Steppin' on toes, my own as well...

The last couple of months I've had many of these thoughts percolating... These seemed to all spill out when I was at a youth conference (Mark Matlock's Planet Wisdom) with our youth group. I scribbled frantically in any spare space in my conference notebook trying to get what has been burdening my heart out on paper. While although I haven't blogged in a year and a half, I was compelled to try to capture my thoughts.

Loving and ministering to people is messy.

People are messy.

We, the church, need to love people even in the mess, despite the mess... love them where they are - mess and all...

Are we accepting / welcoming people into our family as the people they are currently, or are we expecting / demanding them to clean up first, meet certain standards; or get left out?

We need to meet people with open arms where they are, as they are.

Are we willing to open the doors, open our arms, open our hearts to them? Or are we preferring our own ease, our own comfort, over their uncomfortable mess?

Are we so prideful that we don't see that Jesus loves US in OUR MESS?

Are we rationalizing our pride?

Is it that we are lazy, only caring for ourselves?

Are we willing to DO LIFE TOGETHER with messy, imperfect people, or are we demanding that they leave their mess at home before they come?

Doing life together with those around us is messy!

God doesn't NEED our help to love these people! He CHOOSES us, He CALLS us... NOT only to love these people; but to CHANGE US in the process! To CONFORM us more into His image. Are we missing out because we are choosing to pursue our own comfort instead?

Are we missing out on a blessing because we don't want to get messy?

God is PASSIONATE about you! God is PASSIONATE about people - messy, quirky people.

Are we going to love them, even become passionate about them; as true followers and imitators of CHRIST? Or are we going to be comfortable?

Are we conveying that truth through our attitudes, actions, love, deeds to other people? What do others assume about God through watching how we react to them?

Are we busy being offended, or are we extending God's grace?

Are we busy arguing because we are offended, or are we busy arguing for those who are defenseless?

I love the sound and voice of John Mayer, but when I hear his song "Waiting on the World to Change", the lyrics infuriate me a little bit more each time. Now I wonder (maybe I don't want Mayer and his friends acting to change the world), but could these lyrics be about me? Could they be about CrossRidge Church? Could they be describing the apathetic American / Western / Commercialized brand of Christianity that is prevalent?

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could

Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it (but the Bible says we have the same power in us that raised Christ)

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

Instead of standing at a distance, we need to BE the change we want to see! Even in a small way, step out and follow God even in baby steps.

1 John 3:18 "...let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

John 13:35 "Your love for one another will PROVE to the world that you are my disciples."

Are we proving that we are disciples of ease, comfort, selfishness? Or are we proving we are disciples of Jesus, the God who came down and got messy!?

Are we living in the very Presence of The Living God? Or are we living in our own presence?

Ephesians 5:1&2 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

It all boils down to this: Who will we imitate and exalt in our lives? God or ourselves?

Flash Frozen Friendship Anyone?

While hanging out with some new friends the other night, our hostess was sharing about some of the people who were formerly involved in her life but who are no longer.  She said, "I'm a firm believer that God brings people into our lives for a time to help us grow, then removes them when He is done..."  I sat there as all of my insides screamed and cried in sorrow...  "NO!!!"  I'm a heart-on-my-sleeve type, so I'm sure she could see my awkward expression as I was trying to look supportive and look like I was listening attentively, while in the midsts of an internal turmoil outbreak...  Now, I intellectually know that what she was saying is very true, but emotionally I hate losing anybody...  EVER!  I want to collect and hoard all of my friends, past and present, and flash freeze them at the height of our friendships...  like flash frozen fruit - picked and frozen at the height of freshness...  I thought of all of the friendships I've lost...  some through very difficult circumstances, some through simply growing apart, some through moving and distance, some seem to just fade away...  and some friendships have just changed...  once inseparable, now just a comment or email here or there...  

I've contemplated, (many an hour in the last several months unfortunately) whether it is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all...  at times I am grateful for the lessons I've learned, and I know I should be thankful in all situations, but other times it is just hard...  

I don't have an ending for this post except to say to all my former, present, and future friends, I love you all and pray that God's will be done, even if I don't understand it or like it...  

My kind of fishing... Shopping for a Cause

Okay, so this is my second blog about a store within Lakeland's Lakeside Village, so I'm sure by now you can guess I enjoy that area...  I LOVE the store Go Fish!  It's a bit hard to find on a side alley area, plus it is right next door to Fish City restaurant so I've had several people who thought Go Fish was the take out or fast food portion of Fish City.  That would be a clever name if it were, but it's not.  Go Fish is a store that sells unique items from hard working artisans from developing countries.  I believe this picture is of the founder and one of the artisans.

My favorite earrings

My favorite Bracelet

Here is the web addy, but the website totally doesn't do the store justice!  So if you have a Go Fish store nearby, go check it out in person to get the full experience.

http://www.gofishretail.com/index.html

Tea-riffic!

I LOVE Tea Largo located next door to Picasso's Cup in Lakland's Lakeside Village Shopping Center.  They always have several delicious teas to sample, and hundreds to choose from!  I picked up a super yummy blueberry tea while hanging out with a friend down there last weekend.  I love to grab a tasty iced tea, then sneak a peek inside Picasso's Cup at all the adorable artwork...  mind you, I'm not staying to actually participate in said artwork...  anything crafty makes me hyperventilate...  but I love to look.  That being said, if you are needing a buddy to hang with at Picasso's Cup, I'll join you with a super large iced tea creation and pull up a chair...  Minus a paint brush!!!  ;D

Click on the picture below to visit their website.

Tea Largo Beverage Company

Tea Largo is the area's first contemporary tea bar!

We have a full beverage menu for refreshment featuring Green Tea lattes, Fruit & Tea smoothies, Organic Honduran Iced coffee, "Red Espresso", Matcha Green Tea Lattes, and our famous Frozen Lattes (try our "frozen pumpkin pie"...yummm!)

We feature over 100 loose leaf teas & fruit tisanes hot, over ice, and in bulk so you can enjoy at home. We also carry Teaposy's blooming teas & gift sets, Muzi Matcha, Beehouse teapots, vegan baked goods, and more.

We still offer the same fabulous recipes of frozen and hot coffee lattes: Almond Joy * Almond Roca Mocha * Black Forest * Coconut Cream Pie * Cookies & Mint *Double Fudge Mocha * Dulce De Leche * English Toffee * German Chocolate Cake * Kahlua Mudslide (non alchoholic) * Oreo Mocha (Frozen only) * Peanut Butter Mocha * Raspberry Truffle * Tiramisu Cheesecake * Toasted Hazelnut * Toffee Nut

About Red Espresso... we were the first establishment in the STATE to serve up Red Espresso, a specially-ground, antioxidant-rich Rooibos extracted as a "shot" through our espresso machine. "Red Espresso" has 5 times the antioxidants of green tea! AND, its delicious! It is naturally sweet, so you can add half the sweetners! We serve up RED as a latte, cappuccino, macchiato, con pana, and can make your favorite lattes like pumpkin spice, chai, or caramel (hot or iced!) RED is naturally caffeine-free, so its great for athletes, kids, expectant and nursing mothers, those sensitive to even "decaf" espresso, and anyone who wants the health benefits of tea. ENJOY!
I Recommend
Red Espresso…

Red Espresso
We all LOVE to make tea lattes (iced or hot) …

Desperate!

A couple of weeks ago my coffee pot broke, and I've been holding out until I place an order for a new one...  So this my desperate attempt at getting some coffee!!!  I know when I get a real coffee pot again it will totally make my Thankful Thursday list!!!

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

My favorite project all year long is Samaritan's Purse's (Franklin Graham's ministry) Operation Christmas Child!!! I seriously think and plan for it literally all year long!

This picture captures the essence of what OCC is all about! These precious kiddos living in absolute squalor, who have never received a gift in their entire lives... are getting their very first gift! The fact that they have never received a gift makes these boxes full of what we perceive as dollar store junk, true treasures not only to the kids, but to their families as well! They are so amazed at getting not only one gift, but a box full of gifts, they often ask, "Who has sent this to me???" They are puzzled that complete strangers would give them, a seemingly "no body", their first and maybe only gift of their entire childhood! This confusion is the perfect opportunity the volunteers of OCC use to share with them the love of Christ. They also include a book in their language about the life of Christ.

The many accounts of new faith in Christ that come from this ministry are amazing, heart warming, goose-bumpy accounts of how a loving God reaches down to touch these very children and their families! One I just heard about this year is the story of Lejla Allison from Bosnia. I won't ruin it for you (although I will issue a tissue warning!), but go watch the video for yourself at:

http://static.samaritanspurse.org/broadcast/OCC_video/LejlaAllison.mov