Time still goes on

Most of us out here will be experiencing our first holiday away from Indiana this year. I know that will bring different emotions throughout the next few days. You never really know how you are going to deal through a situation until you brace yourself and go through it.

I was having dinner with some of my choir friends on Monday night and one of the ladies told me that she is extremely stressed out. We talked about it for awhile and how extra holiday stuff and work have just gotten to her. But then she surprised me with a beautiful comment. She said "Time still goes on..."

I couldn't agree with that more. Even though we are far away from the ones we love and who we have developed relationships with, time still goes on. But we are not alone. The beautiful picture of community is going to be happening tomorrow. People will be meeting each other and sharing food with one another. Tomorrow is just a small portion of what my heart aches for, community and relationships.

Even though I won't be making a trip to Indiana for this Thanksgiving, I will not be alone. I have a group of people who love me right here in Eugene. Tomorrow is just a small glimpse into living in community. It is something we want to strive to live in not only on special holidays, but everyday. Jesus did not intend for us to be alone.

Pray for us as we live into what it means to be thousands of miles away from family and friends during this holiday season. And say a moment of prayer for all of your friends, who you don't know and do, who may find themselves to be alone and lonely during this holiday season. I do not believe the Kingdom is meant to be living under that. The thief does come to steal and destroy and I will continue to pray against that.

Our hearts are thankful for all of our friends and family far away. We do miss and love you.

Time still goes on...

Much love,
Stacie :)

A Glimpse

Tonight, I saw Jesus smile at me. Well, not literally, well maybe literally. I mean, He wasn't next to me, I had my eyes closed. Actually, I will just try to explain it a little here. We had Church tonight and we began with some worship music. As the singing began I closed my eyes and pictured something. I caught a glimpse of what Jesus might have looked like in His candid times with His disciples. I pictured a man who loves His followers so much. And, for some reason, I pictured Jesus looking back at His Twelve as they walked behind Him and He was smiling, in fact, He is laughing. He is so happy that these men are walking with Him, that they decided to follow Him, listen to His message, and that they are prepared to share it with the world. Oh how I long for the day I get to sit and laugh with Jesus. He is my friend, just one of the guys, you know. But more than that, He is our Redemption. He has saved us all from our struggles, our trials, our complicated life. What joy we have because of Him! We are free because of Him! I often wonder what the scene would be like, being in His presence. What is great is that we are sharing in that now as His Church. Jesus, the man I see laughing, joking, and enjoying His time with the disciples is the same Jesus who eagerly awaits fellowshipping with us in Heaven. Man how my spirit longs for that day! But, I know that He wants me to carry out His teachings here in Eugene for now. He wants me to communicate to others His love, His desire to know them, and His character. I desire for people to see the Jesus I see. I see Jesus as someone who loves me dearly and wants more than anything for me to join Him at the Great Banquet. I feel like I am going to break into the classic Sunday school song,
"Jesus loves me this I know,
this I know,
this I know,
Jesus loves me this I know,
because the Bible tells me so."
Truly though, I know He loves me, not just because of the Bible, but also because in the moment of me closing my eyes, I catch a glimpse of Him looking back at me...smiling.

Derek

An interesting thought...

So today I had the opportunity to spend some time with Jeff, the lead pastor of Common Ground Christian Church. It's always good to sit and rap with him because he always seems to have such good insight. We spent some time processing the reality that our house hadn't sold yet and how it was pretty frustrating for Rachel and I. I described to him how I had disengaged in many ways from life in Indy over the last 2-3 months in light of the expectation that I would soon by in Eugene, or so I thought, and how difficult that had been on me because I would seemingly get my hopes up with each showing on our house only to be let down each time. I shared with him how that had taken a toll on me and that I had recently asked God to give me the grace to engage here and be fully present in Indy until we were released from here. It has been really good to experience God's intervention. I still desire so much to be with my church body in Eugene but the calling is to be continually investing into the kingdom in Indy until God releases us.

After talking about this a little, Jeff said it is similar to how the church should be living on earth in light of the hope of our heavenly dwelling. The church should always have in sight their heavenly dwelling while in their earthly dwelling. In all reality, our hope of a heavenly dwelling should compel us to live more fully into the kingdom while in our earthly dwelling. Paul talks about this earthly and heavenly distinction in 2 Corinthians 5. Specifically in vv. 6-9 Paul says:

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

As I pondered this passage later in the day, I was drawn specifically to verse 9...so we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. Let me just share one question, one observation, and one "so what." The question is this, what does it look like in my life, in your life, and in the life of our church to please God? The observation from this passage is that as Christians it will eternally be our goal to please him. Paul says whether we are at home in the body or away from it.. Pleasing God isn't something we will do only on earth, but for all eternity. The "so what" for me is will I make it my goal to please him whether in Indy or Eugene, whether everything is going my way or life is coming apart all around me, whether I've got plenty or am in need, you get the point. What is the "so what" for you? What is the "so what" for our church? How are you (and we as a church) coming along at making it our goal to please him, ......whether.....or....?

I love you guys and am praying for you!

Clint McKinnis

Dream dreams

I have had beautiful moments with God this week. Last week we were talking about what we could do as a church. I mentioned how lately I have had it on my heart to walk the streets of Eugene like I used to do when I volunteered at Outreach, Inc. in Indy (outreachindiana.org). I experience more of Jesus and the church when I am among people.

A year ago I was telling a friend what would happen if people that followed Jesus started to dream dreams that are bigger then them? That of course only led to more questions. Would the world change? Would our hearts start to transform more into who God wanted us to be? Would we start to see the Church as an everyday thing rather then a one day of the week thing? Can we stop and take God out of our box that we created for Him? Those questions still challenge me today and only lead me to more and more questions...

I daily drive by people that are on street corners holding up signs saying "need help" or "any spare change?" and my heart breaks. And when my heart breaks I start to pray. And those prayers aren't always the normal prayers and usually happen in the privateness of my own heart. My mood challenges the prayers for sometimes I pray with anger and other times I pray prayers of deep compassion for my neighbors on the street.

I want to share something with you about what God has placed on my heart and how sometimes I feel insignificant to do it. I really feel like I need to be walking the streets. Then I thought well I could bring some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with me. And all of this has stemmed from seeing the signs on the street with my neighbors and friends holding the signs. I shared this with the team and they thought it was a good idea. And I was surprised by how God has already gone before me in this. Sarah said we should bring socks! It's a dream I have...to see people not holding signs on the side of the street. And it's something that God has poured into my heart. Reread the first sentence of this paragraph. I used the word insignificant. I find that word stops me from being used by God and my dreams from becoming a reality. So I fight that and am willing to risk whatever it takes to follow the dreams God places on my heart.

I share all of this to you to not tell you how awesome and mighty I am, because that would be a lie. Reread how I called myself insignificant. But Jesus uses us like he used his disciples. They were ordinary people like you and me and learned how to dream dreams that were bigger then them. It took time, a lot of risks, and faith. They messed up, picked themselves up again, and were continually following what was on their hearts.

I pray you will dream dreams that are bigger then you and see just what Jesus can do in this world.

Much love,
Stacie :)

Edit: One of the best things about living in community is seeing one of your dreams become the dreams of others. It's neat to see God going before us in everything that we do.