BudapestAlive

Margin Anyone?

I’m finishing up a great little book by Richard Swenson called Margin. You may have read it. It’s a super mega jumbo seller sort of book. It’s part of our prep with WorldVenture (yes…we get homework from the mission).

Swenson, a medical doctor, gives an insightful look at the emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual damage going on today in relationship to how overloaded we are.

In one sense this is not a new observation. But there is one axiom he offers that I found quite challenging. He says that all progress moves towards complexity.

This flies in the face of conventional wisdom which views progress as only bringing about advancements with no downside. In Swenson’s view, progress, for all the truly helpful things that it brings, also packs a huge downside: left unchecked it will overrun our created limits. We can only handle so much. Progress has no regard for our emotional, physical, relational, or spiritual health. It is only concerned with more, faster, better, now.

It’s been a great read so far, causing me to think about where my margins are now, and how I will protect them on the international mission field, a place where both vitality and burnout seem to loom large.

Taking Yourself Seriously…in the Right Ways.

As people we can be a complex set of walking contradictions. One of those contradictions that struck me today was how it’s culturally ‘right’ to not take ourselves too seriously (i.e., be able to poke fun at yourself etc). Yet, it’s also culturally ‘right’ to place ourselves at the center of the universe (i.e., it’s good to pursue fulfilling our desires at the expense of everyone else). So, according to our culture, we should both devalue ourselves and at the same time be supreme.

One way I struggle with this is taking rest. Not just being blessed by practicing the Sabbath rest, but giving myself appropriate rest throughout the weeks, months, and years. I once worked for five years straight without taking a vacation. I’m not boasting…I was foolish and short sighted. I’m a driven person and love to work hard, but the downside is that it’s easy for me to skip meaningful rest. Christina is the same way. On one hand we take ourselves so serious we’ll work like crazy…and on the other hand we devalue ourselves so much that we fail to take care of the one body we get in this life.

When we were in training with WorldVenture, one of the things they emphasized was our need to rest. These folks know better than we do the pressure of preparing for, and serving in long-term missions (almost everyone we met had at least 10 years overseas missions experience). So we’re taking to heart something we gathered from Wayne Cordeiro – schedule your rest first. Before anything else gets on your calendar, put down when, how, and where you will rest (individually or as a couple if married). As we’re doing this I’m finding it really reduces the anxiety caused by the task before us. Knowing that we have a plan to rest makes the diligent, hard work more joyful.

The Lord’s Grace

I can’t find words to express the emotions that come to me when I see this photo. It was taken last weekend, immediately after Grace was baptized. What can be greater for a father’s heart than to see the joy of Christ in his child’s eyes?

Transitions

Right now is a time of almost complete transition for our family. We’re in the application process with WorldVenture in prep for relocation to Hungary. With that comes discussion of all the physical transitions that accompany such a big move. Homes, schools, belongings, transportation and the like. Another part is the emotional and mental transition. Our hearts are already overseas in way.

Then there’s the seminary transition. Lord willing I’ll complete my final courses in August and wrap up my first seminary degree. My time at Western has been life changing. Because I was a distance student I wasn’t able to develop friendships with as many professors as a residential student normally would. But, the few men there I did have the opportunity to connect with have deeply impacted my understanding of Scripture and my walk with Christ. I went to Western to be strengthened in the essentials, challenged in everything, and to spend time with men whose lives make me want to be more Christlike. All of those things took place. And now, I’m transitioning from seminary life. I look forward to attacking the “things to do after seminary” list!

And then there’s the health transition. I had an MRI done on my head yesterday and I’m hoping to get results today. There’s some eye issues and we did the scan to see if there’s swelling or a growth behind my left eye. This presents a transition all its own, depending on the outcome. We’re praying that God will graciously bring a method of healing that will relieve the pain and not require too severe of a solution. My hope is to be matured in this process as He intends (Rom. 8:28) and to not be delayed in relocating to Hungary.

So it’s transitions all around right now. I’m so thankful for Christ! He truly is the unshakable rock that holds the foundation of a believer’s life together. Stress, nerves, and anxiety all come in waves at different times. But they are nothing compared to the joy of having Jesus as my Savior. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Luke 9:51. It reads “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” I find that a powerful verse. Jesus, knowing that mockery, false accusation, pain, betrayal, crucifixion and death were waiting for him, nonetheless “set his face” to walk straight into it. This is my Savior. The living God who walked straight into the storm that he might bring everyone to Yahweh. It brings stability and grounding to my heart in the middle of many transitions.

Art, Toys, and Charity

I’m not much of a techie, which is ironic because I’m employed as a web developer.  But, I wanted to pick up something for video while we’re in Budapest and my buddy Jason told me about the Flip Mino camcorder. It was relatively cheap, the small size makes it great for travel, and the coolest part is you can upload your own graphic for it.

So I scanned a painting that my daughter Grace created when she was 5. It came out pretty cool…but of course I’m quite biased.

The cool part was that while I was checking out I was presented the option of donating the digital pic of the artwork to Flip. For every 15 custom skins sold the donate camcorders to needy kids. Grace’s design is below:

Resurrection

“From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Matthew 16:21

And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” Luke 18:31-33

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-7

“We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:9-11

Glorious resurrection day.