I LOVE MY CHURCH

I am fascinated with the church. I love her and her doings! I really enjoy seeing all the great ideas that different people have for their communities of believers and for reaching those that don't yet believe, come to life.

In my life, I have been able to get aquainted quite intimately with about 23 different gatherings of believers. Though I don't know entirely why God has given me these experiences, I am beginning to realize that I am uniquely gifted by them.

Most recently I have been able to get behind the scenes views of some rather large doings of the church at The Crossing in Quincy, IL and at Granger Community Church in Granger, IN (both of which I highly recommend that you go for a visit if you live within an hour of; if for no other reason than to expand your view of church and culture.)

I was brought up in the church that took the approach of being somewhat traditional and geared toward sheltering believers from culture and not exactly 'seeker-friendly'. And I am now very convinced that this model is not where God calls me. Though a strictly 'seeker-friendly' church is not my place either. There's a new, or an old, way of doing things that I believe Christ modeled for us. It is found in a church that uses the best of both of these types of methods. It is both culturally relevant and top-notch in creating disciples.

One of my goals for this next year is to be able to honestly say, "I LOVE MY CHURCH!" I absolutely already can say, "I LOVE THE CHURCH!" but I want to actually attend that place. So, just as I am being very picky about our future career choices and the place that we will call 'home', I am being very picky about the church body that I commit to. I want to be able to truly throw myself into the work of the church and see the fruit she is producing.

THE BALANCE OF NOTHING

Well, here we sit once again without much of a plan and with no job of consequence and no home. It's a place I have become all too familiar with in the past four to five years. I attribute it to the pursuit of education. We have done things a little different than most. We began our family and then our education and continued our family while continuing our education. Then began a career but it wasn't quite time because the education wasn't finished yet so we are finishing the education in hopes to someday be done with this transitioning from place to place and school to school. We want to make some thicker roots and begin to really provide for our family now. So that one day they will have a place to call "home"; something I never had. I am about to attempt the 33rd move of my life and I am 33 years old. That's not normal at all and not something I am proud to admit anymore. I am exhausted by it and I am ready to stay. Unfortunately we are not moving into a permanent residence but once again into an education environment. It is just for 6 months to a year while Cody finishes his M. Div and we can find that permanent dwelling at last. So, I sit now in Kalamazoo, MI in the middle of nothing much to do but wait. It's harder to do than you'd think. I call it, balancing nothing.

THE BALANCE OF NOTHING

The balance of nothing
Is much harder than it would seem
For when the air is light
There remains a bunch of dreams

The balance of nothing
Takes patience and careful thought
And the day may dwindle on
But you might feel yourself quite caught

It begins when everything ends
And the day has no more routine
No place to be, and nothing to accomplish
It's a null of responsibility

It ends when all begins again
A dream that comes to life perhaps
Or maybe just a mandatory doing
Like work for food that brings no joy

Yes, the balance of nothing
It takes no set form
But demands an attentive mind
To keep from losing ones sanity

The balance of nothing
Nothing new, nothing exciting,
Nothing progressing, nothing inviting
Nothing, nothing, nothing.