Claimed, gathered and sent

I am homeward bound as the song says. Despite my initial trepidation, I am rapidly progressing and will be ready to go home Sat. When talk of such an early discharge first arose, I was scared . Even though I was progressing much more rapidly than I did with my left knee, I still had to accomplish a number of feats. Since then, those goals have been met. So the next few weeks will consist of a parade of people through our home: phlebotomists to draw my blood three times a week and physical therapists to work those muscles. Then with greater strength comes the task of packing up to move Aug. 1. Thanks be to God for another chapter of our lives. Picture courtesy of flickr.

God delights in our cooperation with his purposes, but thankfully he works in spite of us. An update on L's situation--progress has been made and her blood work has improved. A weight has been lifted from their shoulders. Thank you for joining in prayer wih us. picture from flickr

God's presence is evident wherever we dare to look for it. My relationship with L. is one such example. When I had my knee surgery last week L. and I were next to each other in the recovery room. We have the same doctor and had the same procedure on the same knee. We were room mates in the hospital. We are room mates here at Riverview . One sleepless night as we talked, we discovered that Ray and I know her brother from church! Coincidence...I think not. So I have been asking God what was going on, what purpose does he have for our meeting? It is becoming much clearer now. My surgery was nice and straightforward, unlike L's. Whatever could go wrong has gone wrong, the latest of which is problems with the clotting of her blood, leaving her vulnerable to blood clots. She and her family are scared. As doctors work to resolve the crisis, they wait and wonder how and if a solution will be found. But God knows all about this. My role is to befriend and pray. Picture from flickr.

This beautiful, mansion-like building is where I will be in a few days. Tomorrow morning I am having a knee replacement for my right knee and will be in the hospital for two to three days. I won't be feeling too badly there because I'll be numb from the waist down. But boy, when the epidural comes out the pain is something else! After that, I will be in rehab at Riverview Healthcare Community. I took a tour of the rehab unit Fri. and it was very nice. I expect to be there two weeks, three at the most. I will not have wi-fi in my room, but there is a common area where I can plug in the laptop, so for a while I will not be posting as much. Peace.

Sunday, May 4, was my last day of undergrad. I am finished...with undergrad that is. The next step in August is The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg . For so long it seemed like finishing undergrad was so far off... years away and now it's here. Graduation is tomorrow, though I am unable to attend. The past few years have been challenging and exciting. I will miss the online classmates I have grown to love. We have become quite a community of faith. Picture courtesy of flickr.

A number of years ago, I worked at McDonald's. No matter how I washed my uniforms, no matter what I used, they smelled like McDonald's food. People could tell where I had been just by the smell. Last week the smell of turkey wafted through the house thanks to a revgalblogpal recipe. Everything goes in the crockpot: turkey breast, cranberry sauce, and onion soup mix. Then you just let it cook for about 10 hours. It's so easy. And it smells and tastes delicious. And of course coffee! Yum. Even people that don't like coffee enjoy the aroma. What is our scent? In this passage , Paul speaks of the believer having an aroma...the "aroma of the knowledge" of God that is to be spread everywhere. We are an aroma to the people we encounter daily and an aroma to God. Can people tell where we've been, who we've been with by what we smell like? So, how do we smell like Jesus? Spend time with him. Hang out with him. Learn from him. Abide in him. Everyone will...

My personal philosophy of leadership is Jesus-style servanthood. “You must know what you care about…Because you can only be authentic when leading others according to the principles that matter most to you” (Kouzes & Posner, 2002, p. 52). Jesus evidenced the “Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership” (Kouzes & Posner, 2002, p. 13) in his leadership as he modeled the way, inspired a shared vision, challenged the process, enabled others to act, and encouraged the heart (Kouzes & Posner, p. 13). His impact was dynamic, embodying “Genuine acts of caring [that] uplift the spirits and draw people forward” (Kouzes & Posner, p. 19). The results: a small band multiplied (Matthew 11:28) . “Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world” (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2006, p. 5) meaning “It’s not about you” (Warren, 2002, p. 17). We play but a small part in God’s plan. Leading through dependence upon God is ke...