It's MY Church!!!

Well... We started the week off with another hospital stay. This one was only one night, and the doctors finally explained to us that, because Matt is on blood thinners, he will be admitted any time he has blood in his vomit. (Sorry to be so gross!) But, it's strictly a precaution. They have to run tests to make sure he's not bleeding internally, and the tests can't really be done in his doctor's office. So, that took my panic level down about ten notches! As soon as he said the word "hospital," my mind instantly started racing back to December of 2011 when we were there for 21 days. It was such a relief to know that it wasn't a big deal! But, I'm also not excited about the fact that we may have many more of these short little stays in our future.

Anyway... Once again, I had a lot of time sitting in my beloved chair-bed next to him while we were there. During that time, I was overwhelmed with texts, calls, emails, and Facebook messages from friends of ours who were asking how we were doing and if we needed anything. This really got me thinking about the amazing group of people we are now so closely intertwined with at church. And, it made me really upset about the bad name that "church" seems to have these days.

Churches, in general, have come under a lot of fire lately. And, as much as I hate to admit it, a lot of the criticism is warranted. Churches have become more of a country club and less of a place where the hands and feet of Christ are truly moving. Now wait... Before you lynch me for saying that... Think about your own church. Maybe the one you attend right now, maybe ones you have attended in the past. I would bet that the majority of the people who attend are VERY similar in race, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, etc. There are lots of groups (dare I call them cliques?) that have sprung out of small groups, Sunday school classes, committees, organizations, etc. So, everyone has their little group of people they gravitate toward when they are there. None of these things in isolation are necessarily bad. But, if you are that person, walking in as a visitor, who doesn't happen to "fit the mold," you feel like an outsider from the get go. A diverse congregation is much more comfortable to a visitor walking in for the first time, but most churches just are not diverse.

So, right now you're probably wondering why this bad rap upsets me if I believe it is, at least in part, warranted. Well... The answer to that is simple: It's because of MY church!

Yes, I go to one of those very non-diverse churches. And it has, on occasion, been referred to as a country club. But, that's based on what you see from a distance. Once you get inside our four walls (or however many walls we actually have!), what you experience is completely different. At least what we experienced was completely different! We are surrounded by people who truly understand how to share the love of Christ with others!

In 2011, we had only visited New World UMC a handful of times when Matt got sick and went into the hospital. The minute the church got word that he was there, the help and support came pouring out like I've never seen before! We were visited multiple times by the pastor and associate pastor. Meals were brought to my house for my mom and kids for three weeks straight! They raked our leave after our trees all dumped...43 bags worth! And, they put Christmas lights on our house since we didn't even know if Matt would be home by Christmas. But, most importantly, they prayed for us constantly! And we were STRANGERS to them! Most of the people helping us were people we had never even met!

And THAT is why I get upset about the bad rap that churches have right now. The people who are saying all those negative things don't know MY church!

See, church isn't about what denomination you are, or which service you go to on Sunday morning. It's not even about going on Sunday morning! It's about sharing Christ with others whenever you can. The "church" just gives us an opportunity to unite with other people who have that same goal. We get to worship together, study the Bible together, and hang out together. And, that's all great. Those are the things that keep the church going! They are a vital part of the experience! But, to me, church is SO much more than that! The amazing people in MY church cared for my family when I couldn't do it myself, without even knowing me. I wish everyone could come experience what these people have to offer!

So, here's my challenge to you, if you don't already do this! Shift how you think about church. Church is not a place. It's not a worship service. It's not a meeting or a committee. Church is what we do! It's who we are! It is a part of every word we say and every step we take! We are called to be the church in everything we do! So, the next time you see a visitor walk in the door of your church, or the next time you're at the grocery store, or the next time you have a chance to get involved in a mission of any kind, just stop and think, "Do I go to church? Or AM I THE CHURCH?" And then proceed accordingly!

You are the body of Christ and parts of each other. ~1 Corinthians 12:27

He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to every creature..." ~Mark 16:15

How Dark Are Your Tan Lines?

 

This picture cracks me up! I saw it floating around on Facebook not too long ago, but when I saw it, the label over the guy with no tan said, "Minister." Haha! I got a kick out of that! But, no matter what labels are on the picture, you get the idea. If you are outside everyday doing the same activity, you're going to get some pretty dark tan lines from the stuff you wear while you're doing it. And, if you never go outside, you'll stay white as a ghost with no tan lines at all. My problem is that I have about 87 different sets of tan lines. I have them from two different bathing suits, the shorts and tank tops I wore on vacation, and my flip flops. But, my darkest ones are from running. My feet are whiter than the rest of my legs, and I think the lines from my Nike shorts are probably permanent now!

Tan lines remind me a lot of our relationship with God. (I'm really not crazy! Just bear with me on this one!) Think about it for a minute... The more you are exposed to the sun, the darker your tan lines, right? Well, the more you expose yourself to God, the deeper your relationship gets with Him. You can expose yourself to Him once a week, once a day, or continually. It's up to you. But, the more you do it, the darker your spiritual tan lines get. 

I'm really working on my spiritual tan! For most of my life I was the epitome of a Sunday Christian. I went to church almost every Sunday, but that was about it. I was lukewarm at best. If I had any spiritual tan lines, they were pretty light, and I'm pretty sure no one else could see them. Over the last few years, I've been making a conscious effort to change that. Matthew 22:37 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." That's exactly what I try to do! I want to have spiritual tan lines that are always getting darker and more defined. But, more than that, I want to live my life so that others can see God through me. I want everyone to see how tan I am!

So, how do you work on your spiritual tan lines? You do anything you can to get closer to God. And that looks different for everyone. For me, it started with changing the way I worship. I don't just go to church. I get lost in the service! I let the music speak to soul, I carefully listen to the sermon to see how God is speaking to me through it, I look for any and every opportunity to let God fill me enough to last me until the next Sunday. I also get into the Bible more. If something is going on, and I'm not sure what to do, I turn to the Bible for the answers. It's like my little owner's manual for life. I read bits and pieces of it daily just to keep me uplifted and connected to Him. I listen to praise music all the time. I've stopped listening to anything else. Every time I turn on the radio or Pandora on my phone, I get blasted with messages of God's love. I look for ways to share God with others by being in service to people whenever I can. And, probably most importantly, I pray all the time! I am almost constantly in dialogue with God! Sometimes it's a long, meditative prayer session. Sometimes it's just a thought or two as I'm going through my day. Sometimes, I'm just listening to Him. And I always pray myself to sleep at night. 

What works for me may not work for you. You have to get to know God in your own way. You have to decide how you need to work on your own spiritual tan lines.

But, I want to caution you against the spiritual sunburn! Think of kids who go to church camp. They come back on fire for God, ready to change everything about their lives and live for Him. But, usually that fire fades pretty quickly just like a sunburn does. If you overexpose yourself all at one time with no idea of how to maintain that exposure on a daily basis, you'll just get overwhelmed and go right back to what you've always done. Start from where you are and increase your exposure gradually. If you connect with God once a week, try to increase that to 2 or 3 times a week. Get used to that, then try for everyday. What I think you'll find is that the more you expose yourself to God, the more you are going to crave a deeper relationship with Him, and it will start to unfold naturally. You will get to a point where all you want to do is love Him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind! And your life will be forever changed because of it! At least, that's what happened for me!

So, take a look at your spiritual tan lines. How dark are they? But more importantly, how are you going to make them darker?

New and Improved!

Praise in the Storm got a facelift! When I started this blog, I had no idea how to do anything other than use the ready-made templates available in Blogger. So, I chose one and started blogging. I thought I was big time because I figured out how to change the font and font color!

Then, last summer, I created a new blog for my classroom ideas. I spent days and days searching the web trying to figure out how to customize everything about it. And, I was successful! But, after that, I couldn't stand this blog! It just looked so BLAH! But, I never sat down and took the time to recreate it... until now!

Thank goodness the process was much faster this time! I got to do a lot of copying and pasting from my teacher blog, so this time it only took me about 2 days. And now I really like how it looks!

I know I've said before that I was going to try to post more regularly.... Well, that was a FAIL! It didn't happen! But I really am going to post more regularly! The difference is that before, I was just saying that I was going to do it. But, this time I have been feeling extremely nudged to do it. It seems like almost everywhere I go, God is showing me something that I could share by writing about it. I had to start making a list on my iPhone of all the ideas He's given me, so that I don't forget them! He gives me these little nudges all the time... while I'm running, on vacation, even when I'm watching TV! So, I have lots of good stuff to share, and it will be coming soon!

If you read this blog, and you like it, please feel free to share it! You are more than welcome to share a link on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or whatever your social media site of choice may be! Thanks for reading!