I am home.
How would you define the word home?
They say home is where your heart is. I guess that is an important thing to know.
For those of you don’t know, I am a Wisconsin girl who is currently on a week-long mission trip to Louisiana. There are about 33 of us who took the 25-hour road trip down to Pointe Aux Chenes, LA, and we are here to clean up “The Island.” The Isle de Jean Charles is more of a peninsula, generally populated by the Biloxi-Chitimacha tribe. After the hurricanes went through, it was pretty much left alone. That is why we are here.
This week will be the fourth time a group from my church has come down to this area, my third year. Most of what we have done down here is rebuilding, everything from gutting a bathroom to fixing a trailer house. This year we will be doing more clean up. The people down here are amazing, especially those connected to “My Father’s House Church”. This remarkable church has helped put us in contact with people, offered us a place to stay, and blessed us beyond words.
I am home. Those words echo through my heart and my head. They beat a familiar rhythm as I look around the sanctuary where I sit. I am home in this church building I know so well. I am home as I joyfully greet old friends. I am home as I delight in the joy of people who recognize me, sometimes even remember my name.
They aren’t afraid of calling us family down here. I cherished being called “Little Sister” last year. I love being part of their jubilant, cultural fellowship.
It occurred to me, though, that this isn’t my only “home”. If home is where your heart is, then My Father’s House Church and Point Aux Chenes are my home. But my home is also in Wisconsin. It is in the numerous states where my friends reside, the front steps of PHC, and even on the Here We Are: Daughters of Love chat with my sister’s in Christ. Home is where the Holy Spirit works.
I remember something a friend once said. Though the exact quote escapes me, it went something like “Isn’t it amazing how you can go to any church, any place, and be surrounded by family?”
Yes, it is cool. Super cool! Home is wherever my friends and Spiritual family gather.
Home is Louisiana.
Home is where the heart is.
Home is the where the Holy Spirit moves.
Today is Sunday; we still have a week of work ahead of us. Please keep the mission trip in your prayers. Truly God has blessed us beyond words and we are eagerly praying He continues to pour out the floodgates of heaven.
God Bless You All.
Amy
March 21, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Parent-Child Relationships
We asked a dear friend of ours to write up a post for us. So here is Sarah's thoughts on the subject:
I went through my Bible tonight to find all the parent-child relationship verses I had marked in the past. I was struck by how few there were. “Why,” I asked myself, “didn’t God give us more advice on how teenagers should live with parents?”
Then it occurred to me that God does not believe in teenagers. God addresses children, and adults, young adults it is true, but never this idea we call a “teenager”. 1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Instead of expecting special consideration or allowances in behavior because I am a teenager, I need to be an example of a godly woman. If you are ever frustrated by your parents, do you put the responsibility on them by thinking, “My parents don’t understand.”? Would it not be wiser to ask, “Am I acting like a Christian adult?”
God does give us instructions on how to relate to parents, through his example as our Heavenly Father. How are we to obey our parents? As to the Lord. How do you obey Christ? The relationship you have with God should be template for every other relationship.
Specifically, we are told to obey and honor our parents. Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that you may live long in the land.’” This is a hard commandment to follow sometimes. As you get older you realize your parents are flawed humans, and it becomes harder to trust them. The good news is – you don’t have to trust them! God promises that if you obey and honor them, unless they want you to sin, that he will take care of you.
I encourage you to try a new mindset. Next time you have a conflict with a parent, take a deep breath, emotionally distance yourself, consider the stresses they may be under, and take the burden of proper communication upon yourself. Identify how a mature Christian adult would respond, and do that. ~ Sarah
I went through my Bible tonight to find all the parent-child relationship verses I had marked in the past. I was struck by how few there were. “Why,” I asked myself, “didn’t God give us more advice on how teenagers should live with parents?”
Then it occurred to me that God does not believe in teenagers. God addresses children, and adults, young adults it is true, but never this idea we call a “teenager”. 1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Instead of expecting special consideration or allowances in behavior because I am a teenager, I need to be an example of a godly woman. If you are ever frustrated by your parents, do you put the responsibility on them by thinking, “My parents don’t understand.”? Would it not be wiser to ask, “Am I acting like a Christian adult?”
God does give us instructions on how to relate to parents, through his example as our Heavenly Father. How are we to obey our parents? As to the Lord. How do you obey Christ? The relationship you have with God should be template for every other relationship.
Specifically, we are told to obey and honor our parents. Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that you may live long in the land.’” This is a hard commandment to follow sometimes. As you get older you realize your parents are flawed humans, and it becomes harder to trust them. The good news is – you don’t have to trust them! God promises that if you obey and honor them, unless they want you to sin, that he will take care of you.
I encourage you to try a new mindset. Next time you have a conflict with a parent, take a deep breath, emotionally distance yourself, consider the stresses they may be under, and take the burden of proper communication upon yourself. Identify how a mature Christian adult would respond, and do that. ~ Sarah
Friday, March 12, 2010
Colossians 1:9 ~ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
The great thing about God is that you never know when He is going to do something unexpected. I, Amy, certainly wasn't expecting anything that Sunday evening when I started recounting some of the crazy things my pastor had done. I remember most clearly, though, that I wanted to tell someone about the idea of an all-night prayer chat.
The great thing about God is that you never know when He is going to do something unexpected. I, Amy, certainly wasn't expecting anything that Sunday evening when I started recounting some of the crazy things my pastor had done. I remember most clearly, though, that I wanted to tell someone about the idea of an all-night prayer chat.
I, Tori, just happened to be in the Chat room when Amy suddenly blurted out, "Girls, I have this idea." "What?" I asked, not really prepared for what was coming next. "A twenty four hour praise and prayer chat!"
Cue the deer in the headlights look. It wasn't that I didn't like the idea, it was just that it was so large and not quite what I was expecting. "Wow," I probably said as I took in the implications of such a thing. Soon we were talking about it, and came up with the date February 12... just one week from then.
Cue the deer in the headlights look. It wasn't that I didn't like the idea, it was just that it was so large and not quite what I was expecting. "Wow," I probably said as I took in the implications of such a thing. Soon we were talking about it, and came up with the date February 12... just one week from then.
My initial response to the idea of a Prayer and Praise chat was kind of like :Wow...is that really going to happen?" As I, Lydia, got more into it though I realized this could be a wonderful time. I was rather lonely and depressed then and I was longing for some good Christain fellowship. The Prayer and Praise chat was awesome and such a blessing.
Of the twenty-four hour chat, I was able to make it on for about eighteen hours. That made for one very long night! It was worth every moment of it. The chance to fellowship with other teenage girls was something I had subconsciously been thirsting for a long time. There was no doubt in our mind that after that night, we wanted to do this again. Though maybe not for quite so long a time :)
So there the three of us were. We had an amazing and uplifting time. We knew it had to continue. Friday mornings were declared our study day, and for four weeks we met with likeminded Christian girls. But we discovered something in that time. It was needed by more girls than we could have in our little chat room. We needed to expand. And so this blog was created.
Here We Are
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