2.26.2011

More on Peacemaking & Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (New Living Translation)
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.
And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors;
God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Definition of RECONCILE
1a : to restore to friendship or harmony b : settle, resolve     
  2: to make consistent or congruous
 
So, the way I'm beginning to see it...we are called to fight for peace...to fight for restoration of friendship and resolution between...God and man! That is our mission! We are ambassadors, peace MAKERS...

Our job is not pretty and it often comes at great consequence to our own comfort...are we doing it?

2.25.2011

Peacemaking

Today I came across a blog that made me start thinking. You can read the blog here
The following are the thoughts/comments I made to that blog...

Well, those are deep questions. I'm not sure I am any closer to answers on them than you are, however, a thought popped into my head as I read your post...I hope I'm not hijacking...

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God." (Matt. 5:5)

So, being a peacemaker is part of our identity...right??

Problem. I've always interpreted that to mean being a doormat... "giving up one's 'rights' to vindication"...because after all revenge is His, right?

Well, what does it mean to be a PEACE-maker? NLT says "God blesses those who work for peace..." What are wars about? Two opposing sides...that can't seem to come to an agreement... Often a third party joins the fight...in order to RESTORE peace...to reconcile differences for the greater good...

Three different concepts come to mind...

Pacificist= a person who believes in pacifism or is opposed to war or to violence of any kind.

Peacekeeper= a person who maintains or restores peace and amity; mediator

Peacemaker= a person, group, or nation that tries to make peace, especially by reconciling parties who disagree, quarrel, or fight.

Are soldiers peacemakers? Technically, yes.

Soldiers (in theory, at least) are people who fight for peace.

Ok...so this is not about war vs. peace...but it is.

In relationships, in reconciliation especially, things can begin to feel like war. One caustic statement produces a self-protecting and equally damaging response... et cetera, etc.

So...if we are to be peacemakers, if we are to spread this gospel of reconciliation...are we not people who are to fight for peace... we are to be people who intentionally enter into conflict for the sake of ending the conflict. Hm...how does that work?

Honestly, that answer still evades me somewhat...but a few things DO come to the surface...

One, we do not enter the conflict with the motive of self-promotion, if we do...we are sure to wreak havoc on our own souls and to leave a bloody trail.

Two, we must enter into the conflict from a stance of Love. That love that's patient, kind (which also means to be patient), not rude, always hoping for the best...

Three, We must seek to understand before seeking to be understood... MUCH easier said than done.

Finally, we must enter into the process of peacemaking and reconciliation with the understanding that reconciliation is a process that often takes place in a series of encounters...it requires a commitment until the resolution...peacemaking rarely makes an easy or immediate appearance.

2.23.2011

All I know to do...is give it to You...

Tonight...my heart is full...
full of an awareness...
my reality is not reality
not everyone has lived a life as easy as mine...

human trafficking
27 million
...human beings...
ENSLAVED
property?
...no dignity...no sense of value
little girls...
women...
little boys...
men
people with souls...
people without hope...
people who need Jesus' love
people who need someone to get passionate about them!
forgotten and cast aside...
society?
...more concerned with the red carpet than what's "hidden" in the red light district...
http://www.projectrescue.com/

ADDICTION
...meth, pills, heroin...
broken, self-centered people...
whose stories are so long and intricate, the beginning is hard to decipher from the end
people who believe they have no choice anymore...
hurting, abandoned children...damaged by someone else's choices
burnt bridges... parents and loved ones at the end of their ropes...
...hopelessness...
people desparate for freedom...
yet it is as illusive as the high that they seek
people who need
...Jesus' love...
...the power of the cross...
...restoration...
VICTORY
http://www.teenchallenge.org/site/c.inKLKROuHqE/b.5492523/k.BD98/Home.htm

Jesus, tonight, I come into agreement with You. Healer of the Broken, You alone hold the keys to freedom from sin and wholeness from its destruction...I ask You to set captives free...to open the blind eyes and unlock the deaf ears... AWAKEN this generation from its slumber...from its foolishness...AWAKEN Your Bride to Her Purpose...to seek and to save those who are lost...to bind up the broken hearted...Father, stir up our hearts... RAISE UP men and women with the heart of William Wilburforce...let freedom ring... Raise up people with the anointing of Mother Theresa... Raise Up people with hearts to please YOU to glorify YOU...not the media, not the status quo, not the political agenda of a deprived generation...YOU and YOU ALONE! Holy Spirit...empower Your People to DO THE WORK OF END TIME HARVEST... May we become aware of our God-given authority...Establish Your Identity within Your People...that we may see the nations come to know Your Name!

Father...this is Your Heart...only You can accomplish this work through Your People...embolden us...cause us to see reality...YOUR REALITY... I roll over the burden...the weight of the needs I see...show me, how can I be part of the solution...?

2.22.2011

I have a problem...

"Hello, my name is Rachel Leonard and I am addicted to books..."

"Hi, Rachel...." (imagine a chorus of people that sound like Eeyore)

(Ok, in case you're not laughing ... you should be!! The last year of has ruined my humor!)

No, seriously, people...I LOVE books! And I think that I have a problem. (That's good, they say that the first step is to admit you have a problem...I'm getting there :-) I like to buy books, borrow books from libraries, borrow books from friends...

I am also a chronic multi-book reader...meaning I am reading about 10 books right now...in fact, I was SO proud to have finished one the other day...guess, how long I was reading that one? Come on, give it a go... alright...it took me about a year (granted, I didn't start until about 8 months after receiving it as a gift because I was in denial over needing to read it...a great book on singleness!)

I realized the other day that the first thing I do when I move to a new community is find the public library...I have a library card on my key chain from 5 years ago (I interned in southeast KY for 2 months and spent all of my free-time at the library!)

So, um, right now I'm avoiding a mess in the basement...totally and completely MY mess...
I am trying to squeeze 26+ years of life into a tiny bedroom ...and it is becoming a little overwhelming! The other day I realized that I have moved 4 times since May 2009! And, well, I'm not done yet for this year!! However, I've decided I need to get my stuff in some decent organized order...even if it is only for six months or less.

One discovery that I have been making in the process of this mess...ehem, drumroll please!

Most of my belongings have great similarity... they all have hundreds of pages, tiny print and are bound together in various forms of colors and pictures...we like to call these things books! Oh...I just love them! Until, I have to pack and unpack them :-)

I asked myself a good rhetorical question today...

"Why do I love books so much?"
"Good question, Rachel."
(Yes, I did just talk to myself and respond...)

Well, I'm not sure of the answer. I do know that I usually like to read to understand something better....a people group, a world situation, God's Word, myself... or to just escape from life for a while... I literally have entire sections to my collection...Bibles, Hermeneutics (big word for studying scripture), Leadership, Missions, Church Growth, Counseling, Youth, Young Adults, Women's Issues, Addiction, Marriage, Dating, Literature, Christian Fiction...

Each section contains an insight...I like to read and I like to understand...and then I like to share! One of my dreams since I was a little girl has been to have a room in my house completely devoted to books, it will have shelves full of books...cozy couches, a fireplace and snuggly blankets...and to top it off a ladder that will slide down the wall (partly because I'm short and partly because Belle in Beauty & the Beast always made it look so fun!)

Welcome to the random mind of Rachel :-) So, to the answer the question...I'm not sure? haha...but I should probably get back to organizing all the books I already have...in my basement bedroom!

PS I found this awesome picture...another dream of mine to have a house where I can plant a tree in the middle and it will grow super tall right through the roof... what a GREAT combo ...well, at least in theory :-)



2.15.2011

Beni Johnson - The Secret Place



This is what this next season is about for me...restoring the Secret Place. Today, I close the door on an intense season of giving and open a door to a season of resting and listening and re-learning the art of Practicing the Presence... this is what I've been missing...feeling God's Presence and hearing His Voice. It is my desire to know God intimately and to make Him known...that the nations would know of His GREAT LOVE! But, it starts right here... :-)

2.13.2011

Somersaults and Seeds

All day my stomach has been doing somersaults...my hands have been shaky...my mind has been racing... and I've been trying to figure out why? I think it is because reality of the upcoming changes is beginning to set in.

When I came to Lexington, I expected to be here longer. I did not foresee myself packing up and leaving Hannah's House within less than a year. I have been fully investing my heart and soul into this ministry... full throttle...non-stop.... I want to see fruit! I've been plowing and planting... praying and praying... I'm just starting to see the breakthrough.

I told some friends that I feel like a foster parent who takes in a broken child and begins the process of restoration and healing...loves on that baby and cares for her...and then has to give the baby back to her parents...

A little over a year ago, I had a dream. In that dream, I was feverishly digging holes and planting gargantuan seeds. (In my mind, I knew I was planting trees, even though it didn't make sense). I filled the entire field with these seeds... then I went and I sat in a lawn chair on the side of the field, waiting for the shoots of green... I'd occasionally go out and water the seeds...still no green. At the end of my dream, I heard what I believe was the voice of God saying..."Some plant, some water and some harvest...but God brings the increase." Then I woke up...I knew that dream had significance...I prayed for a couple months over it...and didn't know what to make of it.


Right now, I feel like I'm sitting on the edge that field...waiting to see green...and I don't get to see it! It's funny because as I reflect over my life in ministry thus far, God has always removed me from the picture before the seeds I've planted have been ready to harvest.

Today, at church (another place to which I felt equally called), I had to say goodbye to several people that I've grown to love. One person blessed me so much with a gift, but more than the gift, it was the heart behind it that sent me for a loop...it was someone I never really had the chance to even get to know the way I wanted to. That is how I feel, period, about all of it.

I know I am headed toward what God has for me in my future...but I feel like everything here came to a such a sudden, halting stop... Part of me in not ready to go....to start over...to be the "new girl" again...to leave family and friends. Fear. False Evidence Appearing Real. That is it...fear of letting go...fear of the unknown...fear of being alone...

And yet, all of this is a piece of the puzzle...I have to give it to God and trust that He has a place for it in His Master Plan...I cannot allow myself to fear... trust means knowing that God has me in His hands...

2.09.2011

tran·si·tion

Definition of TRANSITION
1: a: passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another : change
b: a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another
2: a: a musical modulation
b: a musical passage leading from one section of a piece to another
3: an abrupt change in energy state or level (as of an atomic nucleus or a molecule) usually accompanied by loss or gain of a single quantum of energy


Right now, my life is in a transition. For someone who is never short on words, I'm really struggling...so I'll just get to the point.

I am resigning from Hannah's House as of February 15, 2011.

I've been waiting until all of the proper people had been notified before I made it "public." Letting go ... is tough...much tougher than I thought! I love these ladies and I believe in the work that God is doing here. I've invested almost a year of my life into this ministry and it's hard to release it to the Lord. Even so, I have God's peace in my heart.

I am leaving because...

I am planning a HUGE move this summer/fall to Pasadena, CA...
I will begin studying my Masters of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary!


This is something I've been praying about for a LONG time...for the past five years or more. One of my life goals is to teach at the college level, I'm beginning to recognize my passion for teaching. I'm excited about the diversity of Pasadena/Los Angeles. I'm also excited because Fuller offers a few very unique concentrations that will prepare me to minister to women & children in crisis, recovery and poverty. Fuller is very focused on equipping and sending people to where they're called.

Have you ever noticed that transition...in music...usually includes a change in rhythm & key? A lot of times, at first, the transition can throw you off a little until you can pick up the change... Well. since making my decision, life has been bittersweet...lots of letting go. Emotions run rampant during transition...This new adventure is pretty daunting...it's a big new city, with lots of unknown details. But even in the fear of the unknown...I am sure of one thing...God is leading me. I have peace in that ... I'm taking it one step at a time and walking in obedience...

In the past few weeks, I've had so much affirmation & confirmation from the Lord. Last night, I was reading Mark Batterson's "Wild Goose Chase" and he said a few things that struck me...

"When God wants us to experience a change in perspective, He often does it via a change in scenery."

"Where you are geographically affects where you are spiritually."

"Change of Place + Change of Pace = Change of Perspective"



I really believe that God wants me in Pasadena/L.A. to teach me some specific things.

So, one week from yesterday I am moving out of the center and back to NKY to live with my parents. My main objectives: work, save & prepare...and rest. I am spent right now. I need to talk less and listen more. I will still be in Kentucky for several months and I plan to return, Lord-willing. I do not believe my work here is finished...there are still God-dreams in my heart for KY.

I ask for your prayers as I transition (once again) ...

2.03.2011

a glimpse into the complex road to healing

i'm sitting in my office listening to the girls downstairs on free time. they're listening to a cd and belting it out loud! they crack me up! God has brought such a wonderful group of ladies into the house lately...He is doing so much in their hearts. they are like sponges...so hungry for the Lord and open to what He's doing in them. they have teachable spirits...

lately, i've felt overwhelmed, but it's been the little things that make me smile :-)

this is part of living in the moment that God has you in...soaking up moments of pure joy and laughing...that's something else i love about these ladies, they're always laughing! always...sometimes at inappropriate moments...but i say, laughter is better than tears...only thing better is laughing so hard that it brings you to tears :-)

this is what the road to healing looks like...