The City.

On Friday mornings our team meets for breakfast. Our staff meetings are on Monday mornings, and we work through the details, planning, and strategy of the ministry. But Fridays are a time to eat a meal together, catch up on the week, pray, and to grow as a team.

This past week we started going through a DVD series from Tim Keller called, “The Gospel in Life”. I love so much of what Tim Keller has to say about, what I guess might be called, “city theology”.

The first segment is called, “The City”, and well, it’s about the City. It’s funny that this could be a topic for a series called the Gospel in Life, but I think it’s so relevant. It feels especially relevant where we find ourselves, and our perspective and view of this new place we call home.

In the segment, Keller draws comparisons between modern day Christians living in cities and the Israelite’s experience as they were in exile in Babylon- a city of pagan idolatry and foreign practices. The Babylonians, the pagans, were inviting and urging the Israelites to come into the city and give up their spiritual identity and belief system- to become like the city.  The false prophets of the time were encouraging the Israelites to stay out of the city, isolate themselves, build their own community and stay there, and to, in effect, protect their spiritual identify and beliefs. But God, through Jeremiah, tells the Israelites to enter the city, live there, settle there AND also to keep their spiritual identity and beliefs.

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.” Jeremiah 29:4-6

He goes further to say,

“…seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:7

God is concerned with cities. He was then, and He is now.  And shockingly, not just the neat, sweet, perfect little cities that we could somehow call more “Christian”. He cares for the Babylons of the Bible, and of today. He cares for San Francisco.

On our newsletter we have a verse that says, “Should I not be concerned with that great city?” This verse comes from Jonah. In the book of Jonah, God has asked Jonah to go to Ninevah, Jonah is angry and doesn’t want to because Ninevah is full of people who don’t love or serve God. However, God explains that He created this city and the 120,000 people who live there, and that He is concerned with Ninevah. It is a "great" city in that it's big, but also God sees it as important. Ninevah is a big, ungodly, pagan city, and yet, God is concerned.

Keller goes on to outline the purpose and importance of cities throughout time as places of cultural creation and dissemination, law and justice, refuge for the poor and for minorities, and places of spiritual seeking and finding. Sounds pretty good to me. The bad news is that because of SIN and the fact that creation is fallen and groaning for restoration, cities are instead often places of injustice and lawlessness, racism and classism, and materialism and idolatry. Something is off and we all know it. Cities can be hard and confusing places, and somehow being in the city, we can feel a little more keenly that everything isn't as it's supposed to be. Brokenness is the word that comes to mind. 

So, as Jesus himself prayed that the Kingdom would come on earth as it is in Heaven, we pray that, too. And we labor for it. God invites us, the Church, into his plan to bring the Kingdom of God to earth,  and also to seek the welfare of the city.

Cities really can feel confusing and overwhelming. San Francisco can feel that way to me. So many people, ideas, differences…and, so much traffic. But this is not a bad place, and God for whatever reason identifies with the city. (Read Revelation 21 if you get a chance, too.)

I do realize that this skims the surface of some huge ideas, and also that I have much to learn...about a lot of things. However, I wanted to share that I’m glad to be here because cities are important, we have been called, and because God is here. I’m so encouraged by God’s heart for cities, and for San Francisco. God is here and He loves this city and the 700,000 people who live here, as close to Babylon as it might feel sometimes. Our job is to seek the welfare of the city, while loving God and clinging to our God-given identity, mission, and purpose.

(This is actually a post from St. Pierre's in the City blog.)

What's Making Me Smile.

As we’ve been processing a new home, new careers, a new church, a new city, etc., there have been a few things that have been making me feel…well, happy. And alive. This is definitely not an exhaustive list, and maybe being "happy" isn't the most important thing in the world, but for now, I’d like to share little bits of happiness in my days lately. 

Sunflowers. I’m not totally sure if it’s a deal, but I feel like I have found them for a great price at a few different places…$5 for a bunch. Regardless, they are making our living room so happy, too.

Cooking. After not cooking all summer, it was so refreshing to get back in the kitchen and to try some new recipes. I took most of them from my accommodating mother-in-law, who was doing all the cooking I wasn’t over the summer. Here’s a good one I tried last week…and REALLY easy:

              Spaghetti Carbonara

             8 oz. Spaghetti

             3 oz pancetta or bacon, diced

             1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

             3 large eggs, lightly beaten

             1 medium zucchini, cut into ribbons

             1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

             1/4 cup half and half

             1 tsp. salt

1. Cook spaghetti. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking water.

2. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add pancetta/bacon; saute until almost crisp. Add shallots; saute until shallots are golden and pancetta is crisp, but not burnt.

3. Add pasta to skillet; toss cooking over medium heat. Add eggs; stir vigorously, scraping pan to loosen cooked egg. Add zucchini; toss well. Add cheese; toss. Stir in half-and-half, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until heated through, added some reserved water if the mixture seems to dry. Serves 6. 

On top of that, it has been so fun to entertain and have people in our home. We are loving opening our home and evenings to all kinds of people...mostly old friends, some new. I feel like I learned so much this summer from all the people who hosted us in their homes about entertaining that it has been so fun putting it in action. Two things stick out: having an appetizer. Cloth napkins. Both make you feel fancy. Who doesn’t want to feel fancy?

Chai. And especially getting it from the coffee house down the street. They know my name already, and not because I've gone everyday, but because their kind and loving people. I'm just on a chai kick. It's so cozy.  

 

Walking. Matt and I have literally walked everywhere. It makes me feel like a real city girl.

Doing and seeing new things. Everything feels new. So that’s good. I'll add to this meeting new people and I feel like we’ve met our fair share of them, as well. There’s nothing like a first coffee date to ask a million and a half questions and feel like you only really have a glimpse into a person’s soul. We live a three minute walk from this museum and went last weekend:

 

Markets. I love the fact that I can walk for about 10 minutes and be at a tiny little corner market to buy my produce and flowers instead of being in a Safeway. Though, I will say this, we like our new Safeway. Matt commented on our first grocery trip that finding your new grocery store just makes you feel at home. I agree.

 

Reading. I have been reading a few books lately…such is the life of the indecisive. But one in particular has been SO challenging and life-giving. To be honest, I didn’t know if I would love it when I picked it up. In some ways, it is as cheesy as I feared. And, I think like most things there is some stuff you take, and other things you leave. But overall, I feel like my attitude and perspective have really been affected in a good way.

 

Candles and good smell-ing things. Enough said. Seriously, changes everything in a house.  Since Matt isn’t included anywhere on this list, I’ll include him here…most of the time. Can't wait to burn this one again:

Calendaring and listing. I love list anyway. If you know me at any kind of distance you probably know that I have about ten lists to get me through a day. But especially right now at the start of a new job and in the midst of transition, it's really fun to think ahead, and plan, have a calendar, and make lists. 

What's making you happy right now? I'll try it and add some happiness to next week. 

We're Here and God is Good.

               

We moved to San Francisco one week ago today! 

It is an absolute miracle that we are here…and we have truly been thanking our all-sufficient, abundantly providing, always Good, God. Don't get me wrong, God would be Good even if we weren’t living in San Francisco right now, or if we never made it. But, for whatever reason He chose to be good to us in this season of our lives through the incredible outpouring of love, encouragement, and resources of His people- many of you who are hopefully reading this. We feel overwhelmed. Life has been a bit of a whirlwind, but God has been so kind and gentle and good to us. 

The deal was that before we could move to SF we had to have all of our financial support fully raised. Ask anyone who has ever raised financial support- you have your days when you wonder if you’ll ever get there. You have lots of those kinds of days. You wonder how a large sum of money will come together in a matter of a few months…and in the meantime how you will find a place to live, then actually do the move, and all the while prepare your heart and mind to do the job you’ve been telling everyone your going to do, which is why your actually raising the large sum of money in the first place! But then, God just does it. He is socreative and bountiful when He does, and it's so fun to watch. Matt and I felt just absolutely overwhelmed in the past two weeks as the last of our support poured in, about 20%, over the course of 2 or 3 days. 

Support-raising is such a balance of diligence and hard work, and trusting God. And knowing that ultimately it really isn’t about your diligence or hard work. Confusing, right? I need to tell you, though, that I see so much value in this process. We learned so much in those three months. I assure you that no one tells us we have to say that, and we're not trained on how to write something like this. And I know the phrase “hard, but good” is used probably all too widely in Christian circles- but the process is so “hard, but good” (and hey, maybe it isn’t used too much, maybe that’s just how God works). We learned a lot about how to trust God. Again, which sounds cliche. But, God says lots of things in His Word, that don't mean much unless we take the step to actually trust those things, and apply them to our lives. In May, I found myself often fretting and worrying, Martha-ing, if you will . At the end of the summer, I didn’t find myself doing that as much. God did a workto show us His character in a real way in our lives…He showed us that He is faithful, that His first concern is always our hearts and whether or not we love Him most. He showed us that all money belongs to Him and that He uses His people, His Church, to provide for the needs and ministries of other saints. He humbled us by showing us that we couldn’t work hard enough to bring our goal to completion, but that He would bring it to completion when it glorified Him most. He taught Matt and I how to work together, trust each other, and how to be far less controlling (okay, maybe that was more me). He made us so thankful…and reminded us that it is not only in seasons of abundance and blessing that we are to be thankful, but in all circumstances.

We had the absolute privilege of meeting and talking with some of the most phenomenal human beings we have ever met this summer. Generous, sacrifical, faithful, obedient, radical, encouraging, and God-loving, people-loving people. We are so thankful to be part of THE CHURCH. We have been challenged to always be those kinds of people for others…that we are “blessed, to be a blessing”. We feel so thankful to have a team of people...so many of the BEST.

And now, here we find ourselves in San Francisco. Tomorrow, we officially start the work that we told you all this summer that we would be doing. We covet your prayers tomorrow, and every day until the next time we meet or speak and we can remind you again. This is a city in need of Jesus, and in need of Love. But, this is also a BEAUTIFUL city. A city full of God’s creation, and of people who were made in His image to glorify and magnify Him. There are growing and thriving churches here, the Spirit of God is moving, and there are lost and broken people here. All right alongside each other. We covet your prayers to love and serve this city in a way that honors the God who brought us here.

In the past week, we have been unpacking and organzing,exploring our neighborhood and the city a bit to settle in and feel a little more comfortable with our new home. We love our neighborhood and our home, a "flat" to be precise, and are so excited to share it with hopefully many of you. We were able to go on campus for a prayer gathering, where we met two female students, who were absolutely wonderful. We visited a great church and were able to connect with the Lord there and even recognized a few faces. We had our first team breakfast with five out of eight of our team members, where we connected as a team and prayed on the rooftop over the city and students. Maybe we are in a honeymoon phase of sorts, but we love this city. (And it could help that the weather has been perfect.)

And lastly, to all of you who are a part of all of this, thank you. Thank you so much for letting God use you to bring us here. You are a blessing, an answer to prayer, and truly partners and co-laborers in the gospel for the sake of this city.

(On a hike...literally a five minute walk from our house. We feel so blessed.)