Palms on My Path

This past Sunday our church like most other congregations celebrated Palm Sunday in worship. The children waved their palms with wild abandon as they pretended the branches were growing up through the carpet, out of their hair, and all around them in any manner you can imagine. They were gleeful with excitement!

Palm Sunday came at an especially meaningful time in our ministry as we hosted families experiencing homelessness in our church Sunday school wing for a week. While they were here with us we had the privilege of getting to know the people experiencing homelessness rather than the issue. We got to look into the eyes of our guests and their children and see mirrors of our own selves and our own families. We were greatly gifted by this week - the experience to come to know and see ourselves in our visitors, to see hope, courage, and tenacity. They are seeking a path to home.

As Palm Sunday worship began I read the story of Palm Sunday to our Sunday school children from the Spark Storybook Bible. The story of Jesus entrance into Jerusalem is told like this:

"When the two friends came back with a donkey, Jesus climbed on its back and rode down the hill into the city of Jerusalem. The disciples followed behind him. Suddenly, they found themselves in a parade! People were singing and shouting, 'Hosanna! Hosanna! Here comes God's king! Hosanna! Praise God!' People all over heard the shouting and singing and they joined the parade too. Hundreds of people! Thousands of people! They stared taking off their coats and laying them on the ground for Jesus and the donkey to walk on. They pulled palm branches down from the trees and waved them and sang. Then they threw their palms on the ground to make a path for Jesus." 

The children's excitement around waving palms is real and true. Why shouldn't we welcome with wild abandon? Each of us has palm branches in our own lives each and every day. You and I have resources and gifts to share that we may not see as such, but they are things that we can pull down from around us and help us to share hospitality and welcome with pure excitement. We all have palms - both large and small - if we choose to see them.

Throughout Lent, I am experiencing my Chai tea drinking habit as palm branches around me. Throughout the season of Lent I have given up my regular and too often trips to Starbucks. When I forego a mug of "autumn in a cup" during Lent, I put $4 in a jar. At the end of Lent that jar will be given to Beacon Interfaith Housing to support their work around ending homelessness and providing welcoming shelter to all in Minnesota.

My Chai Tea is my palm branch bearer. I want to be one who "threw their palms on the ground to make a path for Jesus."  If people could lay down their coats palms for Jesus journey into Jerusalem, I am thankful that we can share our shelter and resources with gladness. I am delighted that we could open our church to children of God for a week and that I can lay down my palms to make a path for Jesus in a world where some people daily walk the path of homelessness.

My Lenten project may not build a home (by itself) for any of the families who were our guests, but I have hope that it will continue to build a foundation for humility and gratitude in my heart and with the palms of others make a path for Jesus to enter into the crisis of homelessness in MN. That is worth wildly waving my palm and laying it down.

A Few Less Chai, A Few More Homes

Each year for Lent I put a lot of thought into what I can do to better focus on my relationship with God. That's what Lent is about really...refocusing ourselves in a new way. This Lent I wanted to shift my focus from the negative thoughts that creep into my head to a place of gratitude. So I began asking myself what is that makes me feel fortunate, blessed, and grateful on a daily basis.

I am grateful for the little things - having a rental home with my husband, a rescue dog who has his very own rescue cat to chase, a career that is meaningful to me, and of course a Starbucks near both my home and work that allows me to take a break whenever I want for Chai! Mmm....hot chai, iced chai, whatever the day brings I can walk or drive to Starbucks and have a few minutes of peace and calm for just $3.97. What's not to love, it's autumn in a cup!

This year for Lent I decided to relinquish my fortunate status as a Starbucks regular. Throughout the season of Lent this year I would instead save my money and better yet donate to a cause that matters to me - homelessness. Each night in MN there are over 14,000 people without a home and nearly half of these folks are 21 years of age or younger. It's hard to imagine that each night I can park my car in the garage, go into my own home and lock the door behind me. I know that I have a home to go to and that when my day is over I have somewhere safe and warm to stay all the night through. Roughly one quarter of people or are homeless as adults were first homeless as children. This...breaks...my....heart. No child should be homeless. Not in the United States and not in MN. No one.

Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative has been working to help create sustainable housing and end homelessness in MN. I know that the people there working through a time of homelessness can use my $3.97 better than I can. They can accomplish much greater things even then the magical moment of autumn in a cup.

So for Lent this year I have chosen to give up Chai Tea Lattes. Each time I would have gone to Starbucks to get a Chai I add four $1 bills to a spaghetti jar in my room. Every time I put my money into the jar I am reminded of how blessed I am and give thanks to God for the ability to give back. So while I am giving up my routine of a relaxing tea beverage, I am happy to be supporting a cause that is dear to my heart, important to our community, vital for our future, and that I believe God is calling me to.

Right now my jar contains $88 and there are still 10 days left before Easter Sunday. I know that Beacon can do more with this money than I can. Feel free to support my Lenten project by giving to support housing for those who find themselves homeless in MN by volunteering or donating to Beacon.

P.S Anyone who wants to buy me a  Starbucks Chai the day after Easter is welcome to :-)

 

Last Starbucks Chai 3/04/14