Christ as our Focus

God gently reminded me this week that more and bigger isn't necessarily better and I need to be content to fulfill God's work/purpose right where I am at the time. It can be a little overwhelming to see all the need in the world and even feel somewhat guilty that there often seems to be no headway being made, but as the youth mission team from our church that recently went to Jamaica shared in our worship service this morning, it was reassuring to remember that God indeed can and does use any effort we make in His behalf (even if we don't always see the end result), and that He calls us to make an impact for Him in our own community, school or workplace. Similarly, the worship leader at a conference I went to this week encouraged us that keeping our focus on Christ tends to put everything else (prestige, career advancement, etc.) in it's proper perspective. Even though the body of Christ is made up of imperfect people who may have a fairly wide range of views on different issues, we all worship the same God; establishing and developing a relationship with Him and helping others to do the same is what we should be about!

Vacation Memories and Musings

I recently went on vacation with my family to Yellowstone National Park, and I must say, I wasn't disappointed! We had been looking forward to it for quite a while, because my mom purchased a lifetime pass to the national parks when we went to the Grand Canyon a while back, and started working on our reservations about a year ago in order to find a place to stay within the park. Also, my mom was somewhat intentional about the plans, because with my parents getting older, and both my niece and nephew graduating from college and high school respectively next year, it looked like possibly the last best chance we might have at being able to find a time/adjust our schedules and travel somewhere together (for 7 busy people who live in 3 different places, that's saying a lot!). I was taking care of things at work almost up to the last minute, but throughout the whole trip, it was as if God was telling me to slow down, buckle my seat belt, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! The awesome display of His handiwork was incredible, from Old Faithful, to a boat tour of Yellowstone Lake, viewing he Grand Tetons/the falls at Canyon Village, and seeing majestic wildlife (bison, elk, deer, a bald eagle and a bear/cubs) roaming freely as He created them to do was nothing short of amazing. Even though we were able to visit a large section of the park in just three and a half days, we were also able to take our time and not feel terribly rushed. We rented a van to get around, and it actually gave us some quality time to reconnect (my nephew even kept us entertained with his "punny" jokes of the day), which made the distances seem even shorter than they were; however, we did have a couple of near run-ins with some bison for excitement along the way! God also reminded me of how small the world now is, because I wore my purple FBC logo t-shirt the day we took our boat tour of Yellowstone Lake, and a couple walked by and asked, "That wouldn't be First Baptist of Dalton, GA, would it?". When I said yes, they replied that they were from Albany (which is ironic, considering our Pastoral Educator is from there); so much for getting away! Somehow I think God was reminding me that no matter where I am, even in the midst of perfect strangers, I'm His representative as a Christian, and should always strive to live accordingly. I also discovered the work of a nature writer named Ilan Shamir on a set of gift shop bookmarks; the one I got was entitled "Advice from a Lake". I'm not sure if he is a person of faith, but it provided some food for thought that can certainly be taken in a Christian context:  

Advice from a Lake

Be clear
Make positive ripples
Look beneath the surface
Stay calm
Shore up friendships
Take time to reflect
Be full of life!