Well what a week I had last week. I was at The Salvation Army Southern Territory's "Connections 07" conference, which was an awesome awesome weekend.
On Thursday, I had the privilege of working in the Creche at Officers Councils. It was a privilege, because as an Officers Kid myself (or OK as we like to be called!) I've been to many Officers Councils, and been "baby-sat" by countless strangers. So as an older OK, it was great to be able to give back. I love being an OK, I really do. Yes, there are some really hard times, and as I looked at those 19 children aged 2-5 I knew there was going to be some really tough moves they'd be taken on, but as a whole, what better thing could happen in your life than to be part of your parents ministry? I know that I have met people, and had experiences that God has given me through my parents' ministry that I would not have had if they hadn't answered God's call to be Officers.
Friday was probably my highlight though. I spent time going from session to session with my family - hearing some of the greatest speakers and practitioners in Social Work speaking to some of the most important issues facing our nation. I was uplifted, challenged and blessed by their knowledge and insight. Particularly I got a lot out of Paul Moulds & my dad's session on Distinctive Salvation Army Social Work. I was challenged by them both, that we not only have to be extremely professional in what we do - but that sometimes we have to go against "professional social work" and bring the heart back into what we do. We as social workers have a choice to go after the most difficult "clients" or people, and fight for them - to be their voice when all the "professionals" have given up on them. We must have hope when they have none, and we must believe that their circumstances can change. We must not ban people, and exclude people from our services - for when we do, we go directly against that which makes us distinctive as a church, a movement and an organisation. AMEN!!! If you ever get a chance - go and check out Street Level & Oasis in Sydney - you won't be sorry - it's one of the best Salvation Army Centres in the world (and I've seen a fair few of them), and spend some time under the teaching of the Paul Moulds', David Eldridge (not just cos he's my dad, but because he knows what he's on about!), Wilma Gallet , and Noelle DeClifford (sp?). They not only talk about fighting for the "lost last and least" - they do it!
Friday night was a struggle for me, but made me realize just how far I've come in the past 12 months. How much God has healed me, and that God has rescued me from my pain and placed me exactly where He needs me.... Torquay!! And what a church it is!!
The social action march on Saturday was a big highlight. I loved that as a Salvation Army we stood together to proclaim that Jesus is the answer to the hopelessness in our world, and that we as an Army are here to fight. I loved standing with the children of Torquay, holding our banner they'd had so much fun making, and standing alongside my friends and fellow Salvationists, proudly marching through Melbourne's city!
The rally at Fed Square was awesome - and a special mention needs to go to Dave, Sonia, Heather, Danielle, and the 2Love Team who put on a brilliant youth rally that night! Frankie Wants Out were my favourite (now I am being biased I know, but they rocked!) and it was great to see loads of non-Army people stopping to see what was going on!!
Sunday - what an honour to be part of the Commissioning & Ordination of the newest Captains in The Salvation Army - the Heralds of the Good News, and to celebrate Phill & Catherine Abram (our Corps Officers) being commissioned. As I sat with members of our church - I was touched to share the introduction to the wider Army to many of our new members. The greatest moment of the entire weekend for me was being able to pray as a church, for two of our members, and for Phill & Catherine. And then to watch as one of our church friends went down the front to make a commitment to Jesus, and another one of our church members go forward to express interest in officership - wow... what a day!
I'm loving serving under the wonderful Commissioners Jim & Carolyn Knaggs. What vision they have for our Territory and the Salvation Army!
We're an Army on the move, and it excites me!!! Are you joining us?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Friday, November 09, 2007
Life Support
Many of you know that Rent is my favourite musical, and in fact, many of my non-Army friends were met either directly through Rent (the Aussie, West End & Broadway productions) or through friends who were friends of people I met through Rent.
I love many things about the musical - mostly that it is raw and real - but one of the ideas I got through Rent was that of "Life Support" meetings. Life Support meetings were established in the USA to help people either infected or AFFECTED by HIV/AIDS, and as Jonathan Larson (the Composer & Creator of Rent) wrote:
"Life Support's a group of people coping with life"
For a while after Rent finished here in Australia, I would meet often with friends I met through the show - either fans, or cast members, and we would talk about life, and how we were "coping" with the various things life throws at us - good and bad. They were my own little life support group. My friends who I loved and who loved me no matter what.
Yesterday, I met with most (no Perri & Josh sadly!!!) of the group that I went away to Queensland for the National Youth Ministry Convention with, for a debrief of the conference with Dave Collinson (2Love Territorial Youth Secretary). It was such a great opportunity to all catch up again, and to share some of what has happened since or as a result of the Convention. Dave asked us to do our "high's & lows" from the conference (which he clearly stole from Heather)and it hit me that my biggest High from the conference, wasn't anything the NYMC did - it was spending time with a bunch of great youth leaders from around our Territory. It was sharing with them our highs and lows, our fears and our excitement. That was the best thing about Queensland for me.
And that was the best thing about yesterday. The chance to show our new land, to pray for the future, to hear about what people are up to and what they need prayer for. To hear Dave's vision for the Territory, and how we can be a part of that. I had my very own Life Support meeting yesterday - a group of Youth workers coping with Youth work sharing with and learning from each other.
I pray for many more opportunities to do that - with all sorts of different people. And I pray that for you also!
I love many things about the musical - mostly that it is raw and real - but one of the ideas I got through Rent was that of "Life Support" meetings. Life Support meetings were established in the USA to help people either infected or AFFECTED by HIV/AIDS, and as Jonathan Larson (the Composer & Creator of Rent) wrote:
"Life Support's a group of people coping with life"
For a while after Rent finished here in Australia, I would meet often with friends I met through the show - either fans, or cast members, and we would talk about life, and how we were "coping" with the various things life throws at us - good and bad. They were my own little life support group. My friends who I loved and who loved me no matter what.
Yesterday, I met with most (no Perri & Josh sadly!!!) of the group that I went away to Queensland for the National Youth Ministry Convention with, for a debrief of the conference with Dave Collinson (2Love Territorial Youth Secretary). It was such a great opportunity to all catch up again, and to share some of what has happened since or as a result of the Convention. Dave asked us to do our "high's & lows" from the conference (which he clearly stole from Heather)and it hit me that my biggest High from the conference, wasn't anything the NYMC did - it was spending time with a bunch of great youth leaders from around our Territory. It was sharing with them our highs and lows, our fears and our excitement. That was the best thing about Queensland for me.
And that was the best thing about yesterday. The chance to show our new land, to pray for the future, to hear about what people are up to and what they need prayer for. To hear Dave's vision for the Territory, and how we can be a part of that. I had my very own Life Support meeting yesterday - a group of Youth workers coping with Youth work sharing with and learning from each other.
I pray for many more opportunities to do that - with all sorts of different people. And I pray that for you also!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Knowing Me, Knowing You
The other day, I read a bumper sticker which said:
"There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who won't anymore, and who always will. So don't worry about people from your past, there is a reason why they didn't make it to your future"
Them's pretty powerful words me thinks!
It's interesting though, the reason this stuck out to me most of all was that I've been thinking about friendships a lot lately. I have some of the best friends ever. I honestly do. I've got old friends I've had since I was quite young, new friends I can't remember living life without, friends who live within 10 minutes drive away, friends who live longer than a 10 hour flight away and friends who I know even though we don't see or speak to each other often, there is no judgement or condemnation and they will be there no matter what, knowing full well that when we see each other, we will pick up exactly where we left off.
The flip side to that, is that over the years, I've lost a lot of friends as well. I know there are "seasons" for everything, and that lots of people come into your life for a Season and that's all, but I've always struggled with that thought. That people aren't friends forever. I guess because I love my friends so much and I try to invest in them as much as I can. This has meant that I have spent many an agonising night crying over the loss of a friend, that perhaps was not the best person to have in my life for a reason. This bumpersticker stood out to me because of the line "So don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future."... there is a reason why they didn't make it to your future. Not all friendships from the past have ended badly, they're the "seasonal" friendships. But why is it that we try to hold onto the friendships that have broken our hearts? Perhaps there is a reason they are not in your future... and perhaps, there's a reason you're not in theirs.
I've spent my life trying to be a good friend, and for the most part, I think that my investments in friendships have worked. I've got some people in my life that absolutely blow my mind... people that I have NO IDEA why they are friends with me - we don't believe the same things, we don't work in the same field, we don't have ANYTHING in common except our love for each other. They are blessings in my life.
This morning, I was doing my devotions and started reading an old faithful 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - the old "LOVE IS...." passage made famous at millions of weddings. But as I was reading it, I felt God saying to me, replace Love with Friendship (because at the end of the day, isn't friendship another form of love?)...
"Friendship is patient and kind.
Friendship is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Friendship never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
I had to think - am I that sort of friend? Are the people in my life those sorts of friends?
Last night we had our small group again. We're talking about King David, which is great, but the thing I got most out of last night, was the Fellowship we were having. The opportunity to get to know some of my newest friends at a deeper level. One of the questions we were asked was "What sort of animal are you in a conflict?" and the answers helped us to know each other better. We now know how each of us is going to deal when conflicts arise within our group. We know how we're going to react. We took the time to listen to what makes us tick, and we got an insight into how our families work through conflict.
Then we prayed for each other. We were honest and raw with each other. There were tears, there was lots of laughter, but most of all there was a feeling of genuine love and friendship.
As I got home (at 11:30 - not bad considering Small Group starts at 7:30!!!) I checked my mailbox, and saw a card that had been left there (no address, just my name). It was from one of the families from our church (their children are Extreme Kids & Extreme Soldiers). I'd spoken to the mother on Tuesday after my shocker of a day on Monday, and they all felt they just wanted to remind me that they are my friends, they love me and they're here if I need anything. That's love. That's friendship. And that's what matters!
"There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who won't anymore, and who always will. So don't worry about people from your past, there is a reason why they didn't make it to your future"
Them's pretty powerful words me thinks!
It's interesting though, the reason this stuck out to me most of all was that I've been thinking about friendships a lot lately. I have some of the best friends ever. I honestly do. I've got old friends I've had since I was quite young, new friends I can't remember living life without, friends who live within 10 minutes drive away, friends who live longer than a 10 hour flight away and friends who I know even though we don't see or speak to each other often, there is no judgement or condemnation and they will be there no matter what, knowing full well that when we see each other, we will pick up exactly where we left off.
The flip side to that, is that over the years, I've lost a lot of friends as well. I know there are "seasons" for everything, and that lots of people come into your life for a Season and that's all, but I've always struggled with that thought. That people aren't friends forever. I guess because I love my friends so much and I try to invest in them as much as I can. This has meant that I have spent many an agonising night crying over the loss of a friend, that perhaps was not the best person to have in my life for a reason. This bumpersticker stood out to me because of the line "So don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future."... there is a reason why they didn't make it to your future. Not all friendships from the past have ended badly, they're the "seasonal" friendships. But why is it that we try to hold onto the friendships that have broken our hearts? Perhaps there is a reason they are not in your future... and perhaps, there's a reason you're not in theirs.
I've spent my life trying to be a good friend, and for the most part, I think that my investments in friendships have worked. I've got some people in my life that absolutely blow my mind... people that I have NO IDEA why they are friends with me - we don't believe the same things, we don't work in the same field, we don't have ANYTHING in common except our love for each other. They are blessings in my life.
This morning, I was doing my devotions and started reading an old faithful 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - the old "LOVE IS...." passage made famous at millions of weddings. But as I was reading it, I felt God saying to me, replace Love with Friendship (because at the end of the day, isn't friendship another form of love?)...
"Friendship is patient and kind.
Friendship is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Friendship never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
I had to think - am I that sort of friend? Are the people in my life those sorts of friends?
Last night we had our small group again. We're talking about King David, which is great, but the thing I got most out of last night, was the Fellowship we were having. The opportunity to get to know some of my newest friends at a deeper level. One of the questions we were asked was "What sort of animal are you in a conflict?" and the answers helped us to know each other better. We now know how each of us is going to deal when conflicts arise within our group. We know how we're going to react. We took the time to listen to what makes us tick, and we got an insight into how our families work through conflict.
Then we prayed for each other. We were honest and raw with each other. There were tears, there was lots of laughter, but most of all there was a feeling of genuine love and friendship.
As I got home (at 11:30 - not bad considering Small Group starts at 7:30!!!) I checked my mailbox, and saw a card that had been left there (no address, just my name). It was from one of the families from our church (their children are Extreme Kids & Extreme Soldiers). I'd spoken to the mother on Tuesday after my shocker of a day on Monday, and they all felt they just wanted to remind me that they are my friends, they love me and they're here if I need anything. That's love. That's friendship. And that's what matters!
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