Instant Bond

Lily was born at 3:13pm on March 15.  The same day my grandmother was born.  She carries the name tradition started with Heather's grandmother.  She's a pretty special kid.  She spent some time in the hospital nursery after she was born so it gave me a good excuse for some daddy-daughter time right from the start.  I didn't do much but sit by her bed and hold her perfect little hand and stroke her soft newborn head.  As I look back on it now...it was a gift.  Of course no dad wants to see their little girl hooked up to machines but those days were an instant bond for me.  She won't remember a second of it...I'll never forget it.

While in the nursery God began to speak softly to me.  He's got a pretty keen sense of context (I'm guessing he whispers in the library too).  The voice I heard was a very similar voice...mostly because it was a very similar context.  Almost 5 years earlier, I heard the same voice while standing hunched over by my Son's crib.  Ethan was only weeks old and I would go into his room and bend over his black, craftsman crib until my lower back couldn't take it any longer.  While I would go in night after night to watch my son's chest fill with air and then sigh as it emptied again, Jesus began to speak to me.

He actually began to ask me questions.  (Be careful when this begins to take place in your life...it's a very Yoda moment except the sentences are usually complete and not jumbled up like the green Jedi master.)  Jesus began to ask me, "Peter, what if you raised your family on the mission?  What if you got a little dirty... a little messy and actually lived out the mission as a family?"  What would that look like."  My heart said it would look like a masterpiece.  Like an impressionistic work of art that looks chaotic and messy up close but breathtaking when seen from a distance.  And that began this crazy journey my family is currently on.  We haven't lived it out perfectly...there have been many seasons of doubt and selfishness but we are still living it out.  Fast forward 5 years and my precious Lily was another simple reminder to a simple father who's still getting asked the same question, "Peter, what if you raised your family on the mission."

What if...

Messy

One of my favorite leaders, Jeff Vanderstelt, said recently, "You know you're on mission when it gets messy."  Who likes messy?  I like things that are clean.  I prefer things with parallel lines where everything is symmetrical.  I like complimentary colors.  My dreams take place in cities with grid-like streets...simple...flat...neat...Texas.  But the mission gets messy.  People who are trying to figure this Jesus thing out are complicated.  They wrestle.  They're honest.  They get frustrated.  They cuss.  They shed tears.  They dance.  They're messy.  And what a beautiful mess it is.  How messy are the people around you?  If you're surrounded by complimentary colors, parallel lines and symmetry, chances are you're not on the mission.  I challenge us all to jump face first into the mess and find ourselves on this glorious, messy mission.  Maybe then we will be brought to our knees together...all on the same playing field.  Then we can realize what a beautiful mess God has made us all to be.  Take a step back from the globs of paint and be awakened to see the mistake of your life becoming something beautiful in the hand of "the great artist."