Yard Sale!

So, Saturday morning, we awoke to find that our neighborhood was having its annual community yard sale.

We weren't notified this year (I'm not surprised), so we didn't participate. I think we might have this year if we had known, but not a big deal.

Except...

A few of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac did decide to participate.

Now, you need to know a bit about the "layout" of our street. Our house sits along the curve of the cul-de-sac, and a private drive is just off of the very end of the street -- there are 3-4 houses off the private drive.

Apparently, the neighbors in the private drive didn't want to block their private drive in order to set up for the yard sale.

So...

They set up in our yard.

In. Our. Yard.

All across our front lawn. Cars parked in front of our driveway. People smoking and dropping their ashes in our grass. Our grass...that Nick was planning to cut on Saturday morning.

So, you're wondering, surely the neighbors asked if they could hold a yard sale in OUR yard.

You would think so, huh!?

But, they didn't...!!!! (is your mouth hanging open in disbelief right now...it should be!)

Nick went out to ask what was going on. They said "We didn't want to block our private drive. Are you mad?"

Oh. My. Goodness.

Okay, I have to admit, I was LIVID. Really, I'm trying to do this Love Wins thing around here, but it's soooooo hard.

If they would have asked, of course we would have happily let them have the sale in our yard. We would have joined them...made for some neighborly good times in the cul-de-sac...

I just don't get it.

On a lighter note, in a purely beautiful moment of poetic justice...

Coco did her business in the small patch of grass between one of their sale tables and the driveway. ;-) Call the police on that...

Standing in the gap...

For the past few weeks, I've been so fired up, and convicted and messed up and excited because I sense that God is really trying to lead me somewhere, tell me something or show me something. The Catalyst Conference in Atlanta was amazing and powerful, and since I've been back, I have felt like I'm in training for some big "thing"...although I'm still not at all sure what it is...

Anyway, a few days ago, I felt called to read Ezekiel. Honestly, I've never really read Ezekiel. But, that night, I started...it worked out well, since I had taken inventory of my "busy times" and decided that time spent watching TV was better spent with God, so I jumped right into Ezekiel, thinking God would reveal something amazing and inspiring from this prophet of old...

Have you ever read Ezekiel? It's scary and dark and complex and haunting! It's basically a warning about how disappointed and angry God is with His people, Israel, who have gone off and started worshiping idols and living lives are self-consumed and deviant. He calls Zeke to warn the people that God plans to destroy them if they don't get their act together. He tells Zeke to say it loud and proud, even though the people won't listen.

Several things hit me pretty hard throughout the first half of the book...primarily around a spirit of religion that I feel all around me in my community -- that keeps people from knowing real relationship, real community and real acceptance and keeps people living apart from God, even though they think they are living the "right way" because they follow the rules. I thought a lot about taking risks for God to speak loudly, persistently, boldly, even if people aren't listening...

But here's what really got me...Zeke 22:30: I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone. Not one.

Wow...ouch...is that me? Are you asking me to stand in a gap?

Yes, He said...Stand in the gap...

So, here are two of the gaps I think He's calling me to stand in...

• Between real and false community...getting beyond surface level community.
• Between vision and implementation -- this is my gift, I think...strategy...there are places I need to be using this gift and closing the gap that keeps His work from getting done

I think there are some others...but I'm not sure how to articulate them yet...something about the gap between how certain people in my life see themselves and how God sees them; something about the gap between who I am and who I'm meant to be...I'm still searching for some answers...

How about you? Are you supposed to be standing in a gap? Which gap? What's keeping you from standing in it? Maybe giving it voice is the first step to standing...