November is the month we have set aside to consider our lives over the past year and give thanks. Some of us have a lot of things to be thankful for: new lives joining our families, new opportunities at work, new friends, and new homes. We like the new. These things stick out to us and they haven’t lost the novelty of being a recent addition to our lives. Take away the “new” and what do you have? Family, opportunity, friendship, and houses; something doesn’t have to be new for us to be thankful for it. One of the biggest dangers in our society is that we jump from one new thing to the next and all of the things we used to be so grateful for seem to lose their luster.

What we have doesn’t lose value because something new comes along. Our relationships don’t suddenly become less important when a new one is added. Our economy works on the idea of scarcity and planned obsolescence; there are only so many of the thing you want and what you have will be out of date in a year. Somehow that has transferred to other areas of our lives. We put limits on love and our relationships are only good until a “new model” comes along offering new features. Instead of buying into the “new” culture let’s think thankfully about what we have and consider ways to continue investing in the relationships that have shaped our lives.

Take some time to make a list of the things/relationships you have that you are thankful for. Keep that list somewhere you can see it often and be reminded about who and what you are thankful for!

In my office I have a painting of a leaf on the wind. In the background the sky is blue with some nice white clouds and in the foreground the leaf is a beautiful fall orange and reminds me of a great big oak leaf. It is inspired by one of my favorite TV series, Firefly, and the follow-up movie, Serenity. As fall is coming on and the leaves start to fall from their trees I am drawn more and more to the image. It reminds me of the natural processes put in place by God to practice renewal in our lives. It also brings to mind what it can be like to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit. A leaf on the wind goes where the powerful invisible force takes it. Christians live under the steady, life giving, and powerful movements of the Holy Spirit.

Heading into fall means that a lot of us are dealing with busier schedules, more and more things vying for our time. As more and more things cry out for our attention and lay claim to our time it is easy to get lost in the tumultuous movements of this world. God’s call is that we be led by Him in all circumstances. Yes, the world is tumultuous and can be powerful in its determination to draw us into its way of life. The Holy Spirit’s power to guide and direct our daily lives is infinitely more powerful, and His claim on our time is the only valid one! As in the beginning, the Holy Spirit is hovering over the chaotic tumult of our lives and is ready and willing to bring order to the chaos. We have to be willing to let God take action to resolve the chaos into order. To blow into our lives and sweep away any of the detritus the world has placed there and restore order to what is left.

Just as the leaves on the trees are turning and falling off in their natural cycle of renewal. We too can turn to God and fall into the embrace of the Holy Spirit in our lives to find renewal and wholeness once again. As October starts and we head deeper into fall let’s take time to consider a couple questions:

How has the chaos of the world been showing up in my life?

And: 

In what ways has the Holy Spirit been ordering my life?

Another busy month is coming to a close! I was blessed enough to have participated in the Surfside Camp at Twin Rocks early in the month. It was a wonderful experience being there and serving as an Elder for the camp. I had some really great conversations with counselors and students alike. I got to play games and generally be ridiculous for Jesus (which suits me more than I should be comfortable with) and was overwhelmed by the welcoming love of everyone involved! Camps are always a highlight for me. I love them. I want to keep going and serving in whatever way I can as long as I can. I know how much camp experiences have meant in my development as a Christian (and still do). Why would I not want the chance to be renewed and refreshed with brothers and sisters in the Lord over the course of a few days focused on what God wants to do in and through us?

I was also blessed with the chance to attend the Dove Fest concert this month! I volunteered with Drew Krupp to serve as an usher. Most of my evening was spent on my feet asking if people had their tickets. While many people were frustrated by my repeated insistence to follow the rules many more were glad that I let them know to get their ticket so they could make it back to their seat. I am a rule follower. It is a part of who I am and I like following the rules I agree with. There are times, however, that my rebel side comes out and a rule I disagree with shows up. In those times I have to make a choice between following the rules and doing what is right or disobeying the rules and acting as I please.

It can be a struggle to follow the rules when we disagree with them. Our will gets in the way of our obedience to the rules. Often in our Christian walk we fall into the same trap. Our will gets in the way of our obedience to God’s will. Our natural (fallen/sinful) state is one of rebellion and pride, we do our things our way and feel like that is how things should be. In Christ we have a new will to follow and new ways of doing things, essentially we have a new set of rules which we can follow or break. At Camp we had to deal with some people who wanted to exercise their will in ways that were contrary to the rules established for our time together. This brought some conflict and tension into the camp environment and could have been a negative experience if it weren’t for the camp directors guiding the situation to a positive outcome.

Following the rules for Kingdom living is going to be difficult and cause conflict and tension in our lives. If we let Christ guide us through these times of conflict and tension we will certainly see a positive outcome. Maybe not today or tomorrow but in the end through Christ’s leadership and love we will see the purpose for these messy lives and know that it was all for something greater than we could have known at the time.

I was terribly shy as a child (hard to believe I know!) so going to school and being around a whole bunch of new people for the first time was a daunting prospect. My mother’s encouragement to me was to “make friends” (which to my ears sounded like a good idea, I could design them how I wanted and they would like me because I would “make” them to do so) and sent me off into each new school experience with the same advice, “make friends.” I realized that what she meant in her statements was not to create your own friends just the way you want them to be but to build relationships with other people who are uniquely created by God. People with their own quirks, eccentricities, and desires for what the relationship would look like.

As I reflect on this month I am thinking about Making Friends. What does that look like? How do we do that well? Can’t I just build my own, you know, without the flaws and brokenness that people so often carry? Is there an easier way to do this than through opening ourselves to relationship and sharing our life with another? Unfortunately, I know that we can’t just create our own and if there is an easier way to build relationship with other people than through sharing life with them I haven’t discovered it!

I went to Yearly Meeting this month and had a good time. I got the chance to reconnect with pastors whom I had connected with at Pastor’s Conference/Retreat a few months ago. I also had the chance to “make friends” with a lot of new people! I always get a little nervous going to a group or place for the first time. I want to be accepted and to be a good fit for the group and have easy relationships there. Thankfully this was one of those times and I got to meet a lot of wonderful people from around the Yearly Meeting and listen to their stories.

As we try to live out our Christian faith we find ourselves running into a lot of people. People who are hungry for relationship with other humans and with God, we have the chance to “Make Friends.” This is often a slow process and one that is painful, broken people have sharp edges after all. But even though it is slow, hard, and painful it results in something beautiful: new friends. The effort of relationship is worth it because of the shared love we have and how much it adds to our lives. So, this month I encourage you to go out and make friends; to find new spaces and new people to engage in relationship with. Try something new. Talk to someone you wouldn’t normally. Find yourself blessed by the opening of a new friendship.