Has it been that long really?...

So many things have changed since the last time I wrote on my blog! 6 months ago I didn't have a 2 pound baby around 14 inches long growing in my belly. I used to be able to lift my laundry basket full of clothes and I wasn't falling asleep at around 8pm in utter exhaustion. But as I sit here looking at Rob's size 9.5 tennis shoes sitting on the carpet, next to a pair of newborn baby tennis shoes with the tags still on, I have no thoughts of those horrible contractions everyone keeps talking about, which I fear so much. SO! I am a mom, although I haven't given birth, this child moves in me, has a 4-chambered heart according to the ultrasound, can open his eyelids, respond to my voice and Rob's, he burps, hiccups, jumps, does somersaults, kicks me and makes me run to the pee-pee room quickly...

This little boy whom I've never seen is named Robert Nash McBryde. Robert after his daddy. Nash after a couple (Harold and Dena Nash) whom we love and respect. Rob likes to say that he named him "after his daddy, and then after a godly man [Harold]". Haha! The McBryde last name apparently will continue on since he is the last/next male to carry on the name. If we were in Nicaragua, he would also have his mommy's maiden name added to his birth certificate, passport, ID's, and any other government document. So in my mind, he's Robert Nash McBryde Velasquez. hehe! Funny thots. This all sounds so weird! :-)

ANY-ways! August 31, give or take a few days, is coming up real soon. One of several reasons why I waited to have children was the labor pains and the videos in Biology I saw in highschool. But last week in my 1st childbirthing class I realized the inevitable....this baby is coming out, you can't put him back, whether you're ready or not! When we took the hospital tour of *the delivery bed* and I saw those stirrups... I hyperventilated a bit and had mild contractions. HA! People tell me, "Ines, you're strong! don't worry about it!" and I'm thinking...."Are you KIDDING me??!" I'm a woos (sp?) for pain. I can do a lot of *unsafe* things like travel to countries with travel alerts and eat camel meat, but a big head coming out of....well, your body like that, seems *impossible* to me.... BUT, "women have been doing this for AGES!" others tell me...."and they even go back and do it AGAIN! you forget the pain." I want to tell those women: I'll put you on speaker when I'm screaming at the hospital. :-)

It's normal to feel hesitant of unknown territory. Be compassionate with the first-timer. :-) I'm going to bed and keep growing this baby a little more...
~Ines

Walking With God - Best Sermon Illustration Ever!

Ping.fm for all you status updating/blogging junkies...

Ping.fm is a simple service that makes updating your social networks a snap.

The set up was simple and now I don't have to visit six different websites to post status updates or blogs.

Check it out and make your life simpler. :)

Sincerely,

Rob McB

~2 x 2 anniversary~

4 years ago today I was getting my hair done before I put on my veil and wedding gown. I woke up determined that I didn't care what went wrong that day, as long as Rob and the pastor marrying us were there. The cake came about an hour and a half late, undecorated, and that didn't even bug me. The video guy also came 10 minutes after the ceremony was over, I think, so we don't have a video of the wedding. But the photographer was awesome and so were my friends and family who volunteered to decorate, cut fruit, pass out programs, pick up out-of- country family at the airport, run to Kroger an hour before the pictures to buy new roses when my bouquet was accidentally left in the freezer a minute too long... but it was a glorious day and I was not going to be one of those bride-zillas. I was wearing white flip-flops on a December afternoon, but the "fall"-weather was gorgeous. Nothing could move me.

That week I had graduated from college. Taken 3 final exams. Presented my final thesis before a panel of instructors. Attended our wedding rehearsal + dinner. Kind-of sorta moved out of my apartment. And gotten married! I felt like super woman, but very exhausted.

I should be getting ready because I'm having lunch with my lovely husband today. But I wanted to take some time to thank God for these past 4 years of marriage. So much has happened that it feels like 10 years, haha! but in a good way obviously. Rob is the funniest guy, so encouraging of me, lovingly challenges me when I get out of line, we never let the sun go down if we're mad at each other (which is rare! this sounds like we fight every week, haha), and he supports & protects me. He's also my best friend and I'm still getting to know him more and more every day. I'm a better person because of him. Okay, I better go get ready or I will be fashionably late, as any good Nicaraguan would to a social gathering, but he still loves me! Yep, he's gotten used to that about me, too. :-)

my name given in the desert is Barca

"*Arabic-babbling-gibberish-rambling-BARCA*", my host mom, ******, said to me. I turned to her 17-year-old daughter, ****** (the "y" pronounced like the "dg" in bridge, kindoff...) and asked in Spanish, "¿Qué dijo tu mamá?" (what did your mom say). ****** responded, "She's given you a name...your name now is Barca." I was even more perplexed, "what does it mean?" ****** smiled, "It means good person in Arabic." AH! good, that sounds better than what it means in Spanish: BOAT! Does the melfa make me look fat or something? ;-)

I was sharing with a new friend, Deborah, this evening about my trip to the ****** Refugee Camps in ******, North Africa. I like it when people have specific questions to ask about the trip than when someone simply asks, "so, tell me about your trip..." Deborah was very specific and I was quite thankful! Because usually, I don't even know where to begin. I feel overwhelmed with the images, the sounds, the up-and-down emotions, the smells, the injustice of a people, and it's so difficult to convey. If I could just hand them over my journal entries for every day of those 12 days, then they would begin getting an idea, than what my random ramblings nowadays attempt to communicate.

15 november, 2008, ****** camps, ******

Yesterday we went to the dunes and it was so peaceful. I listened to Nina Landis' song, God of the Heavens, over and over watching the amazing sky. She sings about listening to God, rising up, and taking action against injustice. The sand was cool and soft, so cool that I lay on it and stared up at the sky, with my Ipod on repeat. Tiffany came over and sat next to me. She wrote a letter to her daughter and thot of me. She read it out loud and made me cry. I saw a butterfly on the sand. Took a picture of it. Some people played baseball with the ******. The drivers drove insanely fast and raced each other thru the sand and rocks on the non-existent road. I held on to the backseat of the Toyota Landcruiser fiercely. Mike asked, "is this your first desert ride?" I must have looked scared.

This morning I woke up and saw a different sky above me. It was the night sky. I saw a couple of shooting starts in the dark, blue sky. It was already full of the brightest starts ever. The moon was full and super white and bright. No need for a flashlight to walk to the squatty-potty. I've never slept under the desert sky.

7:05pm

I'm sitting next to ****** who is wearing a maroon red mulfa. Captivating eyes. Gentle hands. Happy smile. Writing a letter to an American friend for someone to take back. She's got the Kingdom in her eyes. She wants to tell others about her religion and that's why she's learning other languages. The misunderstandings make her sad, she says. She knows God's love, mercy, and forgiveness is here everyday available to all. Creation tells of His glory. Amazing what I'm hearing. She's 19 and wants to marry a man who shares her dreams: to adopt orphans. She seems like a normal girl to me.

We're getting ready to leave tonight. I'm mostly packed, ready to go home... and not. ****** has a sad looking face. Her wrinkles around her mouth aren't showing because she's not laughing. She LOVED the raw honey and home-made peach jam I brought her from home. I'm going to miss her waltzing in my room a hundred times each day and asking, "Labes??!!" (how are you in ****** arabic)

~remembering a legend~

Yesterday I received the tragic news that one of my heroes in life went to be with the Lord. Like the apostle Paul says, he became "absent in body, but present with the Lord". After crying and mourning for a while, I decided, "wait a minute, he's happy! and wait another minute, this man truly lived for God!" Was there something this man hadn't done?

Married a beautiful godly woman who kept him on his toes. Worked incessantly to be the best in his field (water engineering, just google his name). Traveled all over the world. Did everything with excellence and every ounce of work that he labored was done as unto God. In the midst of my mourning heart, I've decided to try to also rejoice for a life well lived and count myself blessed to have met a man like him, a mentor and example to learn from.

One of the funny things I remember about Otto is that I called him "Mr.Otto" one time in an e-mail. He was so smart and intelligent that at first he intimidated me and I was very formal in my greetings. He corrected me by replying to my e-mail and said, "please call me Otto. Furthermore, it is grammatically incorrect to say "mister" and then a first name." I loved his matter-of-factness in that instant! And I was amazed that Dr.Helweg would let *me* just call him "Otto".

Otto was the only one who could make our office staff scramble like crazy if he was about to lead a meeting. He would come into everyone's cubicle at 5 'till and remind you of the time. And by-golly, you dropped whatever you were doing when he did that, grabbed notepad and pen, and ran to where the meeting would take place. For those of you who know what the term "Mosaic-time" means, you know it is unheard of for anything to start on time. If Otto had you scheduled to speak in his meeting agenda, be sure you didn't go over your carefully allotted time, or he would gently, but firmly cut you off and let you know time was up. Like he did to CESAR one time, when he said, "CARLOS, we've got to move on to the next person, your 4 minutes are up." I almost fell on the floor laughing when his loving wife leaned over, horrified, and whispered in his ear, "his name is CESAR, not CARLOS."

I loved this 77-year-old Navy-man who was no-nonsense and would get things done in a timely manner and with utmost excellence. He inspired a group of young adults one time by making a case for never separating "secular" work from "holy" work, since, he noted, Adam was given the first job in the garden and that was to work. Therefore do everything you do as if it was for God, and God would be most high exalted when you did it. When he shared, this stiff, military man cried, and I couldn't believe it! I don't think I ever saw him cry again, but I realized this was a deep issue in his relationship with God. No wonder God entrusted him with such a genius brain, to use it all for service to God. His words resonated with me and became the building blocks of an important personal move in my own life.

Last year he spent a whole year in Rwanda doing amazing water engineering projects with the government, building wells, fixing old wells, and creating the country's first-ever water infrastructure. Most men his age would have said, "I'm done. I deserve to rest and retire." Not Otto. He didn't find evidence of "retirement" in the Bible, so he kept using his amazing brain to bless individuals, communities, and whole 3rd-world countries. Living Water International will never be the same without him (in my personal, humble opinion). He visited so many countries and lived abroad for so many years, it'd be hard to keep up with all the lives he exponentially impacted. His resume was pages and pages long of honors and awards.

There are a couple of other funny Otto moments where you wouldn't believe what came out of his mouth, but it was hilarious. I'll just have to leave that for another time. His home was always open for young adults. He was always open to talk about deep things. He had a dry sense of humour, but to me it was hilarious. I could see right through him, to see the heart of gold that he had for God, when others might have been intimidated with his stiffness, haha. He was all about using your life to impact the Kingdom of God. I want to be like him when I grow up. I want to live my life, whatever that is made up of, to the fullest, using every ounce of what God has entrusted me to live for God. To do even the most mundane, daily tasks with excellence, not because anyone else is watching, but because God is pleased when you do your best. Only then, will God entrust you with bigger things.

These are just a few thoughts on Otto's life and how it honored God & blessed me. Pray for his lovely wife Virginia, that the loss of her beloved one would not be too much to bear.

~Inés

better write something quick

SO! hello? anybody out there? *thumping finger on the mike* 1, 2, 3, check. Well, I have neglected writing anything in the last few weeks. I guess this new job and life in general (like sleeping in late in the mornings) has kept me from the written word. I don't have much to say except that I'm also procrastinating right now. I should be writing a support letter for my trip to Algeria, but like the queen of procrastination that I am, I find anything else to do instead of what I should do. The problem is that I'd like to begin the opening of this letter a certain way, but I'm considering the consequences, and the little voice inside me says, "be wise". So, on to other things...

So instead let me congratulate my "little brother" (who's like a foot taller than me) on turning twenty-seven last Monday. The only reason I still call him my little brother is to remind him that I'm older. ha! My brother Ali is the coolest 27-year old brother you could ever have. Thinking back to the fights growing up, the unnecessary arguments, the petty words said to each other, makes me laugh now. You know that saying, "you don't know what you got, till it's gone"? well, when we both were gone to college is probably when we became better friends and appreciated each other more. Since then we've grown, matured, challenged each other, got upset at each other, forgiven each other, and most important learn to love each other better (loving others the way THEY want to be loved, not the way YOU want to love them). I enjoy talking on the phone with Ali cuz he always says something to make me laugh, but also he always has encouraging words where God speaks directly to me, through him (and don't tell him I say this, cuz you know, he's "little" bro). We both are *tight* now, much different than the hormonal teens we once were.


The latest on my bro is that he's been recommended by the pastor of his church as a candidate to be an elder. My initial first thoughts as a protective sister were, "oh no!!!", because after working in paid-full-time-ministry for several years, I knew the stress & pain (and joy, too, but more pain) this would bring into his life, marriage, etc. But of course, it's an honor to know he's even been considered for such a critical position in the Body of Christ. This has caused much *discussion* and controversy with their elder board because of his young age, so it's up to men to figure that out with God. Good thing it doesn't depend on me! So, when they figure it out, it'd be fun to say that my brother, the elder, is really not the elder of the sibling bunch. He still has to mind me, you know. haha! He really doesn't have to mind me, he does just fine without me!

And now, a blast to the past picture from the 80's when we were visiting Acapulco, in a boat headed to see the "virgin Mary of Guadalupe" statue somewhere in the bottom of the sea (we never saw it, we didn't get a refund for the boat ride either).

Jamna and Jon's Wedding

Nicaragua Sights and Sounds

Montelimar Beach Resort - Nicaragua

Saludos from Nicaragua!

Mafalda says: *present* yourself to make a change

I've worked a night shift (2-11pm) and an early morning 8-hour shift at the hospital in the last 24 hours. Today I literally only sat down for 20 minutes to inhale my lunch. So when I got home I doctored my foot blisters and decided to sit on the couch and read nothing too heavy to rest my brain (and my spine!). I grabbed a comic strip book of one of my favorite cartoons ever (right there with Snoopy): Mafalda. I bought this book in Spain a few years ago to remember this cute little 5 year old Argentinian girl with an inquisitive little mind, who always gets her foot stuck in her mouth, continually asks her parents deep existentialist questions, but also makes you laugh at her innocence! For a 5 year old, she is deeply concerned about humanity, world peace, and rebels against social injustices.

The following is the translation of one of the strips. "Guys! It turns out that if you don't hurry up and change the world, it ends up changing you!" I'm NOT trying to overspiritualize everything, but the strip made me think of Romans 12:1-2 and I had a faith-growing moment meditating on this verse, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

There it is. God in the comic strip. All truth is God's truth! ~Inés

avocados, simplicity, thankfulness, new job

My friend Cari works in the slums of Uganda with orphans and 60 year old women who can't read. I was reading her newsletter today and I had to read this about 4 times because it cut thru my heart. Read it slowly so you won't miss what you're supposed to catch. Try to picture it in color:

"Right now, both the literacy classes and the Bible studies meet in an open field under an avocado tree."

OPEN field. UNDER. An AVOCADO TREE. 60 year old women. Some who have never attended school. [This is yet another reason that supports my pet peeve of people not driving places (like for Bible studies or fellowships or to be with friends), because it's "too far away"]. My husband is reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. One of these habits is being proactive. I think these Ugandans under the Avocado Tree are pretty proactive to me. Pretty determined. They will get places one day. Especially the 60 year olds. It's pretty simple: you can't read, you're a woman who depends on other people, you never went to school or never finished, and now there's classes under the avocado tree... what makes you stop trying? what obstacle seems too large? how easily do you give up? do you bust down closed doors or just think, oh well, it's a closed door, it's too hard to try...?

I just got a shot of determination all of a sudden! Because of the avocado tree and the determined women sitting under it in the heat. Which leads me to giving away my shoes. I know, how does this thought connect? I've been giving away my nice things lately. Because it doesn't really hurt when you give away the things you don't like anymore. I'm trying to simplify again. I don't need flip-flops in all different colors. I need to finish all my body lotions before I buy another one. I have to wear all my nice clothes that have been hanging in my closet for ages, because I paid money for them! So I dress up for no reason at all. What if I get hit by a truck tomorrow? Here I've been waiting for a *special* day to wear these nice skirts and dresses? Good grief! Just wear it and look pretty. Today is special because anything could happen tomorrow. Life is not guaranteed. Turn off the lights when you're not using them. Shut the tap water if you're brushing your teeth. I recently actually started using the towel holders for our wet towels after we bathe, because having *decorative* towels on the towel holders that weren't used suddenly felt insanely impractical to ME (i'm not calling you insane if you like decorative towels, because I love creativity and color in the home). Buy generic brands. Recycle. Switch to green energy-saving light bulbs. Save money so you can give a lot of it away to those who need it.

So let me jump around some more. I'm just thankful for all that I have. I'm thankful for a new job. Gas in my car. A rooftop over my head. HEALTH. Clothes that protect me from the elements. Food. A spare bedroom for people who need it. Opportunity to work. Health benefits. And so many more things...

I'm not saying that *things* are important or above people. But when I look around and see all those *things* that have been entrusted to me, that make my life easier and more comfortable, I have to give thanks to God for them, even if it seems silly. Because, if you're not thankful for the little things, why would God give you big things to be entrusted with? Again- NOT that I'm aiming for big things. But you know what I mean. This is not about being materialistic, simply being thankful for even the darnest, stupid, little things that have been given to us as a blessing, in order for us to be a blessing to others. That's the catch.

So today, I'm thankful for the cooler shade provided by Avocado trees.

God, life, and learning. All under an avocado tree. Oh joy!

~Ines

God forges us into His image and we forge things

Our friend Mike Deibert started a Vocational School in Nicaragua to help (and mentor) young men learn a trade in welding, blacksmithing, working with metal, and fixing diesel engines. I've been amazed at how much he has accomplished in only a few years time. He literally went around the USA looking for donated tools, scrap metal, and whatever else you need for a welding school-- filled a container and sent it to Managua. I'm sure there's more to it but I don't know all the details!

A few weeks ago he sent another of his amazing updates on the school and his students. Here is what he wrote. It spoke to me in so many different levels. A picture is worth a thousand words. Perhaps when you read him and look at the picture he's pointing at, it will speak to you and your life in a way that my words can't.

For me, it represented: hope & congratulations! (with an exclammation mark). As I look back to the past several years, I can get bogged down with the failures & mistakes I've made, while overshadowing what God has done in me and others thru the trials. But when I saw this picture God straight up said to me, "Inés, look where you have come from! Imagine what more I will do in you and through you! You're doing great kid! Keep on keepin' on!"

Okay, I hope the picture speaks to your heart. YOU and I are truly in God's hands and on our way to all that God has for us.... Mike writes: Things have been progressing at the vocational school. The first accomplishment I’d like to share with you is about one of my students, Jaime. Jaime is one of my students who has been with me since the start of the vocational school. He has shown great willingness to learn and exceptional leadership among the other students. In the picture you can see some of Jaime’s progress. You’ll notice two chairs in the picture. The chair on the right is one that Jaime designed and built six months ago. The chair on the left is one that he designed and built two weeks ago. Can you see the progress? Can you see how far he has come? I am very proud of him and believe he is on his way to being all God has for him.

Even a good house on solid rock needs a little water

My brother and sister-in-law came to visit us from San Antonio a couple of weekends ago. We had a fabulous time visiting with all of our humongous family, walking the Big Dam Bridge (a bridge over the dam; what did you think I said?), talking and talking. Ali began telling us a story about their house. A few months ago they had noticed a crack on the floor tile but didn't think anything of it. Later they realized that the crack was spreading across the house and even going up on the wall. Come to find out, an inspector later, they found out the foundation had cracked because the soil around it was dry...too dry...even for Texas weather. I can imagine my brother wide-eyed and blinking, "hmmm....I guess a year of not watering the yard and just letting nature take care of itself, didn't do us any good."

So a few days ago I was driving around thinking about how spiritually dry I have felt for some time now. My brother's house came to mind. I also reminisced about a sermon my father preached 2 weekends ago. It was about the wise man who built his house on a rock vs. the foolish man who built his on sand. We all know how that story goes. But I never thought of the opposite possibility. Rather than, "the rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell-- and great was its fall." (matthew 7:27)... There *can* be such a thing as not enough H2O! Hmmm..."there was a drought in Texas, my brother was saving on the water bill, the sun scorched the soil, and it started to get to the foundation; and it cracked-- a great, BIG old crack, like all things BIG in Texas!"

I meditated on this while I was driving. You can have a great foundation, but how amazing that the soil's humidity around you can still affect you to the point where your walls crack? So I began thinking that for some time now (more like years), I hadn't been fed on a regular basis in one way that I expected or needed. My previous job description kept me from personally munching on a Sunday morning sermon, meanwhile regurgitating a simultaneously interpreted sermon into another language for someone else to think about. I stretched myself in ways that led to my detriment & deterioration over seven years (only listening to perhaps a dozen sermons without interpreting). True, I did self-feed thru inductive Bible study and learned from others in informal settings. But I realize how much *I* (Inés) need & love the Word of God taught to me, a little, ignorant sheep, from a shepherd. I think back to when Jesus asked Peter 3 times if Peter loved Him, and Peter responded, "Lord, you know I *like* you.", and Jesus would reply to that, "then feed my sheep." What an intense command to Peter! It required not just that Peter *like* Jesus, but that he *love* Jesus, as well as the sheep he would feed! (And do you know who taught me this truth?? Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, 8 years ago! And I never forget.)

So, I'm going to this new church where I actually get to sit & listen, and the only thing that catches my heart is the Word of God taught in power, in love, with the Spirit's anointing, and it's like I've never heard these words before! My "giggles, hmm's and my amen's" must be surprising and maybe even annoying to those sitting around me. But you don't understand, when you're thirsty and you get a cold, glistening glass of water, it's like no better drink in the world! I feel like a little child hearing for the first time. I'm sure there are other issues that contribute to this melancholic mood, but I'm taking it one step at a time, and this is one thing I've figured out.

The Lord's promise to us who are thirsty,
with dry, cracked foundations,
with having received insult and injury, is this:

"And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot

from doing your own pleasure on my Holy day,

And call the sabbath a delight...and honor it...then you will take delight in the Lord."

Isaiah 58:11-14.

i'm having black & red flashbacks

So, many of you know I grew up in Nicaragua. Or, like my husband likes to put it, "she grew up in Communism", as he lovingly makes fun of my stories about when we only had oatmeal and water to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during the Revolution in 1979. The Sandinistas took over and after that, the unwritten rule was that you never wore the colors red and black together, unless, you know, you were with *them*. Many women were angry because those were great fashion combination colors. But, you just didn't want to be associated with the little, tattered red/black flags hanging on TV antennas on people's roofs.

I saw on facebook that many of my high school friends were joining this "march for democracy" in Managua yesterday and I was ultra-curious about what this was. (My friends don't *march* on the *streets*). So I was surprised to see that people of all socio-economic classes, ages, and political affiliations, had joined the "blue and white" march (for the colors of our flag). They're all protesting the current socialist president's pact with the liberal ex-president who happens to be convicted for money-laundering (I went to school with his son). They're protesting against hunger (the price of beans has tripled in the last few months and some can only afford to eat beans twice a week now, THIS is horrendous in my eyes, haha), and they're also protesting against this institutional dictatorship. So women holding babies on their hips, old men, young, ex-revolutionaries, feminist women, bohemian poets, idealist students, the bourgeoisie, all backed up the "blue and white" flag. And this ladies and gentlemen, is a step forward for our country!

I found this funny picture that only Nicaraguans would understand, but I think if you love sarcasm you can still catch a glimpse of how spunky this united march was. Use your imagination and guess *who* in Nicaragua is being *sent* to Venezuela. The little girl alligator is his wife. (you can click on each picture to enlarge)
~Ines

Happy May Birthdays! Stacey, Inés, Sadie, Sara Lydia

Make a Smilebox slideshow

shut y'er mouth sometimes....

When do you hold your tongue and when do you speak your mind? I found this quote very encouraging the last few weeks of my life. My father has told me before something along the lines of, "being courteous doesn't take away from being courageous Ines". Meaning, you're not weak or a *woos* for not saying what your flesh wants to say. It takes way more effort for me to hold my tongue, believe it or not! so, for those of you thinking about the tongue and whether it improves the silence or not, here's a quote from somewhere in the Holocaust Museum, which encouraged ME at this time of my life...

"A well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech." ~Martin Fraquhar Tupper

Pics from Washington, DC trip...

A Downward Spiral: descending into greatness

I heard a deep sermon recently about one of my favorite passages in Scripture, one that I had no idea has been called, "the Philippian hymn", out of Phil. 2:5-11. I LOVE how God's Word continues to surprise me to no end. Here's a positive way to see someone going in a downward spiral:

Jesus was on a *downward journey*. He begins at the highest of the highs. He steps down and makes himself nothing (v.7) As humans, we have a tendency to use a position of power or authority and use it for our own good. We put others down to make ourselves look good and feel better. Yet few use it for the benefit of others. I love it how Jesus doesn't cease being God, He simply chooses not to use His divine right, and walks in the flesh, and conquers it.

So then he places Himself into the position of least influence. Born out of wedlock to a young girl engaged to a man who's thinking of leaving her. Can you imagine the neighbors talking? But His journey of obedience pays off. His humiliation to the point of death, and death on a cross no less, brings about His exultation.

We love to get to the point of His *exultation*- big word, huh? We fix our eyes on that prize. Yet the dirty journey is where this glory is found. Jesus descends into greatness. It's not a cosmic reward package with balloons and fireworks and warm/fuzzy feelings. It's kind of messy, painful, frustrating, sad, humiliating (he hung naked on the cross people, we don't see that in the movies...), heart-breaking, friends leave him, friends betray him, his own half-brothers doubt Him.

On another wavelength...what if we took Jesus' words seriously? I think the preacher said Shane Claiborne stated this in his Irresistible Revolution book. What if we really sold everything and gave it to the poor? What if we go to people who are forgotten & others think they're insignificant? What if we give up our right to *positions* and actually hang out with broken people? What if we leave our desks behind and walk in a revolutionary way? (Revolutionaries do not lead from behind a desk, Erwin McMannus).

My friend Amos went out into the streets today. He asked a man smoking a joint what he would look for in a church. The guy said something about feeling welcomed right where he's at. And as he smoked his joint, he said something about someone needing to do something about these young kids getting into trouble. He takes a puff. Ha! nice.

Back to Jesus. Empty yourself of your right to be right. Humble yourself like Jesus. Take on this attitude. Do what He says. Walk to actually match what you say you believe. Become last. Actually serve. Rejoice when you are forgotten and another gets the recognition. Rejoice when you don't respond in the flesh. Do not cling to your title. Be compassionate towards all people. Spend time with the forgotten ones or the socially unstable. Listen to those in pain. Offer your time.

The cross bids you to come and die and find that this is how you truly live.
This is descending into greatness.

~Ines