summer chill

summer chill
Originally uploaded by batluck

summer fun in the pool

a picture she will regret someday...

a picture she will regret someday...
Originally uploaded by batluck

being young is so much fun.....

trust + heart = community (living out Philippians 2:4)

This morning I was sitting at a coffee shop with my 5 year old son Ethan on my lap. He was sipping his hot chocolate and we were playing hangman on his superman computer when I observed something that totally blew me away. An middle aged woman walks in and is standing in line and one of shop's employees who knows her from her daily visits walks by and asks her how she was doing. It was evident very quickly that the woman had been having a very rough week. A few hugs & words were exchanged and the next thing I knew, the shop employee was offering to deliver coffee to her house and asking the customer to call her if there was anything she could do. To be honest, i almost fell out of my seat. Here were two virtual strangers, known only to each other due to multiple 30 second conversations while waiting for a coffee cup to fill and yet there was trust, there was heart, there was a better living example of Philippians 2:4 than I often see between people who label themselves Christians. As I left the coffee shop, i found myself wishing for that kind of relationship among the Body of Christ... that kind of trust, that kind of heart so there might be that kind of community. But the reality is trust is not a very easy commodity to come by. While it should be our default, it typically is replaced by suspicion... everyone for themselves right? Why can't we trust more easily? Why are untrustworthy until we prove ourselves trustful. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying we should be stupid and trust everyone as Proverbs 25:19 says "Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips." But can't we do better? When someone walks into a church can we not do better than a coffee shop in extending our hearts and extending our trust? Can't we do better at really caring about someone? Not just the casual, "hey how are you?" which has replaced "hi" as the common greeting on the street, but actually stopping someone and truly asking them, "how are you really? what's been hard about your week? what's been great about your week?" But it takes time. It takes heart to care about someone enough to think of them before yourself, to give of your time, to actually listen. Maybe then we can actually live out Philippians 2:4 "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." If that can happen between a coffee shop employee and a customer, certainly it could happen between people who share one faith, one love and one God.

Seriously…
I often take myself too much sometimes
Thinking I am much when I am not
Thinking I am a difference
When all I am is a symptom
Seriously…
I don’t take God enough
Thinking he isn’t much
Thinking he isn’t a difference
Seriously…
Does it really matter?
Do I count for something?
Its not that I don’t know who I am
Or have no confidence in what He can do
I am not an idiot
Seriously…
But I know he can do anything with me or without
I know that his plan doesn’t depend on me
Nor is it hinged on me, I mean come on,
Seriously…
Like I matter that much
Why not someone else, why not someone more able
More capable, more righteous than me
I know they are out there, I walk by them everyday
And its just a constant reminder to not take myself too
Seriously…

its not just coffee...

Starbucks. The great american addiction. Every place I have every traveled, in the States or Europe or Asia, there is a Starbucks within reach. The city of Denton was for a long time deprived of a free-standing Starbucks, forced to rely on the small stands you found in Kroger or Barnes and Nobles that simply "brewed" Starbucks, but were in the end just imposters. After all, what makes Starbucks such an addiction isn't that unique intentionally burnt caffinated gold they serve. What makes Starbucks the great American fly paper is the fact that no matter what state you are in, the color of your skin, the piercings you might have or the clothing you may wear, you are treated exactly the same, and not just by the people behind the counter. When you walk through the doors of a Starbucks, some magical mumbo jumbo happens and the playing field is leved. Social status, economic status, racial status... there is simply no status at all. Funny thing is, Starbucks acts more like a church than most churches I know... not the four walls mind you, but the living, breathing, body of Christ. Maybe we should take notes.