What I’m Not Thankful For…

Life gets so jammed with inconsistency, frustration, brokenness, and confusion….and I rarely find time to zone in on the things that I’m thankful for. Instead, I make it my aim to think about the things in life that I’m not thankful for. 

At some point, I think this is true for all of us. When asked “What are you thankful for in life,” my mind suddendly goes blank. I can tell you more things to what I’m NOT thankful for than things I AM thankful for. But why?

I look over my life and yeah there are some things that I’m not thankful that happened. I wished I would have made better decisions, I wished some things would have never happened, and I wished some things would have been different…but at the end of the day, I see things in my life that I am thankful for…and those things I’m thankful for are worth it all.

It’s these things that I’m thankful for that gives me hope to keep going. Hope to change. Hope to make a difference.

 

 

Starting Points, Destinations and Every Step in Between

I’m not where I want to be
But I am where I need to be
I have no idea what’s next in life
But I do know that it’s up to me to make right now count
It’s hard when there’s so much between where you are and where you want to be
But when it comes down to it
The journey isn’t about starting points and destinations
It’s every single step
Each step is significant
Each step has life
Each step has purpose
I want these steps I’m taking now to matter

Searching for a Deeper Faith

This Christianity isn’t for me.
I’m not up for being made into the likeness of an American faith.
I want to be made in the likeness of my Creator.
I want my faith to be real, genuine and honest.
Something worth living for – something worth fighting for.
Something much deeper.
I want the faith of my Creator.

Why Christmas is Becoming Important to Me…

With the opportunity of being able to go to Haiti during the beginning of the Christmas season, I was brought to a place of really trying to understand the meaning of why I celebrate Christmas. I know that as a Christian, Christmas is the celebration of the historical reality of one man who was born into this world and was compelled to give His own life for the sake of others. He brought light to the social injustices of this world. He brought compassion to the hurting. He brought healing to the broken. He brought love to all. It’s Jesus who represents the meaning of what Christmas is all about.

The birth of a child is the start of a life – Christmas is just that…the celebration of the life of the One who came to bring redemption to a broken world that’s in a deep mess.

In our American culture, it’s way too easy to get wrapped up in a consumer-driven holiday that’s mostly become known for giving presents. Above any other time of the year, Christmas seems to be elevated as this time to give presents to those we care about the most. Although giving presents is not a bad thing, I’m wrestling with how life needs to be more than that. Coming back from Haiti, I’ve realized that life is more than “stuff” and that giving is more than “gifts.” I want my life to be the gift I give others. I’m still trying to figure it all out, but I want to give more of my time and more of my heart to others – more depth and meaning – something with eternal significance.

It’s the life of Christ that gives me reason to live, the hope for something better, and the need to be a changed person. We are called to Christ – to live like He did – to serve like He did – and to love as He did. I want to be compelled to do those same things. That’s how I want to celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is a time I want to spend reflecting on who Christ was and the life changing impact He brought through his life. It’s also a time I want to reflect on my life and find ways I can let my life be a gift to others. But in the meantime, I’m going to continue to enjoy the holiday celebration of the opportunity to hang out with friends and family, give gifts, and celebrate the birth of Christ.

Are You Ignoring the Reality of ‘What Is’?

“For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – those good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.” – Paul writing to the followers of Christ in Philippi (philippians one:ten and eleven)

As followers of Christ, we are not called to live in the comfort of what we know. When we live as the minority in a world where the majority are oppressed, hungry, trafficked, poverty-stricken, and left with absolutely no hope, we can not call ourselves followers of Christ and not act when the very gospel in which we say we believe has much to say about the passion we should have to make a difference among the unlooked. When we get down to what really matters, what are you going to do with what you know?

“Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows.” – Isaiah (isaiah one:eighteen)

You can’t do this by ignoring the reality of what is.

Did you know that two-thirds of the world live in an area called the 10/40 window? “It is here that nearly two-thirds of the world’s people reside…over 4 billion people!  Over 90% of the poorest of the world’s poor struggle to exist on less than one dollar a day. They are trapped by poverty, oppression, politics, and war. Where disease and injury are prevalent, education is inadequate or altogether non-existent, and people lack even basic health care. The spirit among the people is broken as they live life without hope.” (http://www.1040i.com)

Didn’t know this? Now you do.

Jesus said, “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me. Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.”

Does this represent the lifestyle that you live?

Is your faith defined by the faith we are called to live in james one:twenty seven, “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”

Paul prayed for the followers of Christ in Philippi that their love for others would become stronger and that their knowledge and understanding of Christ would constantly be strengthened. (philippians one:nine) Paul says that are lives are to reflect the very things that Jesus was all about. Our faith is to be defined by “the fruits of our salvation – those good things produced in our life by Christ.” (philippians one:eleven)

When our faith is strengthened by the knowledge and understanding of the gospel, we can’t set limitations on what we know to be true of what we are called to do and how we are to live. Don’t settle for comfort. Truth needs to be known in the most uncomfortable of places.What are you going to do?

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! The Lord will demonstrate  his holy power before the eyes of all the nations. The ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” (isaiah fifty two: seven through ten)

Those where hope is unseen, truth is not known, and redemption is ready…Are you still comfortable by being the minority?

P.S. You know there are homeless in your community so don’t act like they don’t exist. When you are downtown, don’t walk the other way just so you can ignore them. Don’t be ok with yourself in doing that.

Lost in Compassion

Being in Nashville, all you have to do is walk downtown and you are guaranteed to see a glimpse into the life of the homeless. They’re standing on the streets holding signs, at a corner playing their beat up guitars, while some may just be sitting there with an appearance of complete despair and no hope…and what is your first response? Do your best to avoid them, because after all, they’re just beggars wanting your money to buy cigarettes and alcohol, RIGHT? We have become so desensitized to the homeless community as though they don’t even exist. I say this only from my own personal experience, but I’m not naive enough to think that others don’t feel this way as well.

This is a reality all over the world, but it’s never affected me as much and I’ve never been impacted by it in such a tremendous way until just recently. I’d been in China for nearly four weeks and already knew the existence of the beggars that roamed the streets, because after all I had already been approached by dozens of them. They would come around you holding out their hand implying that they wanted you to give them money; however, I was not prepared for what I was about to experience in this one particular place.

I arrived in this developing city in the middle of nowhere, found a place to stay, and began to walk the streets. It immediately hit.

I walked by this man sitting on the road whose legs were amputated… I looked into his eyes and felt completely brokenhearted. I had an adorable little boy come up to me wanting money, and then completely grabbed ahold of my leg and held on to it tightly as I kept walking…my heart cried out to him. I had mothers come to me with their small babies in their arms, holding out their hand asking for money while pointing to their kid…they left with a look on their face of “How could you not help my little baby?”  An old man with a limp walked into the place where I was sitting down to eat, and showed me a picture of an x-ray and doctors reports(which I obviously couldn’t read) implying that he had to have surgery and needed money. These are just a few of the many encounters that I had with the beggars of this town.

It was overwhelming. I was constantly being approached. I didn’t have the money to just hand out to everyone. If I give one person money, shouldn’t I give everyone else money? It got very annoying, because they wouldn’t just come and go…they would persistently stand there just looking at me, waiting for me to pull out the money. After a while, it began to mess with my emotions. Why was it that I was beginning to feel like the foreign American jerk?

Needless to say, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I just didn’t know how to handle it. Then the story of the beggar in Acts 3 came to my mind, where Peter and John said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” It was hard with the little kids, the mothers, and the crippled to keep coming to me desperately begging for money. My attitude changed. I was lost in compassion for these people. I began to realize that I couldn’t give money to them all, but I knew that there was something I could do. I could pray for them, so I began to pray the same words Peter and John spoke to the beggar in Acts. I prayed that Christ would pour His love into their hearts and that they would somehow come to find true hope in Him.

When you encounter the homeless and beggars or the less unfortunate…how do you respond? Are you lost in compassion? Are you praying for them? Are you letting God’s love radiate into their hearts by reaching out and ministering to them? Wherever you are and you encounter the homeless who begin to ask you for money, you may not give them money…but don’t completely ignore them and walk the other way. Spend a few minutes talking with them showing them you care. You’re not gaining anything in life by doing nothing, but when you reach out your hand with some hope it changes the world.

It’s More than Words…

One of the most unique things about backpacking overseas is the incredible opportunities in meeting and hanging out with fellow backpackers.  If you never thought that you can have a ministry while backpacking, think again.

In this one particular place, I met a Jewish backpacker from Israel, and ended up staying with him for a few days. He ended up being a  pretty cool guy. We began talking and he wanted to know how I knew so much about Israel, and I told him that I was a Christian. The next morning, as I was reading my Bible and praying, he walked in and saw me. Later that night we were sitting outside talking, and he told me it was really cool to see that I did not leave my religion behind. What a huge opportunity this was to share with him about my faith and why I believe what I believe; that it’s more than a religion, but a lifestyle of faith and obedience in Christ. Our salvation is not defined only by the things we do, but by grace through Him and faith in Him. He was very intrigued.

I learned something really valuable that night…actions really do speak loud into the hearts of people. I didn’t have to go preach words to this guy. He saw something and it was big enough for him to engage in a conversation about it with me. It’s so simple. This is what it should look like everyday…Living Life. Loving God. Loving People. Allowing God to pour His love into their hearts by the time you’re investing in them.

Unforgettable Memories

As I was walking down this path, these are the beautiful faces of the kids who warmly welcomed me as I was making my way through their small village heading towards the hills on the outer edges of the town. This was one of the first shots that I captured as I approached them.

As I began to talk with them, I will never forget the smiles on their faces and the humor in their laughter as they listened to a foreigner speak to them with strange words. I tried to speak the few indigenous phrases I knew by asking what their names were, but they just smiled and laughed. I started taking pictures of them, and like all the others, they were so intrigued by the camera. They immediately surrounded me as I knelt down to show them the pictures I had just taken. They loved it!

I continued on my walk up the mountainside, and reached a spot with an incredible view over the countryside. As I sat down to spend some time with God in His Word, a few minutes had passed as I began hearing the noises of little feet rustling through the rocks on the path, and I realized they had been following me. It was the coolest moment I had. As I was sitting there reading my Bible, they sat around me and just listened. I had a great time with these kids as we sat overlooking the beautiful valley that they lived in. We threw rocks out into the air, laughed some, picked some flowers, laughed some more, and while taking tons of pictures we laughed even more. We could not understand the words we tried to speak to each other, but the amount of time we spent laughing definitely signified the good time we were having.

I will never forget trying to take a picture of all of us together, and not being able to get everyone in the picture. Of course we were all laughing. After many failed attempts, I remembered I had a timer on the camera, so I set it on my backpack and ran back over to them trying to get them to all look at the camera, but they could not understand why I did not have the camera taking the picture…I was like just trust me. Needless to say, they did not get it on the first go around, but they soon realized what was happening.

The day spent with these kids is definitely a day of unforgettable memories.

Enjoy the pictures!!

Running Circles Around God

It was the last leg of my journey in Chna as I boarded the twenty-five hour train ride to my final destination en route to fly back to America. I had been on the train for fifteen hours already, it was around 3 a.m., and I was sitting on my bunk as wide awake as I could possibly be. On the other hand, it was a nice change of pace, as my mode of transportation up to this point had mostly been on uncomfortable, smoke-filled buses traversing some of the craziest roads I’ve ever been on; but thats only if you want to call them roads. I was now aboard a sleeper train with fairly comfortable beds, but I absolutely could not fall asleep.

What to do?

I began to ask myself the question, “Why is it that I feel the times God wanting to speak to me the most are almost always during the times when I’m desperately trying to fall asleep but I can’t?” This was the second time that I remember something like this happening. I thought back to the last time I was wide awake at this time of the morning, and I remembered how clearly God wanted to speak to me. Yet, I just did not know how to respond. All I wanted to do was to be sleeping, because after all, at 3 a.m. it makes much more sense to be asleep. Or does it?

That depends.

For me, I know that there are times  in my life that God is desperately trying to get my attention, yet sometimes I tend to completely miss Him. When I think about my life, I think of chaos. I seem to always find something to occupy my time, and that time rarely involves time with God. As a college student, life is always so busy and there seems to be zero time for God, or either it’s the allotted time that we set for Him each day. I seem to get so caught up in the fast lane of life, and it seems to take control over all of my time. It seems every day there is always something consuming my time, there is so much to get done, and it’s as if the time we spend with Him is only the time that is left after everything else is finished. Then again, most days the time never seems to be there, and one more day goes by that I miss the time that God wants to meet with me.

I feel like I’m running circles around God. I wonder why my life is so confusing and chaotic. I begin to think that God isn’t even there sometimes, and if He is it doesn’t really feel like it. It’s like I’m a dog chasing my own tail. I really do want to draw closer to God but there’s always something that seems to get in the way. I seek after God and expect Him to show up on my own terms. When I do this I fail to really seek after God with my whole heart, and the times that He wants to speak to me I’m not ready or willing to listen.

So why was I wide awake at 3 a.m. in the morning? Maybe God wanted to speak to me. Actually, I know God wanted to speak to me. I began to seek after Him, I listened, and it turned out to be a very special time with God. It was an incredible experience to end an incredible summer.

I learned a valuable lesson that night. It is found in Jeremiah 29:13. It says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” No matter what’s going on in life, no matter how tough life seems to be, no matter what time of the day – seek God with your whole heart. There’s no compromise. God does not need to be worked into our life. Our lives need to be fully centered around Him. How much longer are we going to run circles around God, failing to realize that He is really there, pursuing us. How much longer are we going to go failing to grab a hold of those moments that God wants to meet with us, and the times that God wants to speak to us? I have come to realize that these moments have been the most special times of my life, the moments where it’s just me and God, and I do not ever want to miss them.

More updates to come from the experiences that I had this summer, so don’t be a stranger.

Connecting with our Culture

When it comes down to communicating something to someone of a different culture, a lot of things form barriers between you and the person you are trying to communicate with. The same goes in trying to communicate the Truth about Jesus Christ to: 1) someone who knows about Him but refuses to believe, 2) someone who knows about Him but in a misconceived way, 3) or someone who absolutely has no concept of who Jesus Christ even is. So many people are searching for the true meaning of life. As Christians, we know what the true meaning of life is, and we know that life outside of Christ is empty. Why is it that people look for the meaning of life in all the wrong places? Even when it is right in front of their eyes, they refuse to accept it. Should there be any fault in anyone? Is it the church’s fault for not doing a better job of keeping up with the moving culture? How far is too far in being a Christian in connecting with a culture to reach them, but not transforming to the world?

I think that too many people are afraid of getting out of their “status quo,” and their comfort zone. If we are going to reach the culture in which we live in, it is going to require action. I have recently started reading a book called Revolution by Michael L. Brown. The whole message of the book is in surrendering to make an impact in our present generation and culture. He says, “There is something greater than earthly life in this world, but our society is looking for the wrong things in the wrong places. We who know the Lord must lead the way.” He goes on to say, “We must demonstrate the real meaning of life and articulate the true purpose of our existence.”

So many people are seeking for answers about life, but how do we reach out to them in a relevant way so they can understand? Even though the message should not change, how far should we go in our approaches to connect with those who do not know the Truth and relate it to them? The bottom line is found in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” With that being said, the Truth is foolishness to our godless culture, but we know the hope that we have found in Christ. Are we really doing everything we can to engage our culture in a positive way so they can see Christ?