Brothers are the best




Before I begin to study for finals, God has given me such a great appreciation for the brothers I have in Christ. I'm not going to lie, this week was taxing for me...physically because of school and emotionally because of all the things that were going on in my head. Yet, my brothers came to my rescue again, whether or not they know it. From the smallest bit of encouragement on a Facebook post to a 2.5 hour conversation with a brother in another city, God lifted my head and showed me that He cares for me as much as my brothers do. If they didn't care about me...they wouldn't give me the time of day. They wouldn't be willing to listen to all my problems and thoughts. Yet they do, and I couldn't be more grateful. God has given me amazing friends, loving brothers, and encouraging running mates. Without the community God has surrounded me with, I definitely wouldn't be as stable and as firm in my faith as I am today. So thank you to all my brothers. I love each and every one of you from the deepest depths of my heart...a love so big and consuming that it could only come from the Father. I know that God can use me now, and I can't wait to go out as Outreach Coordinator next year and spread that shlome love goodness :).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New Thing Springs Forth: The Next Leg of the Voyage

Image
After twenty-eight years of The Bridge Church being my central tribe, it's time to spread my wings. A couple weeks ago, God opened up the opportunity for me to be the next Youth Director at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fresno. After much prayer and introspection, I accepted the position. I officially wrap up at The Bridge in a couple weeks and begin at Trinity Lutheran in June. A part of me is quite excited for this new opportunity. A part of me is still dumbfounded that this is happening. A part of me is also sad because I am leaving something that has been familiar my whole life--a place that has been my home and people who have been my family. Although The Bridge will always be my "home church" and the people at The Bridge will always be my family, the relationship is shifting in this new season. So why a Lutheran church? The easiest answer I can give people is that (1) God has been preparing me to leave The Bridge and (2) I need time away from the evangelical churc...
Read more

Awake!

Ephesians 5:14 Therefore it says, "Awake, o sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Being back from OGN for a little more than 12 hours, I have had a bit of time to process through everything that I have learned, everything that happened, all the experiences I had. One thing I can say for sure is that God has awakened my soul, and I'm never going back to that state of slumber. The place I am in right now is the best, for I am always in His presence! No matter what I'm feeling, whether it's joy or sorrow, my soul will always turn me to the One who loves and saves. As I reflect on the conversations I had with people on the beaches of SD, I can honestly say that none of them were of me. I am not that smart. I am not that knowledgeable. I am not that eloquent. Yet, people continued to listen and were open enough to listen to what we had to say. What I love about going out and talking to people is that I get to find out about their fai...
Read more

My God Who Weeps: Lament & Grief, the Gospel, and Pastoral Ministry

Image
       During my seminary years, one of the most important courses I took was grief counseling. Although only an elective, grief counseling was healing for myself and helped me understand how pastors and ministry leaders have an important call to provide care for people who have experienced loss in our congregations. For me, grief refers to the process of experiencing the physical, psychological, behavioral, and social reactions to the perception of loss (Rando, 1993). Attune to this calling for myself, I could see all over social media that people were grieving in some manner because of the pandemic.       Towards the end of 2020, I saw a particular social media post from the parent of a former student who was expressing her frustration over the postponement of student athletics in the Central Valley and the toll it has had on all of her teenage kids. This made me begin thinking about the loss both 2020 graduates and 2021 graduates have experienc...
Read more