Things I Can Attribute to Growing Up in the Valley:
1. My occasional ability to drive absent-mindedly
2. My inability to make new friends.
3. The bar set in my mind for something qualifying as "sketch" is very low.
4. My willingness to go play capture the flag in 35 degree weather.
5. My initial inferiority complex upon arriving at Belmont.
6. I am easily entertained.
7. I appreciate small town life.
8. I enjoy knowing most everyone. Most of the time...
9. I expect random people I encounter to be nice to me.
10. I expect random people I encounter to know my dad.
11. I have been in the paper umpteen times.
12. I played a varsity sport.
13. I have the best friends ever.
Monday, November 24, 2008
0039.
I need Africa more than Africa needs me.
I was asked by Mocha Club**{see bottom} to blog about why this is so.
I think this statement is one concerning joy.
I think our daily lives and American culture as a whole suffer from a lack of joy, and perhaps it is a result of a lack of trust in God to provide.
We often live, as Francis Chan puts it, as though God doesn't exist. Or at least as if we do not believe He does. This is what he means: we have back-up plans and savings accounts. We have Plan B's and "wiggle room" just in case. We are not often required to trust God.
We are not often required to put all our hope in God to provide.
Therefore, I think, we as a whole are lacking in joy. We don't leave much room for Him to work miracles. How much different would our lives be if we were not so comfortable?
How much more trusting would we be if God were the SOURCE of our life, in the most literal sense, rather than just a part of it?
This is why I believe I need Africa more than Africa needs me.
Now, I have never been to Africa. I can't wait to hear from my friend Jenny who just got back from Kenya. But I have been to Peru and Mexico in areas of extreme poverty. And I can tell you that the joy and generosity they exhibit squashes ours to bits. If they have three shirts, they want to give you one.
If they have a small shack, they want to invite you in.
This is why I believe I need Africa more than Africa needs me.
We can learn so much from their joy and their trust in the Lord. We can learn what it is to truly give.
God will come through for these people. These believers. We are not essential to the plan. Whether or not we choose to be a part of it His great story is secondary.
This is why I believe I need Africa more than Africa needs me.
Why do YOU believe that? Or why do you not believe that?
Share your thoughts in my comments or blog about it yourself! Join Mocha Club's effort to shift from and image of pity to an image of partnership.
Dec 1st there will be another post with some new info on what Mocha Club is doing & how you can help! To Be Continued...
**Mocha Club [www.themochaclub.org] is a community-based website where members can start a team and invite friends to join them in giving $7 a month – the cost of 2 mochas – to support a project in Africa. Mocha Club's vision is to provide a way for people who don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars to make a difference in Africa.
I was asked by Mocha Club**{see bottom} to blog about why this is so.
I think this statement is one concerning joy.
I think our daily lives and American culture as a whole suffer from a lack of joy, and perhaps it is a result of a lack of trust in God to provide.
We often live, as Francis Chan puts it, as though God doesn't exist. Or at least as if we do not believe He does. This is what he means: we have back-up plans and savings accounts. We have Plan B's and "wiggle room" just in case. We are not often required to trust God.
We are not often required to put all our hope in God to provide.
Therefore, I think, we as a whole are lacking in joy. We don't leave much room for Him to work miracles. How much different would our lives be if we were not so comfortable?
How much more trusting would we be if God were the SOURCE of our life, in the most literal sense, rather than just a part of it?
This is why I believe I need Africa more than Africa needs me.
Now, I have never been to Africa. I can't wait to hear from my friend Jenny who just got back from Kenya. But I have been to Peru and Mexico in areas of extreme poverty. And I can tell you that the joy and generosity they exhibit squashes ours to bits. If they have three shirts, they want to give you one.
If they have a small shack, they want to invite you in.
This is why I believe I need Africa more than Africa needs me.
We can learn so much from their joy and their trust in the Lord. We can learn what it is to truly give.
God will come through for these people. These believers. We are not essential to the plan. Whether or not we choose to be a part of it His great story is secondary.
This is why I believe I need Africa more than Africa needs me.
Why do YOU believe that? Or why do you not believe that?
Share your thoughts in my comments or blog about it yourself! Join Mocha Club's effort to shift from and image of pity to an image of partnership.
Dec 1st there will be another post with some new info on what Mocha Club is doing & how you can help! To Be Continued...
**Mocha Club [www.themochaclub.org] is a community-based website where members can start a team and invite friends to join them in giving $7 a month – the cost of 2 mochas – to support a project in Africa. Mocha Club's vision is to provide a way for people who don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars to make a difference in Africa.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
0038.
Once again I have found myself at odds with someone's projection of who they are via Facebook. Apparently this is where I find an abundance of things I disagree with.
Anyways. I noticed this on a Christian someone's"Favorite Quotes" section and had to give in to the urge to blog my little heart out over it.
A heart is not measured by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.
~The Wizard of Oz
I find this completely at odds with how Jesus taught and lived.
Was he not the target of much hatred and anger? Did he not say that if the world hates you, remember that it hated Him first?
On the contrary, a heart is very MUCH measured by how much you love regardless of who returns the sentiment. Did Christ not also say, for what good is a man who loves those who love him? Even the Pharisees do that. But the real measure of a heart is how much you love those who cannot and will not ever love you back. The ones that cannot repay you are the ones you are called to serve the most.
We are not called to soak up and bask in all the love we can get from others. (Making people happy is not the point of love.) We are called to stand out. We are called to love until it hurts. And then love some more. Christ loved all the way to his brutal death by the ones WHOM he loved.
If you are hated by, ignored by, or even just confusing to most of the world, chances are you are doing something right.
Anyways. I noticed this on a Christian someone's"Favorite Quotes" section and had to give in to the urge to blog my little heart out over it.
A heart is not measured by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.
~The Wizard of Oz
I find this completely at odds with how Jesus taught and lived.
Was he not the target of much hatred and anger? Did he not say that if the world hates you, remember that it hated Him first?
On the contrary, a heart is very MUCH measured by how much you love regardless of who returns the sentiment. Did Christ not also say, for what good is a man who loves those who love him? Even the Pharisees do that. But the real measure of a heart is how much you love those who cannot and will not ever love you back. The ones that cannot repay you are the ones you are called to serve the most.
We are not called to soak up and bask in all the love we can get from others. (Making people happy is not the point of love.) We are called to stand out. We are called to love until it hurts. And then love some more. Christ loved all the way to his brutal death by the ones WHOM he loved.
If you are hated by, ignored by, or even just confusing to most of the world, chances are you are doing something right.
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