I'm sitting here at 11:21pm, the day before Mother's Day, thinking about my Mom. It's just starting to sink in to me that this will be (to the best that I can remember) the first Mother's Day I haven't spent with my Mom. She's just not in town this weekend. It's a strange thought - even though I know I saw her just a couple of days ago and I will again in a couple days, it seems a little strange not to be seeing her tomorrow.
To put it quite bluntly, I'm pretty sure that I couldn't ask for a better Mom. I'm serious! She is one of the hugest blessings in my life. I know that she is always there for me when something goes well and I'm excited, or when everything seems to be going wrong in my life. I know I often take that for granted.
But, I'm also incredibly grateful to know that she's always there. I've been a little more conscious of this fact that she is there in the last few months. My Mom was in a car accident, and although she walked away from it, it was the first time I thought seriously about the possibility of losing my Mom. And, it has made me all the more thankful for and appreciative of the fact that she is still here - that she is still only that quick phone call away.
I know that my parents' desire was for my sisters and I to grow up with a love for the Lord and a desire to follow and serve Him. And they modelled that with how they lived as we were growing up. My Mom was always encouraging me to get involved in serving - not just through words, but also through action. When I think of people who have served God and loved Him that I want to be like, my Mom is definitely one of those people. I admire her for that, especially beacuse I know that doing so hasn't always been easy for her in life. But she has persevered, and I want to be someone who perseveres through the tough times too.
My Mom has always seemed to be the "un-shock-able" kind of person. That makes her someone you can talk to easily about things. I know that, even if she thinks I'm out to lunch in what I say, I can't shock her and cause her to totally freak out. She's not afraid to say if I'm out to lunch ;) but she won't freak out on me. It makes her easy to talk to about so much of life. And it means that in many situations she is the first, or one of the first, people that I want to talk to and get advice from.
I appreciate that I can phone my Mom up and go for dinner, or dessert, or just go over to her house and "hang out." One of the favourite things for me is that every Sunday night that it works for both of us we meet at the grocery store and go shopping for the week together. Growing up, I always went grocery shopping with my Mom and I appreciate that we can still do that together, even though I no longer live at home. And while we shop, we always share about life - the stories of our weeks, what's coming up in the next week, what we're thinking about. It's a highlight of my week!
I also appreciate that whenever I'm over at my parents' house and I say that I need to go home, she responds with the words: "but this is your home!" I bug her about it all the time, but it reassures me to know that I always have a place of belonging there and am welcome there. It makes me feel loved beyond all I could imagine in life.
I have disagreements with my Mom and times she drives me up the wall, but even with those times I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. She is my hero. Honestly, when people ask me about my heroes in life my Mom is one of them. I love her a lot! And I couldn't ask for a better person to call Mom.
[OK, since she reads this blog, she may be embarrassed that I would post this on here, but I'm OK with that. I want the world to know how great my Mom is and how much I love her! So, I will post this Tribute to my Mom, because I'm not sure I always let her know how much I mean it when I say I love her, because I mean it with every fibre of my being and to the depths of my heart.]
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
love sincerely
I was listening to a speaker talk about 1 Peter 1:22 the other day. The verse talks about loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. The speakers sent a large portion of time talking about the phrase in that verse that says we to "have sincere love for your brothers." I also have spent a lot of time thinking about what sincere love is since I heard the message.
The original Greek word that has been translated sincere in this verse means "inexperienced in the art of acting, without a mask." The kind of thing talked about in this meaning makes it clear that the love being talked about in this verse is not just something we pretend or fake. It needs to be something that is real. Part of living out the Gospel in our lives involves us loving all people. This verse would say that, particularly when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should not be faking it, but that our love should be real.
Those words were challenging to me. I wonder how many people there are that are much like me - we have become very good at pretending to love someone when we really don't. We fake it when we're around certain people, but it's nothing more than that. I've definitely done that . . . and I would imagine most people have.
Hearing this message and doing some more study on this verse really did challenge me in my own life. Who are those people that I only fake love for? Why do I just pretend to love certain people? What would it look like for me to have sincere love for others?
The original Greek word that has been translated sincere in this verse means "inexperienced in the art of acting, without a mask." The kind of thing talked about in this meaning makes it clear that the love being talked about in this verse is not just something we pretend or fake. It needs to be something that is real. Part of living out the Gospel in our lives involves us loving all people. This verse would say that, particularly when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should not be faking it, but that our love should be real.
Those words were challenging to me. I wonder how many people there are that are much like me - we have become very good at pretending to love someone when we really don't. We fake it when we're around certain people, but it's nothing more than that. I've definitely done that . . . and I would imagine most people have.
Hearing this message and doing some more study on this verse really did challenge me in my own life. Who are those people that I only fake love for? Why do I just pretend to love certain people? What would it look like for me to have sincere love for others?
Sunday, May 3, 2009
ranking the importance of our jobs
I was having a conversation with my room-mates last night about work and how we see different jobs that we could have. It got me thinking about how we seem to rank our jobs in terms of importance. And I started wondering if we should be. Is it right that we see some jobs as more important than others? Or should we be seeing all jobs as at the same level?
Sure, I know that for some jobs there is a lot more training required. Some people have spent years in school learning and training for their job, while some jobs seems to require just a few hours or days of on-the-job training. But, does that really mean that the former is more important than the latter? I'm not so sure it really does.
[rabbit trail here]
At least not if we look at all our jobs as being our mission field - our place of ministry. We have this tendency to hold up pastors, missionaries, and those who work in other Christian organizations as being called to "full-time ministry." I think we do ourselves a great dis-service by doing so. Absolutely, pastors and missionaries are called to a high calling, but I really don't think they are the only ones called to full-time ministry.
Pastors and missionaries may earn their paycheque from ministry work, but I honestly believe that all followers of Christ are called to full-time ministry. The doctor, the accountant, the school teacher, the retail cashier, the electrician, the mechanic, the nurse, the fast food worker, the server, the cook, the student . . . and any other person doing any other job are called to full-time ministry. There is a reason why Jesus called us salt and light in Matthew 5 - because we are supposed to be that in our world! If we are to truly be salt and light, then we need to be out in the world, and we need to see the world that we interact with each day as our mission field.
[OK, back to what I was talking about at the beginning]
I wonder if sometimes we look at jobs that require more training or are more dangerous as being more important than other jobs. We talk constantly about moving up the ladder in our work life, and get concerned when it seems like we're moving down that ladder. But, does it really matter? Yes, we should always be striving to do our best in our job and that often helps us to move up that ladder; but I think we must be careful we don't get so caught up in moving up the ladder that we miss what God may actually be wanting us to do in our work.
I wonder if our pride gets in the way of going where God wants us. We feel like we're doing something important and we're helping people and making a difference where we're at, but God is calling us to work somewhere we don't feel is as important and so we resist. Our pride keeps us in the job we think is important by the world's standards, and we miss how God wants to use us and grow us in a job that we deem as less important.
[OK, to try to tie this all together]
I think maybe our attitude about our work, wherever we are, is what needs to change. Instead of looking at how important our job is - at how much training it required to get to where we are - maybe we need to look at our work from the viewpoint of serving. All that we do should be in service of Christ and of others. This isn't easy - it's counter-cultural to think this way. But, I think looking at our work in this way puts all jobs on a level playing field.
How am I serving God in my work?
How am I serving others in my work?
The answers to those questions may not be obvious at first glance, but I think we can all answer them, no matter what job we do.
Even looking back over some of the jobs I've had, I know it's not easy to answer. Quite honestly, at first glance seeing how I was serving God when I was working in fast food or in the cafeteria at college is hard. But, I know I was serving others through what I did, and as I served customers or fellow students with a smile (most of the time, definitely not always) and just tried to be a bright spot in my day, I was serving God as well. I was taking a few moments with my attitude to be salt and light and point people to Him in a job that I could have seen as nothing more than a way to make money to pay for school. At the time, I wasn't looking at those jobs in this way, but when I look back at them now I can see how it would have been helpful for me to think about those questions as I worked.
So, I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't see there as being a way of ranking the importance of our jobs. All followers of Christ are called to full-time ministry no matter where we earn our paycheque. And, in all our jobs, we are to be serving Christ and others, no matter what we are doing. I really do wonder how much our view of work and jobs would change if we started to think this way.
Sure, I know that for some jobs there is a lot more training required. Some people have spent years in school learning and training for their job, while some jobs seems to require just a few hours or days of on-the-job training. But, does that really mean that the former is more important than the latter? I'm not so sure it really does.
[rabbit trail here]
At least not if we look at all our jobs as being our mission field - our place of ministry. We have this tendency to hold up pastors, missionaries, and those who work in other Christian organizations as being called to "full-time ministry." I think we do ourselves a great dis-service by doing so. Absolutely, pastors and missionaries are called to a high calling, but I really don't think they are the only ones called to full-time ministry.
Pastors and missionaries may earn their paycheque from ministry work, but I honestly believe that all followers of Christ are called to full-time ministry. The doctor, the accountant, the school teacher, the retail cashier, the electrician, the mechanic, the nurse, the fast food worker, the server, the cook, the student . . . and any other person doing any other job are called to full-time ministry. There is a reason why Jesus called us salt and light in Matthew 5 - because we are supposed to be that in our world! If we are to truly be salt and light, then we need to be out in the world, and we need to see the world that we interact with each day as our mission field.
[OK, back to what I was talking about at the beginning]
I wonder if sometimes we look at jobs that require more training or are more dangerous as being more important than other jobs. We talk constantly about moving up the ladder in our work life, and get concerned when it seems like we're moving down that ladder. But, does it really matter? Yes, we should always be striving to do our best in our job and that often helps us to move up that ladder; but I think we must be careful we don't get so caught up in moving up the ladder that we miss what God may actually be wanting us to do in our work.
I wonder if our pride gets in the way of going where God wants us. We feel like we're doing something important and we're helping people and making a difference where we're at, but God is calling us to work somewhere we don't feel is as important and so we resist. Our pride keeps us in the job we think is important by the world's standards, and we miss how God wants to use us and grow us in a job that we deem as less important.
[OK, to try to tie this all together]
I think maybe our attitude about our work, wherever we are, is what needs to change. Instead of looking at how important our job is - at how much training it required to get to where we are - maybe we need to look at our work from the viewpoint of serving. All that we do should be in service of Christ and of others. This isn't easy - it's counter-cultural to think this way. But, I think looking at our work in this way puts all jobs on a level playing field.
How am I serving God in my work?
How am I serving others in my work?
The answers to those questions may not be obvious at first glance, but I think we can all answer them, no matter what job we do.
Even looking back over some of the jobs I've had, I know it's not easy to answer. Quite honestly, at first glance seeing how I was serving God when I was working in fast food or in the cafeteria at college is hard. But, I know I was serving others through what I did, and as I served customers or fellow students with a smile (most of the time, definitely not always) and just tried to be a bright spot in my day, I was serving God as well. I was taking a few moments with my attitude to be salt and light and point people to Him in a job that I could have seen as nothing more than a way to make money to pay for school. At the time, I wasn't looking at those jobs in this way, but when I look back at them now I can see how it would have been helpful for me to think about those questions as I worked.
So, I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't see there as being a way of ranking the importance of our jobs. All followers of Christ are called to full-time ministry no matter where we earn our paycheque. And, in all our jobs, we are to be serving Christ and others, no matter what we are doing. I really do wonder how much our view of work and jobs would change if we started to think this way.
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