"Published"

For the second year in a row, my friend and mission trip partner, Erin, asked me to write a little something for the devotional guide for Lipscomb University Missions.  At this point in time it's the closest I have ever been to being "published". ;)

Photo credit: Erin Gupton

Below you will find my entry for this year's guide...


Kingdom living. For me it's a somewhat new phrase in church circles today. Growing up in  churches of Christ my entire life, I wasn't familiar with certain terms like witness, testimony, and revival. When I got a little bit older in college, I began to figure out that these terms are very beautiful and are a huge part of a Christian walk.

In the last year or so I've heard the term kingdom living or kingdom purpose. I even use it in my conversations these days. But what exactly does it mean? What is our purpose in God's kingdom? How are we supposed to live?

When I found out this was my topic for the devotional guide, I decided to reach out to a large group of friends, family, and church leaders that I've looked up to for years. I asked them two questions: 1. What is kingdom living? 2. What is our purpose in God's kingdom?

I loved delving into all of the answers. Some were very lengthy. Some were short and to the point. A few people responded immediately, while others took a few days and put quite a bit of thought into it. Through all the responses though, it was very easy to see a summary that they all agreed upon. 

Our kingdom purpose... Love God and love others.

And I'm in total agreement! Our Father's purpose for us is to love. A simple four letter word. And there's a hierarchy of who we should love first second and third. We are told that the first commandment and most important commandment is to love God and the second is to love others as ourselves. So naturally we come last. So as we chant at an afterschool program I'm a part of on Wednesdays for children in our local community...

Love God.

Love others.

Love yourself.

One Wednesday, I had a little friend asked me, "Ms. Aletha is it really that easy? He just wants us to love?" 

I believe it is. In today's American church we are obsessed with making things a lot more complicated than they need to be. Friends, kingdom living isn't sitting in a comfortable, cool church building. It isn't ritualistic and full of rules. It isn't a business. It isn't about what makes us feel happy and good. It isn't about how much biblical knowledge we have stored up in our brains.

It is about just what it says it is...LIVING for our KING. And everything He did while on this earth was steeped in and oozed love. 

So after asking this group of folks these questions, it hit me if I had really looked at their lives the answers were already there.  I need not ask questions...I just needed to watch, listen, and learn.

Kingdom Living is the youth minister who loves on kids with humor. He meets them for school lunches and cheers them on at football games. He meets their friends and welcomes them all into his circle. 

Kingdom Living is the young missionary mom. She follows the beatitude to seek justice and mercy. She helps rescue young women from sex trafficking in foreign lands. She travels abroad to grow her family, taking a six year old girl as her daughter. 

Kingdom living is the small town bank president who shows Jesus to his employees and customers. He is forgiving. He is intentional. He is wise, but humble.

Kingdom living is seen in the middle aged grandmother. She loves on her children and their children, but she also seeks out "the least of these". She writes checks so children in need have school supplies and shoes. She doesn't stop there though. She spends many afternoons a year teaching children how to serve and love others.

Kingdom living is graced with tattoos and piercings. It's going on in generations young and old alike. It's quiet, but other times it's loud. Sometimes it's a bit chaotic and messy. But it's beautiful all of the time, drenched in various shapes, forms and fashions of that little four letter word...love.

Fifteen Years Ago

This Spring Break trip to Saba was the fifteenth.  Michael has twisted my arm for a few years now to be the one who ends our "Finale" on Saturday night. "Finale" is a big potluck and gathering of food, fellowship, and entertainment from the children at Sacred Heart School. MT finally succeeded and got his wish this year.

Because tears seem to find their way easily to my eyes, I wrote down what I planned to say. Below you will find what I shared in honor of the fifteen year relationship between Saba and Lipscomb.



Fifteen years ago...

The new airport at Flat Point had just opened.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had won the Super Bowl in January.

Jonathan Johnson was a teacher at Sacred Heart School

Eminem, 50 Cent, and Sean Paul were at the top of the charts as young new artisits.

We were not worried about Dory yet, we had just started to try and find Nemo.

Erin Gupton was 11. Myron Hassell was 6. And Peter Johnson was 13.

Fifteen years ago...

The sweet name of Mrs. Clement wasn't even spoken yet on the campus of Saba Comprehensive School.

The space shuttle Colombia disintegrated upon re-entry to earth.

The Netherlands celebrated the birth of Princess Catherina-Amalia that year.

George W. Bush was president of the United States.

Conner Crocker was 8. Michael-Angelo Hassell was 1. Sadie Thomas and Shijdy Riley weren't even thought of yet.

Fifteen years ago...

The Unique Shop was down the one-way street in Windwardside, and Breadline Plaza didn't exist.

Willard's set atop the cliffs on Bobby Hill.

War was ever present in the Middle East. The world knew a new type of terrorism.

Luke Countryman was 7. Rachel Dye was a sophomore in highschool. Billy Jean Rodriguez was about to be born on plane on the way to St. Martin.

Fifteen years ago, the local Saba Comprehensive School food preparation, care, and tourism teacher was a young, Southern U.S. gal named Aletha. Her students called her Ms. Thomas. And this teacher was in love.  She was in love with her new tall, dark, and handsome husband. But she also had fallen in love with a 5-square miles God had placed in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.

I was completely in love with this little island and her people...and I still am.

Fifteen years ago, thirteen people landed on Saba and carried the name of Lipscomb University.

And fifteen years later, in many minds, when March rolls around you can't have one without the other.

Some may say that this all started as something random. That by chance two folks ended up calling Saba home for a couple years and one of them happened to have been a Lipscomb graduate. Many people call it coincidence. But God knows.

God knew we needed Saba. God knew Lipscomb would have a place here. God knew a relationship was needed. All of this is a result of one thing...God's love.

Many folks think Lipscomb brings a lot to the island and we teach a lot of needed things.  That this is one sided. I assure you that isn't the whole story.  It isn't one sided at all.  You see, I...we...Lipscomb learns a lot from the island...from you.  You have forever changed us and all the others that have graced your shores in the past fifteen years.

So I end with not my words, or the words of Michael, but I end with words of a wise and strong Saban. In fact, I'd say she is one of the wisest people I have ever known, and I am very thankful she shares two of her grandsons with me.

"To have love you must have God. Love comes only from God. The saying says the one who lives in love, lives in God. In my opinion you must have God to have love. Love comes from the heart. You must have a pure, clean heart to see people through loving eyes. Love is not an easy thing. To love you have to be understanding, encouraging, respectful, forgiving. Sometimes you want to love somebody...they may be rude and disrespectful...just try your best and pray about it. The same for forgiving people; whatever they do, you love them and forgive them. Love is not an easy thing. To love you have to have a pure, clean heart."
                                                                              Mrs. Carmen Simmons-Nicholson

Up Above the Clouds

Up above the clouds.

Sadie asked me on the way down two weeks ago, if we were close to heaven. I simply replied...

"Probably so, but we are about to be even closer."

Heaven on earth is many things to many people, but for me it's a five-square island in the Caribbean Sea. It's lush and green. The road is paved in concrete. Goats run free and iguanas line the walls.  The sounds of children's squeals and laughter fill the air. It's people fill my heart up with a full and joyful love like none other. 

To spend time in this oasis for the soul, energizes me. Makes me realize that life should be a lot simpler...and focused on the little things. 

Little things. Like the way a child's hand fits ever so easily into that of an adult's. The wind blowing through your hair. Like the windows rolled down on the car and conversation as you turn a curve and change gears. A cup of afternoon coffee or tea with a friend. Playing dodgeball on a Tuesday afternoon. 

The little things. Those must be more present in my life back in the chaos of America. I learn so much from my Unspoiled Queen and her lovely people.

The people that fly in these planes with me are a bit of heaven on earth for me as well. Many of them have already meshed back into the mundane. Their adventure ended on Sunday night as their feet once again walked on the ground in Nashville. 

This year's Spring Break team was a beautiful collaboration of seasoned and new.  The seasoned brought help and assurance to me and Michael and familiarity and comfort to the people of Saba. The new brought excitement and rejuvenation. New friendships and connections were made that won't easily be broken.

Relationship. 

Many mission efforts are about hard working service; building houses or digging wells. Many others focus on medical care and providing physical needs. Others focus on caring for orphans and widows. 

A lot of our Lipscomb friends get odd looks when they explain their Spring Break excursion.

"You didn't paint a house? You didn't build a bridge? This wasn't a medical mission?"

Jesus did heal. He fed and provided physical needs. He and his followers I am sure served in the most selfless of ways. 

But first, He had to know the people.

He sat at their tables and visited their houses. He listened to their problems. He shed tears with them and I just know He laughed hysterically with them at times. He talked about life, in order to bring the Giver of Life to everyone He came in contact with. 

And I saw Him in so many people last week, Lipscomb and Saban alike.

I saw Him on a playground as Grant Mason and Conner Crocker helped a little guy named Melnese up onto a ping pong table. 

I saw Him as Jeff and Maricelly Johnson welcomed not only 26 Lipscomb team members into their home, but 10-15 other folks that needed the kindness of hospitality. 

I saw Him in the quiet leadership of AK and Lauren. 

I witnessed Him as Jose Luis took time to take my husband to lunch. 

I saw Him as Richinel, Cedric and Henriques interrupted their days to make sure we had what we needed and we were on time.

I saw Him in the humility and patience of our sweet Jill Momma. She is more than I can speak. 

I saw Him as Nancy Caroline was called by K1 to come and play. I saw Him as Jackson helped teach the K2 class.

I saw Him in the tears of little ones as they told me how much they missed Victoria, Devon, and Hannah.

I saw Him in the new friendships Ethan seem to make so easily with his teammates and those he met on Saba.

I saw Him as Myron sat and talked with Shayne during recess. An older Saban "boy", mentoring a younger, even if neither realized it.

I saw Him in Carly. She is engrossed in the lives of Sabans, young and old. They all ask about her and know without a shadow of a doubt she cares for them. 

I saw Him in the confidence of Jessica, the openness of Nelsia, and in the teacher that Peter has become. 

I saw Him as Luke walked with Jamal, Lana sat with Bri, and Rachel and Jacob loved on so many.

I saw Him as Ms. Lynne stepped outside her comfort zone and as Principal Diane ordered us pizza. 

I saw Him in how Holly's face lit up when she played with Jayden. And I saw Him smile as Sarah prayed to Him. 

I saw Him as Grant and Erin sat and interviewed both sides of the table about 15 years of the Saba-Lipscomb bond. Not so much for the info for documentary, but to truly know the people they spoke to and that they felt a part of the greater picture. 

I saw Him as Steven wept just before Jeffery walked out into the safety of the waters and I held his hand. 

I saw Him just as Trisha rushed to the gate as I was about to walk out to the plane today. 

I saw Him in the love and friendship of two seven year olds...one who calls the Caribbean home and one who is a Tennessee Volunteer. Time and distance are never a barrier, never have been, all because of one word...

Relationship. 

God made Adam. Then He made Eve. 

God kept Noah on the Ark...and He put Noah's family there with him.

Moses had Aaron. Joshua had Caleb. Naomi had Ruth.

Jesus chose 12 followers and they became friends. They were a tight circle. 

God gave Mary a John and Paul a Timothy. 

Sometimes we loose sight of the fact that we serve the same God that we read of in the Bible. The same God that showed up in a burning bush and parted the waters of the sea...He is the God we serve. The God that sent down manna and walked with Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego, walks with us. The same God that made all these connections, is still very much alive and at work today. 

He made us for relationship. That is our mission. 

He gave Lipscomb to Saba.

He gave Saba to Lipscomb.