Community

i surprised my mom for mother's day last Sunday. this is what i did:

first of all, i wrote her a card telling her one of the things she has taught me. she has taught me so much about how to be accepting of every kind of person. i also made her a picture frame and put a photo inside that was taken last summer of us and my father. on the way home i stopped and got her a bouquet of lillies as well.

when i got home to Charlottesville, i put the flowers, card, and bag on the front stoop and knocked on the door very loudly. i ran to the back door quickly and waited for my mom in the kitchen. after she came back that way from answering the door, i could see that she had her present in her hand and so i yelled, "happy mother's day! i love you!"

we then spent most of the day together just sitting around watching TV and talking about life. afterwards we went out for a family dinner. i really miss these moments with my mom.

recently i have been realizing my next lesson: Community with others is important.

when i first moved up here to Reston, i was ready to be on my own. i was excited to start over, make new friends, build new relationships within my ministry, and thrive in change.

i always embrace change [for the most part]. i tend to like to change things up often. change is good, in my mind.

so that's where i was. i couldn't wait to get my own place and live on my own for a while.

but since then, and through my mother's day experience with my mom, i've realized that community is key. not finding friends my own age, or getting involved in a small group of ladies, or having Tommy around all the time. what is key in my life [what has been and will continue to be] is that i have community with believers.

it doesn't matter how many close friends i have or how many small groups i am involved in, how much time i get to see my mom, or how many kids i interact with every week. what matters is that i have community with believers, where i worship with them, rejoice with them, and suffer with them. having this kind of community with other believers is what has made my move so easy and so exciting.

Colossians 3:16 says to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in al wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

yes, we need to be in the Word, reading it and letting the Words we read effect our actions, but through this we should be led to community with one another.

we interact with God personally so that we can teach one another. we interact with God personally so that we can admonish one another. we interact with God personally so that we can worship in song with one another. we interact with God personally so that we can give thanks to Him.

seems to me that the major point in all this is this: we interact with God personally so that we can have community with one another.

so in conclusion, don't think you can do this on your own. we need God, first and foremost in our lives, but we also need each other. this is how God thrives among us!

A Manner that is Worthy.

Lately I've been taking notice of my responsibility to God and feeling it weigh on my shoulders a little bit more. I've been realizing the great and mighty calling that He has for me as a child of God. I've been compelled by His Word to step my life up a notch when it comes to pleasing Him and representing Him well.

Philippians 1:27 has been on my heart this week:
"Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ."
Wow. That is a crazy powerful statement to me.

It doesn't just say "live Holy because God is Holy" or "take after Christ's example in the way you live your life" both of which are what we are taught to do elsewhere in the Bible. Rather, this verse says "Let the way that you live your life be worthy of what Christ has done for you."

Basically, "Live in a way that is worthy of Christ's death."

Is there anything I can do that is worthy of Christ's death?

I mean seriously, there is no possible way that I could even remotely live in a way that deserves any form of His grace.

And this is the realization that I have been coming to almost every day of my life these days.

It seems like a harsh reality to be in. And it is, but it's also comforting. And it also challenges me.

So every day I wake up and ask myself what I can do today to act worthy of His grace. And maybe all it is, is to pour into the lives of those around me. And maybe He wants me to spend extra time in prayer. And maybe He wants me to call my parents, or an old friend, or write a letter to someone I haven't seen in a while. And these are all things that I am willing to do for Him, and examples of what I have been doing.

But what has changed, is that I'm opening up to Him more through this realization. I'm constantly asking Him what I can do and constantly looking for opportunities to act in a manner that is worthy of Him. And He never fails to open up doors and teach me more than I could have learned before.

This life is a privilege. I'm tired of living it within the realm of my own selfishness.

So ask yourself this: How can you live in a way that is worthy of the Gospel?

Lessons in life & love..

As you can see, I've given my blog a face-lift of sorts: New name, new background, new theme. I've decided to devote my blog to a "life lessons" type of template and list lessons in each entry. I think this will be more helpful in the future when i want to look back on these first years in ministry: all that i learned and went through during this time. i was inspired by some events this week that have plagued my mind and have caused me to begin a list of these "lessons in life & love".. so here goes:

Lesson #1: Ministry is hard.

~ this may seem like a harsh statement to make, but to all you people out there who think my job in youth ministry is all just a bunch of fun and games, i urge you to think again. yes, ministry is fun. yes, ministry is rewarding. but ministry is more than just a job. i do more than just hang out with teenagers and get on facebook all day, and plan crazy activities. ministry becomes hard the minute you have to betray someone's trust in order to get them the help they need.

its not easy telling someone they can confide in you and then later realizing that they need to talk to a more trained individual who can better counsel them. it's not easy telling your supervisor the prayer requests of some students, knowing that it is something that was hard for them to tell in the first place. nothing in ministry can ever be completely confidential. and it's hard to try and explain that to a girl who just poured their heart out to you. "by the way, everything you just trusted me with.. i have to tell someone else because they can better assist you. thanks!"

yeah not an easy task.

but ministry is all about loving and intentionally pursuing others. as long as you are doing that, they will come around.

and i know my girls will come around. i will never turn my back on someone because they turn their back on me. Christ doesn't do that, so i will take after Him and show his love in this way.