Back to Carolina

photo borrowed from flickr

Take me home to Carolina
Bring me back to your side
Take me home to Carolina
Love's gonna come along for the ride
Cause by your side my feet are planted
and next to you I smile wide
Take me home, bring me near
Back to you

Southern comfort will always bring me peace
Walking slow and talking slow and sleeping under trees
You taught me love, you showed me hospitality
You let me grow my own wings so I could fly away free

(harmonica)

Take me home to Carolina

Bring me back to your side

Take me home to Carolina

Love's gonna come along for the ride

Cause by your side my feet are planted and next to you I smile wide

Take me home, bring me near

Back to you

Love without restrictions

Yesterday the Gathering at UMD met two other campuses, American University and George Mason, in the downtrodden publichousing/projects neighborhood of Lincolen Heights in DC. We were there to serve and volunteer with the ministry Daybreak, an innercity ministry serving the families and their children of this community. There were about 30 volunteers there, crammed into this tiny liitle apartment building, eager and excited to just hang out with some kids.

I won't go through the whole say, but just an overview is that we played games with them, taught the kids a bible lesson, did arts and crafts, and memorized the verse James 4:8 (Draw near to God and he will draw near to you).

Daybreak is a bright beam of life in a community that otherwise seems so dark and lonely. This ministry provides these staruday outreach vacation bible school days twice a month for the kids, as well as a tutoring/afterschool program Monday through Thursday, as well as a mentoring program. It's awesome that God has provided this ministry to Lincoln Heights community.

I had the opportunity to go on a prayer walk through the community and hear about just a few of the hardships they have experienced. It's such a huge burden on my heart to hear these stories and get a sense of the hopelessness this community experiences daily. Since this was the first time I served and Daybreak, I haven't really seen or heard how the ministry is benefiting the community yet, but I know that giving children a safe, welcoming, and most of all loving place to be able to come and hang out and hear about God is such a blessing. Even when I was walking the sidewalks, peering up at the decrepit building and their barred windows, I coul still sense that God was there, loving down on that neighborhood, whether the community could feel it or not. And since his love is without restrictions, is a love thousands of times more fervent and powerful than any earthly love we could ever experience, God loves this community without restrictions.

The coolest thing about this is that God calls us to do the same thing, to join in with him on his force of love, not just for Lincoln Heights, but for the world. We are given this great calling, this amazing and righteous task to abandon ourselves and push away our wordly desires so that we can join with God in his love, and only through his grace and strengh we can actually come to love without restriction too. So I challenge you this week, find God'e furious love in your life, and then use it to love others without restrictions. Because what is a world that is devoid of love?

Just Give In

It's a common phrase and question now to think or talk about what you would do if today was your last day. Honestly, as morbid as this may sound, I was thinking about what I would do if I were to die. I would be overjoyed on one hand to finally be going home to Christ, but for my last day here on earth, If I were actually going to die today, wouldn't I want to live the day completely for Christ- serving him as much as possible, showing others love all day long, and living as sinless and simply as I can? yes! A thousand times yes! So way than should any day be much different?

Our culture has a sickness; it's called being lazy. My generation is the worst at it, with procrastination being the underlying symptom. Things come up throughout the day that you have to do, or things occur to your mind that you should do, even things come up that you WANT to do- but still you put it off. "I should pray" or "I should talk to my roomates about God"....But then we don't do it. We put it off, saying this isn't a good time, or I'm too busy, or I have something else more important to do. But what's more important than God?

It's OK if we find ourselves doing this, trying to put off what's most important. It's almost natural because we are so used to putting off making big decisions, or doing homework, or excercising- the things that are important to our wordly lives. But what's more important than our wordly lives is our spiritual lives. We all have one, whether we consider our selves to be religious or Chrisitans or non-believers. You still have a spiritual life. It's that stirring inside of you, deep down in your heart, that tells you you aren't quite satisfied. It's that feeling you get when you make someone else happy and when you do good for someone else without gaining anything in return. It's wondering in your mind about how we all got here, what everything stands for, and what your life means in this world.

So I challenge you, whether you have a relationship with God or whether you never even realized that you have a spiritual life, I challenge you to listen to that voice inside you. When you try to put off doing something that's important to your spiritual life- may it be spending time in prayer or maybe just spending time by yourself thinking about the bigger things in life- just don't put it off. Give in, and you will be much happier for listening to your heart.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
-Matthew 5:3

You

As the sun sets, you wrap your big, strong arms around the width of the earth, tucking in the day as you pull up the blanket of the still, silent night. You rest peacefully beside me as I sleep, watching over me and thinking of all the wonderful plans you have in store for my future. Then as the sun rises the next day, you peal back the viel of darkness and night and turn everything around me a golden, shining yellow. The new day you bring me you have filled with warmth, hope and joy. It's gift you give to me again and again and I always will gladly accept and share it with you. Thank you.