About
GatHering Together
In the Same House
If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant you’ve heard the terms, front and back of the house. I once owned a tearoom where these two entities seemed very different from one another. In the front-of-the-house were neatly frocked servers who delivered home-baked entrees onto Battenberg lace-covered tables topped with fresh-cut bells of Ireland, day lilies and Queen Anne’s lace. In the back-of-the-house, the noisy engine of the place, cooks and dishwashers sweat under harsh florescent lights, banded together by the need of the moment, energized by a foxhole kind of camaraderie.
In an aim to achieve my vision for the tearoom, I sometimes strained this natural paradox. I worked frantically in the back-of-the-house trying to produce a placid front-of-the-house experience. I longed for patrons to revel in the beauty, tranquility and solitude that marked my vision, invited the sacredness of God’s Spirit in, then worked hard to smooth out any remaining wrinkles.
If that last sentence made you wince, you likely know something I didn’t know then, or at least didn’t take the time to notice. It took years, a great tragedy and lots of related loss for me to understand what was wrong with that sentence, what was wrong with the life represented by that sentence.
Like most of you, my story has had it’s share of heartbreak. By God’s grace, it’s also had more than it’s share of redemption. As a grief recovery facilitator and spiritual director, each week I have the opportunity to meet with those reconciling their own losses, regrets and shame. I’m encouraged by the faith and courage of these brave individuals as they wait in humble awe for God to pick up the fragmented pieces and brush them into the landscape of their lives. While I’ve been fortunate to sit under some great teaching and have gotten a good deal of experience in my related field over the years, the most important thing I know is that God restores souls and redeems the shattered pieces of broken lives.
Maybe you are someone who is grieving from a loss or fractured relationship. Maybe you feel broken from the heaviness that comes from living in a broken world. You may be questioning God’s promise to restore your soul, or you may be living in that promise and want a community where you can remain in this gift of His abiding. If so, I want to invite you to this restoration site of sorts — a place where together we will gain tools and vision for a peaceful existence in the same house with ourselves and our God. If you choose to come along, I welcome you to both the front and back of my house, right here from Southern Indiana beneath a shelter of tall trees and God’s nurturing presence. Joy and God’s peace as you visit.