I was in Haiti.
Not in the bustling city of Port au Prince but far outside any normal civilization that we would recognize. The land is barren, the temperature is hot and humid and the sky is darker than anything you’ve ever seen at night.
While I was there I had the chance to slow down and chat with new friends I had made on the front porch of the building we were staying in. Some brilliant soul had brought rocking chairs from America. There’s something about a rocking chair that says “Chill…sit down for a spell. Let go for a few minutes. Relax.” So we did that. We sat. We rocked. And we talked.
Over the next few hours we talked about our life experiences, our triumphs, our tragedies and our dreams. We got to know each other. We encouraged each other and we laughed at each other.
It’s been a few days since we all left and went back to our individual lives in different parts of the States. But I realized something. Out there on that porch in between swatting mosquitoes and trading stories we had experienced something that brought us all closer together. We had church on the front porch. We didn’t sing songs, have announcements or even take up an offering. But nevertheless we did indeed have church. Confessing your faults to one another, encouraging each other, and having good relationships with those around you. Isn’t that what church is supposed to be? Maybe we didn’t crack a bible open but we did more “church” in that time than I’ve experienced in some 4 hour “church” services. Didn’t He say He’d be there in the midst of 2 or 3 that are gathered in His name?
Maybe we ought to return to the front porch concept for church. Put down all your religion and all your pre-conceived ideas of church and just be real. Let God use you in the most “real” way He can. Get to know new people…make friends. After all, it’s not about you is it?
Funny how I had to go to Haiti to have good fellowship… Maybe I just slowed down long enough to recognize it when it came “rocking”.
So here are my new 4 Steps to Success for a Happy Life:
Sit. Rock. Relax. Share.
The First Church of the Front Porch…come on... pull up a rocking chair…
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Monday, May 02, 2005
The Four Seasons
I’ve had the opportunity to live in several places here in the good ole USA. From Georgia to North Carolina to Texas to Florida then on to California and back to Texas again. All of them had their pluses and minuses.
Every place had its own unique version of the four seasons (for you city slickers I’m not referring to the hotel chain). North Carolina had a spectacular Fall and Winter. If you blinked in Texas you’d miss Fall completely but you’d cherish the bluebonnets when they were blooming in the Spring. And who doesn’t like an eternal summer in California with snow skiing as a bonus…in the same day? How about those laid-back beautiful beaches found only in the summers of Florida?
We humans do the same thing. We have our own versions of the seasons. I’ve noticed as I’ve grown older a lot of things have changed. Time is more precious. I try to let things go quicker and take risks more. Laugh more with friends and most of all try to not act like I have all the answers. Surprisingly enough I discovered I don’t!
Sometimes I catch myself longing for a time in the past when I knew all the answers and life was simpler. But back then I wanted more wisdom…the kind that only comes from experience. Now…I think I’m done with the whole wisdom thing…you can keep it. Life is too hard sometimes to learn from it!
It’s so easy to let our lives get so cluttered with stuff that we miss the seasons changing right before our eyes. We may not even like the changes but they come anyway. Instead of kicking and screaming that we don’t want a “summer” to end maybe we ought to look at what God is doing and just embrace it. Sound like a total surrender? Absolutely.
Funny thing is…when you surrender you don’t care about the battle anymore. It’s just over. And you move on.
Embrace the changes in your life when they come. You might see something you overlooked earlier…after all “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens.”
Every place had its own unique version of the four seasons (for you city slickers I’m not referring to the hotel chain). North Carolina had a spectacular Fall and Winter. If you blinked in Texas you’d miss Fall completely but you’d cherish the bluebonnets when they were blooming in the Spring. And who doesn’t like an eternal summer in California with snow skiing as a bonus…in the same day? How about those laid-back beautiful beaches found only in the summers of Florida?
We humans do the same thing. We have our own versions of the seasons. I’ve noticed as I’ve grown older a lot of things have changed. Time is more precious. I try to let things go quicker and take risks more. Laugh more with friends and most of all try to not act like I have all the answers. Surprisingly enough I discovered I don’t!
Sometimes I catch myself longing for a time in the past when I knew all the answers and life was simpler. But back then I wanted more wisdom…the kind that only comes from experience. Now…I think I’m done with the whole wisdom thing…you can keep it. Life is too hard sometimes to learn from it!
It’s so easy to let our lives get so cluttered with stuff that we miss the seasons changing right before our eyes. We may not even like the changes but they come anyway. Instead of kicking and screaming that we don’t want a “summer” to end maybe we ought to look at what God is doing and just embrace it. Sound like a total surrender? Absolutely.
Funny thing is…when you surrender you don’t care about the battle anymore. It’s just over. And you move on.
Embrace the changes in your life when they come. You might see something you overlooked earlier…after all “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens.”
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