Our human eyes need to open up to the glorious Kingdom of God, and metaphors, as they are widely used in the Scripture, are necessary for us to see differently because the Kingdom of God requires new eyes to see. And in our desire to better understand the Word of God, we also need metaphors to get a glimpse of what Jesus sees. As such, by proclaiming Himself the Bread of Life, He wants us to recognize how bread represents His all-satisfying and perpetually nourishing love for everyone.   Insignificance Kills Those who don’t understand their significance are slowly dying. But where do we look for our significance? This yearning leaves us starved, and over time, dead. The enemy comes to kill and destroy, as it’s written in John 10:10. One of the devil’s strategies is to make us focus on ourselves and rely on our strength to find importance—self-focus and self-importance that ultimately leave us hungry for more. Let’s consider for a moment the Israelites, who were oppressed and overlooked. They’re seeking not only freedom from tyranny, but they’re also seeking a place of restoration, a place of honor and importance before God. Jesus sparked hope in what He did and what He said during His time with the Israelites. In John 6:14, the people even exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” They were hungry physically because they’ve been following Him, listening to Him, and hoping to get close to Him. But we can see here that it’s more than just physical hunger. In John 6:26-27, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you.   The True Bread of Life Jesus says His bread is doing the work the Father sent Him to do. By using the metaphor of bread, He tells us that we should open our eyes to the way of the Kingdom of God because the Son of Man gives us this bread for our nourishment. Jesus will never leave us hungry, and He will always satisfy us. In John 6:28-29, as people gather and ask God how to be a part of the work of the Kingdom, Jesus replied, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” God the Father offers us the true bread from heaven, the One who gives life to the world. Jesus is basically saying, “I am the Bread. I give life so no one will be hungry again.” And reading how the crowd responded—“give us that bread every day.”—we can learn that this is what they are hungering for, the true bread of life. All other sources of significance and power would only make us continue to look and seek. But Jesus provides us reasons to stop looking for by giving us a confirmation of our place in God. That’s why we no longer hunger for all other sources of significance. What an amazing proclamation when He said in verse 35, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus worked so hard during His time here on earth to ensure that not one person will be left on their own searching for significance. Jesus already secured our place of importance. That is the food that sustains us.

We humans are never satisfied. We always hunger for MORE.  We want to have more money, more time, more energy, more blessings. It seems like we have these endless physical cravings that can’t be turned off.  We always crave for MORE of the “good stuff” in life. This has been our basic struggle in life since the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. All of their needs were supplied abundantly in the Garden. God didn’t even limit them with how much they could receive, which means they could have as much as they wanted! And yet, the serpent lured and persuaded Eve into thinking that there was something missing and that God was withholding something “good” from them. So, Eve saw that the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was “good for food”, ate it, and gave some to her husband. (Gen. 3:6).  The rest, as we know, is the historical downfall of the human race into generations and generations of sinning against God. And it simply started with Eve’s thinking that what God had given them was “not enough.” And the same goes with us. We, too, can have plenty and yet, just like Adam and Eve, we can still be convinced that we don’t have enough. And are we aware of what this insatiable hunger for more does to our souls? AFFLICTION.   The Source of Our Affliction This is the danger of wanting more. Unconsciously, we bring our souls harm and affliction with our limitless appetite. How so? The enemy afflicts us with doubt that what God gives us is not enough, or that it is not the right provision for us. This means that the enemy annoys, bothers, torments, tortures, oppresses, and agonizes us with thoughts that contradict God’s nature as our provider and the truths written in His Word. Our appetite is the bait that the enemy uses to afflict us, just like what happened in the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4. But Jesus knew that “man doesn’t live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.”(Matthew 4:4) In others words, Jesus knew that there is something greater than “hunger” and the temptation to eat, and that is the life that comes from the very Word of God. Another way we afflict ourselves is when we pick and choose the things God gives, as if we know better than Him. If you are a parent and your children only listen to you when they want to and only when they like what they hear, how would you feel?   Finding True Satisfaction  So how does this search for more get satisfied? How do we silence the fear of not having enough?  We need to look at what Jesus did. Jesus chose to trust His Father. Jesus chose to believe that every Word that the Father spoke to Him was a Word that He needed. Jesus lived a life of always hearing from His Father, speaking to His Father, and letting His Father  sustain Him. And this lifestyle showed how Jesus trusted the Father with His life. One word to describe how Jesus’ saw the Father’s Words is “essential.” Jesus knew every Word from His Father mattered. There were no throw away words. Likewise, we ought to see God’s Word and the role that it plays in our lives as essential, and not treat it as optional, trivial, or even a luxury that we can’t afford. When we begin to receive daily every Word that comes from the mouth of God as essential, then we begin to be satisfied. Every morsel that Jesus gives us through His Word satisfies our hunger in a way that the “things of this world” can never do. The key to finding true satisfaction is to feast daily on God’s Word. That as you eat of His bread, every hunger and thirst that your soul has will be satisfied. After all, Jesus told us that HE is the bread of life. (John 6:35).

Try this activity in your Household well. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

• Materials you’ll need: a Bible,a list of people you are praying for (your impact list) thank you cards, pens
• Read Matthew 6:31-34 and Mattew 25:34-40.
• Take a tour of your home. Consider all the ways God has provided for your family. Stop and look at pictures of friends and family. Consider how God has blessed your family.
•  Say a prayer of thanksgiving - let everyone have a turn.
• Give each person in your family a blank thank you card. Have each person write a “thank you” note to someone on your impact list who has blessed you….in friendship, materially, or by encouraging you, etc. Considering mentioning in your note, that God has used them to bless you.
• Spend time thanking God for each of those people by name and praying that they, too, will see their daily provisions as a gift from God.
• Family Challenge: Schedule a time for your family to go serve at a food pantry or shelter this week. Considering baking bread and taking it to a neighbor. Write about how it went in your Penzu journal.
• Close by saying the entire Lord’s Prayer together.

There is an enemy who afflicts us by always tempting us to doubt God’s provision, and the secret to standing strong against these temptations is to know the Word of God and be secure in what it says. The Word of God is our daily bread and it gives us life. (Matthew 4:1-4) It is vital for us to know and hear God’s Word and what He promises over our lives, for this increases our faith ( Romans 10:17)  -- even to the extent of believing the impossible. Why? Because God is the God of the impossible. In the Bible, we find so many stories of “impossible situations” turning into amazing miracles of provision, healing, deliverance, and even resurrection, proof that God delights in performing wonders for those who believe in Him. And the perfect set-up for a miracle? THE IMPOSSIBLE.   Need is Great, Supply is Small  In John 6:32-40, we find a great example of the perfect situation for a miracle. In this story, there is a GREAT NEED but the SUPPLY is LIMITED. More than 5,000 tired and hungry people needed to be fed, and the people only had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish! The disciples were quick to think logically. “How in the world are we going to feed this massive crowd with such little supply?” But for Jesus, this was the right circumstance for Him to perform a miracle. Jesus is always looking for the “impossible” before He performs the miracle. The problem is, we like miracles, but we don’t like the impossible situations. We don’t like being uncomfortable in such situations where we feel helpless and powerless. And because we like solving things and being in control, we tend to confine God to our own logistical restrictions -- that He will solve our problems on our own terms. But God doesn’t work that way. His ways and thoughts are always greater than ours. (Isaiah 55:8-9)  He always sees the bigger picture, and we don’t. God allows the impossible situations to happen so that we will realize our need for Him. Just like the disciples in John 6, we see the huge crowd and realize we can’t feed them. And this is where God comes in.   The Question That Changed Everything When faced with the impossible and our own logistical restrictions tend to restrict our faith, God comes in and reminds us of who He is, just like how he reminded Andrew and Phillip in this story when He asked them the question: ““Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” (John 6:5) Jesus did not ask this question because He didn’t know where, but because He was testing Phillip’s faith. He was reminding Phillip to remember that He is the Source of all things. It was almost like saying: “Look! I am here! I am with you. And when you have Me, you don’t have to worry about what you will eat nor where you will get it because I will surely provide for it. If you have Me, you have everything you need.” And we know what happens next. God multiplied the bread and the fish and everyone was filled. No one went home hungry and they even had left-overs. The impossible became the miracle! Like the disciples, we may be faced with an impossible situation today. And as we meditate on this amazing and powerful story, may we be reminded that God is our all sufficiency. He is ENOUGH to meet all of our needs. Jesus can satisfy the deepest hunger of our souls and His provisions are always more than enough.  (Exodus 16:1-21, John 6:32-40) So come to the table of the Lord and enjoy His abundant provisions! (1 Corinthians 11:17-26). Always look to the Source and remember that what we have is enough because Jesus is enough!

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” - John 10:10 Since the beginning of time, the devil has always had a mission: to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to destroy the abundant and blessed life that Jesus has promised and given to us. It’s Satan’s goal to make us miserable, just as he is. One of his instruments to do this is by deceiving us and making us walk in darkness. We all know that walking safely in darkness without any light is very difficult, if not impossible. It’s almost sure that we would stumble or hurt ourselves if we don’t have any source of light to guide us on our way. This is what the devil wants. He wants us to fall. He wants us to stumble. He wants to take us into the darkness. But the good news is: Jesus wants to take us into the light. This is why He said,  “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12) But what does it mean to walk in the light? And how do we actually avoid the enemy’s trap of deception? Follow the Light What leads to a full and satisfying life? LIGHT and TRUTH. God’s Word tells us that His Word is like a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. (Psalm 119:105) If we want to avoid the darkness, we must stick to where the light is. God’s Word is the light that illuminates our dark paths and shows us which way to go. If we want to avoid getting deceived by the enemy’s lies, it is important that we only follow the light - that we do only what God says in His Word. The devil will not be able to deceive us if we know the truth - if our minds are lit with every Word that comes from the very mouth of God. God’s light is truth, and truth and light leads to life.(John 8:12) Remember: Jesus will never lead us down the wrong path. If we follow Him and His Words, we will never be deceived. If we keep following the light, we will never stumble. Hear the Truth  To know the truth, we must listen to JESUS. It is imperative that we give attention to the words of Jesus. Part of why we are so confused in our culture and why we are so confused as Christians is because we spend way more time listening to the news on TV, in the newspaper, or other people’s opinions and very little time and attention to the One who says, “I am the light of the world.” We’d rather listen to fake news and opinions of people who don’t even know us than spend time listening to the One who made us and knows us intimately. It’s no wonder we easily get deceived so easily. If we want to avoid being victims of the devil’s deception, we need to spend more time hearing the TRUTH from God, rather than listening to the Iies and the perverted truth from the enemy, who as we know is the father of lies. (John 8:44) Most importantly, we have to be able to identify God’s TRUTH from perverted truth. Perverted truth makes us think that we are on the right side, when we’re actually deceived. Much like the Pharisees, it makes us blind to the truth and makes us prone to self-righteousness and pride. This is why we need to HEAR God’s voice. The more we hear His voice, the more we get familiar with His Words and truth, the more we’ll be able to identify the lies and deception of the enemy.   Challenge: Go to God’s Word and believe that as you spend time with His light and truth, He will speak a word that will help you see light and know the truth, a word that will help you to follow Him and trust Him more.  

Recently one of our families at the Church, Patrick and Michelle Tsai had the idea to offer a small group study called, Vertical Marriage. As a household WELL, that Welcomes in Jesus, Engages with Neighbors, Listens to Others and Loves to Try after going through the 5 weeks study once they asked if they could open it up and offer it again.   I asked them a few questions about leading the study and why they wanted to do this. Enjoy reading their answers.   What made you want to host a study about marriage? It's so easy to focus on our kids, jobs, house projects, hobbies and really easy to not spend any time focusing on our marriage.  We wanted to spend devoted time with God focusing on our marriage.  Some friends mailed us this study a while ago so we decided to try it.  It looked fun, meaningful and did not require a ton of time.  We considered doing the study on our own, but thought it would be a great blessing to invite others to join us (and it definitely was)!   How many people participated in the first round and then the second round? In the first study, 4 other couples joined us. In our current study, 11 other couples have joined us.   What has been your biggest take away from Vertical Marriage? This is a tough question because there are a lot of take aways.  I'd say two of the biggest for us were: We need to have a relationship with God in order to show up in a healthy way in our marriage.  Our marriage and how we treat our spouse speaks volumes to those watching us -  how are we representing Christ?   What is something that you have learned from leading this study?  There are many times in the study where Dave (the husband) explains what is going on in the husband's head/heart and where Anne (the wife) explains what is going on in the wife's head/heart.  When the video would get done and we'd come back to discuss what Dave and Anne had just shared, the wives would ask the husbands in the group if what they said was really true for all of them (and vice versa).  And it was!  It was encouraging to know that other men/women are experiencing the same things we are.  These topics were able to help us learn a lot about what the other spouse is thinking so we can show up like they need us to show up.   If you could give an engaged couple advice about marriage what would you say?  Michelle:  Be humble and willing to forgive.  Speak life to each other.  And you can't truly do either of those well unless you understand how God continuously forgives you and how much He cherishes you AND your spouse.   Patrick:  We need to exercise our marriage muscles on a constant basis. Daily = practice patience and love your spouse as Christ loved the church Weekly = grow deeper together with some special reserved date time alone Yearly = recalibrate and educate by seeking out a marriage conference or class to refocus your        priceless relationship with God and your spouse.   What questions do you wish I would have asked?  (Or what would you like those who are reading this to know?) How do we learn more about Vertical Marriage?  You can go to https://www.familylife.com/verticalmarriagestudy/sample/ to watch a trailer for the study and go through the first session to see what it's like.  It's fun and quick but still very impactful and meaningful.  No matter where your marriage is at, this study will bless your marriage!   THANK YOU Patrick and Michelle for being willing to try something and for welcoming in Jesus to the conversation.  Thanks for sharing your experience with us here. May God continue to bless your marriage as you continue to represent Jesus to the world.

Ephesians 5:8 says,  “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have the light from the Lord. So live as people of light!”  (NLT) What does it look like to, “live as people of light”?   Another version says, “walk as children of light.”  (ESV) How do we do that? If we go back to the first verse of Ephesians 5, I think we get a hint. “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love…” (NLT)     And in the ESV it says, “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Seems like living as people of the light, walking as children of light boils down to LOVE.  Showing love to all people like Jesus showed love to all people.  The kind of love that does not judge, the kind of love that welcomes all, the kind of love that invites conversation and listens to understand.  The kind of love that offers hope and healing and brings life.  The kind of love that speaks life giving words not words of condemnation.  The kind of love that offers a safe space to belong and question and doubt. John speaks a lot about loving one another in 1 John - in chapter 3 verse 18 he says, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” Pastor Jeff wrote a Spiel article that was in the March 7th bulletin about how we need to access the light before we can shine it.  (if you missed it you can find it on our website www.livelifetogether/bulletin )  It is not enough to just access the light, we also need to let it shine so others can see it and benefit from it. Jesus talks about this idea of shining like a city on a hill.  (Read about it Matthew 5:13-16) And we sing about it in the children’s song, “This little gospel light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.. All around the neighborhood, I’m gonna let it shine, hide it under a bushel, NO, I’m gonna let it shine,  don’t let Satan poof it out, I’m gonna let it shine!”  (are you singing it?)  Jesus tells us the why behind shining brightly for the world, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Any light that we shine, any good that we do, any love that we share, comes from Jesus with the purpose of people giving praise and glory to God our Father.  It isn’t about us at all. It is about living in a way that shines and shows love to others so they get a glimpse of the love of God. There is another hint about how to do this in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” I am sure you can think of many ways to show kindness to those around you.  Offer to babysit someone’s children so mom and dad can have a break, pick up groceries for a neighbor, take someones child to school for them, drop off a meal, send a written note of encouragement, compliment someone on a job well done, thank a teacher, go on a walk with a friend and listen, really listen to how they are doing, offer to pray for someone in the moment, drop off flowers just because…. What would you add to the list?  How will you shine today?

On the morning of the first Easter, Mary Magdalene and some of the disciples found the tomb empty, receiving the news from the angel that Jesus has already risen. But, some of them were still skeptical of His promised resurrection and so that Easter evening, the disciples locked themselves behind a door -- afraid, worried, and confused as to what would happen next. They were afraid that the Jewish leaders who killed Jesus would also find them. They were confused as to where Jesus’ body was. They had so many questions that none of them could answer. In the story in John 20, here we find Jesus suddenly appearing to His disciples behind closed doors after He was resurrected. But He didn’t just appear, He also gave them four important things that gave them hope to open their locked doors and to once more go out to the world to preach the Good News of salvation.   When Jesus Unlocks a Door, He Brings a Blessing and a Revelation.  “That Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.  As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! ” - John 20: 19-20 “Peace be with you.” These were the very first words Jesus spoke to the disciples when He appeared to them that first Easter evening as they were locked behind a closed door. PEACE was the very thing that Jesus gave them after His resurrection -- peace of the forgiveness of sins, the peace that assured them He lives. It’s that blessing of peace that assured the disciples that everything Jesus said is true and validated. And even now, because of this peace, we know that everything Jesus says about Himself today is true. He is our peacemaker. He is the Prince of peace.  He is the great redeemer who not only suffered and died, but rose again to sanctify the graves of every human who has died and who will die. And as Jesus rose out of the grave, He brings to each person, to our households, the satisfaction of our souls. And guess what? Even when you don’t feel it? He gives PEACE nonetheless. These are not empty words. He backs it up because HE LIVES. The next thing Jesus gave His disciples that night was a revelation. When He showed them His wounds on His hands and side, it gave them an “AHA!” moment. Seeing the physical wounds of Jesus was an eyeopener to them that Jesus really rose from the dead. They had proof of His tangible presence! What a revelation that must have been for the disciples. Without seeing Jesus’ wounds, they might have thought that they were seeing a ghost.  Jesus was physically alive and took the time to reveal to them the marks of their redemption, the payment for their sins.   When He Unlocks a Door, He Assigns a Mission and Supplies the Power. “As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you. Again He said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” - John 20:21-23 After giving them the blessing of peace and the revelation of His resurrection, Jesus then gave the disciples a mission and then He breathed on them and empowered them. Specifically, Jesus was telling the disciples to keep pointing people to Him. And this is what He is telling us today too. Our mission is to help others know Jesus and help them to acknowledge that what Jesus did on the cross was enough payment for their sins. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “if you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven.” (John 20:23) We get to go and connect people to a life in Jesus. Isn’t this an amazing mission? Undeserved yet freely given. Jesus didn’t give them a mission without empowering them. He breathed on them the Holy Spirit which gave them power to do God’s will here on earth -- preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, healing the sick, setting people free, performing signs and wonders, and delivering people from sin. This is also the same power that has been given to us and to anyone who received Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus opened the door for us to experience His Kingdom and His power through His death and resurrection. So if you find yourself in a place where you feel locked down and locked in, be encouraged knowing that when Jesus shows up behind locked doors, He meets us where we’re at. Jesus is the only one who can unlock the doors that are keeping us in and when Jesus unlocks a door, He gives us peace, revelation, mission, and His power. As we receive these, new life is experienced.

“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pasture.” - John 10:9 It’s been over a year now of us being in this time of global pandemic. Churches are still facing the challenge of not being able to meet in-person 100%. Our church services nowadays are defined by restrictions, precautions, and pre-registrations. Because of the pandemic, many church doors, if not all, were forced to close and limit the people who can come in. Gone were the days when anybody and everybody who wishes to go to church can come in anytime  and just linger as long as they like, and we all badly miss those days of doing church freely. The pandemic has locked us out where we were once allowed to enter freely. The enemy afflicts us with the message that we don’t have a place anymore, that we don’t belong. Yet while we all long for that day when we can have that open door policy again -- where there’s no need to wear masks, no need for social distancing, and no need to limit the church attendance, today, Jesus wants to remind and encourage us that He is our GATE, an open door for any who wishes to come and go freely and anyone who comes in finds abundant life in Jesus.   An Open Door to Green Pastures In Psalm 23, we find David writing about God as our Good Shepherd who leads us into quiet waters and green pastures. We are being likened to sheep who are always in need of a Shepherd to guide and lead us lest we become stray and wander away. And in this Psalm, David describes how God takes care of us and all the benefits of being led by Him. It’s amazing how Scripture always confirms Scripture, for here we see in the Old Testament that David portrayed God as a good shepherd and incredibly, John did the same in the New Testament in John 10.  He’s still the same Good Shepherd who takes His sheep to green pastures. John writes in John 10:9 that Jesus is a gate and an open door that leads to green pastures where there is no lack, no drought, and where there is rest. Jesus never closes His doors on us. The door of His gate is always open for anyone who wants to come in. And truth be told,  every one of us is invited to come in. Everyone is welcome to enter in without restrictions and without conditions. We just have to come in through Jesus because Jesus is the ONLY way in. ( John 14:6) What does this mean? If we want to experience the green pastures and the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10, then we need Jesus -- we need to accept Him in our lives and come to the Father through Him. In other words, there is NO OTHER WAY to experience God’s Kingdom, Heaven, and the abundant life that we all long for without Jesus. He is the gate and the door. And the best part? Since Jesus has not returned yet, His door will always remain open to everyone who’s lost and in need of a Shepherd.   Don’t Wait for the Gate to Close The affliction of being locked in leads to us trying to go our own way, to do self-preservation, to clutching what we have been holding on to, which then leads to anxiety, worry, stinginess, which in turn leads to loss -- even death of the soul.  The good news is that God wants everyone to come to repent and be saved. He does not want anyone to perish. (2 Peter 3:9) And we know that it is only through Jesus that we can receive salvation and eternal life (John 3:16). No one else and nothing else. However,  though God has been so patient and gracious with us, waiting for every soul to come to Him, there will eventually come a time when the door will be closed, and only those who are ready and those who accepted the invitation to come in will be saved.  Jesus will never force us to come inside the gate. Yes, He will lead us and guide us, but He will never force us. We have this freedom to choose whether to come in or not.  We have this free will to listen to our Good Shepherd’s voice and stay close to Him or we could choose to go on our own ways and leave His side. Jesus is coming back again, and soon the gate and the door will be closed. The question is: Where will you be?

This month we have been looking at Jesus through the lens of a door. He is our door, our gateway, to the Father. It’s an inviting image - Jesus holding the door open, welcoming us inside with eagerness. This open-door policy that Jesus has is intimate. He is never too busy, unavailable, or uninterested. He doesn’t have dress code requirements or office hours for us. He desires to be with us. That picture of Jesus, holding the door open, is the image that our communities need. After a year of isolation, anxiety, grief, and constant adjustments to daily life, our friends and neighbors are craving an open door. As Household Wells, we bring to them the invitation that Jesus offers. When we hold an “Open-Door Policy” in our homes, we give a glimpse of Jesus eagerly waiting with His open door. Spring is here, and now is the perfect time to make a plan, as a Household Well, as to how you can offer that gift of availability and relationship to your neighborhood. But what does that look like? Perhaps it means increasing your presence in your neighborhood through walks and sitting outside more. Perhaps it means noticing a neighbor doing yard work and offering to help. Or maybe it means finding a way to invite your neighbors into service with you. Whatever it is, the outcome is a stronger presence, and therefore sense of availability to those who live near you. Here are a few ideas to spark your creativity and brainstorming:

• Friday Night Fire Pits: Move the firepit to the driveway, add extra chairs, and invite some neighbors to join you. If you pick a certain night to do this each week, your neighbors will notice the rhythm and perhaps be curious to join you.
• Invite your neighbors to join you to clean up a local park.
• Deliver May Day baskets to some homes on your block.
• Organize a neighborhood food drive (email me if you want some tips on this!).
• Do you have a lot of people walking/biking in your neighborhood? Leave out a cooler of water and invitation for others to help themselves.
• Remote working? Take your computer to your front porch/driveway. Be sure to say “Hi!” as neighbors pass by.
• Use sidewalk chalk to write messages of encouragement on sidewalks.
• When your kids go to the park, go with them and try to meet some other parents.
• Go outside. Read outside, work outside, walk, drink a cup of coffee, just make a plan to be outside of your home as often as you can. You’ll begin to notice more in your neighborhood, you’ll be available to meet new people, and your community will begin to recognize you.
• Pray as you walk your neighborhood. Ask God to give you insight into how you can be his hands and feet in your community. Pray for opportunities to build relationships.

What ideas are exciting to you? How is God nudging you to create an open-door policy for your home? Share your ideas with us in your Penzu journal, on our Facebook page, or by emailing me at [email protected].

“Write it down so you don’t forget.”   Have you ever heard those words or said them yourself?  The meaning can range from writing down an appointment so you remember to show up, or a list of items that you need to pick up at the grocery store or writing down your thoughts and feelings about an event that you have experienced.  No matter the context one thing is for sure, when we write it down it helps us remember.  In the writing, we slow down to process and get it out of our head and onto paper, and then we can go back and read it again and again. In 2021 we have set a goal to have 40 household wells keep a journal.  We want our households to see themselves as a well where the living water of Jesus flows freely to others.  Where they Welcome in Jesus, Engage with neighbors, Listen to others and God, and Love to try.  The journal is a place to keep a record of what the household is learning, discovering, doing, trying, how they have seen God’s faithfulness, and what they are struggling with during the year.   Why write it down?  So we can REMEMBER and give thanks to God and encourage one another that we are not alone on this journey, and inspire one another to share the water with those who are thirsty. How are we doing so far?  We have 22 Households participating. (Yay!)  There is also a journal for the church staff for the Leadership Board and for prompts. We would love to have some more journals started AND the journals that we do have, to add more entries.  It is easy to forget to add an entry and we know most households have so much going on it can be seen as “one more thing - and I don’t have space for one more thing”.  Our encouragement to you, is give it a try!  Perhaps on Sunday evenings you could take a few minutes and reflect on your week as a family and consider what could be added to the journal.  (it doesn’t have to take a long time) Check out the prompts.  One of the journals is called “Journal Prompts” and you will find several prompts for each month.  You don’t have to answer each one, pick out the ones that resonate with you.  Interview your kids and add what they say.  If you make it part of your rhythm it will be easier to do.  Maybe find someone to help hold you accountable.  Send each other a text reminder.   If you have a journal, who could you encourage to start one and join you in the fun of reflecting on what God is up to and recording it? You may be thinking, “I’m not a good writer.”  You do not have to be a good writer. No one is going to give you a grade on this or check your spelling.  It is simply a place to capture the amazing things that God is doing in our midst.  And we really can’t remember as well if we don’t write it down.  And, it does not have to be perfect! You can just add bullet points, and thoughts that are not complete sentences.  Try just adding pictures with a short caption. If you are unsure how to set up the journal, you can email ameyer@livelifetogether and I would be happy to walk you through the simple steps.  It is not too late to start!!