A New Sprinkler System

Thanks to a wonderful team of volunteers, the long awaited sprinkler system is in! And Gwen was certainly excited about this as you can tell.

We are so thankful for the great artesian well and abundance of water we have here at Linwood House, which Ron thanks God for every day. An abundance that allows us to have plenty for our guests to drink, to take long soaks in the deep bathtubs, or a nice long shower. Water that brings out the beauty of the folliage and flowers that surround the house and patio.

Thank you Gerry and your team!
 

Meeting God in the Poor

When we are not afraid to confess our own poverty, we will be able to be with other people in theirs. The Christ who lives in our own poverty recognises the Christ who lives in other people's. Just as we are inclined to ignore our own poverty, we are inclined to ignore others'. We prefer not to see people who are destitute, we do not like to look at people who are deformed or disabled, we avoid talking about people's pains and sorrows, we stay away from brokenness, helplessness, and neediness.

By this avoidance we might lose touch with the people through whom God is manifested to us. But when we have discovered God in our own poverty, we will lose our fear of the poor and go to them to meet God.
(Henri Nouwen Daily Devotional August 19,2006)

I cannot help but believe this statement because I have experienced it. With each Journey program, with new and returning guests from the downtown eastside, I see God in these women. They remind me that these are the uninvited guests Jesus welcomed to the table. These are the "poor" that Jesus reminds us are with us, are us, so we can find God

Blessed are the Poor

"Our Poverty, God's Dwelling Place

How can we embrace poverty as a way to God when everyone around us wants to become rich? Poverty has many forms. We have to ask ourselves: "What is my poverty?" Is it lack of money, lack of emotional stability, lack of a loving partner, lack of security, lack of safety, lack of self-confidence? Each human being has a place of poverty. That's the place where God wants to dwell! "How blessed are the poor," Jesus says (Matthew 5:3). This means that our blessing is hidden in our poverty."

August 18, 2006 Daily Meditation
from Henri Nouwen Daily Meditations

Linger a While

“To be slow in parting or in quitting something” is how Miriam Webster defines this word LINGER. It is a word very appropriate to the summer season of enjoying holiday time, warm weather and visiting with friends in an unhurried atmosphere. This action of lingering has been written into much of my own activities this season, and I have become more conscious of how much the scent of sacred space comes with it. Lingering could be defined as purposeful movement of the heart and soul to remain present, having your senses fully alive, and allowing that moment to be imprinted into your soul. I am coming to believe it is an essential piece of being a follower of Jesus while we are show how to leave his fingerprints as we pass through life.

Retreat time holds much space for lingering, as do slow mornings, or quiet evenings. Linwood House is all about offering this space to those who come, and encouraging the embracing of that time.

What about the communion and essence of community that is held in the sacred space where we tarry or wait with each other? Is this not the kind of community Jesus modeled with breakfast on the beach, lunch for a crowd in the open park and inviting himself to dinner in other’s homes?

A group of women have been meeting on Wednesday evenings to pursue the study Experiencing God. The allotted time is 1.5 hours for each evening but we have never been able to leave before 3 hours have passed! We just cannot seem to condense it to anything less as there is so much to share about what God is speaking in our daily lives. There is an abundance of fellowship happening in our evening together and someone mentioned that this is truly church to them. Community that the soul is longing for is glimpsed, and embraced, it seems, when we linger in sacred space – wherever that is found.

Isaiah seemed to understand this when he wrote these words:
“We’re content to linger in the path sign-posted with your decisions. Who you are and what you’ve done are all we’ll ever want. Through the night my soul longs for you. Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you” Isaiah 26:7 The Message

Lingering, obedience, sacred space, hearing the voice of Love: all ingredients to experiencing and knowing the Almighty who is pursuing real personal relationships.

Water Systems

This has been a marvelous summer on the Sunshine Coast with unusually warm weather which we have all enjoyed and basked in. The flowers are blooming profusely and their thirst means constant watering. The lawn enjoys Ron`s constant tending but it too requires much watering to keep it healthy and green.

So this weekend, thanks to Gerry Sly and his men`s group, Linwood House will host these men and their spouses and Gerry will direct them in installing a much need spinkler system! We look forward to lots of laughter, and getting plenty of food on the table for this crew of hard workers who are volunteering their weekend to install this for us.

Have a great weekend all.