..for taking the stinking last platter of home made cinnamon rolls to share with the POPS group at church this morning. I'm still recovering from the shock but I think we will recover. We are talking and working through it. Pray for us.
The last few months have felt like a whirlwind. So many changes in such a short amount of time. We officially moved off of staff with World Orphans and are now in a volunteer role. At the end of last month we also made the difficult decision to transition from raising funds to continue CompassionSC. Below is the update I recently sent out through the CompassionSC monthly newsletter.
Dear Friends of CompassionSC,
There are significant projects continuing to go on in the community this month that we'd like to share with you, but before you jump down we'd like to take a moment to share with you important news regarding CompassionSC.
At the end of February we (Dominguez Family) made the hard decision to stop fund raising to support our financial salary to direct CompassionSC full time as an organization. The work of CompassionSC as a volunteer based ministry and rooted in local churches, will continue on through the network of churches we have partnered with over the last two years. As long as we are living in Santa Cruz we will continue to advocate, communicate needs as we become aware of them, and mobilize the local church to serve those facing poverty and adversity in some capacity.
We are thankful for the last two years of formally leading CompassionSC and for what impact CompassionSC has had in the community. We continue to pray for individuals and the church to rise up collectively to serve in Santa Cruz County and around the world!
If you would like to continue to hear about opportunities to serve in Santa Cruz and to stay updated regarding our continued journey and ministry, please stay subscribed to these email updates.
Sincerely,
Derek Dominguez
Founder - DirectorCompassionSC
We are continuing to seek God as to what is next for the Dominguez Clan. As of right I'm updating my ministry resume and am going to begin, in the next few weeks after our move, to actively pursue a full time pastoral position again, preferably in the are of Missions and Outreach. A new season awaits and we are thankful for the last two years of ministry!
Lately, I have been asking myself how is a missional culture in a church cultivated? Where does the missional journey begin? What I have often done as a leader and believed previously, is thinking the appointed leaders seek God for His leading for the community and then come back to the community with a "vision" or direction they sense the church should move towards. Up until the last few years I had believed this is the best way to "lead" a church. I'm not so certain anymore.
Instead, I've started asking questions like, "How do you as a leader cultivate a space where the Spirit has the freedom to move in the hearts of the community to collectively clarify how God is calling them to embody the Missio Dei in their community?" Is the leader(s) the only ones who have clarity from God as to the direction of community? Are they the only ones with the correct faculties to hear how God is at work? In many cases I think the body has opted to not even think they too, need to be listening and discerning because they are expecting the leaders to bring it to them.
I've continued to read, "Introducing The Missional Church: What it is, Why it Matters, How to Become One" and it is challenging, confirming and refining my perspective. Below, they answer the question, "Where does the missional journey begin?"
"The missional journey begins where people are, not from some vision for where we would like them to be. Visioning and radical language about what the church should be are of little help; in fact, they create barriers to entering this journey of catching the winds of the Spirit. In order to begin where we are, we have to make the time to attend to and listen to the narratives and stories of our churches and our people. Usually when a leader comes with a vision or a plan, he or she is not in a place for listening to the whispers and narratives of the people" (123.)
There need to be leaders in the church, but I'm beginning to think their role is to create the space where the people of God can listen to the Spirit of God as to how they are to live out their unique calling as a community. Maybe the leaders ask the question, "How is God at work in us, in our community, in our families, and how are we called to move into the community with the message of redemption?" Leadership asks, creates the space, and facilitates the dialogue and learns to listen for God as to how He is at work in the ordinary.
It's in the ordinary day to day life of the people of God that the Spirit is at work. Or, as Roxburgh and Borne state, "The conviction that the Spirit is among the people of God is not positive thinking or wish fulfillment; it is a conviction about how God is present both in the world and in our experience" (123-124.)
..for taking the stinking last platter of home made cinnamon rolls to share with the POPS group at church this morning. I'm still recovering from the shock but I think we will recover. We are talking and working through it. Pray for us.
Tate is not our little baby anymore. We know that of course, as she is six and in kindergarten. But, she is still our firstborn and sometimes it is just hard to let go of that fact that she is no longer our little "Tae Tae" who sits still and wants to be held.
Last week for the first time, on the way to school she said, "Dad, today I want to just be dropped off." Up until recently we would park the car and walk her to the door of her classroom. As she slammed the car door shut last week and then today, strolling off along the sidewalk towards her classroom and never looking back, my eyes welled with tears. Tate is growing up. She is gaining confidence in herself and slowly her independence is growing. Little by little we are having to let her grow up into the person we trust God desires who to become each day.
It's fun to see the transformation. I think it puts a smile on God's face too when He sees his children grow up as well into mature disciples. Often times we want to stay where it is safe, where we don't have to step out and strike off on our own. He doesn't want us headed off without Him, for He always is, but trusting him in a greater capacity to become who He has called us to become. We often want to park the car and have it the easy way with having Him "walk us to the front door." Growing up is hard. Transformation is hard. As difficult as it is, as we grow in faith, I think it puts a big smile on His face to see his children grow up.
Amidst the the small tears today there was also a smile. I'm a proud daddy seeing my big girl grow up. Now if only we could wean Maya off her stinking "paci" and to poo in the toilet we will be all good. Hmm...wonder what little metaphor about that I can dream up:)
I bought Tate and Maya some face paints today and look who was the canvas!
Found this tonight on facebook via @Jonathan Serrins and have an appreciation for Preacha-Poet and what they seem to be doing for the homeless out at Skid Row (Los Angeles, CA) with the jonah project (jonahproject.org).
I tend to talk too much. I often rationalize it away, as "it's just the way I am" as verbal processor. As I continue to study the The Rule of St. Benedict I'm amazed how relevant it is to my own life. Chapter three of Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants is titled "Learning to Listen." Okholm strings together pithy insights from the rule about the significance of restraint of speech. He asks, "Why would Benedict be so concerned with a topic about which we hear so little in the church?" Okholm quotes a trio of verses about what the Bible directly states about the restraint of speech. One of them is Prov. 10:19 which states, "When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who retrains his words is wise" (NETBible.)
I have tried to be sensitive about my superfluous speech. Is my speech, tone, word usage, and timing leveraged for my own benefit and motivations? Or, are the words of my mouth building others up and focused on loving others. There is a danger in talking too much. Okholm quotes Michal Casey as he elaborates.
"It restricts our capacity to listen, it banishes mindfulness and opens the door to distraction and escapism. Talking too much often convinces us of the correctness of our own conclusions and leads some into thinking they are wise. It can be a subtle exercise in arrogance and superiority. Often patters of dependence, manipulation, and dominance are established and maintained by the medium of speech" (p. 44-45.)
Ouch....strong words for something we often don't hear about in the church. We hear sermons and teaching about the use of the tongue. Restraint of speech was important to St. Benedict as it pertained to the monastery. Why do we hear so little about it in the church? Have you ever heard a sermon about talking less and learning to listen more? Okholm ends with quoting Casey again when he states, "many of our 'daily sins' are launched by or performed in our conversation: often our spontaneous speech 'sides with the part of us that resists grace'" (p. 45.)
I wonder how often unbeknown to me my bumbling mouth leaves behind a stench.This Lenten season I hope to talk less and listen more. We will see how it goes as old habits are hard to break or even bend.
My uncle could have never known the significance of how God would use his death to cement into my marrow insights about myself and my calling to serve God. It’s been almost two weeks, since I waited with his lifeless body in the room where he slipped away in his sleep, for the funeral home to arrive. I’m thankful for being able to share with Him the life he could experience in Christ and to have been able to baptize him in the ocean in 2006. Over the last few years he started to comprehend and grow into what it meant to be forgiven, to embrace wholeness, and freedom from brokenness.
We take every breath we are given for granted. We’re not promised tomorrow or even to make it to the end of today. All of us eventually “return to dust.” Between now and then, when we inhale for the last time never to exhale again, how are we choosing to spend our days? My prayer recently has been to be able to embrace the words of the psalmist and not just murmur them. “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (90:12).”
God help me to not succumb to living today in some lackadaisical fashion. Help me to spend my time with eternity in mind. Assist me to “love well, as it is lasting beyond the temporal horizon of this world. Prod me onward with an unrelenting passion to serve and disturb your people to be a sign, witness, and foretaste of your kingdom. Amen.
This video is was shared with me by a family member who lives in AZ. Their church actively participates in this program. It is encouraging to see the collective church partnering and serving the homeless together as one "body." We used to have something like this in Santa Cruz in the form of the Interfaith Satellite Shelter Program started in 1986. Up until a few years ago, a number of churches were still participating in it.
How encouraging would it be once again to have it start up and serve the community, if enough churches were willing. What holds the church back from engaging and leveraging one of the greatest assets they have, a building to serve those who don't have a safe place to lay their head?
We have gone through so many different transitions as a family over the last year and a half. I've often felt like a little row boat tied at the end of a dock with a huge storm bearing down. The wind rises and the waves crush. The rope is pulled and begins to unravel under the stress of the storm. The storm passes, the rope remains tied only to look to the horizon and see the clouds re-grouping again. It's easy to succumb to the weight of the differing storms of life and to be pulled from our moorings.
I often, during these times reflect and ask the question, "What does it look like for me to live a whole life, to be whole in the midst of this unraveling?" As I've asked this question on going for last fifteen years, I've been drawn to how the Christian monastic tradition, in particular the Benedictine tradition, chooses to answer it. Benedictine spirituality embraces a particular rhythm of life in responding to how to live.
Recently I've started reading Dennis Okholm's book titled "Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants." It's a small book and an easy read, but not easy to digest what it haves to offer. The chapter titled "Why Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants?" begins with these words.
Richard Foster has said, "'The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people or gifted people, but for deep people.' In many respects we live shallow lives, easily entertained by celebrities, trivial pursuits, and consumer products. A deeply rooted spiritual life desired by many, but its cultivation seems to escape just as many. What does such a life look like?"
I long for a whole life, a deep life. One rooted and moored, bearing the storms of life but not unraveling. Often times it is not deep, but shallow. Often time I am wooed away by "trivial pursuits" and desperate measures, allured to build up my false self which is in love with what others think of me, being seen as intelligent and gifted.
I'm drawn to the Benedictine tradition and spirituality as it provides a means and way to stay deeply rooted as others have for hundreds of years. How do you stay rooted to your moorings? How do you cultivate your spiritual life? How do you stay whole as you face the daily realities of life?
"The Beginner's Bible : Timeless Children's Stories," Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, pg. 480 - 483.
Yesterday was Tate's 6th Birthday. We had a fabulous time celebrating with family here in Arizona. Tate's cousins Tyler and Ashley are here visiting Nana and Papa too for it. We hung out at Chuck E Cheese, ate pizza and played games.Tate was blessed to have her second and even a third cousins present at her party. Thanks Grant, Cleo, Rick, Penny, Nana Papa, Matt, Michelle, Tyler, Ashley, Morgan and Melody. Below is a brief video I edited of clips from Chuck E Cheese.
Tate's 6th Birthday Party in AZ from Derek Dominguez on Vimeo.
Seriously....is it possible for the asphalt and pavement here in AZ to be harder than the sidewalks in Santa Cruz, CA. My knees are killing me from running five miles this morning and five yesterday. No matter how good of shape I'm in, this place seems to work me over and I always feel like crap running here. I know one thing the pavement may not be harder, but it's definitely hotter. It's December.....you know Winter. In most places like the East Coast there are snow storms as I type this that are closing airports down. Here, I fried my breakfast this morning on the sidewalk.
Besides that we're having a grand ol time with Meagin's family. Got to see Avatar in 3D yesterday. It's been a long time since I wanted to see a movie again in the theatre for a second time. The girls are having a blast and we're celebrating Tate's 6th birthday tomorrow with the Perry side of the family and Cuck E Cheese. Should be interesting....I mean a ton of fun.
We just returned to Meagin's parents' house in AZ after seeing Avatar in 3D. It was awesome. The 3D enhanced the visual experience and the storyline overall was intriguing. There was nothing necessarily new here regarding the storyline as a whole, but I loved the way it began to make it evident how technology is tweaking how we view "reality." There is a bunch of content to ponder here as to how we interact with our on-line "worlds," gaming and even social media. I won't spend a ton of time talking about this but the movie made me realize how much I love Science Fiction and Fantasy.
From the time I was young I remember watching the original Star Trek tv series with my father. My interest has never ebbed in Star Trek or how science fiction stretches our imaginations and what could be if we are willing to imagine things outside the "box." That's why I love it. It allows me to think about the "what ifs" in life and gives my dreamy imagination a playground to run wild.
That's not the main reason I love it though. Modernity and much of the world around us thinks the only thing that is real is what is seen, tasted, smelled, heard, and felt. Much of the world deems the only thing of value and legitimate in believing, has to fall under the authority of the rational mind's interaction with its senses. We're still submitting to empiricism to validate our beliefs.
Yet, as a follower of Jesus I know a kingdom exists and a God who I can't always legitimatize through reason and empiricism. There is a story I read on a daily basis that tells me of people rising from the dead and "five loaves and two" fish turning into much more....of Jesus turning water into wine (yummy:). You see I love sci-fi and the stories of fantasy because it encourages my imagination to think about what could be and what can exist outside of the paradigm modernity gave me to think within. I love science fiction because it allows my mind and imagination to know and realize what actually is. It allows me to believe and love that we actually will be resurrected. It allows me to believe in the narrative that defines my life and all the crazy ideas represented inside of it. Now that's some crazy science fiction. Imagine that!!
Just read an inspiring story about what Leslie Newbigin's contribution still has to offer to the North American church as Christianity continues to decline. One of the quotes from Newbigin hit me square between the eyes. He discusses how one of the greatest winsome ways the church can impact society, is how it reflects the character of Christ in its unity within its own community. It's inspiring to see how God chose to use a man who was confident of his role in the kingdom and was used significantly in his later years to impact the kingdom for eternity.
"I have been called and commissioned, through no merit of mine, to carry this message, to tell this story, to give this invitation. It is not my story or my invitation. It has no coercive intent. It is an invitation from the one who loved you and gave himself up for you. That invitation will come with winsomeness if it comes from a community in which the grace of the Redeemer is at work." ~Newbigin
To read the whole article click The Missionary Who Wouldn't Retire | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction.
I have been thinking lately about what really matters in this life. My conviction is all that really matters or is lasting is "loving well." I don't think we can love others well without embracing how deeply and "well loved" we are by God. It's hard though fully accepting that love and the degree by which we embrace it depicts the depth of how we love others well too. Love is what lasts...go and "love well." As I was thinking about this today I stumbled upon this quote by Krista Tippet.
"None of us will be measured on how much we accomplish but on how well we love." ~ Krista Tippet
Just had to uplaod this pic I snapped on my phone while we were downtown this morning. She just started cruising around with her hands in her pockets.
Sunday afternoon and as Tate and I began to play chess on the set Ronee gave to her we were reminded to pray for her, Scot, and their family as they were down at the "Ave" serving the homeless. Tate is getting good Ronee. Watch out!
