When Things Get Messy

Holy Interruptions, Fragile Boundaries, and the Joy We Didn’t Plan For

Read time: 4 minutes

A Small Group, a Big Hope

This is a small group from our church in Marabá, just a few blocks from our house.

In this neighborhood, young men often fall prey to crime and drugs. Here they are instead—gathering to follow Jesus.

Please pray that God will show them the path toward responsible fatherhood and Kingdom citizenship. We are deeply proud of these men.

This is what church planters work for: environments where communities begin to think—and live—differently.

Rolling With the Interruptions

A few days ago, we found ourselves remembering Christmases in the Amazon—the dusty roads, the laughter in the alleys, the sharp contradictions of poverty just outside our door, and the haven of joy God carved inside our home.

We rolled with the punches.

We couldn’t control what would happen—only how we would respond.

So we cared for people. We asked questions. We treated neighbors as if kindness and care were normal ways to live.

And in remembering, I was struck again by why healthy churches and transparent lives matter so deeply:

Families teach families how to think differently—about the world, about themselves, and about God.

The Interruption of Incarnation

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about Christmas:

It was an interruption.

• Mary’s plans—interrupted.

• Joseph’s reputation—interrupted.

• The shepherds’ night shift—interrupted.

• The magi’s travel itinerary—interrupted.

And into all that interruption stepped a God who does not respect our boundaries when someone needs deliverance.

I don’t regret wanting rest that year.
Rest is holy.
Boundaries are biblical.

But so is the inconvenient compassion of a God who looks at a woman tearing chunks out of a rain poncho and says, “Not on my watch.”

We can’t control when darkness shows up.
We can only decide whether we’ll answer the door.

That’s the real Christmas story, isn’t it?

Humanity was in crisis—something dark, something spiritual, something we couldn’t handle. And God, who had every right to stay distant, interrupted His own eternity and stepped into our chaos.

That barbecue tasted like grace.
Like surrender.
Like the strange joy that comes when you stop protecting your plans and start participating in God’s.

What holy interruption might God be inviting you into this Christmas?

A Suggested Meditation

Learning David’s Secret

This week’s meditation is not about speed, but attentiveness.

Psalm 40 — A Suggested Meditation

This psalm is structured in seven matching layers that circle an unmovable center.

One clue this is intentional: the theme of delight appears in the outer layers, then closer in, and finally at the center.

• Verses 4 and 14 describe misplaced delight.

• Verses 6 and 11–12 describe what does not delight God.

• At the center, David writes of true delight: God’s law written in his heart.

But here’s the riddle:

Verse 6 makes clear this is not the Law of Leviticus.

So what is the law in David’s heart?

Hint: Notice the counter-intuitive golden key in the second matching pair—verses 2 and 17.

Imagine David longing for a way back into the Garden of Eden, back to the Tree of Life, back to the place where God walks with His people.

What if Adam or Eve had found that golden key, instead of responding like victims?
What if Cain had found it, instead of building a city that became an anti-Eden?
What David’s son, Solomon, had remembered this key to the end?
Did David’s grandson, Rehoboam, even know about it?
 

As you ponder verses 2 and 17, pay attention to your own heart.
If it resonates, where might you re-align some relationships?
How might you teach others, like your children or friends, this priceless insight?

Suggested Meditation

• Read the matching pairs, always together with the center.

• Read the matching pairs/immovable center from the outside in, then again from the center out.

Ask the same question each time:

What is true delight?

Do this slowly for three days.

Notice:

• Has your faith grown quieter—but stronger?

• Do your personal challenges feel oddly less consuming?

• Does communion with God feel more real?

Pay attention.
Tell someone how it went.

Deanna’s Journey to Healing

The thermometer inches toward completion.

This is an exhausting phase for Deanna. She looks healthy, but her stamina is significantly reduced. Please continue to pray.

This week, dear friends Elba and Steve visited, bringing deep encouragement and joy. We’ve shared decades of friendship and ministry. They are church planting in Belém, our state capital, and Elba serves as vice-president of Vineyard Brazil.

Elba first came to our house in 1994, looking for a job. Olivia, our second daughter—pictured here with her son Ellis—was just ten months old at the time. Elba had moved from a river town to attend high school in the city. She began coming to church, gave her life to Jesus, and has been part of our family ever since.

Allyssa, Steve, and Elba’s second daughter came with them to visit us.

Prayer Requests

• For Deanna’s complete recovery

• For the successful sale of the mission property in Marabá

• Wisdom about a possible Portugal survey/prayer trip in March 2026

• For Steve and Elba as they raise support

• For the poor, the grieving, and the overlooked this Christmas—
  that this season would become one of presence, not performance

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