Where was I?...

Quick recap... still at the church. Still loving my job...it's impossible to get bored there and the fun never ends (for example: yesterday we took our 7th grade Confirmation class to a Jewish Synagogue service then returned back to the church as we hosted an ALL Middle School Dance from 7:30-10:30pm... woo! Although the fun never ends, the work doesn't either but I'm blessed to be where I am and plan on sticking around for a while.

Okay time to reflect:

-Lost Sensitivity pgs. 75-76
-Lugoff Poem
-Woman praying before a cross at 7:30pm on a Tuesday
-Out West Adventures (traveling companions, Mount Rainier, second beach, the Hoh, rain, rain and more rain, pacific sunset, Will and the kelp, circling Olympic National Park, night in Vancouver, tour of Seattle)
-"We are filled to be emptied again." ...explain
-Positive Impact People
-John 21: "Tend my flock" and "Feed my sheep"


Lost Sensitivity:

So I was reading through Rob Bell's book, "SexGod" (which didn't really impress me) but Rob Bell brought up some interesting points and got me thinking. One of those points is found on page 75. He starts off by mentioning Adam and Eve and how the first fall happened. Their problem is our problem. They had all these great things in their life yet they fixated their attention to what they don't have. Rob also mentioned that we are free to do whatever we want. But because I can doesn't mean I should. "Freedom isn't being able to have whatever we crave. Freedom is going without whatever we crave and being fine with it." That's what I want to talk about. This, I believe, is at the core of some of the American peoples' (myself included) biggest problems that hinders their lives. We spend our time wanting and wanting and that leaves us to busy to realize all of the stuff (and the wonderful people) we already have in our lives. If we want a specific restaurant, we go and eat there. If we want to go out and buy things we'll barely use but we really like it, then we'll go get it. Our life is NOT about getting whatever we can and then getting more. It's about receiving what's already been given to us (God's love and the love of those around us) and then taking life a step at a time with what we're given. We have lost a sensitivity for what we need in life and its turning us into polite and pleasant monsters. We'll drive across town and shell out a ton of money for a meal but question spending a lunch break serving at a local soup kitchen. We are always looking for nice additions to our homes yet completely disregard the families who are twice as big and live in a house 5 times smaller than ours. We consume and consume and consume as people starve across the world and across the street each and every day. We're not sympathetic to the pains and sufferings of others in the world anymore...until it affects us. We're too focused on getting ourselves ahead, we don't bother thinking about what our decisions cost others. I know this isn't very uplifting or positive but that's where we step in. By opening our ears and hearts to God, we can see where we are needed in this world and where we can go and love and serve. Try waking up each day and thinking to yourself, "How can I put others before myself today?" Then do it and see what happens. I can't wait to here the stories you'll have...

More to come...