Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you've probably heard that the founder of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, recently passed away. Some of the reactions I've seen to this have really bothered me...things like people saying that it's good that he's dead. People talking about protesting his funeral like he did to so many.
And I get that, I do.
Trust me, I have very strong feelings about Westboro and the pain they cause for so many.
But at the same time...we should probably stop to look at our own hearts when we're saying it's good that a man just died.
Who's to say that I'm any better than Fred Phelps?
No I don't protest funerals or tell people that God hates them.
But sometimes my heart is full of anger and hostility toward others.
I judge and I tear people down in my mind until my opinion of them is so low that I have no respect for them at all, even if sometimes I don't really know anything about them.
And it sucks because I know that's not a heart like Jesus'. I know that I have SO much growing still to do. But I also know that God still loves me. I believe that every time God sees those things in my heart, he yearns for me to bring them to Him because He alone can transform my heart and mind.
I think that sometimes when God looks at my heart and sees those things, He sees an erring child whom He desperately wants to help. And maybe that's what He saw when He looked at Fred Phelps, too.
I guess I'm trying to say that maybe ole Fred wasn't so different from the rest of us.
We all need Jesus, and that's that.
I'm thankful for a Father who accepts me and chose me despite my imperfections. I am thankful that He is transforming my heart and molding it into what He created it to be, day by day. I'm thankful that even when I take 2 steps back in my journey with Him, He's right there with me to lead me forward again.
I'm thankful that God loves each of us. You, me, and even Fred Phelps.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
OK go!
I spent the past week in Oklahoma with Campus House on our annual spring break mission trip. It was so wonderful! We worked with an organization called Agape Lane that works with Native American churches. Basically, the churches sign up for things they need fixed and we're split up into teams to go out and work on whatever those things may be for the week.
I went on this trip last year as well. And while that was a great experience, this year was something entirely different and wonderful for me. That being said, let me tell you about it...
My work crew this year was assigned to stay at the camp and complete various projects there. We built a wall for the loft where the girls sleep, we tore out doors, we put in new doors, we put up new trim, we tore out half of a wall, we put up a new half of said wall, and a few other odds and ends. My favorite part of the work was definitely tearing things up! But then it was really cool to see those very things we destroyed make way for the new things that we were putting in. It was rewarding to see all of our hard work actually produce something. Last year, I was on a painting crew. Painting is all well and good and is needed sometimes but I felt like I did so much more this year when I actually got to be part of building new things. Plus I got to play with power tools all week. :)
I think though, this year, my favorite part of this trip was family group time. That's weird for me. But I loved it. Last year, my family group leader had to call me out specifically to get a word out of me. This year, I was the one sharing. I was eager to talk to my group about the day and loved walking through our devos with them each night. Perhaps strangest of all was when our leaders said they wanted us to share testimonies and I didn't tremble at the thought, I actually wanted to share it. And I did. That's weird. But it's awesome. And our whole group shared their stories. So I now have the privilege of knowing a few of my brothers and sisters in Christ that much better and I'm extremely thankful for that.
And as much as I wish I could tell you the week was all sunshine and rainbows and group hugs, it just wasn't. There was one day that all I wanted to do when we finished working was cry. I was tired, we had worked hard, and I mis-measured the boards we needed for our final thing that day. Awesome, ugh, not. Thank goodness I was working with a wonderful crew who didn't give me crap about messing up, but instead encouraged me and loved on me when I needed it. There were shenanigans that forced me to spend the day looking into my own heart and not liking everything I saw there. But I think that's good and it's important. We can't fix those things if we never stop to consider them.
All things considered, it was a fantastic trip! I got to work hard and serve while spending an entire week in fellowship with my brothers and sister from Campus House, which is always a blessing in and of itself.
I went on this trip last year as well. And while that was a great experience, this year was something entirely different and wonderful for me. That being said, let me tell you about it...
My work crew this year was assigned to stay at the camp and complete various projects there. We built a wall for the loft where the girls sleep, we tore out doors, we put in new doors, we put up new trim, we tore out half of a wall, we put up a new half of said wall, and a few other odds and ends. My favorite part of the work was definitely tearing things up! But then it was really cool to see those very things we destroyed make way for the new things that we were putting in. It was rewarding to see all of our hard work actually produce something. Last year, I was on a painting crew. Painting is all well and good and is needed sometimes but I felt like I did so much more this year when I actually got to be part of building new things. Plus I got to play with power tools all week. :)
I think though, this year, my favorite part of this trip was family group time. That's weird for me. But I loved it. Last year, my family group leader had to call me out specifically to get a word out of me. This year, I was the one sharing. I was eager to talk to my group about the day and loved walking through our devos with them each night. Perhaps strangest of all was when our leaders said they wanted us to share testimonies and I didn't tremble at the thought, I actually wanted to share it. And I did. That's weird. But it's awesome. And our whole group shared their stories. So I now have the privilege of knowing a few of my brothers and sisters in Christ that much better and I'm extremely thankful for that.
And as much as I wish I could tell you the week was all sunshine and rainbows and group hugs, it just wasn't. There was one day that all I wanted to do when we finished working was cry. I was tired, we had worked hard, and I mis-measured the boards we needed for our final thing that day. Awesome, ugh, not. Thank goodness I was working with a wonderful crew who didn't give me crap about messing up, but instead encouraged me and loved on me when I needed it. There were shenanigans that forced me to spend the day looking into my own heart and not liking everything I saw there. But I think that's good and it's important. We can't fix those things if we never stop to consider them.
All things considered, it was a fantastic trip! I got to work hard and serve while spending an entire week in fellowship with my brothers and sister from Campus House, which is always a blessing in and of itself.
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