Popeye & the real battleground

Have you seen the old Popeye cartoons?  Wimpy was a guy who loved hamburgers.  One time Popeye and Bluto had diner wars and hurled burger condiments at each other.  Wimpy conveniently sat below the line of fire and reached up into the blurry exchange to pull down ketchup and mustard and whatever else he wanted.  At times, I’ve felt like Wimpy.  I’ve been in the midst of battles, though mine have felt quite gut-wrenching, leaving me beat up and bruised.  One semester I was given a music class that tested my every nerve.  Because of scheduling problems, this class became a dumping ground for students with nowhere to go.  We had a wide disparity of interest, including a majority who wanted only to disrupt.  Over a period of weeks, I became discouraged.  I did pray for the Lord’s guidance, and I knew He was with me, but the tensions of battle kept me gasping for air.  Then came a conversation one evening.  A boy’s mom approached me to say how thankful she was for my encouragement of her son in music.  I could hardly believe my ears.  With all the times I’d stopped class to reprimand, I assumed they all hated my voice and everything associated.  On another occasion, a mom told me how much her daughter enjoyed singing and learning about music with me.  Somehow in the whirlwind, the Lord had been at work, bringing good out of what I perceived to be a mess.  When I open the Bible to read 1 Peter 5:8, I learn that the devil is real and he prowls with intent to devour us.  But then I read 2 Chronicles 16:9 to realize the eyes of the Lord roam the earth in support of us and to strengthen us.  There’s the real battle right there.  Devil versus God.  And the good news is that God ultimately wins, which means His children win too.  I reach into the line of fire to bring down a bottle of ketchup, or in this case to find God’s direction, and maybe in that moment what I pull down doesn’t look like what I think I want, yet we keep looking to the Lord.  He is in the mix.  He fights for us all the while on the front lines, and we can find comfort in that.

Reminiscent of the church

I remember a lady who was my prayerful roommate at a women’s retreat.  I still think of guys and girls with whom I stayed up all hours and bopped around singing in the back of a van on a mission trip in Mexico.  I think of girls with whom I studied the Bible for years.  I think of a man who asked me to pray for the Lord to free him from homosexuality.  I think of a boy who still makes me smile because he thought he so urgently needed to speak out each week in our kindergarten class, and I miss conversations with his mom.  Sometimes the Lord calls us to change congregations, and why don’t I see my former church-mates?  How does the ball drop?  And how so quickly sometimes?  We serve the people of the church, but ultimately we serve the Lord.  If we serve His purposes with a congregation, even if we depart without a single continuing friendship, we can be joyful for having known the Lord in those moments.  We call, we email, yet somehow the same people don’t come together again.  Is it like wanting a church souvenir?  Sometimes I’m not ready to relinquish the experience.  I love these people and consider our time precious for having sought the Lord together.  I want to reconnect, though the fact that I don’t see many of them again doesn’t nullify the genuineness of the time we shared.  Did I go to church to make friends?  What was my purpose? The Lord has used the people of the church to bless me many times, and He has so tenderly sent their feet walking up to me on occasions when I’ve needed a friend.  Yet ultimately I’m looking to know and worship the Lord and serve as He would lead.  From there, the blessings pour.  Because I love the moments He gives, I love the people who are part of those moments.

Jesus, my theater director

It’s happening again.  Another new thing.  This summer, notions of theater floated through my head.  I asked, “Lord, is that You?”  I searched local auditions, in case I was supposed to show up somewhere.  Kept praying for the Lord to put my steps in place and found one audition that left me curious.  Wrote it on the calendar weeks ahead and thought I’d see if on the actual day I still felt inclined to go.  On that day, 3:00 would be decision time.  Twenty minutes down the road and I was at the theater, without too many thoughts of turning around the car to cancel the whole thing.  The auditions finished, our orientation meeting ensued, and here I am playing an adoption worker, an annoying nurse, and an attorney.  In 2 short weeks, I’ve gone from elated to anxious and all in between.  Yet the Lord has blessed me.  This week, He has calmed the anxieties that nagged my brain.  I still have lines to learn and movements to coordinate, but He’s eased my heart one day at a time.  All along I’ve wondered if this was less about acting and more about meeting a certain someone.  I love to see how God connects people.  I could do without the nervousness that comes with new situations, but even first glimpse of witnessing Him at work makes my heart leap.  Forward march.

Blood & hugs

“Church is too huggy.  They’re too happy.  It’s just not real.”  For someone entering a church for the first time, the atmosphere could seem quite different from the rest of the world.   “They talk about blood, and that’s just gross.  And altars and sacrifices are too weird.”  Critics of the church have some valid points.  Yes, the church is different.  We seek and follow One who was different from the beginning.  His ideas of servanthood and forgiveness went against the norm.  Many of those church hugs acknowledge a deep friendship that grew when people stood with each other through painful circumstances.  Many of those hugs are the kind that squeeze you and lift you off the ground because the degree of thankfulness is so immense.  It’s a different version of war actually, and when the essence of life is at stake, a deep connection takes place for having persevered together.  People might not understand.  Visitors could wonder.  And indeed we hope they will keep wondering about Jesus ... and visit the church again ... and seek Him at home ... and on the streets ... and with their every breath.  The love of Jesus Christ is wonderfully different.  If you’re a visitor, W E L C O M E !