Every Step is an Arrival

Well, I'm back from a busy weekend, and my head is FULL of information that's threatening to seep out of this noggin of mine. It was weird taking a workshop that was two full weekend days! It's like a Sunday, - my day of rest and usually attending church-  has been skipped out of the past 7 days.

But then I watched this and I heard a good message. It's 11 minutes long, but it's interesting, so you might want to watch.


Every step is an arrival from Elevation Church on Vimeo.


As I was watching this, a few thoughts went through my mind. (One was that his t-shirt was very distracting! ;)
I thought about our neighbours across the street who have such struggling family relationships. Teens on drugs, kids abandoned by their biological fathers, overwhelmed mom, common law husband always on the road, financial issues, and it goes on. And then late into the night, Dave and I lay awake in bed, listening to a major yelling and swearing session going on in their driveway. Mom and biological son. And it went on. And we lay there, wondering what we should do about it. She is our tenant, but she's also someone I've gotten to know and she's a wonderful person. And her son was raging on and on. And neither of them budged.  She's told me before she's not allowing him in the house if he's on drugs or uncontrolled. At this point, Dave decided he'd better get up and see what he could do. (At this point, I'm thinking I'm glad I'm not a man!).

I peered out the window into the night as he walked across the street to her driveway. I couldn't  see what was going on, but he was out there an awfully long time. I hoped all was settling down, because the yelling stopped. I was thinking that we have an empty bedroom downstairs and maybe T. could sleep there for tonight.

More than a  half hour later, Dave returns and tells me that T. really does love his mom, but he gets on these rages where he can't stop. He had calmed down, was apologetic, and was going for a walk to cool down. And then Dave mentioned that he had offered our spare room downstairs if T. wanted to stay there tonight. Amazing how Dave and I were thinking the same thing!

T.'s response was, "Oh, I couldn't come and stay with you,  a nice, Christian family."  Huh?! I didn't know how to respond to that. How DO you respond to that? This poor young man has no self-love, no self-respect, nothing. And we are too good for him??!!  It's so sad that neighbours see us that way.

Anyway, somehow, the video reminded me that we don't have to be perfect when we come to Jesus. He changes us one little step at a time. He works IN us. It's not about performance, although there's something in us that wants to perform and get pats on the back. It reminds me not to set people up for failure by expecting too much of them. And not to expect too much of ourselves! Or to be judgmental.

This guy  in the video (Steven Furtick, author of Sun Stand Still)  sort of irritated me, and I wondered why. Then I realized that I had higher expectations of him because he was a pastor and a writer, etc. And he reacted oh, so wrongly towards the other movie goer. I'm so judgmental sometimes. God forgive me.

And then, Dave heading across the street, and just seeing if he could help-- I was so proud of him because that WAS the right thing to do. A small thing. A small step. An arrival.

Karma vs Grace

You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.

                       Excerpt from the book Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas)


Read more here at The Poached Egg.  

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

We Won!!!!

The Pregnancy Care Centre of Kamloops won the Joey's Only 25th Anniversary Community Revival Project contest. That is $25,000 for the Centre!!!!!

This centre is non profit, run by volunteers (1 paid office manager) and it is funded solely by donations from the community.

This Fall the centre stepped out in faith and rented much needed space across the hall from our office, so that moms could have a place to meet, socialize, and take classes to learn new skills. God has provided for us in ways we did not anticipate. Thank you Lord!

Thank you, Joey's Only Seafood Restaurant!! Thank you to all who took the time to vote!

Makes Me Think

If someone asked you "What Makes A Christian?", what would you say? After reading comments here, I have to think a little more deeply how to word my answer...

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/what-makes-a-christian