National Community Church.
Scott and I were on staff there 7 years ago with
Mark and Lora Batterson and Joel and Nina Schmidgall.
Each time we go back it feels like home.
A weekend spent in the midst of friends
makes it twice as fun.
I was welcomed with a basket of chocolate...tums and deodorant.
They know me well. Speaking tends to ramp up my nerves.
After speaking at a women's all comers night on Friday and
a mom's morning out with a full tea spread (delish!) that
put Martha Stewart on notice, we had a few afternoons of frolic.
There were pedicures, coffee from Ebenezer's Coffee House
and dinners out with Lora and Nina.
Needless to say, the Lord ministered unto me, yea verily.
And he also ministered to me on Sunday when Joel spoke at Ballston.
(NCC has 7 locations in different theaters.)
Joel spoke on anguish.
How Jesus chose to walk into anguish to do the will of the Father.
And how most of us choose to not walk into anguish.
We just want to be comfortable and happy.
That was kind of mean of him to say....and mostly true.
Mostly, I would much rather walk into Target than into anguish.
I don't often bend myself towards Christ's suffering.
I try to stick to the side of joy.
But it seems that often we don't get to partake of God's joy until
we join him in letting our hearts break for the world around us.
He ended the message with a recording of David Wilkerson calling us
to let God move us to anguish.
David Wilkerson said a few mean things to us, too, like that we
are pampered and show concern for things but rarely let the
Holy Spirit baptize us with a heart of brokenness.
Let me just say that more than a few of us were doing the ugly
cry by the end of the recording.
Because it was powerful and it was true and the Holy Spirit
convicted me on a thing or twelve.
Like about not praying for my children with a passion like I should.
For putting my own comforts before my desire to do God's will.
And for not seeing those around me who don't know Jesus the way
that God's sees them...as his lost kids who need some help finding him.
It gave me a lot to think about on the flight home.
It made me think that I need my mind to be renewed
so that I think more like Jesus.
That I need a shifting of how I look at things and how I am spending my time.
And a re-assessment of how I am anchoring myself in this world.
And then at the same time, I was also awash with thankfulness.
For God's good grace and mercy in spite of my daily inadequacies.
For friends who I share history and laughter with.
And mostly, for my boys, all four of them,
who were waiting for me at the end of my trip.
It's looking to be an interesting summer on all fronts....
I'll keep you posted.
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