Mela Kamin – 4:10 Ministries

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After a busy day of preparing for & celebrating Greg’s birthday Wednesday, cleaning up, praying with and blessing my kids, I finally checked email. I wasn’t prepared.
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I was shocked to see that hospice had been brought in to my friend, Sara’s condo and she’s on the verge of going Home.
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I wasn’t prepared. As I read her friend Shannon’s updates and saw my twitter feed fill with news, prayers and tributes, I was overwhelmed.
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When I read Jessica and Matthew’s moving posts, I wasn’t prepared for the wave of big sloppy tears I’d sob at my computer.
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Sara is a beautiful, brave, gifted woman who has lived her faith so loud, lively and filled with light, you’d never know she can’t leave her home.
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Still, she used her humble, faithful voice, life-giving words and remarkable spirit to go out into the world and preach the good news, invest in others, pray, encourage and offer insight.
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Truth is, I never met her face-to-face.
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But, she had met me right where I was a thousand times, breaking into my heart with her vulnerability, humor and beauty. She let grace fall all over – in a comment, an email, a handwritten card.
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I have this note with her stunning, artful handwriting that I cherish. It is a gift to be able to make people feel so loved just by your words and acts of kindness. Sara used that gift well.

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Her reflections told me daily to Choose JOY – I certainly can use that reminder every moment, as life blurs past me.
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Sara defined joy this way:

Joy: the unwavering trust that God knows what He’s doing and has blessed me with the opportunity to be a part of it… not despite what’s happening in my life but because of it. When everything earthly feels heavy He gives me an internal lightness that can’t be touched.

Amen.
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It is a bold choice to see the glorious in the every day … to live with gratitude wherever God takes you … or doesn’t. Sara didn’t complain about her condition or not being able to leave her condo. But, she didn’t gloss over it either – she CHOSE joy, by sharing her story and Who wrote it. She stayed focused on being used by the One who calls her Home now.
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I wasn’t prepared,
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but Sara is.
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Soon, she’ll be able to breathe deep, run to her Father in Heaven and to her Dad she misses so and give hugs she’s only dreamt of.
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I will smile and sing
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and Choose JOY in her honor.
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I’m linking up with Jessica and other friends of Sara as we share our love for her in community with each other.

We’ve been listening to this wonderful new album from Shaun Groves.
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Here, take a listen, yourself.
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Third World Symphony by shaungroves
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The whole CD bursts with beautiful melodies under Biblically-sound, experience-rich lyrics.
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It’s not merely music that sells, but that teaches, acknowledges, reflects and remembers.
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Shaun graciously answered a few questions of mine as he prepared to release this, his fourth album.
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Mela: What still moves you to write Christian music when some might say it’s just preaching to the choir – why not go mainstream and “enlarge your territory?”
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Shaun: I’ve been in church since I was conceived. I understand the Christian culture, how the church operates here, what it’s like to follow Jesus in evangelical America – or what we’re told following Jesus is here. And so God uses me to re-evangelize Christians – to introduce them to the other half of the gospel, not as one who has arrived but as one exactly like them. To sing and speak about relationship with God here and now, partnership with God on earth to bring His kingdom.
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There are non-Christians in my life off-stage and God uses my family, in relationship with these friends, to share Christ. But on stage, my audience is Christian because I understand that audience, I love that audience, and God has consistently used me to meet the needs of that audience and used that audience to meet mine. So I go where God makes me useful and makes me better.
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Mela: Would you share some ways in which your work with Compassion has changed the way you view ministry?
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Shaun: The greatest change in my view of ministry is a little embarrassing to even talk about but I really feel like I should. So here goes. I’ve stopped being sarcastic in concert. That may seem like a small thing but the reason I made that decision is a big thing. When I’m sarcastic 99% of the audience laughs – they get the joke. But that 1% is potentially angry with me – and because I’m representing Compassion International? Well, my joke could prevent a child from getting the help they desperately need.
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You see, the shift for me was from focussing on my enjoyment and my rights to putting someone else’s needs first. There’s nothing wrong with being sarcastic. And I enjoy it immensely. But there’s something more important – 24,000 kids under the age of five die everyday. Do I want my joke to bury one more?
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At Compassion, meeting the physical and spiritual needs of children in Jesus’ name is the most important thing. And for me, it has become as well. 500 children come to faith in Christ everyday through Compassion’s ministry. That’s more important than anything else.
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Mela: What is a favorite song off each of your albums, past and present?
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Shaun: Gosh, that’s hard, but I’ll try.
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Let’s see…from Invitation To Eavesdrop I’d say Welcome Home is my favorite. It’s still my prayer.
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From Twilight, Twilight is my favorite. It’s my favorite piece of music I’ve made.
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From White Flag I’d pick Crave. It’s the only song of mine that my rock-lovin’ son actually likes.
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From Third World Symphony I’d pick Kingdom Coming. It’s the whole gospel as simply as I can state it.

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I hope you’ll be ministered to through his offering – I certainly have been.
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I’ve found Shaun to be an artist who both follows and leads. He’s quick to deflect glory onto Jesus. In his own words, he’s “helping Christians discover what they were saved for, and being a voice for children around the world, desperate to be saved from poverty.”
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And, his work with Compassion “spurred my family on toward love and good deeds” Heb. 10:24 – we sponsored our lovely Nancy from Kenya through one of those Compassion trips.
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I subscribe to Shaun’s blog and follow him on both facebook and twitter. I’ve found him to be entertaining, thought-provoking, compassionate and prayerful. A community of supporters helped fund this album. I hope you’ll consider joining in.
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For the record, one of my favorites is Come By Here, which I first heard while Shaun was on a trip to Guatemala. From a brightly-tiled bathroom, he sang passionately and purely and I couldn’t stop singing that song for days.
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All’s Grace is a stunning offering as well, as is Enough and well – might you just listen to all of them? He was inspired to write All’s Grace, through his friendship with writer/author Ann Voskamp. After meeting and hearing her speak last year, I’ve been moved to write more deeply and to see the world through her lens of grace and gratitude. It’s no wonder these two soul poets inspire each other. See their interview & him singing on her farm.
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Have some music that’s ministered to you lately? Share in the comments.