Waiting.

Waiting. 

We wait for a lot of things in our life. We wait for food to come.  We wait for our coffee beverage at the local cafe. We wait for our car to be done in the shop.  We wait for Jesus to come, and for Him to come again. 

In advent especially, we are reminded of how the Israelites waited for their Messiah, culminating with Christmas and the birth of their Savior in unexpected form.

But our waiting is not in vain. 

Our culture has become really good at distraction in times of waiting. Children watch movies or play games on road trip or long flights. Teenagers often times put in their headphones and tune out the world. Adults go on their iphones or ipads and play games, check facebook, email, stocks etc...and of course we all can’t help but sleep sometimes when we are waiting. 

We have to find something to distract ourselves with. Something to make the time go faster. But sometimes our distractions draw us away so much we forget what we’re waiting for. We sleep right through our bus stop! Whoops...

I think everyone is in a season of waiting for something. Whether big or small, we all wait. 

But our waiting is not in vain. 

And it seems so simple to me now, but I’m realizing that we wait not just for the sake of waiting but because what we are waiting for is not ready. Our waiter could bring our food out in 5 minutes but it would still be frozen. Our barista could give us our drinks immediately but it would be cold milk and instant coffee, which would be simply atrocious, really. Get my point?

So here is what I’m proposing. At least for myself. In our waiting, may we seek preparedness. In words, action, and sabbath, may we seek to be prepared as we possibly can be for the object of our waiting. May we not be so consumed with our distractions that we miss our mark. May we be mindful that whatever it is we are waiting for is being prepared as well. Whether it be a house, a job, a person, food, or creation. God is at work preparing as well. 

I had a lesson in preparedness today. Last week, I was asked to read scripture for the service today. I didn’t write it down. I didn’t do anything to help me remember. I wouldn’t forget, or so I thought. A week went by.  So we’re sitting in the pews, singing Christmas hymns. Prayer times goes by, offering time goes by, now it’s time for the sermon. I’m looking at the pastor speaking this morning, he’s looking back at the other pastor in the sound booth, and then I realize...I have to do the scripture reading! Shoot! I don’t even know what the passages were! Something in Malachi? About 10 uncomfortable seconds go by as a scramble through the pages of the Bible, until a man behind me hands me a bible opened up to the scripture reading that I was supposed to read: Mark 1:1-8. It’s all about John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus. 

So much for me being prepared...haha

May we all pursue preparation in our waiting, so as not to miss what we are waiting for. 

Come on! Come All!

Well folks, the band wagon (one word or two?) is officially jumped on.

It took me about a month to decide if I actually wanted to create this blog.
Then when I finally sat down to do it, I realized I needed a title...that set me back about two weeks.
Now I've spent two days picking out backgrounds, colors and fonts. Cause it's gotta be pretty...duh.

For this innagural posting I decided to share with you a story. Our college ministry here is called "Arigaa".  An inupiaq word meaning "good", "beautiful" or "sweet". Every thursday night we get together at church, engorge ourselves on the bountiful feasts that are prepared for us by members of our church, spend time talking about God's Story and why it matters, and of course play some pretty awesome games. Last week we played "arigaa-some". Because it's awesome.

On a regular basis we also head out to the streets and hang out with homeless people. We bring sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate and wool socks. Socks are quite the commodity because they keep feet warm and dry. The greater part of the night was spent walking the streets and making conversation with folks. We even stopped to talk to the "Occupy Anchorage" group. They were a small, but dedicated group. As we walked, we reminisced of our last time out there: of the time when a man was, very humorously, trying to start a fight with Phil.  Later, he tried to give us his wad of cash (probably a good hundred bucks) because we were Christians, which made our new homeless friend Jasmine say "My momma's a Christian! I'll take it!" Then there was John, who hung out with us the whole night and when we got to the place where we were dropping him off for the night, he literally took his shirt off and gave it to a guy in our group who had shown a deep mutual appreciation for his old biker shirt decorated with American flags. Yep, it really happened.

This night, we concluded our evening at the men's homeless shelter and waited for the masses to roll in, hoping to get a sleeping mat for the night. As they all came in, lining up under the overhang of the building, one man caught my eye. A tall african american man strolled in wearing a tattered black top hat, winter coat, and walking with a tall and twisted wooden staff and a smile.

And it made me think of the Kingdom of God.
And a circus.

Which is a little odd for me to say because I'm not exactly sure I've ever even been to a circus. But I guess I just imagine the Kingdom of God to be like a circus.  Where those who may not "fit in" with society, are  welcomed, accepted, loved, and belong.  Where gifts and talents are celebrated in the spotlight in order to bring joy, unify and inspire. And where sordid pasts are left hidden in the dark background.

Just so that there aren't any creepy clowns in heaven. That would be lame.


On Earth as it is in Heaven.

"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28