What makes us distinct

Every time my mom visits, I like to invite some close friends over for a meal. This has become a small tradition of sorts (and I often struggle with how to decide who to invite).

2015 - 2013 - 2011 (top to bottom)

This year was the first time that the bulk of my friends who came were not Christian. And yet, my mom shared similar sentiments this time around as she has in years past--how sincere, genuine, and kind-hearted my friends are--and how happy (and approving) she is of the people I choose to surround myself with.

While I was thrilled that my mom had a great time, it also made me wonder about what make us distinct as Christ-followers. More specifically, what makes me distinct? Have I lost my saltiness?

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Launching points

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm gonna miss Wed night chapel times. Every Wed night, I meet with a couple people to pray for our lifegroup. Tonight as one of the members were closing out, he mentioned how thankful he was for the relationships that were built this year, and prayed that the accountability relationships would continue through the summer and beyond. It wasn't anything new, but that kind of specific prayer just didn't cross my mind for some reason. I couldn't help but giggle inside with excitement, as I thought about all the relationships that flourished AFTER a life group ended. Eight months is just too short of a time for a relationship to be built then ended. So many relationships flourished and went to deeper levels in the months and years following an "official" time period, which makes me feel a little less sad about this lifegroup coming to a close. The school year might be over, but the relationships last forever. Another reason w...

And just when you least expect it..

Today I went down to the food court with another intern and as I opened my box of sushi, I hesitated. Feeling as if there were too many eyes on me (I only ate with one other person -_-), I questioned whether I should pray before my meal, in fear of social rejection. After I prayed, she asked me if I was a Christian, and I awkwardly responded that I was. Then she said, "Finally! What a relief to know that there are other Christians!" WHAT THE.. I couldn't believe it. Here I was, sitting with a co-worker that I had simply exchanged cordial greetings with, now talking about God haha. Even though I was scared and honestly did NOT want to pray, God used a habitual thing like that to open up opportunities for me to invite her to small group and share my faith. Crazy how He works when you least expect it.

Delirious

delirious (adj): marked by uncontrollable excitement or emotion; ecstatic; filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 peter 1:8); me I don't think I had a personal relationship with God until 2 weeks ago. There have been a lot of formative moments and experiences in the past 6 years of me considering the existence of a higher-being, 3 yrs of being a Christian, 1 year of living by faith, 6 months of serving on church leadership, 1 month of dire circumstances, each of which have been challenged and supported by specific instances in my life.* But it's only been 2 weeks of finding pure joy, satisfaction, and freedom in Christ (alone). Though it's been 6 years since I first stepped into a church building and 3 years since I accepted Christ, I was always afraid to admit that I didn't know what grace, freedom, repentance, or Jesus meant--in terms other than the ones I had heard or read--it was always a theory and never a reality in my own life. After years of doing chur...

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