A Different Kindof Year and A Different Kindof Post

So, some of you, and by 'you' I mean all the Americans out there who happen to be residing in western Pennsylvania, might have heard a rumor. Except it's only a rumor if it's not true... always getting caught up in technicalities. But I digress...

My home church, where I have gone my entire life, is officially no longer my home.

That doesn't mean I don't love and care about all of you.
That doesn't mean that I hate you, or wish you any ill-will.

It means God is doing things in my life.
It means that I've been called to unfamiliar territory and new adventures.
It means that I've finally listened.

This has been something I have wrestled with for quiet some time.
I was content to keep wrestling.
Until I found something more important to wrestle with.

I'm the same as you, but I've experienced difference experiences.
I've been dealt a different hand.
I don't know if I will ever get married or have my own biological children.

And I don't care.
Afterall, I already have over 100 children of my own.

Children that are growing, that need new clothes, and want a cellphone.
A cellphone that doesn't work, just so they can play with it and pretend.
Children that have so much energy I want to pull out my hair,
all while making me smile and see the world through new eyes.

Children that have experienced terrible things. Death, loss, heartache and hunger.
Children that have been forgotten.

I would gladly give my life if it meant that these children would be remembered.
That someone would care enough to put the needs of these children ahead of their own wants.

I've been called to a new season, and a new church.
A church I hope will help me grow in my faith, and help me be a better advocate for my kids.
If I don't share my stories, how will anyone know them?
How will anyone love them?

"Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: 

to look after orphans and widows in their distress 

and to keep oneself unstained by the world." 

-James 1:27[HCSB]

'Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, 

for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."'

  -Matthew 19:14[NIV]

God has radically changed my life in these past twelve months.

I hate to say that, because I feel like that has become such a cliche - but, alas, it is true.

My world has been rocked in areas that I didn't even realize was possible.

So far I'm rolling with the punches. Adapting and growing.

I'm ready for a new phase and new adventures. New friends and new challenges.

Thankfully I have found a church that will make me feel more 'at home.'

Almost like being in Africa, just on the wrong side of the pond.

I am always missing Africa.

Always waiting for the day that I will be called back.

My heart is missing a huge piece...

But I still have a heart! And you're in it!

Whether we talk often or rarely, I probably think of you more often than it would seem

and admire you more often than you realize.

I'll be praying for all of the good things I know God has planned for your lives.

I hope you will do the same.

The Great Movie Debate

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

old things have passed away, and look, new things have come."

-2 Corinthians 5:17

On Black Friday I had been ordering some movies for my nephews.  I had asked what they wanted for Christmas and there weren't too many things. Not on the list that was passed onto me, anyway. So I wanted to get them a few movies that I knew they wanted and would enjoy. Of course there was also a significant sale, being Black Friday, so I ordered a few titles I wanted but might not have bought otherwise. 

One of the movies was something I had seen. Years ago, maybe even a decade. At the time I watched it with my Sunday School class at Church. There was discussion of the overall themes of the movie. About how we respond to and treat others, how we deal with situations beyond our control, and always holding onto hope. When I was in Africa I remember two people talking about it, and how they thought it was a great movie. These inspecific, fleeting memories were all I had to associate with the movie so I bought it, hoping for the best. I hoped in vain.

I won't go as far to say that it's a bad movie. The movie itself was well done. It had the ideal casting of characters, amazing camera work, and it just came together well. But inspite of myself, due to the language and sexual content, I couldn't appreciate the movie as entertainment. It didn't make me feel good. Not that 'feel good' is the goal but this movie was one that left me with a pit in my stomach and certainly not feeling entertaied. I was so displeased with the movie that even the overall positives themes were lost in the wake of my gut reaction. I know, I know. There are things in life that are bad; they happen and sometimes they happen to good people. Terrible things happen - but I can watch the news or listen to the circumstances of people I have met. I don't need to watch a fictional movie to see terrible things in a larger than life, glorified way. This is really a matter of personal preference. I feel a conviction to be more mindful of the things I watch, read, or listen to. Sometimes it is so easy to become overly absorbed in this temporal world. I want to set my focus on other things. On helping others, and always on remembering that this is not my home. 

I've been thinking a lot about 2 Corinthians Chapter 5[HCSB]:

Our Future after Death

For we know that if our temporary, earthly dwelling is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. ² Indeed, we groan in this body, desiring to put on our dwelling from heaven, ³ since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ And the One who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
⁶ So, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight, ⁸ and we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or worthless.
¹¹ Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we seek to persuade people. We are completely open before God, and I hope we are completely open to your consciences as well. ¹² We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in the outward appearance rather than in the heart. ¹³ For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we have a sound mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If One died for all, then all died. ¹⁵ And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹⁶ From now on, then, we do not know anyone in a purely human way. Even if we have known Christ in a purely human way, yet now we no longer know Him in this way. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. ¹⁸ Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” ²¹ He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Again, this post might not be for everyone. Maybe not now, maybe not ever. But it is based on a thought that has settled in my heart, nagging me until I pay it proper attention. I'll draw attention to verse 20, it says: Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

That, to me, is huge. "Be reconciled to God." So what exactly does that mean? I like to know exactly what I'm signing up for, or what the specific expectations might be. You can find what Merriam-Webster says here or what the Oxford Dictionary says here. Personally, I prefer the wording of the Oxford Dictionary in this case.

Two points that stuck out to me are 1) the point is to be in agreement 2) even when you don't want to be. That is huge. In our lives, so often it seems that our world is made up of water and our relationship with God is made up of oil. Oil and water do not mix. They are not compatible. We try and try to saturate our lives with God, but so quickly we lose the goodness of God. The moment we stop being diligent it slips away, pushed out by the water of the world. Of course, as any salad-lover knows, an emulsifier can solve this problem with ease. Like egg yolks, lemon juice, or mustard. Or in this case, the Holy Spirit. 

Still with me? Sorry about the massive tangent, I'm an abstract random learner so sometimes I must admit it seems to take forever for me to get where I'm going...sheesh! The point of this particular tale is that I have made so many changes in the last year. Some I saw coming, some came out of the proverbial 'nowhere.' This year I want to welcome them all and embrace the process, clinging to where the Holy Spirit might move me. Exciting things are happening in my life! When it comes to the bits about 'just me', first and foremost, I will be putting the rest of my DVD collection to the test. See? You made it, it happened: we're back to square one!