The Great Omission

Discipleship...not just the standard "Read your Bible, say your prayers and be a good person." rhetoric, but real, deep discipleship. The kind of stuff that takes our broken humanness and makes us more humane, more focused, and a better picture of Christ. This is one of the things my heart longs to see the church teaching the people it comes in contact with. In his book The Great Omission, Dallas Willard offers a wonderful treatise on the subject of making disciples and is a must read for anyone striving to be Christlike.

Questions...

So I sat in church this morning pondering something I've never pondered before...is this how I want my child to experience church? Let me tell you that if you haven't asked this question before, it is quite scary, and if you have, I now sympathize with your fear that it might not be what God had intended. This is by no means a belittling of the church I attend, rather it is a question that I think more of us should be asking. Is the Church the life we live, or is it one more thing added to the schedule we call life? If it is the latter, then I think we are far from what was intended. I don't want my son to grow up thinking that God is only present when he is sitting in his seat in a sanctuary, singing some songs and hearing a message. I want him to know that God is an ever present source of life, challenges, discipline, and growth, that forms the very core of who he is...and because of that relationship we desire to gather together as the body to celebrate our God!

Amazed!

As I looked through the window I was taking everything in in grayscale. It had been raining for days and now and then the wind would rattle the bones. At this point I was in my office, wishing I was somewhere else but knowing there was much to get done. The ringing of the phone jostled me back to reality and a familiar voice said hello with an unusual amount of excitement in her voice. They had received a child, he seemed perfect for us, and would we consider hearing more?! I needed time to talk it through, PRAY it through. Cami was still in school and had a few more hours of teaching to do. "Can I come by and say hi later today?" I text? I'll be free at 1:30, she replied. It was the longest two hours I've experienced in quite some time.
As I sat across from her, looking her in the eyes and seeing eternal joy in those tears, we contemplated our options. Do we go for it? Do we wait for siblings? Does God know what he's doing?! The answer to the last question helped us answer the first. I called Julie later that day and told her we would proceed.
And here we are, three days later, hearts aching because we wish so deeply we could be on a plane, traveling half way arond the world, to bring home the precious gift God has known about since the begining. It is almost more than my heart can feel and my head can comprehend. A beautiful life, about to merge with ours,...how amazing that God has so much faith in us, the he would give us this precious child. I am amazed!