lengua de corazón

“Now therefore fear the  Lord  and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.  Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the  Lord .  And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the  Lord ,  choose this day whom you will serve , whether  the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or  the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the  Lord .” Joshua 24:14-15 (ESV) "Choose." If we're living in the reality of the Kingdom of God, I don't think there's any way to over-spiritualize. That phrase gets on my nerves like nothing else. I think we use it as a cop out, a way to sidestep the responsibility of living like the Kingdom has invaded every nook and cranny of our existence. Every choice is an opportunity to feed my flesh or feed my spirit. Every choice is a challenge - am I going to lean on my own understanding, or listen clos...

My worldview has been wrecked on multiple occasions over the last year and a half. I almost wish that was an exaggeration, but it is not. Sometimes for the better, always for the unknown. Each time feels unprecedented, each revelation seemingly irreconcilable with life as I have known it. But that's the point. Each of those instances has been a point of no return. One cannot put bubbles back in the bottle after pouring out dish soap. We cannot shrink our minds or appetites for adventure back down to former size once God has blown them wide open with possibility. (Plus, it's much more fun to have bubbles everywhere.)  Faith tastes like the gunpowder-residue air that comes with fireworks. There's a right good chance that things will  explode, but it's going to be beautiful. Whenever it happens. However it happens.  Why is it that as we're eagerly searching the skies, refraining from blinking as much as we are able, barely hanging on to the edge of our se...

For many, singing or playing an instrument in front of other people is a terrifying prospect. Music stands erect a barrier between the individual and the congregation, and are a constant safeguard against the potential humiliation of forgetting the next lyric or chord. Music stands are, in the simplest terms, a crutch for these persons. For others, singing or playing an instrument in front of other people has become as commonplace as  breathing  in front of other people. Music stands, while generally unnecessary, still put some distance between the individual and the congregation, and assure a recovery after an accidental slip-up. Music stands are a crutch for these persons as well. Before hot objection and defensive indignation bubble to the surface (if they haven’t already), I need to confess that I am not far removed from the tyranny of stands. In fact, this past weekend was the first worship set I can  ever  remember playing without chord sheets. Th...

I don't know if anyone will see this... Just trying to get my thoughts out now while everything is fresh in my mind. I'll probably post this one after I edit later. Today went by so fast. The last few days (I haven't written about yet) have been a whirlwind and I've had such wonderful evenings, loving the atmosphere and the blessing of being part of the group. And yet, since last night at Turi, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that these aren't my people. Maybe it's because I'm leaving in a matter of hours, really. Or maybe it's something that God's been settling in my spirit. I talked with Gina for almost three hours over a Facebook video call, and we talked about everything under the sun. (Ecuadorian dairy products, what's going on at CC, summer plans for my internship, hanging out with the crew, going to Passion soon, and hard stuff that needs worked through and prayed through.) Every day I'm more ready to go home. It's...

     Such a long day. I'm wiped out. I didn't end up teaching tonight at youth group because we got back from the outreach so late (thought I'd get back between 4 and 5... it was after 8 pm). It worked out alright though, and we really did have a great day.      Got up at 5:45 to be out the door by 6:30 to pack the cars and leave for Suscal at 7. We got to the town at about 9:15 and our caravan of vehicles stopped for a cafecito which included two giant portions of chibiles  (corn meal and cheese wrapped in a husk). The coffee was great once we put sugar in it (almost everyone drinks it that way so I'm normal here, not a pansy) but I could barely eat the other thing. I could smell the cheese coming from a mile away and it made my stomach turn when I accidentally got a mouthful of it.      Dairy products are the one thing I cannot do here (besides ice cream of course). They are made with a ton of preservatives - milk is sold in unrefr...