Thankfulness - Part Duto (2 in Bengali...I think)

"...every real Christian, however practical, is in some degree a mystic, his mysticism lying on the upper side of his life. He prays, meditates on spiritual things and communes with God and the invisible world. Also, every Christian, however he may be dedicated to the holy art of prayer and worship, must of necessity descend to work and eat and sleep and pay his taxes and get on somehow with the hard world around him. And if he follows on to know the Lord he must serve in every useful way outlined for him in the Scriptures of truth. To be a Christian it is necessary that he serve his generation as well as his God." A.W. Tozer

I love Tozer's words. I love how for him, effectively living for Jesus means loving and serving the world. And I am grateful that as I live with God, I am a part of His work here on earth. It is a gift to be included in His plan of redeeming the whole world. A gift to be part of God's redemption of McDowell County, W.V. For that I am thankful.

A few other thanks...

• The faithful love of my family. There have been countless times where my family met a need in my life this past year, where they've spoken truth into me, and where they've just shown that they're with me in the journey.
• Authentic friendship. I cherish the path on I am with friends from across the states, and across the globe. Soccer buddies from IWU days have been faithful and good to me, as well as people I didn't even know until recently that have become close to my heart. New life has been breathed into me recently through their love, words, letters, stories, and faces.
• Visible (and invisible) Hope. Can we ever know the fullness of God's loving hope for the world? I have seen it in the expressions of children I work with, in the determination of my young entrepreneur students, and in the small changes of people living in McDowell County. What is unseen is powerful, and it is changing the world...This is My Father's World!

Thankful - part 1

I was sitting in church today when I realized just how ungrateful I can be sometimes. Ungrateful to God, and for what He provides for me. Just like the Israelites. Instead of remembering God's rescue from slavery, they saw the uncertainty of their desert life and complained bitterly. 'If only we could go back,' they said. Feeling like you're wandering can be discouraging.

Sometimes I feel like that. I don't know exactly the when and the where of life's next stopping point. I forget God's goodness in the past, and I embrace the uncertainty I feel in the moment. It can lead to forgetfulness, and thanklessness. So, here's a summary, for my own sake, of God's recent activity in my life - for which I am overwhelmingly thankful...

• My church in W.V. - After several years of searching for a church, I finally found a church that is home. Small, primarily African-American, loud, Appalachian, and with dancing...it doesn't get much different than my white, large, midwestern, conservative church upbringing. But their theology is Christ-centered, and the people love one another. That's pretty much what church is, isn't it? They care about their neighborhood, and they make me feel at home. I've come to love the frantic enthusiasm of the pastor, the faithfulness of the elderly deacon who sits in the front left corner and testifies every Sunday, and the musicians who sometimes jam during the offering to John Mayer's song 'Waiting on the World to Change'...it's good to worship the Creator with them!
• A warm home - This winter I put in a coal stove in my living room, and stopped using propane to heat my house. Most people would say it's a step down in terms of luxury, since it takes more effort to use, and makes dusting a daily necessity. However, I still love it. It's cheap and warm. The cost of heating my home in 2008 - $0 (I've been shoveling buckets of unwanted coal from the basement of my ministry's office for free!)
• Health - I injured my lower back somehow this past summer, and was slow to get back into shape. But God has been healing me, and I'm now strong and healthy again, and even training for a triathlon I hope to do in June. It's a major goal, and I'm just so thankful that my body is healthy enough now to aim for it.

More thankfulness to follow...

a little ambition goes a long way

My brother recently got a 1-year subscription of Handyman magazine for me. He knows that I like working with wood, and doing projects around my house, so this was a great gift! (Thanks, Joel!) One of the articles explained how to clean hard water build-up in your shower and get rid of rust stains in your bathroom. They said to use a strong cleaning product like the Works, or any product containing hydrochloric acid and just hold a cup of it under the shower head. Presto - the hard water and rust build up is gone!

It does work, but I didn't fully appreciate the results. I really should have read the directions. It is an acid. So getting it on your skin, even just a little tiny bit, is bad. When it was dripping off of my shower head, I think some of it got on my hands. The fiery red-hot burning sensation went away eventually though. and i didn't even have to call the poison control center like the directions said i should. bonus.

Next time, I'll be more careful.

new music

It's been a while since I've last posted...sorry about that, faithful readers.

I received some new music over the holidays that I'm really loving. Sandra McCracken put out a new album called The Builder and the Architect which is a collection of old hymns put to new music. Simple, pure, folksy sounding - it's beautiful, really.

And I also am listening to Derek Webb's latest CD The Ringing Bell, that's ever so provocative, edgy, and true. One of the lyrics to his songs states, "there's a time for peace, there is a time for war, there's a time to forgive and a time to settle the score, a time for babies to lose their lives, a time for hunger and genocide...and this too shall be made right."

It's rare that you listen to a entire album and like/appreciate every song. I'd have to say that for both of these cds, that is the case indeed. And I'm loving it.

wonderfully sick

I'm home for Christmas, and so far have had several meaningful and fun memories. Here are a few of those memories, in no particular order:

1. Ordering 2 speciality frappachino drinks at Starbucks with my sister, and finding out that they messed up our order, so we got two more for free!
2. Sleeping in the same room and bed with my soon-to-be 4 year old niece, and feeling her little toes and elbows and knees bump me often throughout the night. :)
3. A Christmas Eve service with friends, and sharing what aspect of the Christmas story spoke truth into us this year.
4. The kisses and hugs of my sister's 3 beautiful girls.
5. Coming down with some serious stomach sickness Christmas Eve, and knowing that I would be taken care of well - I was with people who loved me very much.

And the celebration is only just beginning...wow, it is good to be home.

Story

I went to an Andrew Peterson concert this past weekend. In one word - incredible. He has a Christmas album that is anything but traditional, and goes on tour with a bunch of other great artists every year during the Christmas season. He and his friends sing the whole album from start to finish without any pauses or breaks for clapping. He calls it a Christmas musical, but without people dressed up in camel costumes. :)

I love this musical, because it's all about Jesus. They sing about the Israelites being delivered from Egypt, and the people wanting a king to lead them, about their captivity, and then about a man named Joseph and a girl named Mary. And then they had a little boy - Son of God, Son of Man. I love how every part of his musical, and indeed every part of the Bible is a story belonging to a bigger story. A story that all points to a Savior.

I belong to that story. And I think sometimes, I skip listening to the stories in search of straight meaning and purpose and answers. I recently heard someone say that when we watch a movie, we usually don't immediately ask what the purpose of the movie was right after we're done with it. We usually don't ask for the purpose when someone tells us about an important event in their life. We hear, we listen, and we get it if we're really paying attention.

I guess I want to pay better attention to the stories of the Bible, and the stories of truth all around me. I want to know truth and love and beauty and all that God is. Not by searching for some hidden answer in the stories (cuz stories don't have answers), but rather trusting that the truth that's there will take hold and shape me...if I let it.

Getting into the season

I don't know why exactly, but I've never had a Christmas tree since moving to West Virginia. Maybe the fact that I'm always gone from my house over the Christmas holidays has kept me from wanting a tree. Maybe it's the fact that trees are always more fun with kids and families to share it with. Maybe I'm slightly cynical when it comes to holiday decor (do you see inflatable santas in every yard where you live too?). But this Christmas season, I took the plunge and bought a tree.

The best part about it was being able to pick it out at the tree farm and cut it down myself. Close to gathering my own firewood (which I'm planning on doing sometime soon) or digging my own coal (I leave that up to the miners), cutting my own tree has renewed my heart - I'm officially 'festive.'

Next year, I might even put up lights around my house. It's a slippery slope, those holiday decorations...