Look who's on the Roof of First Church!

That's right, only 22 days into my new assignment, I made it to the top of the small tower on top of First Church. And, I managed to bring a Fiedler, a Fiddler, and a production crew so that we could shoot a little-ole promo for First Church's upcoming musical, Fiddler on the Roof. I really enjoy feeling like I'm putting my undergrad degree to use and so being given the opportunity to write and produce this promo was very enjoyable for me. By the end of this week, look for the video here on my blog.

The August newsletter for First Church will feature UrbanLife. As I wrote the articles about UrbanLife today, I came to another place of clarity as to why I'm doing what I'm doing: I really BELIEVE what Jesus said about this whole life abundant thing. Imagine the impact we will have on the world if we can get urban professional adults to believe, if only for a small stolen moment every day, that we exist in God's abundance versus the world's scarcity. Many of you know my love for the Greek word, zoe, translated as life in John 10:10. Today, I researched the word "abundant" in this verse and found that it can translate as "beyond" so that Jesus might have said, "I came to give you life, and life beyond." A life beyond...a life beyond our fears, our doubts, our worries, our egos, our neuroses...a life beyond the most abundant we can ever imagine.

How do we get past what we think life is and move towards a life beyond? As we were climbing the old iron ladders (straight up, two of them) to get to the top of the tower, I kept telling myself, "just take the next step" and don't look at the steps before or after. I wanted to appear brave in front of my colleagues and church members so I just kept breathing and focusing on the step that was right in front of me. And the craziest thing happened: I did not feel fear on any one step as I climbed up or down the ladder, even when it was time to take that step off of the ladder on to the roof and later off of the roof and onto the ladder.

I met a dear friend for lunch today who unbeknownst to her or me, she spoke this word from God to me. I share it with you as you seek "zoe" kind of living: "God will only lay the stones for your path in front of you and he will only lay the next stone you are to step on. So close your eyes and pray, 'God, only let me doe the next right thing for your will that is here in front of me.' Then open your eyes and do what is in front of you." (As soon as the words came out of her mouth, we both realized the depth of the wisdom she spoke...I wrote it down on my napkin!)

Open your eyes and do what is in front of you.