We Begin Lent

On Wednesday I went hiking at a state park less than two hours away from Nashville. This state park had waterfalls. I love being around the water. The way it smells, the beautiful white spray clouds and foam that billows for the eyes to feast on, and its power experienced from a distance. These falls were especially picturesque because the brightly colored striation in the rock formations around them.

 

The hike was invigorating, therapeutic and full of moments that helped me think about Transfiguration Sunday. A perfect week for me to climb to mountainous heights I would not normally climb.

 

This Sunday we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday. Jesus’ journey up the mountain to be in the presence of Moses and Elijah…and his (Jesus) clothes became dazzling white. A glorious transformation!

 

Aside from the trees, moss covered rocks and winter brown foliage the most noticeable transfiguring moment for me and my senses was the SOUND of the waterfalls. It was an inescapable powerful sound that was magnified in the cavernous depths nature had ravaged and carved out over thousands of years. One step to close to the edge on top of the slimy mud covered rocks and eternal transfiguration would be none to soon. Whoaaaa!

 

But as I continued to walk the trail away from the crashing sound of the waterfalls the consuming waves became less noticeable and at times still and quiet.

 

It reminded me then, of the season of Lent. Next Wednesday we will begin Lent with an Ash Wednesday Service at 6:30 in the sanctuary by receiving the imposition of ashes with the mark of the cross on our foreheads. This year’s ashes are made from last year’s palm branches.

 

Just like the massive deafening sound of the water and the barrier of trees and mountains that silence it…Lent is a time in which we face those people, situations, shortcomings in our lives that keep us from identifying ourselves with God and reconciling to God’s gift of love. Lent is about penance, recognizing our own sin, breaking free of things that confine, impede, and bound us up, making us stand up-close and personal to raging waters (like the sound of the falls) that unsettle the soul. These raging waters will be the nails that nail Jesus to the cross.

 

My morning at the falls reminded me of the season we are about to journey. It will be loud (or for some quiet), full of life and movement (or none at all), it will be a time when you can be present with the obstacles in your life (or not) and break thru or be free and climb. All this to experience the forgiveness, peace and grace Jesus gives to us through sacrifice on the cross.

 

You must climb the mountain to face the raging waters before accepting the gift of the grace and forgiveness offered by the Lord.

 

Journey with me this Lenten season! You may discover something new about yourself and find what you need waiting for you in God.

 

Life is Prayer,

Regina

“Confirmation” we are loved by God!

Sunday evening I left church energized! Why? Confirmation has started. Courtney, our Youth and Children’s Director, and I sat with 8 confirmands for an hour and a half! I had not felt that much energy around the topic of creation since mid-semester of my first year in Divinity School. The questions were outstanding! Think about this: What is this dome they talk about in the first creation story in Genesis? Why do we have two creation stories and where did Cain and Able find wives?

Great discussion with young minds looking for answers to questions that are scholarly food for intellects! We talked about sin, reconciliation and grace. Whew…what a night!!I know what you’re thinking…all that in one session…when it takes reasonable, semi-intelligent, educated adults a lifetime to comprehend?  I know!

 

I love confirmation, and this confirmation class is proven to be an education all its own for all those involved! I’m so lucky to be the Pastor of these youth. They are ready to discover faith, learn their Christian story and live into their own beliefs that will reflect how God loves them unconditionally.

 

Maybe we should all go through confirmation as adults, either again or for the first time. I’ve been asked to do an introduction class to Methodism. If this is something you’d be interesting in attending on a Sunday morning before worship, let me know. New members are invited to attend as well as those who just want to be reminded of what being a Methodist in our Christian tradition is all about.

 

Life is Prayer,

Regina

Happy Christian Year!

This week I had a birthday and I love my birthday! One of the most meaningful things I do every year on my birthday is have lunch with my Mom or talk to her on the phone. And, every year on my birthday she tells me about the day I was born. It has become an occasion I look forward too every year even though every year…I’m always another year older.

 

This occasion reminds me of our Christian story and the touchstones we know to be significant in our life during the year. We begin with Advent then the birth of baby Jesus. We remember our baptism when Jesus is baptized by John the Baptizer. We take a look at our ministries as we observe Jesus starting his…and then we eventually begin preparing for our journey to the cross with the one who gave up everything to save. It’s a time to reflect on life: what it is, what it’s become, and what we want it to be…from the beginning to the end. Maybe we find new ways God wants us to live, or we’re shown a different way it could be…life is always changing.

 

But one thing is certain about life, and that’s death will always be apart of it.

Death is the most difficult thing about life no matter how it comes to you.

 

Christianity is most certainly all about hope, life over death, love above hate, and grace over judgment.

 

Have someone tell you your story, the day you were born into God’s family or open your bible and read it for yourself.

 

Be Thankful….

 

Life is Prayer,

Regina

 

 

Let God Move

A question I’ve been pondering since this past Tuesday’s Nashville District Training event, and a deep question that stirs my soul, is: how do we let God move among us?

 

When you read this question what comes to mind?

 

The question is a good reminder that we try to control God. We want to let God move when we chose to let God move. We want to let God move where and when we say God can move. We even ask God to move in particular ways that project our own fears and anxieties.

 

There are many characters in the church and God moves through all of them…the good, the bad, and the not-so-put-together (thank God for grace and forgiveness on that last one).

 

But back to why we belong to a church community after all…

 

Worship is the central and most important thing we do. And here are a few reasons why:

• Because people are hungry to experience God’s presence.
• Because worship is our way of giving our best to God.
• Because worship is God’s way of trying to be with us and work through us.
• Because worship is where newcomers connect with the soul of the congregation…and decide whether to come back.
• Because we can learn from one another.
• Because we can always do it better.
• Worship is the primary way God gives God’s self to the people.
• Worship is a foretaste of the reign of God in the world.
• Worship is the primary context for Christian learning and spiritual formation.
• Worship is where people reveal themselves to the public and offer a place of welcome into God’s love.

 

How can you know or sense that worship is about God, with God, and for God?

 

Our presence in worship is about God. As a worshiping community we find strength in being the body of Christ in a sacred space, but more so, we know God and experience God when we’re in worship together – worshipping! It takes the body to carry out the mission.

 

Thanks for being the faithful body of Christ I know you to be in spite of the humanness we bring to it all. You are the one loaf we break together. You are the ones who carry the load when the waters begin to rise. You are the good Samaritans that stop what you’re doing and help when help is needed.

 

Worship is the most important thing we do!

How will you let God move today?

 

Life is Prayer,

Regina

Laughing is a workout!

What would blogging be without visuals! Visuals set the stage to read the words of the blogging world. I subscribe to a food blog and look forward to the pictures immediately after I read the entry title…I mean, come-on…the pictures either make you want to read on or skim through. I hope this unusual pic, I couldn’t stop laughing at, invites you to read on…because, it tells my story two days after my first training session. Or, you can just stay with the picture, laugh and thank God it’s so funny you have belly cramps.

Two days after my first training session with my new trainer, my legs stiffened up and wouldn’t work. My quads were so sore I had to hold my breath every time I took a step. Calling on my good friends in the medical profession, I asked for help. I thought I would get the OK to lie around like the furry animals in the picture (since that’s what I felt like doing), but no! The humane advice was to push through the soreness, take a hot shower, stretch a lot and WALK IT OUT! (I’d rather stay laughing at the picture until my belly hurts!)

I took the advice and today I hit the track. Still sore but no longer the one in the picture underneath the others.

Until my next session…keep laughing! It can be a workout as well.

Life is Prayer (and I need some),

Regina

Training Begins!

Today began my training! No worries though…I’m not training for the downhill as this great picture depicts. (although I wish I had a ski trip planned!) I’m training to meet my mid-forties next month with a…”more-in-shape” body!

I’m not sure who was laughing harder at the YMCA this morning…the instructor or the folks in my class as we crawled like spiders across the floor and spouted Arnold(isms), ”I’llllll Be Back” all the while admitting our legs were turning to, worse than jello, more like watered-down-smoothies.

I realized strength training was missing from my attempts to comply with my weight loss program for commissioning in The United Methodist Church. By church standards I need to lose a few pounds so I can keep my mind, body and spirit healthy. And…..the thing is…..I agree with all of that!

So, my picture for the day screams inspiration! I may be in better shape by March or….I may be skiing the slopes and heading for the next Black Diamond. Either way, I smile and chuckle at the thought of my next session with my new trainer and meeting my mid-forties with adventure.

Life is Prayer,

Regina

 

Spiritual Direction

What is spiritual direction?

 

That’s a common question I get asked as a Spiritual Director, and one I look forward to answering when it comes to someone looking for guidance and discernment from God. This past week I presented this question, and my answer, to a group of United Methodist Women. I learned something new about myself while explaining what I do as a Spiritual Director.

 

A little known tidbit about Spiritual Directors is that God calls them to this path and leads others into their crossroads…a beautiful and miraculous intersection of time, place, and Spirit. Here are a few images that may help in understanding what I mean: when macaroni meets cheese, when ice cream meets hot fudge, when a fish meets water.

 

In the process of preparing my presentation for these women, many of whom have had far more life experience than I, something jogged my memory, and I ventured down the path of how it all began for me – finding life with a Spiritual Director. It all began with God’s invitation to me to find a Spiritual Director at a crossroad in my life and eight-years later continuing the journey with a faithful friend.

 

The most important element of the story is this: finding a Spiritual Director is an invitation from God. This invitation to find a companion for the journey does not end when you hear the answers, but continues life with God as your story unfolds…leading you in new directions.

 

My invitation from God came when I knew I was standing at a crucial point in my life, and something would soon change for the better. Faced with entering ordained ministry or not was the question I was seeking answers to. I was seeking direction from God.

 

For some, it may be a relationship decision. To others, it may be the discernment of health issues and how to live in the season that God has presented them for a time. It may even be vocational. When God has a hand in the movement of life it can be a million different things God is asking us to listen for, understand, and take action on. God is always inviting us into a relationship with the Holy. Have you felt a nudge to have a companion on the journey to listen with you on behalf of God…to surround you in prayer?

 

Spiritual direction is for anyone who wants to listen to God and know God’s purpose and direction.

 

May your life be grounded, filled, and overflowing with prayer…because

all of Life is Prayer,

 

Regina

Ministry with Mystery

There’s the mystery of God and THEN…there’s the mystery of ministry. I am amazed and overwhelmed by both most of the time. How do we even begin to wrap our minds around the mystery of God? If not for the opportunities of experience, we might never see God at work. So, when ministry happens, and things click into place like the intricate Lego designs my nephew used to build, and the Holy Spirit inspires the direction and play, well, joy happens, God smiles and disciples are made!

 

This past week Liberty began hosting toddlers at the church on Thursday mornings, Music with Leslie. It’s an interactive music group between parents, babies, toddlers, pre-school children and Leslie. There is music, lots of energy and new friendships to be made. It’s exciting to see fellowship hall come alive as it does when all our groups gathers in this space.

 

The mystery of ministry happens when we’re open to the Spirit’s leading. God breathes new life into existing spaces (in our lives) and people, and the interaction screams withexcitement (literally…toddlers have healthy lungs and lots of air!).

 

We are so quick to want to explain our existence and give meaning to it, when sometimes our meaning is to just follow along, listen for opportunities and act when the time is right. I know I’ll never understand the true mystery of God until I (we) meet in the eternal home. But, in the meantime, and as we live into and search the meaning of our devotion to the mystery, don’t forget to find your place of ministry, where joy and happiness happens and devotion is lived out.

 

Liberty is a place where ministry is happening and you’re part of the mystery.

Listen for God’s voice as you explore your place to serve.

 

See you in Church on Sunday.

 

Life is Prayer,

Regina

Who Are We?

The past six months have flown by. It seems like just yesterday that I arrived at the white church on the hill and said, “Hello” to my new church family. Over the many weeks, I have seen inside your homes, shed tears of grief with you and visited you in the hospitals. I’ve married and buried and given thanks for God’s wonderful group of people. We have welcomed new families and continue to see new visitors come through the doors. We celebrated Christmas Eve with such a crowd the pews (and extra chairs)  that many have never seen the like of. 

I love being your pastor! So, when I received the task from our new interim Bishop to look at how vital our congregation will be this next year I started those discussions with the Staff Parish Relations Committee and will continue them with the Administrative Council this next month. Some of the interesting questions to ask are, “who are we?” and “who do we want to be?”. “What is our theology?” and “Who is our neighbor?” 

I have been asked to speak to the Nashville District and tell how Liberty is looking at this process. If some of you are thinking numbers, that is surely true, but be assured I’m not a numbers person. For me, these numbers represent relationships, opportunities to witness and share the love of Christ. The demographics, graphs, and percentages mean that there are people who need a loving community and a place to call home. People are very busy these days and church represents a place of sacredness, family, quiet, nurture, and hope. I invite you to send me your thoughts and input on what it might look like to reach out to our neighbors and how Liberty wants to be a beacon of light in the Brentwood community. 

Life is Prayer,

Regina

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

This greeting feels happy! Fresh! Hopeful! It’s a greeting that evokes images of new beginnings, giving thanks for another year past, full of growth, personal insights and resolutions. Celebrating endings as well as beginnings.

 

In Galatians, Paul talks about the “fullness of time”. Fullness is a word that when partnered with “time” sounds endless, ongoing, with a sense of longing-ness. The word itself suggests duration – maybe not now but someday. Or, maybe not “if” but “when”! When you think about fullness, do you think about the seasons of your life as another year passes you by? Who’s time and how full is your journey; how short or long do you know this journey to be?

 

In this New Year may you praise God for the newness you’ll find through Christ as you grow and experience his love and redemption.

 

And as you and I experience hope in a new-found year and new-found life, may you rejoice in the possibilities that will greet you with faith, hope and love!

 

Praise God for a God who wants to spend time with us all year long and all life long!

 

Life is Prayer,

Regina