"we were made to live creative lives."

off brand cereal with cheap milk
in a plastic bowl that matches our translucent
red and blue plates.
they were given to us because we had no dishes.

(but we don't mind. they go well with our broken table
and magazine artwork on the walls.)

and if you think about it, we're trading nice dishes, a larger apartment and a little more heat
for a life that demands truth, honesty, and a brilliant community with those we see every day and with the One we can't see every day.

when there's no tv, no internet,
and nothing too senseless to distract us
we become more creative in everything.

we've found new things to talk about.
new things to pray about
new things to fight for
and new people to embrace.
i've learned more in these four months
than i ever have at any school.
[not that school is bad. it's just different.
the learning environment institutions
provide have proven to be the bane of my existence.
however... that too will be an adventure
when the time comes]

when we find ourselves trying to push to the middle of God's will
things get rough, challenging, and often awkward.
we get angry and frustrated with ourselves and each other
because in all honesty, none of us are perfect in the slightest
and we are very prone to miserable failure.
however, a wise man once said that God doesn't use us
in spite of our weaknesses
but through them.

if we have committed ourselves to Christ,
we have committed ourselves to each other.
not just the ones who are white or black. or rich or poor.
Christian or Muslim.
we are called to reach out to all ethnicities.
with our truth, yes.
but also with our hands, our hearts, our ears, and our conversations.

i've made some incredible friends that are nothing like me.
one of my closer ones is a mexican immigrant in his late forties.
a brilliant man with hundreds of stories and a heart for God's people.
where would i be without him?
farther from Christ.
and what would i be if i had never said hello?

praise Him with drums, strings and joyful conversation.
worship with feasts with new family and a hunger for abundant life.
My God is good because he loves in a way that doesn't adhere
to our greed and our selfishness and narrow perspectives.
He grows and fills us in a way that makes us His.

He's a consuming fire.
plan on spreading it.
but as we know, fire isn't tamed...
so plan on getting burned (and know that it's good.)

shake the dust

yesterday i watched a nearly immobile woman who is coming to the very end of her life story be helped to the front of the sanctuary and lead everyone (without any prior worning or preparation) in the song "running for my life." I've never seen someone so elated because of Christ in my entire life.

over the past month i've met several guys who have beaten addiction and homelessness and are now finding jobs to start new lives. They have hope that for once in their lives something will go right because of who's hands their lives are now in.

i've met jobless women who volunteer every day that they aren't job searching. they serve 200 people food and take a small bag of whatever is left home for themselves.

during my two days of homelessness i encountered a woman with a beautiful heart
who took a friend and me under her wing, taught me to panhandle, and helped me find food and money.
she gave me her only spare sign
which was "i'm just hungry" scribbled the backside of an bus advertisement
and half of her earnings
just because she wanted the two of us to eat.

That is Christ.

If you allow yourself to stand with your feet cemented in your comfort and allow the dust to collect on your shoulders, you will never see Christ as He hoped you would.