Different. Important.

2 Corinthians 12: "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit, there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And the are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all...But one and the same Spirit works all these things..."

Different people are good at different things. Raise your hand if you knew that already. We look at people and want what they have. People look at us (some of us, anyway...) and want what we have. No of us are ever satisfied. For example, I know how to draw trees, and I can't sing. Just which one of those sounds like the better deal to you? I would rather kill a cat than give a speech, but I have friends who think it's the most fun thing in the entire world. My entire family has the gift of sarcasm, but I know some people who think I'm the most awkward person ever because they can't understand it.

What's the deal?

Well, I hope it's obvious, but the world wouldn't work very well if everyone had the same talents. We were created different. We need to be different. Different isn't weird. Different is needed.

Do what you're good at, and let everyone else do what they're good at. Be the awesome, valuable person God created you to be. You're special, you're needed, you're important.

Own it!

Weakness, fear, and trembling

...that's how you want to be described, right? Riiiight...that sounds like a GREAT way to make friends and influence enemies.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Paul wrote Corinthians, right? He was like one of the super Christians of history, and yet he claimed these characteristics. He knew that anything he did that happened to work wasn't because of him. It was all God.

We don't have to be good enough. We CAN'T be good enough. We simply have to trust in, and lean on, the power of Christ and let Him do the impossbile stuff.

It's not up to us!

Thank goodness.

P.S. If the format is all messed up, it's not my fault. I don't know what the deal with blogger is. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Faaaan Paaaage!

To whom it may concern (AKA the world):

I have a photo fan page on Facebook.

You should check it out. And "like" it.

"Victorian Photography"

The profile picture is a nice tipi. Check it.

Now.

:)

Warning: The Following Contains Nothing Profound

I'm probably just being dramatic. And a little whinny.

Yes, I am home for the summer.

Everyone, PLEASE take note of this.

Why, you ask?

Because people keep asking me. It's the middle of June, what else would I be doing working a resturant here? I didn't get bored and drive up for the day, people.

If you want to know when I came back, when I'm leaving, or what my plans are, I shall gladly tell you.

But pleeeaaaseee, don't ask if I'm home for the summer.

No bueno.

Embarrassed much? Nope.

What is the problem with today’s culture?

We don’t know what to be embarrassed about.

Yes, that sounds odd, but think about it.

What embarrasses people in general today? Car, clothes,
house, kids, salary, hair, family, feelings?

What should embarrass us more than anything?

Sin.

Ezra 9 discusses the intermarriage with pagans that was
apparently popular. Ezra says, “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to
lift up my face to You, my God; for out iniquities have risen higher than our
heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.” (9:6 NKJV)

That, my friends, is a LOT of embarrassment.

And it wasn’t even his fault! As far as I can tell,
Ezra had no part in this. It was all the Israelites. And yet he was
embarrassed. He felt ashamed. Why? Because God’s people disobeyed God’s laws.

Today we are taught to turn our back to sin. Pretend it
isn’t there, and don’t even think about actually confronting someone about
their sin. Don’t bother with your own sin, either. It’d not a problem, doesn’t
need to be taken care of, right?

When did we lose our shame?

Sin is sin, and sin happens to be bad. Just FYI.

We
shouldn’t ignore sin, and we shouldn’t condone it.

We
should be embarrassed by it. And we should do what Israel was doing: confessing
and repenting.

Good
news!: “our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia to revive us…” (9:9)

You matter

"When the Creator of matter tells you you matter, THEN you have purpose!" -Brad Stine

(super funny Christian comedian. Check him out. No, seriously. Now.)

Today I was reading some book/pamphlet (Just what IS a pamphlet anyway? How does it vary from a brochure?) that the mom has on modesty, and something interesting stood out to me.

When Adam and Eve realized that they were naked, they made loinclothes out of fig leaves, which have the consistency of sand paper.

When God clothed them, he made tunics out of sheep skin, which does not have the consistency of sand paper.

Is this awesome to anyone else?

They had just disobeyed, deserted, and betrayed the Lord, and what does He do? He covers their shame and embarassment, and He does it in a way that blows their minds (Reading between the lines...).

They tried to make do with some dead leaves that only partially covered them. They tried to hide and run from the God who made and loved them, but nothing they did was successful.

Then God came along. He didn't zap them. He didn't yell. He called to them. And then he clothed them. He replaced their makeshift aprons with soft, covering tunics. They had just basically condemned the world, yet He was proving to them that He still loved them. He cared enough about them to take care of them even when they turned their backs on Him They still mattered.

So do we.

So do you.

We (I!) screw up. We ignore and forget about the Lord. We run away from Him on purpose. We give Him every reason in the world to cast us aside. But He doesn't.

He still loves us.

He takes us back.

Everytime.

And He replaces our homemade, scratchy solutions with His perfect soft ones.

You matter to the Creator of the universe. More than anything.

So I forgot to mention VBS...

Surprise! We had VBS last week and it was...weird.

We didn't have 80-100 kids. We had 50-60.

I did the music.

I think they were all bored.

Except for the karate song. It is impossible to dislike that song. Kind of like it's impossible to frown whilst eating a Frosty.

Intern got hit with water balloons.

2 girls got saved! Yay!

A brief summary of aforementioned mission trip

Sunday and Monday, due to heavy rain, we
stayed inside and worked in the Dream Center. We sorted donations, painted
walls, put office furniture together, and stained the floor. It was a great
time of coming together as a team and just working for the Lord.

Tuesday we went to the town of Wounded
Knee, where we prayer walked, fed children lunch, played with, and loved them
all afternoon. Thursday we did the same in the town of Evergreen. These
children have incredibly difficult lives. On average, they begin drinking at
the age of five, and join gangs by age nine. One six year-old girl told us that
her fifteen year-old brother had been killed in a gang fight just a few days
previous. I got a chance to talk with some of the mothers, and one of them told
me that many of the kids around us did not have fathers, and several lived with
aunts or grandparents.

On Wednesday we
went to White Clay, Nebraska. It is located right across the border and just
off the reservation. It is basically a large collection of bars and liquor
stores. Its purpose is to provide the Natives from the “dry” reservation with
alcohol. Many people choose to stay in this town, and sleep in ditches and on
sidewalks. Business owners in White Clay make an average of $7 billion a year.
We served lunch at a small ministry on the main street and talked with some of
the “residents.” Their stories were unbelievable and heartbreaking. We were
going to actually go out onto the streets after lunch, but a fight broke out in
front of the building, and we ended up sneaking out the back door. It was not
an experience I’d like to repeat.

Overall, the week was
eye-opening and awesome. Our team became very close, and caught a small glimpse
of the Body of Christ laughing, crying, working, sweating, and wondering as
one. The Lord showed us how to worship Him in everything-from feeding a hungry
child to scrubbing concrete. We truly serve an amazing God.

A week without cell service.

We're alive! We didn't get shot, bit by snakes, or hit by a cow. Which were all concerns, trust me.

I learned several things last week:

1. There is nothing in Iowa. Except random roadside art. Is it roadside or road side?

2. Two vans are better than one.

3. It is possible to stain concrete.

4. There all ALWAYS more white spots, even after you paint the wall 4 times.

5. God places other people in your life to do what you cannot, as well as to let you know when you're being dumb.

6. I am never the only person who knows songs from Veggie Tales and/or The Music Man

7. Those of us with should always give to those without.

8. God sends people that believe in us because sometimes we just can't believe in ourselves

9. When you get down to it, everyone just wants to be loved.

10. Some people see the world differently in order to enlighten the rest of us.

11. Nothing brings people together like blasting "Don't Stop Believin'"

12. Open skies win. Every time.

13. Even when you're freaked out, God still uses the simple things to remind you of His presence.

14. Money can't buy everything, but it can buy some really pretty handmade pottery and paintings.

15. None of us can do it alone.

16. Effort counts when performance lacks.

17. Life is beautiful when viewed through a camera lens.

18. Starting is always the hardest part.

19. The New Testament is a lot cooler than I originally thought.

20. It's ok to be real with people.

21. How to duel properly.

22. You can put almost any words to "Home on the Range."