Touched

I got really touched by a sermon given today at my church. Actually, I think it was more the drama that set up the sermon, and I just wanted to share my thoughts.

The drama was about two guys at a Starbucks who hadn't seen each other in a while and proceeded to have a very superficial conversation that didn't even remotely depict what was really going on in their hearts. Out of their mouths, we got to hear the same conversation that we all have every week....."how ya doing, I'm fine. How's the family, their great..."But on the screens, we got to see the "true" conversation.....He has the perfect life, I'll bet my wife wishes she'd married him, I wonder where they're vacationing this year, we're about to lose our house...."

How many times when we encounter an acquaintance, do we this very same thing? Why don't we take the risk to tell them what's really going on with us, or try harder to find out what they're going through?

I am so guilty of it. The odd thing is, that I have such a heart for helping others and have tried, since my wreck, to devote some regular time to volunteering in different capacities. Yet, after today, I think I have just been deceiving myself. What risk is there in pulling up to food bank in my new car carrying my Coach purse and sporting my new Abercrombie sweats to pack food for two hours.


Not that I am trying to dimish the work that we did there. I'm not. Lives were touched and thats dynamite. However, I have the opportunity to touch lives every time I walk out the door, and I don't. I have the "hydroplane" connections. I ask, "how ya doing", and I really want an "I'm good" in response. Why? What am I so afraid of?

Is it that they will find out what a mess I really am? Is it that they will take up too much of my precious time? --Maybe I'm afraid they will find out I'm a sinner? As if they couldn't tell.....

Anyway, I don't have it all processed yet. But how about you? Do you "hydroplane" all day or do you have on your snow tires?

Christianity 101??

I titled this post "Christianity 101" because what God has shown me this week is really basic faith principle.

I have been really struggling lately with my prayer life. Not to sound as if I am throwing myself a pity party, I AM NOT. I know everyone is very busy and leads really hectic lives, I just happen to be living "my" busy and hectic life. And it is..... busy and hectic. Between work and school and dealing with the finalizing of stuff from my wreck, medical, monetary, legal, etc, the MAT certification that I have been working on.....blah, blah, blah, my prayer life has just really taken a hit. And obviously, since I am posting about it, it is weighing heavy on my heart.

I do feel a tangible distancing from God when I am not in daily communication with him. I will never quite understand why in my heart it is truely the most important thing to me, yet, for some reason it is always the easiest one to cross off the list when life gets overbooked. So as I have been struggling with this in my brain, I felt like God brought something to my attention that really helped. So I share, even though it makes me look kind of stupid, because I hope it will help someone else.

Basic, I know, but here's what He gave me.

When my prayer life is not what it should be, I, (meaning me and my relationship with God), am not the only one that suffers. All the people, places, circumstances, and situations that God wants me to be praying for, pay a price too. Now, does God bring other people into the mix when I am not carrying my weight. I'm sure, but who are their prayers being taken from, to take up my slack.

It may sound kind of silly. But it has put a huge spin on things for me. It just kind of a double whammy! I got a reminder that my prayer life is not completely personal. It is a responsibility I must own, to my brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as to an entire world who hasn't met Him yet.

How does that change things? Well, in a way, it doesn't. I am still very busy and it's still going to be extreemely difficult to clear my mind every day and not only talk to Him, but pray to Him. But, what's different is, starting now, I am going to try a lot harder to make it happen. And when it doesn't happen, I'm going to make sure to remind myself, that someone who needed prayer today, had to be turned over to someone who was more obedient.

So, there ya go. I hope someone else is able to be touched by my simple minded epiphanies.