Deep Thoughts

So I havn't blogged in a while, and everyone has been giving me crap about it, but I'm a busy girl, so get over it. We spent last week at Beach Break Camp, if you want to know the details, you can read Nic, Jaron, and JMob's blogs. Overall, it was a really great week, and even though it really wore me out, I think every second of it was worth it bc of what the kids got out of it. For the first time in a while, I feel like I'm serving where God wants me, and I love it.



After we got back, I worked a little, and then I went home to spend Father's day with my pops. I hung out with Georgetown kids and my family and it was a good weekend. On my way back I stopped in Lockhart to drop off Jaron's birthday presents because tomorrow is his birthday. Afterward, I hung out with Jaron, Jmob, and Cody and Caleb. I really like those kids, and I had a ton of fun hanging out with everyone. Sometimes I just wished I lived in Lockhart and worked as Nic's 4th intern. I'd enjoy that a lot more than what I'm doing now.



Today I went to class, and sitting through class I realized how much I HATE school lately. Literally, never, in all my years of education have I ever disliked class so much. I still like what I'm going to school for, but I think its a sign from God that He is calling me to do bigger and better things with my life as well.



Speaking of God, He has been speaking to me a lot today. Not really more than He does in the average day I guess, but I'm trying to make this blog really good and long for all the haters, so I think I'll share today.



1. Today I had to work up at the Methodist Church that I sometimes do childcare for. The women there are doing a Beth Moore study, and my job is to sit in the study for 30 minutes and take any kids that show up to the childcare room. No kids showed up, but I did get to listen in on the study for a while. Most of it was corny, but one of the women did say one thing that I really liked. She said that guilt and shame are also idols. I never thought of guilt and shame as an idol before, but I have a serious problem with guilt and shame and letting go of things when I mess up. The woman also talked about how Paul never could have been the man he was if he had spent his whole ministry looking back at his mistakes. I think God was really telling me that I need to do a better job of letting go of my own mistakes.



2. Lately, I've been doing this thing were I listen to podcasts on the way to school since its about an hour long drive. I've mostly been listening to stuff from Mars Hill. Today I listened to a sermon from May 31st. Mars Hill had a guest speaker named Steve Chalke. Steve Chalke is the founder of Oasis trust, which is an organization that established schools, hospitals, and hostels for children all over the world. Mr. Chalke is also one of the most active individuals in stopping people trafficing around the world.



So anyways, I learned a lot from my podcast listening today. First of all, did you know that every 30 seconds a person somewhere in the world is kidnapped from their home and sold into sex or domestic slavery? This includes almost 17, 500 children in America, most of who are used as sex slaves (experts estimate that is number is MUCH higher, but the number cannot be confirmed because not many people admit to having sex slaves).

Two other things I took from my podcast:

1. Mr. Chalke talked about how the modern day church should not just be a church. It should be a church and a school, or a church and a hospital, or a church and a hostel. Basically, the church should be the center of the community. Chalke said that the church should be the "hub" and it should be a building that is opened and available to everyone in the community 24/7, not just when the staff is in the office. That's good stuff.

2. The other thing Mr. Chalke talked about is a passage from Genesis. Genesis 1:26-27, which says:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Chalke talked about how EVERY person male and female were created in God's own image, and that each person deserves to be treated as such. He said that everyone lives in poverty. Not everyone lives in the type of poverty that we picture poverty as, some people live in social poverty, or emotional poverty, or spiritual poverty, or any other type of poverty. The role of the church is to meet the poverty needs of EVERY individual, not just those experiencing spiritual poverty. Chalke talked about how everywhere that people go they are told they are screw ups, not good enough, too much to handle, that they don't deserve second chances, and every other message this world can give you. The church is the one place where EVERYONE should feel like they belong, no matter what they have done in the past. The church is also the place that everyone should feel comfortable coming to meet their individual poverty needs, because EVERY individual represents that image of God.

So, the question stands blog readers: How are YOU treating the image of God? Bc I know I could be doing a MUCH better job.