Wilmington

There is something about going back to old places.

It is always an interesting perspective to see how we've changed and places haven't.

I told myself I wasn't going to do one of those things where I write what advice I would give my twenty-year old self.

One, she wouldn't have listened.

Two, the last five years have been a journey.

The reeds and waves are the same, but I'm different.  

Those constant things are important.  

There is something comforting about the fact that as the waves come in and out,  bringing all the things with them, the shore is still there. 

Just like us, as life happens,  after five years or ten years or fifty.  

Slightly altered, but remaining.

Petit Bois

There was a man who was throwing a party, and he invited the who’s who of the community to come.  It was going to be awesome. Until they all decided they were too cool for school and bailed. So what’s there to do?

 

Matthew 22:21 Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

 

Sometimes I think this is how we are as children of God.  Those who think that they’ve got it all together end up missing out, but the last shall be first.

 

I always think about this when I think about missions. Sometimes, I am one of the least being gathered to the table.  Occasionally, I get to be the servant sent out to bring others in.

 

Never am I the Master. You see the people of Haiti, your lost neighbor, or your crazy uncle:  we are all invited to the table.

 

author Jen Hatmaker says this:

 

"And when it has all been won back, when it has all been conquered and redeemed and restored and reborn, he will turn the Kingdom over to God, the Kingdom he came to declare, the one God dreamed of from the garden, the one Jesus lived out on our soil where the least will be the greatest, the last will be first, the lowest will be the highest, and every tear will be wiped away, all sadness vanquished forever. The great table will be set, and the feast will begin.

 

Hallelujah. Jesus lives."

 

That is the message I brought back from Haiti, it is the message of Missions.  Jesus Lives.

 

That’s it, that is all that I’ve  got. Jesus lives! I was going to tell you my philosophy on missions.  Or what are the best way to support those in need economically and socially, with plans and infrastructure and sustainable development.  I believe all of those things are necessary and important. On such topics, I could wax poetic about for much longer than one blog post.

 

But here is the truth: we are all invited to the same table and Jesus lives.  That is good news.  That is Gospel.

 

So, walk out your front door and find them, the lost, least and broken, the hopeless, the victimized, even the perpetrators.  

 

You may find them in the back alleys, or the bars, in Haiti or in India or living on the wrong side of the tracks or maybe just across the street. Bring them in, fill up the table, because we have all been invited and Jesus lives.  

 

 

Vienna

My first memories of Vienna are not the greatest. 

Of course, how could they be when I was born and bred in Blackcat country.

Of all the places I thought I could be,  Vienna feels like it was the last one I would choose.

But, alas, here we are.

While there is something about this season that doesn't feel permenant (the nature of seasons, I guess), it does feel necessary.

The job, the house, the people, how comfortably uncomfortable (seems to be true for all of life). I'm beginning to like this little town for what it is and the part that it plays in my story. A good chapter, just like all of the other ones.

And maybe I didn't have to be learning these quarter life lessons here, but we do put on a good fair.

Bundibugyo →

Meet Rosemary.  We met last year when I went on a media mission trip with The Archibald Project (check them out, link below).

On our last day together, I asked her what she would want me to tell others about her?  She listed her hardships, her accomplishments, her hopes and dreams. Then she looked down at her notebook and back up at me with the protective pride of an older sister and said, “tell them she loves her brother.” 

Honestly when I started writing that sentence was going to be the end of this blog.  It was going to be a difficult story of loss with a sliver of triumph at the end.  I’m not going to lie it would have pulled heart strings and made people cry and emoted others in to giving.

But here is the thing, Rosemary’s story is not all of things that have happened to her.  She is an orphan and separated from her mother, poverty has touched her life in ways that we cannot imagine.  While those things have certainly shaped her, they do not define her.

The choice she has made is to love the only one who has not been taken from her, and love him well.

Do you see that? Her highest priority is to love.

She knows that her accolades may come. That she could grow up to be a rich doctor. That God does, indeed, have plans for her.  She knows all of those good things, but chooses to abide in love.  For without it, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2).

The most important part of our testimonies is how we love the precious ones entrusted to us.  Our friends, children, spouses, parents and neighbors.  Yes, even our sisters and brothers (pesky, though they may be).

So friends, may we run the race to win the prize.  And at the end may it be said that we loved others well.

New England

NYE feels like the quintessential twenty-something holiday. The millennial motto of young, wild and free is basically the ringing cry of the twilight hours of December 31st of every year. 

I’ve always been a bit of a rebel so, I eschewed the traditional (but very romantic) midnight kiss with a stranger and closed out 2015 the way I do most evenings with sweat pants, naps, wine, and Netflix.

Of course good company is a rule no one can afford to break, so this year I hightailed it to the cold but quaint bits of New England where my lovely couple friends Samantha and Daniel reside.

We had a quick, couple of days but they did their tour-guide best to make sure I got to see the highlights of winter in the Northeast.