Dinner Conversation...little moments count

Last night my wife and I took my parents out for their birthdays. We went to a great place in Rice Village and ate some AWESOME Thai food...LOVE Thai! We were discussing how people are used by God in the smallest of ways. My mom mentioned a prayer that she prayed over someone at church abotu 20 years ago and sometime after she spoke with the daughter of the woman she prayed over. The daughter said her mom's life had been changed completely. My mom simply said..."it wasn't me who changed her life." Another instance, my mom was cutting a neighbor's hair. She notice a mole on her ear and told her she never saw it there before. She got it checked...it was malignant (cancerous) and she had it removed. Skin cancer undetected is serious. This neighbor is an old school evangelist and she has sincerely touched life after life over the years since.

God used my mom in that one little moment to keep the course for what God had in store for that neighbor to do (to be His agent). Little moments...little moments are when it counts. We are so deceived by Satan when we lie to oursleves. When we lie to ourselves about how we are not making a difference. YOU ARE!!! YOU ARE!!! How has the Holy Spirit used you lately? Did you even know it? Did they? God is always at work through you if you have accepted His grace and invited Him to indwell in you. He even uses those who have not accepted His grace...I love it! Always be sensitive to those little moments and know that God is working through you and others. Maybe not everyday, maybe not so apparent to you, but He is.

May you be blessed with the understanding that everyday does not have to be a spiritual high but know that God is using you throughout each one.

Btw, we finished the night off by wathing "Evan Almighty." IT was AWESOME and sincerely on eof the funniestmovies I have seen in a long tim. Rolling out of my chair!

Desiring community

You know, we all talk a big talk...I do that! But I truly want to keep an ongoing theme here. What is it to live IN community? Last week we had a car wash for the students going to camp and one student wanted to go to the movies afterward. I asked if one student had seen the movie and he replied, "Yeah...three times!" Then he followed up with, "but I'll go see it again." He said last year he had a buddy who saw one movie ten times at the movie theatre. Even at matinee price that's around $55 plus whatever on dogs, candy, and soda. $55 bucks! It was totally worth spending twenty plus hours in a movie theatre with friends who had not seen the movie and most of the time they are probably not even communicating with each other.

It struck me then and there how much we all desire community with each other. How much we all desire to just be around one another...even if we don't talk. To just sit and be with folks is lifting in some ways.

This kid was willing to spend all these hours in a movie theatre, not talking, spending earned money, just to hang out with friends. Imagine if we take this zeal of a fourteen year old to hang out with friends at a movie, whom all have kindred spirits.

Imagine coming together not for a movie but to paint someone's house, give a garden or living room a face lift, fix a mower, knock out a car project, knock out a big item on someone's to-do list, BBQ, just to talk, share gifts, share talents, and lift each other in or joys and our sorrows. As Christians we are called to so much more than what we do. We are called to go out, we are called to share in our pain and our healing, we are called to be IN community with each other.

I hope that I can do less talking in the months ahead and do more acting and being IN community with my fellow brothers and sisters. Looking forward to what the Holy Spirit brings my way this summer.