courage to be

You dont get taught these skills in school

With Mawande laying down his landscaping shovel, to pick up his trusty neon highlighter for the 2018-10 SBC year, alas our household is back to the fall schedule around here. Ive been blessed with one more cleaning job, to add to my cutting hair and nannying, and ministry is in full flight again in our church. Sunday school team teaching with the ladies and a fiery Sunday morning prayer team commences again. And of course, the joy of our hearts, we begin meeting again with our Young Leaders!

With buttery fingers of salty popcorn, we took turns around our oval wooden table asking our Young Leaders Team what was their word for "the season" as we have resumed. "The season," referring to the current state of their souls right where they find themselves as we reconnect post summer. We didnt know if anyone would catch on to what we were asking, or would be willing to just go for it and trust one another with their current truth with no screen to hide behind.

Our summer "cabin" Home Sweet Home

We were awed at what our group of five bold young women shared. Words like waiting, break-through, tired, hungry,and more alive then ever surfaced with honest explanations that were raw, unpolished and simply beautiful in their vulnerable exposure. Courage was my word as I witnessed theirs. Only good things are sure to come from kick offs like that.

Our Fiereless Bunch of Young Leaders 2018

Again last night we had a cheesy spaghetti squashy comfort dinner together in our small group program called Housefires, named this as we meet in one another's homes seeking the presence of one another and the Holy Spirit. And presence was to be found indeed as the forks slowed their scooping and deeply hurting hearts surfaced when we shared about our week. These brave weak ones were met with caring ears and the strength of the Body of Christ came alive, worthwhile was their risk for possible ridicule or judgement. They found themselves safer then before within themselves, they found themselves found in the Presence.

Praise and prayer report time at our church this past Sunday featured my Sister in Law standing up to report she was falling down hard with helpless hands in her parenting role. My brother up at the front gathering requests to pray for, with his daughter whom had crawled up into his hands, helplessly started weeping himself confirming the words of his wife through his own tears. And the church gathered around and cried out together to our Perfect Father to Father these ones this day. Afterward, more tears from more broken parents could no longer be kept from the Body, more prayer, more binding together in this mysterious word that overrides the safety of blood relationships-fellowship. Honest communion of the Saints, for better, for worse. Taking advantage finally of the strength that lies in the unity of the Bride, a supernatural gift that the world at large is so hungry for. "Bearing with one another in love..." Gal 4:2 indeed. 

"For God gave us a Spirit who produces not timidity, but power, love and self-discipline" so 2 Tim 1:7 says. 

The highlight of our summer season was not lovely lakes or homemade coconut ice creams or spur of the

Let the glory of family camping commence!

moment Moose Lake camp-outs, it was experiencing this truth-telling fellowship. Up until this season of trusting in our faith journeys for the things closest to our hearts, we have not tasted the goodness of being known, loved, and uplifted in prayer before the Father like this. With everyone down on their knees, foreheads on the floor, crying out for the Lifter of Our Heads to exhibit his loving kindness on behalf of one another, there is no room left to doubt that coming out into the light from the hiding spots of our hearts is LIFE ABUNDANT. We come out to Jesus himself in the process, feeling his hand on our back in the form of our brothers and sisters.

Our Fast family was together for more then one day for the first time in six years this August. Oh you can believe we torn up the Clear Lake streets with Hannah's shrieks of delight as the kids sat in front of the 8 passenger bikes warning all local traffic there was no safe place to hide on sidewalk or center street, we were a'coming! 
Upon arrival home and with our last day all in one house, We had an hour together in a heavenly garden, looking better then we knew we could, taking family photos. Truly a sublime moment we each savored as we dont know the next year this opportunity will come.

A common summer sight in our
backyard with friends from
down the street and as far as
Capetown!

But once again, by now no surprise, the one cool summer night we all packed on top of each other on those floral cabin couches and our own stories of great grief and current pain surfaced, marked the moment with greatest significance. A Father's affirmation like only a father can give, a brothers prayer like only a brother to brother can pray, a sister's hand grasped in another sister's hand; the Kingdom of God was there. The commanded blessing that comes only by united hearts flowed down upon us all as the night fell with our individual walls of safety. The boundaries we think we set for our own good, but end up only keep us bound and separate, perpetuating our cycles of anxiety and fear.

"For God gave us a Spirit who produces not timidity, but power, love and self discipline." Thanks again Timothy.

Watch the following link from a house church movement when you have a moment. We haven't seen a more hopeful documentary for us, the Church, ever. Dreams of our hearts alive in action.

https://youtu.be/2qheANo68eo

As we go into this this season of "God with us," our greatest prayer for ourselves, church and families, which are especially the most complex at times, is that we will take Francis Chan's, and really Holy Spirit's challenge to us, to believe in this great Spirit of Courage He has put inside of us, and be "with one another." May we allow him to identify within our darknesses, why do we stay hidden, what do we truely have to loose when others discover who we are down there. Perfectly ugly beautiful messes and stories of grace wait to be revealed in all of us. The Kingdom of God breaks through there in the glorious disaster of our hearts come undone, to be put back together hand in heart with one another.

Worship Joy with another Body in Winnipeg

Open up, let the Light in.

I dare you. I dare me.

What if we don't regret it at all?

Much love, The Manis