Kyle Mitchell

Seven Months of Prayer: Lessons from Lazarus aka Shadow

Last May a storm blew a section fence down while I was out of town.  By the time I got home and put it back up, Shadow, our cat (actually Ian's best friend) was missing.  What I thought was a natural life event of the loss of a pet became way more than I ever imagined.

During the first week, each son prayed earnestly for the safety and return of their friend Shadow.  And Ian went door to door in our neighborhood asking anyone who answered if they had seen his friend, Shadow.  We went to the fire station, called the animal shelter, and prayed some more.  At this point, I really should confess that I had NO love lost on Shadow.  Don't get me wrong, I like cats, but this cat and I did NOT get along.  So while all the boys were praying, I was doing my best to help them move forward.  Although their prayers were so sincere, I did hope that God would provide a miracle.

After about 2 months the nightly prayers started to lack mentions of Shadow.  Ian's tears became more frequent and started to turn to anger.  He started asking me why God hears my prayers, but not his.  He wanted to know if God was mad at him or just being mean for taking his cat.  Of course that led us to have MANY conversations about a loving God who doesn't always give us everything that we want or ask for in life.  He sometimes tells us no.  Although why God would tell him no about Shadow coming home was really confusing to us both. 

It was about this time that I started sharing that Shadow had either been adopted by some other family out there, or had probably not survived nature and we said our goodbye's and honored his memory.  Sad times.  But Caed would continue to pray that God could still bring him back to us.  Even if a Coyote had gotten him or a car had hit him, he told God that he could put him back together, breath life into him, and return him to us because He was God and God could do anything. 

I had to admit their faith was inspiring to this father.  I was constantly reminded that they had way more faith than me.  And I prayed that this experience wouldn't cause them to doubt God's love for them, especially Ian.  He seemed to be more inclined to get angry with God over Shadow's disappearance because he just couldn't understand why God would take someone he loved from him for no reason.

Well, by Christmas time I could honestly say I had forgotten ALL about shadow.  Rarely did his thought even cross my path.  He was one black cat I was happy to be without.  Ian would only tear up if you asked him specifically about Shadow, so we had all learned to avoid the topic.  But at Christmas, Ian wanted a replacement and was determined to ask Santa (I guess he was hoping that Santa would come through for him, since God seemed to ignore him).  But I reminded him that Santa makes toys, not pets and would NOT be bringing him a kitten.  Of course, I was right on that one!

After Christmas, Ian decided that he only wanted one thing for his birthday:  A kitten.  Oh my word!!  Seriously.  Do we not have enough animals here already.  We have a dog, a cat (Shadow's sister, Mari), a Gecko, a hamster, and a fish tank with random guests that don't seem to last too long.  I had a month to come up with a good way to say "NO" to this simple birthday request.

Last week a friend posted a link to the Midlothian Animal shelter alerting anyone who would read it that there were several animals on their last day.  Much to my desire NOT to have another animal, I clicked on the link thinking it might help Ian if we rescued another cat from being put to sleep.  But there were no cats on death row, and it appeared that all the cats they recently had in the shelter had been adopted. 

Wait...what's that picture down at the bottom.  It's a black cat...click...closer look...no...it can't be...it's just another black cat.  I looked at the comments and this cat had been on death row and had a last minute rescue by the City employee.  I asked if it was a male cat because one picture said it was female and another said it was male.  Reply back: Male.  I read that it came to the shelter neutered and de-clawed.  I asked if it was front de-clawed only.  Reply back: yes, front only.  I asked Ian if Shadow had any white on him (as most black cats have some, somewhere on them).  Ian said "NOPE, and even his nose was solid black, and his eyes were a greenish-gold color.   I checked the pic...they had named him "jade" because of his eye color.  CRAP!!! 

The next morning I called the shelter and they gave me the office number of the employee who had adopted him.  I called him and we spoke and it really sounded like Shadow.  He confirmed that there was no white on him, and yes, even his nose was black.  So I asked if he would consider giving us the cat if it was indeed shadow (hoping that he would already be really attached and maybe we could just be happy knowing that Shadow was being loved by another great family).  No such luck...(it is a black cat)...and he'd be happy to return the cat to us.

We set up an appointment  to meet, and it was, without a doubt, SHADOW.  The boys were beyond ecstatic!!  They were thanking God and the guy for rescuing Shadow from the shelter.   Their confidence in their faith skyrocketed and they were more than happy to say that I was WRONG!!  They knew he hadn't been eaten or hit by a car.  They knew that God was listening.  They were right.  I was wrong.  Ian even made me say the words to him. 

I'm changing Shadow's name to Lazarus.  He was dead to me, but now he's walking around my house.  Everyday he reminds me of the power of the faith of a child. 

Thoughts on Sacrilege

Just finished my latest read: Sacrilege by Hugh Halter.  If I had been told that this was a book about the Beatitudes, I'm not sure that I would have picked it up.  Let me just say that I would have missed out on a personally challenging book that also completely resonates with the vision for Mosaic. 

I am still trying to figure out how to both be a part of a new community as well as lead a new community of Christ-followers that seeks to be genuinely make Christ known in and through our relationships.  Sacrilege inspires both sides of this desire.  There are challenges to individuals living a life of light in the world as well as insight on how to lead others to pursue the passion of revealing Christ to their world of friendships and be a part of the Church and her mission. 

He walks through Jesus own words and unpacks them with applications for this generation.  So many want to criticize the church or even abandon the church because of what they see or believe that the church has become.  Sacrilege seems to be a call back to the mission of Jesus by seeking to inspire those who follow Him to live the way that He lived. 

It's an "easy read", but I'm not so sure it's going to be easy application.  I'm looking forward now to going back through and unpacking some of the nuggets from each chapter.  I would encourage you to join me.

Back At It

I must say that the Christmas break was wonderful this year.  It seemed really long to me and that's unusual.  I guess because we started shopping early, didn't decorate as much, and didn't travel out of state for the first time in 10 years there was more time at home with the family.  I liked it, a lot, actually. 

But today it all comes to an end (until tomorrow when I have the day off).  You know I wouldn't want to rush back into things. 

For the new year I'm starting a Chronological read through the Bible.  I've never read it this way before so I'm thinking that will be a nice way to discover new insight and inspiration.  I'm using the ESVonline!  If you haven't ever checked it out, I recommend it.  It's got great tools to help keep notes, highlights, and study notes all right there on the screen and can be anywhere I have internet access, which with my phone, is everywhere!

I'm contemplating regular exercise.  I thought about it yesterday too, but so far, haven't got past thinking about it.  And it really doesn't fit the title of this blog because in order to get "back at it" I would first have had to be at it.  But you know, with the new year and all, it's always a good time to think about starting to exercise.  Who knows, maybe this will be the year. 

On the work front, I must say that I love my job.  Another reason that the Christmas celebration was great was that I love doing what I get to do:  "provide Christ-centered services to children in need and their families".  www.pchas.org is a great ministry to families and I love being a part of what God is doing in families lives.  So it's pretty easy to get motivated to get "back at it". 

And obviously, if you're reading this, you've noticed that I'm "back at it" on the blog page.  My wife has started a blog last night (see next post) and that inspired me to say a few words (I know, I never just say a few).  So hopefully in 2012, the 4 people who read my page will have something to read more often this year. 

OK, well time to get off the computer and back at it out in the real world!

My Next Read: Sacrilege

I got my new book "Sacrilege" by Hugh Halter today! I'm excited about this book because I'm craving a challenge in my walk with Christ. The back cover enticed me. "What does it really mean to be like Jesus? It is safe to say most Christians do not live like Jesus did, have the same influence on people he had, or draw even the slightest curiosity from the onlooking world. Jesus's ability to attract people and win there hearts was directly related to how he challenged their assumptions about religion. He not only gave them a unique, personal way to follow him but also showed them how to participate.in his mission. Sacrilege exposes the patterns of thinking that have held the church hostage for years and inspires you to rethink the way you understand Scripture, family, Spiritual formation, conversion, church, sin, and more. Your faith may never be the same. And that's a good thing." I can't wait to post what I'm learning. Let me know if you get the book and read it too!

Traditional Gratitude

I don't know that I could let the celebration past with out a Thanksgiving blog post.   This past year I've had many friends with some of their highest highs and others with some of their lowest lows.  A year always brings changes.  We encounter the passing on of significant relationships and the loss that it brings.  Losses are often our most difficult circumstances to be grateful for in life.  We don't really want to see the loss of someone we love or something we've relied on.  Our love wants to hang on.  But life moves.  It never really repeats or stays the same. Others had their first child, started their first careers, moved into their first homes, got married, and we all celebrated.  We easily celebrate positive milestones and find gratitude a natural response.

I think that's why we have traditions.  It's our way to hang on to the familiar in the face of ongoing change.  They help us to pass on our treasured life experiences to the next generation.  We can't ever recreate moments, but we can watch our kids experience the joys that we discovered as kids and make memories that build upon the ones that we've had. 

This year, I made two foods that were traditions from my childhood:  Granny's Cornbread Stuffing and Grandma's Carmel Pie.  Obviously my first attempt so not nearly as good as the original makers.  However with each bite comes a flood of memories making the taste all the more satisfying.  As I was making the carmel for the pie my mind filled with the vantage of my childhood eyes standing next to my 6' 2" Grandma as she made it on her old stove.  I watched her stir and transform sugar and flour into a tasty treat.  (I still don't know how she made the Meringue with the little swirls, but I'll figure that out next time).  As I made the Cornbread stuffing, with each ingredient I could picture all the Cotton ladies lined up in Granny's kitchen talking and cooking.  It's best if made over two days and meant to be made slowly.  I think it's really as much about the process as it is the stuffing. 

Now that I've made them both, the next step is to teach my kids to do the same.  They may never know the sights, sounds and smells of my Grandmother's kitchens, but they can still experience the love, warmth, security, and sense of family that each produced.  It's way more than a shared meal can contain and it takes more than one experience to pass it on.  It's embodied in the traditions, but not really contained by them.  They provide a way to pass love on. 

So I'm deeply grateful for family traditions this Thanksgiving and all th love they contain.  I'm blessed beyond words.  Gratitude seems the only appropriate response, and yet doesn't seem to convey all the emotion bubbling up in my heart.  Thanks for the memories and thanks for the opportunities to create them for my children.  May each of us cherish the moments in our lives, both painful and pleasant, for all that they do to increase our capacity to love.  Take the time to pass on a huge, heaping dose of love to all those around you. 

Memory Markers

   I have to admit that today is one of those days that just really couldn't be any better.  Mosaic and friends gathered in a backyard to celebrate 4 boys who have given their lives to Christ and witness their baptism.  Caed was so sad last week when the rain postponed the day.  He has been talking about it for months.  And he loves sharing the day with his close friends, Adam and Andrew. 

   As their dad, It feels so great know that each of my children have come to the place where they know their need for grace and understand what Jesus has done for them on the Cross.  It's such a simple yet profound understanding.  I know it will rock their world for the rest of their lives as they continue to grasp how deep, how wide, and how vast is the love of Christ for them. And I know that they will look back on this day, where the sun shone brighly, and the water was cool, and friends stood around watching their moment of testimony.   The moment has been marked into their minds and will be looked back upon I'm sure as they continue to grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord.  I'm grateful to be the one that has baptized all my children.  I remember the day that I welcomed them into the world.  I remember the day they all prayed to accept Christ into their lives. And now I remember the day they all were baptized in my arms. 

 

This is Discipling

via vimeo.com

I'm sharing this every place I can because I believe it really captures visually the passion of my heart. I really appreciate those that produced it. It's VERY well done!!

I want this level of devotion!

Most who know me know that I love the writing of John Piper.  This morning I was reading in "A Godward Life, Book Two" about devotion to Christ and loving HIM above all things.  And the devotion conculded with the following story about the Haim family of Cambodia.  Having children, I so related to this father's place in his child's life and how he valued his faith over life itself.  I want to be the same, but wonder if I would be. 

In the village of Siem Riep, Cambodia, Haim, a Christian teacher "knew that the youthful black-clad Khmer Rouge soldirs now heading across the field were coming this time for him....  Haim was determined that when his turn came, he would die with dignity and without complaint.  Since "Liberation" on April 17, 1975 what Camodian had not considered this day?...  Haim's entire family was rounded up that afternoon.  They were "the old dandruff!", "enemies of the glorious revolution!".  They were Christians.

    The family spent a sleepless night comforting one another and praying for each other as they lay bound together in the dewy grass beneath a stand of friendly trees.  Next morning the teenage soldiers returned and led them from their Gethsemane to their place of execution, to the nearby viel somlap, "the killing fields"....

    The family were ordered to dig a large grave for themselves.  Then consenting to Haim's request for a moment to prepare themselves for death, father, mother, and children, hands linked, knelt together around the gaping pit.  With loud cries to God, Haim began exhorting both the Khmer Rouge and all those looking on from afar to repent and believe the gospel.

    Then in panic, one of Haim's youngest sons leapt to his feet, bolted into the surrounding bush and disappeared.  Haim jumped up and with amazing coolness and authority prevailed upon the Khmer Rouge not to pursue the lad, but allow him to call the boy back.  The knots of onlookers, peering around trees, the Khmer Rouge, and the stunned family still kneeling at the graveside, looked on in awe as Haim began calling his son, pleading with him to return and die together with his family.  "What comparison, my son,' he called out, "stealing a few more days of life in the wilderness, a fugitive, wretched and alone, to joining your family here momentarily around this grave but soon around the throne of God, free forever in Paradise?'  After a few tense minutes the bushes parted, and the lad, weeping, walked slowly back to his place with the kneeling family.  "Now we are ready to go, Haim told the Khmer Rouge.

    Few of those watching doubted that as each of these Christians' bodies toppled silently into the earthen pit which the victims themselves had prepared, their souls soared heavenward to a place prepared by their Lord. (Don Cormack, Killing Fields, Living Fields:  An Unfinished Portrait of the Cambodian Church--the Church That Would Not Die [Crowborough, England: Monarch Publications, 1997], 233-4).

My thoughts raced to my own family and I want to lead them with this devotion and knowing that Death is not to be feared, but to be embraced and celebrated as the victory that it is and be willing to live each day for the One worth dying for!  We don't face that level of intimidation and direct confrontation in America.  Our threats are subtle: materialism, greed, comfort, self-preservation.  They attack everyday and round us up and we face the guns to give in to their pursuits, or die to self and live for Him.  This post is a call to courage to stand and fight, and die for all that we believe.

Ever Learning

One of the things I most enjoy about life is the process of learning.  One of my closest friends in college once said to me "If your arrogance weren't so predictable, it would be obnoxious".  Those words sunk in because they were so incredibly true.  I had a great deal of confidence in my knowledge and my percieved grasp of understanding.  I can't say at all that this was my best quality, but it was, unfortunately the one most easily seen. I had a lot of learning to do.

Life, as a teacher, has a way of humbling us under God's divine direction.   Failure, rejection, disappointment, loss, and heartache are common life experiences that come along side all of us.  So, as time has passed and age has increased, my own process of learning has included large doses of humily.  I have discovered that the more I know, the more I know and become confidnent in my lack of knowledge.  As I have learned and discovered more about life, I see that there is way more beyond my grasp than within it.

For some, this might feel like a depressing reality, but for me it has been freedom.  I love to learn and once God started chipping away at my pride, I quickly began to see the prison that it was for me.  Yes, there still remains evidence of my arrogance and pride (ask my wife or any family member and most probably co-worker).  But the words of my friend, well over 20 years ago, began a process of change that I continue upon and look forward to developing. 

Each day there are new discoveries to be made and lessons to be learned.  Many come from my children who teach me patience, love, humilty, kindness, tenderness, and compassion.  I think that's why God gave me four of them because he knew I needed a LOT of lessons. 

What are you learning these days?

The Verge Network

As Mosaic continues to develop and emerge, I'm often asked to describe where this is going.  Well, as best I can tell, God seems to be drawing people that want a highly relational expression of community that can't be found in current church expressions where the majority of people come and watch or observe others teaching, worshipping, and leading.  Mosaic isn't a place one can "hide" or sit back and observe for very long.  It's a place that brings one to relational commitment fairly quickly because of the way we discuss Scripture, share our stories, and worship in intimate ways. 

One of the many organizations that seems to be leading the communication for the development of "Organic" Church is The Verge Network.  They have a series of 7 questions that helps to articulate and explore some of the core elements of a Missional Community.  I would say that Mosaic resonates with these.  Not that we already embody them, but that we, as a group, long to see them develop in and through us. 

It's been my desire to post these discussions and have a discussion here on my blog about them, but time constraints (and my ADD brain) often sidetracks me into other areas of life.  But this post is a summary post and thought it would be a great place to start the sharing of information.