ITLOTC
(In The Life Of The Church)
Ordinary Time
What I Really Wanted: Another Sappy Post About My Childhood Home
My favorite television show of all time is Parenthood. The reason it is my favorite show of all time is because it is the best television show of all time. Another reason it is my favorite show of all time is because it offered images that make sense of my life for me.
In the last season of the show *** spoiler alert *** Zeek and Millie, the patriarch and matriarch of the Braverman clan, which the show is centered around, sell the home that they raised their four children in. Can you see the connection between this and my life right now? After they have moved and began unpacking, Zeek informs Millie that he can't find an autographed baseball. Eventually he has an epiphany. The ball is in a shoebox hidden in the rafters of the barn on the property of the home they sold. So they go back to explain the situation to the new home owners in attempt to get Zeek's missing baseball.
The following clip is that moment.
The new pastor at the church my dad served for 28 is Ryan Hawley. I have to confess to you that I was deeply suspicious of Ryan, not because of anything Ryan had done, but because I would have been suspicious of anyone who took that job after my dad. In the last year of my dad's life, one of the hidden miracles was that the Hawley's rented the house next to my parents. During that year Ryan would come over and talk to my dad and seek his advice. My dad loved Ryan.
I don't know if you believe in fairy tales, but this story includes a small version of one. Eventually the Hawley's moved out of that house they rented and bought and remodeled a home in town. They didn't love it, and when my sister was at my mom's house on vacation this summer she mentioned to Ryan that my mom's house was still for sale. After a few conversations, the Hawley's decided that they would like to purchase my parent's house which, was on and off the market for five years.
There's a scene near the end of the movie The Family Stone, when Claire Danes, who is dealing with the reality that she and her sister's finance have fallen in love with each other, confesses, "it's too much." I suppose that the notion that the person who took the job my dad was doing for 28 years was now also going to be living in the house he built could be "too much." But in the Christian story we are given a hermeneutic to make sense of this kind of craziness. It's peace. The profound and deep feeling that "this makes sense," or "this is just right." That's how my family feels about the Hawley's buying the home we grew up in.
On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend the Hawley family and a group of good Samaritans from the church came to the house to move all my mom's furniture into the moving truck. During that time I showed Ryan's youngest son Sammy, who is just a few years older than I was when I moved into that house, that you could remove the grate covering the heat vent coming out underneath fire place. I told him that it made a great dungeon to keep your bad GI Joe guys. I then went outside and watched Ryan's middle son John-Mark pick apples of our apple tree and with his friends use tennis rackets to hit them so they exploded in the yard. And then I talked with Ryan for about a half hour. I showed him where the water shut off was for the house. I showed him where our black lab was buried and I shared memories of the house.
It wouldn't be until later that week when I was recounting this bit of the story to my childhood best friend that I realized how cathartic that moment was.
I have had many dreams for my childhood home over the years. One of them included me being wealthy enough to purchase that home and keep as a weekend retreat. But if I'm honest, that never felt right. What I realized in processing those moments I had with the Hawleys is that what I really wanted for the Holy space I grew up in is for it to be filled with life.
I want those kids to build forts in the woods. I want them to make Christmas memories there. I want them to go sledding on the hill beside the house. I want them to sneak in and out of the room above the garage when they are teenagers. I want their family to eat a million meals together there. I want them to laugh and cry and love and lose in that house. I want them to fill that house up with the life God has for them just like God filled it up with ours.
Because ... that's what the kingdom does with gifts. God gives them and then God gives them again and again and again. And that is good because that is the best thing for us.
OOTP Spaghetti Fundraiser
The Order of the Phoenix invites you to our Spaghetti Fundraiser this Sunday right after Church. We will be serving spaghetti with meat sauce and a vegan back bean and tomato option. You can eat here with us, or take it to go. The food will be cooked, served, and then cleaned up all by the youth! The suggested price is $5, but feel free to give as much as your heart desires. This money we raise will go directly to our students and help pay for fun stuff like camp this summer! So come eat spaghetti with us this week, and support The Order!
Family Weekend Breakfast
Family weekend at Baylor is this Sunday, and we would love to meet your family! If you are student, bring your fam to UBC at 9:30 for a free breakfast on us. If you are not a student, we need your help providing the breakfast food. You can sign-up after church to help out, or email bheins@hot.rr.com . If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org
nUBC’ers Luncheon
If you are new to UBC in the last 6 months, we would love to have you stay for lunch after church on the 24th. We will tell you more about UBC’s history, how you can plug in, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have. There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer after church, or you can email toph@ubcwaco.org
Work is Worship
Greeters: Richardsons
Coffee Makers: Kaylin Campbell
Mug Cleaners: Vince & Sarah
Money Counter: Josh M.
Announcements
- Sunday Sermon: Matthew 18:21-35 "it already is"
- St. Francis Feast Day 10-4 (more info to come)
- Finance Team Meeting 10-9
- Parents Night Out 10-13
- Town Hall 10-15
- Mclennan County Orphan Care 2: Arrow Child and Family Ministries 10-18
- SWCC Halloween Festival 10-25
- Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting 10-29
Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor?
254 413 2611
Leadership Team
If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members.
Chair- Emma Wood: emmaj.wood@yahoo.com
Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com
Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu
Adam Winn: adamwinn68@yahoo.com
Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com
Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com
Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com
Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu
Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu
UBC Finance Team
Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.
Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com
Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com
Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com
Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com
Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu
UBC HR Team
If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.
Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu
Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu
Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com
Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com
Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com