Am I in Tune?

Tonight, our girls Bible study met and shared a wonderful meal and an even better discussion!  (Sidenote:  I love having international friends.  The food is so good!!)  As a discussion starter, we watched one of Rob Bell's Nooma dvds*.  The one we chose was called Rhythm, and in it Bell uses music as a metaphor for God:  He is the melody, and the question we ask ourselves is "Am I in tune?"  

For a while now, I've been feeling like my life isn't in tune with God, though before tonight I wouldn't have phrased it quite like that.  I wouldn't say that I am playing a dissonant chord, or that I'm just slightly out of tune.  I think the problem is that I've stopped hearing God's melody, and have fallen silent.  And my half-hearted attempts to find the melody again aren't working.

Here's a quote from the film:

For many people, their concept of God is built around a God who is outside of everything, a God who essentially is somewhere else, a God who made the world but then stands back and watches it form this other vantage point, a God who's there, and then from time to time comes here.

When I heard those words, I realized that lately I have been operating under the assumption that God is outside of this world and occasionally pops his head in to give some direction or judgement or mercy.  What's strange, though, is that I don't actually believe that.  I believe that God is present and active in this world, not just in flashy periodic displays of his greatness, but also in small details of our lives.  God is everywhere, but for some reason I've been ignoring him.  I see God every day, but I haven't been seeing him.

I asked the girls what kinds of things they do to help remind themselves of God's presence and his love for us during those times when we feel distant and unattached, when we can't hear the melody.  What I realized helps me in my darker times is seeing people who are passionately in love with God, whether it be through watching a Nooma film, reading a book, or talking with a dear friend.  When I see other people who are in tune with God's great melody, it reminds me of the song I want to be playing.  It refreshes my mind and heart, and I remember the things that I strive for in my relationship with God.  It's like the muscle memory we have for riding a bicycle.  No matter how long it's been, we can always hop on and start pedaling again.

*Nooma dvds are short (10 minute) films about a variety of Christian themes. 

Why I Love My Alma Mater

or, Everything I Needed to Know About the Church I Learned at Taylor University.


I love Taylor University!


The four years I spent there were the best four years of my life thus far. I learned so much about what it means to be in community, about my faith, about responsibility. I learned about myself. And as far as the education I received, it was excellent. I don't want to have the elitist attitude about my university that some people I know have about their schools; it is possible to get a quality education anywhere a student is willing to apply him- or herself. But still... I would recommend Taylor University to EVERYONE.

One of my professors is now studying for his doctorate at Duke, and keeps a blog titled Church Leadership Conversations. He recently wrote an article for a Taylor publication and has posted it there. It's called Everything I Need to Know About the Church I Learned at Taylor University, and the link directly to the article is above.

He puts it much more eloquently than I would be able to, so please, if you're interested, go read the article. It's not long, and is actually a good descriptor of what any good Christian community should strive to be.

Rebuilding Phoenix 2 - photos!

Here are a few photos of my mission trip to Louisiana. Enjoy!



The front door of the home we worked on.





















My assignment for the week: laying tile! Before...
















Our finished task!!! Isn't it a lovely room?















Our group, with the contractor we worked with and the woman's house we worked on (Noella is in the middle of the group).















And finally... the infamous RAT DOG!!! Isn't it just the ugliest little thing you've ever seen?

Rebuilding Phoenix

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Phoenix, Louisiana for a mission trip with my church. The church I work for is an Evangelical Covenant Church -- a small Swedish denomination with Lutheran similarities. (I don't know much about the church background, actually. For more information, you can check out the Wikipedia article or the Covenant Church website.) Anyway, we went with the Covenant mission organization called Covenant World Relief, and yes, you read right, we were in Phoenix, Louisiana.

Phoenix is a TINY town located 25 miles south of New Orleans, right next to the Mississippi River. As you can see from the map (the pink arrow), it's not located in a very 'safe' spot, particularly when hurricanes are near. CWR, along with a few other mission organizations, has committed to rebuilding this tiny town, which two and a half years later still carries evidence of the destruction Hurricane Katrina caused. Because of its location in between the Mississippi and the gulf/marsh, Phoenix is bordered with two 17 foot levys about 500 yards apart, and so when the wind/rain/floodwaters came, the levys essentially created a giant bowl filled with 17-20 feet of water. And because the water had nowhere else to go, it just sat there until they finally broke one of the levys to drain the water. In a community of only 300 people and 160 homes, only 25 houses were able to be salvaged after the hurricane. Slowly, houses are being rebuilt and the community is being restored.

My team of seven was working on a woman named Noella's home, putting in trim boards, laying tile, painting, and wiring light fixtures. (For your information, I am now an expert tile layer -- available for hire!) The community of Phoenix that existed before the hurricane is still very much alive, even though physically it is still very broken. While we were working, there was a continuous stream of family, friends, and neighbors poking their heads in to see how the house was progressing, asking questions, and taking notes on the building details. One of our favorites was a couple named Donald and Annabelle. Their home was one of the few that was able to be salvaged, and they are slowly rebuilding it themselves, while working and still living in a FEMA trailer on the other side of the Mississippi. But they come back to Phoenix as often as they can, to work on their house and catch up on the community. Though they have no connections to Noella, they expressed so much gratitude for us being down there and helping to rebuild Phoenix. They opened their home to us, fed us dinner (mmm, gumbo!), and insisted that from now on we were to consider them friends. Let me tell you, that is the body of Christ in action!

I have so many more stories I could tell you, and even more pictures I could show you. It's amazing to me the amount of destruction and devastation we saw in our travels -- it's been two and a half years since the hurricane! But thankfully, people are still volunteering to come down and work, and little by little, the area is coming back together.

The first week of March, I have another opportunity to do hurricane relief work. I will be traveling to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi (the red arrow) with a La Roche College spring break team. I'm sure I'll have more stories and pictures to share with you then, as well. Please pray for our team, as we finalize preparations.

Blessings to you all!
PS. If you want to check out the project we were working with, visit www.rebuildingphoenix.com

Come and see

Yesterday at our college fellowship group, Sister Elena shared with us about community. I wasn't sure what she would share; honestly I expected it to be something "same old, same old" because over the years I've heard a lot of teaching about community. Sister Elena is certainly gifted and qualified to teach, and so I suppose it was in a moment of cynicism when I found myself pleasently surprised at what she shared with us.

John 1:35-39
The following day as John stood there agains with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, "Look, there is the lamb of God." Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned around, saw them following, and said, "What do you want?" They answered, "Rabbi" - which means teacher - "where do you live?" "Come and see," he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of the day.

Of all the passages there are in the Bible about community, I had never heard this one before. By Sister Elena's admission,it was both about community and call, but on both counts it was new to me.
First, we see that John acted as a signpost for the other disciples who were with him. Only after he told them that Jesus was the Lamb of God did they leave to follow him. All of us have people in our lives who point us toward God.
Next, Jesus asked them (rather directly, in this translation) what they wanted. In order for him to help them and lead them, he wanted to make sure they were after the right things. And the disciples were on a quest. They didn't stutter or stumble when Jesus asked them what they wanted, they simply told him.
Then, not only did Jesus invite them in, but they stayed with him the rest of the day. They saw Jesus' home and made themselves comfortable in it. In community, the home is an important thing. It's not just a place where you sleep and cook dinner; your home represents a part of who you are. By inviting people (or not inviting certain people) into our homes, we are demonstrating what's important to us.