This morning in church, we were studying biblical principles of handling finances. The last point was 'be thankful.' As I'm thanking the Lord that we - all of us in America- have so much to share, so many other things/people come to mind for which I am ever so thankful. 15 years ago, the Lord used people - the church - to plants seeds of truth and life into us. He used people who were on the job to be bold and invite us to church. He used a couple, who invited us to lunch on what was maybe our second Sunday, to love on us when church and Jesus were foreign to us. He connected our hearts to specific people, almost from the beginning that loved us like we were theirs. When we were 'brave' enough, He placed us in a small group (Sunday school class) of people who we lived life along side, encouraging and loving one another. The Lord used a worship leader to push us out of our comfort zone to sing and join the worship team. He used many willing hearts who gave their time, their money, and their talents to lead us to Him. Throughout the years, He has turned us inside out and upside down while sifting us and refining us. He placed people in our lives that lived the example of Jesus and loved us right where we were. He continues to place people in our lives who challenge us and catapult us out of our comfort zone. I am thankful for the time of growth that He allowed us and continues to allow. I am thankful that He has taught us that we've gotten way too comfortable and it's time to be uncomfortable and that may mean leaving what is comfortable. (Yikes) God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through. (Francis Chan) God has lead us through a path of twists and turns and called us to be exactly here. He had to slap us around in order for us to grasp that, though He has lead us everywhere we have been, He didn’t call us there so that we could settle in and live life (study, worship, disciple, serve, etc) in comfort and superficial peace. (yikes again) That being said, I am so thankful for the large network of friends that He has given us who we dearly love and who love us - a place where we can be comfortable. I am thankful that for so many years we were blessed to be apart of a church filled with people that were transparent, generous, and all about loving people. It is easy for people to think that church is a building and I have to say that I think we began to think of it that way. But, church isn't a building - it's a body of people. Incredibly and sometimes painfully, He continues to teach us and I pray we continue to be teachable. I'm thankful for the lessons in learning to serve along side a diverse church body outside the walls of a church building - without boundaries, far reaching, loving genuninely. Love is a powerful tool with a powerful, everlasting result. It's a choice. It's an action. It is absolutely what leads people to Jesus. It's what lead me to Him. It is absolutely what pierces our heart to want to change how we live. “God's definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love.” (Francis Chan) (ref Proverbs 10, 13, 17, John 3 Cor 13, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, 1 John 3, 1 John 4, and the list continues.....)
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