they could trust the HOPE!

I've had my own experience with living like I'm dying. It's scary stuff, but it's also where the most real reality of life is!

Country singer Tim McGraw wrote a song about "Live Like You Were Dying" based on his personal experience. He expresses doing all the things he shoved to the back burner to do later - doing them right now - like sky diving, rocky mountain climbing, two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu! "And I loved deeper ... and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying"!

What happens when we "live we are dying"? What's important shifts to what's really important! Risks don't matter except to become worth the cost. People and relationships mean more. Living God's purpose becomes a matter of life or death! Time races and we race with it as we live like we were dying!

I guess it goes without saying that "living like I'm dying" means my heart changes, too! My prayer becomes: "Lord, give me dying eyes and dying ears and a dying heart to see and hear and love with life or death urgency!" That's how Jesus lived His last days, for sure!

Church Planting, Disability Ministry and Icy Roads!

Last night I made a discovery about church plantiing. Church planting especially with the vision to minister to individuals and families impacted by disability and icy roads have some things in common!

Winter wonderland describes Pittsburgh's look of the last several days! The huge snowflakes chasing each other to see which can get to the ground first are beautiful. The way below freezing temps keep our white world in place.

Yesterday late afternoon I drove to take supper to a friend. Her daughter - just arrived home for winter break from college - needed a ride to get a prescription filled. So she and I set off - the "back way" - for the pharmacy. We were fine getting there even though my friend commented that she couldn't believe the roads hadn't been salted. I replied that I thought cities were trying to save money by not spreading salt "recklessly" this year - that I read in the paper or heard on the radio that Chicago spent many millions just clearing their roads in one recent snowstorm. We got to the store, discovered they wouldn't process her new insurance card and started home on the same back roads.

We came to the top of the last long hill. A small deer almost darted in front of us at the same moment I realized we were driving down a skating rink road. It must have been black ice covered by a layer of snow. Fortunately we were the only car either way as we mostly slid down the hill. I knew I wasn't in control of the car. I was just trying to stay on the path. At the bottom (where the sign says opposing traffic does not stop) I had no choice but to steer carefully to the left onto her home street which is fairly flat. Fortunately there was no near on-coming traffic!

When we pulled into her drive, she said to me, "That was pretty scary!" That was the moment I processed exactly how scary it was! I guess I'm so used to living in the exciting fast lane of life that it didn't get my adrenaline flowing as much as it did hers.

My husband and I and a brave band of others are starting A Restoration Church in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. It's not our first church plant experience, but it is clearly the most exciting. A Restoration Church is unique in our vision to take the Gospel to and to bring into the Kingdom intentionally and especially individuals and families impacted by disability.

Sometimes our forward progress seems well-planned, but mostly this church plant is a lot like that icy road last night. It's a really exciting ride - even dangerously exciting at times - with Someone (that would be the King of the Kingdom) else in control. We are in forward motion with rapidly beating hearts being faithful and working hard for the King to build His Kingdom further here in Pittsburgh!

The analogy may break down at some points, I'm sure, but the essence is that church planting can be a lot like my ride in my car with my young friend down the icy hill last night! We are going where many people don't dare go. We are makinig new friends and taking them along for the ride of their lives. We are taking risks and living on the edge of our comfort zones (and even stepping outside our comfort level) - all for the sake of building God's Kingdom!

Church planting and icy roads do have some things in common!

"Flipping Houses" and Restoring Hearts

"Flipping houses"? It's the practice of buying up dilapidated real estate, fixing it up and then renting or selling it for a profit.
Once (long ago) when I started a business I had no start-up capital so I made one product, sold it and bought materials to make two more, etc. until I had a warehouse full of product to ship to fill customer orders. People who "flip houses" can start with one house and plow the profits back until they have a profitable enterprise going.
I was thinking about this principle recently when I realized that "flipping hearts" for the Kingdom is much the same. One at a time "flipping hearts" requires the investment of time and love for Jesus' sake. One at a time God changes hearts and multiplies our efforts and His life-change to build His Kingdom one heart at a time.
"Flipping houses" takes stuff like bricks and morter, paint and wood and lots and lots of hard work. "Flipping hearts" is much the same! It takes a willingness to boldly love other people for Jesus just like He did when He walked this earth wearing our skin and living in our neighborhood. (John 1:14, The Message) He touched blind eyes and ears. He healed lepers. He spoke or reached out a hand to the dead. He commanded evil spirits to go away and much more.
Jesus got involved in intensely personal ways in people's lives appropriate to their need. In doing so, Jesus modeled His plan for building His Kingdom on earth. It is one heart at a time just loving people at their point of need, and He does the rest! That's God's plan for restoring hearts and lives as He builds His Kingdom one heart at a time!

Be Thankful with a Grateful Heart!

Be Thankful!

"Give thanks with a grateful heart!"

• Be thankful that you can still make a "wish list." Not having everything you could possibly want means you have something to look forward to!
• Be thankful when you don't know something. Not knowing everything and knowing it means you still have opportunities to learn.
• Be thankful for hard times. The difficulties in life push you (and all of us) to grow better (unless we choose to grow bitter which is a VERY bad choice).
• Be thankful for limitations. They give us challenges to improve as we find ways around them.
• Be thankful for every new challenge. In them we build both strength and character.
• Be thankful when you make mistakes. That's how we learn valuable lessons - sometimes the most valuable lessons!
• Be thankful when you're tired and weary. Then you know your efforts have accomplished something - usually meaningful - that makes a difference.
• Being thankful for the good things is easy. Being thankful for hard times, setbacks and pain shows a maturity of soul that only God can bring.
• Be thankful for your troubles, irritations, failures and pain. Then God can turn them into blessings for your heart and demonstrations to the watching world around you that He is the God who can make all things to work for His glory and our good!

~ adapted from author unknown ~

Warm Hands and Warm Hearts!

Last night around 8:30 PM our phone rang. It was a friend who is homebound with a serious illness. Her furnace quit. The temperature last night was below freezing.

Within a little over an hour, one A Restoration Church family brought a heater over to loan her. Then my husband who can sniff a bargain at 70 paces found two heaters for $14 each after the $5 mail-in rebate. It was Sunday night so the places to shop for heaters were limited. Right on his way was a 24-hour drugstore even willing to take them back if they didn't work.

Staying warm on a really cold night is sort of a necessity of life. We need warm hands!

Even more we need warm hearts - touched by the love of God and others! It is a beautiful thing to see hearts warmed by God's love reaching out to others in need of that same warmth with God's love! That's what A Restoration Church is about doing and being in the South Hills of Pittsburgh!