We want to share with you a couple of dates of upcoming events. Mark your calendars for our next Wednesday night En Route event and our Spring Women's Retreat. See all the details below.
NOVEMBER 14th EN ROUTE (women's large group gathering)
@ Warehouse 242 :: 6:30 PM doors open for dessert & coffee :: 7:00 PM event begins
This Year's Theme: We're exploring how we become authentic travelers on this journey with God...versus being tourists and posers.
November's Conversation: Journeying with God through Seasons of Waiting
We are all waiting for something, someone to make life a grander adventure or perhaps simply bearable. Tamara Park will be sharing her own story of waiting and lead us in an examination of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her journey of waiting.
**Please note the change in start time. Our arena time will now be from 7-8:30 PM. Childcare will again be available upon request. Please email women@warehouse242.org to inquire.
SPRING WOMEN'S RETREAT We finally have the details on our second annual Spring Women's Retreat!
Mark your calendars now and SAVE THE DATE!
Friday, April 26th- Sunday, April 28th at the beautiful Montreat Conference Center in Black Mountain, NC.
Lica Garnett is an active member of the Warehouse 242 community, and is co-leading an upcoming New ID Class at Forest Hill Church. New ID is a six week long course for people struggling iwth eating disorders. The course begins Tuesday, Sept 18th at 6:30 PM and space is limited. Registration closes Friday September 14th. You can find more information here.
I was asked to write a blog entry to share about New ID; the only way I can share about the class is by sharing part of my journey.
I have struggled with self image all of my life, and this is not an exaggeration. One of my earliest memories is rubbing algae cream, a supposed fat burner, on my twelve year old belly and wrapping myself in saran wrap because I was ‘fat’ and my belly to flabby. This is the time when I started my first diet. Puberty hit at around 15 and with it the drama of not being magazine looking skinny. Heck, I had inherited my grandmother’s hips and her curvy looks, so hello diets, patches, pills, soups… I was always dieting and always feeling fat: this was my understanding of a normal relationship with my body.
At 17, I moved to the US for a few months to learn English, and during that time I became a Christian. I went back to Colombia for a final farewell (my whole family was relocating to Florida), and the majority of initial interactions with friends and family had to do with my new looks. A common opening line was “what in the world did they feed you over there?” The entire return home was consumed with everyone commenting on my weight. I came back to the US, our new home, with a mission: accelerated dieting. I tried Slim Fast, over the counter pills, another soup concoction...One afternoon I was watching TV and saw a character that had bulimia; she was throwing up her food. The light went on in my head. All I needed now was to throw up what I ate, genius, I thought. The purging started.
For eight solid years I had an intense- full blown eating disorder, Bulimia. I spent many days, months and years worrying about pounds, inches, and diets. These years involved heavy diets, laxatives, diet pills, throwing up and complete and absolute despair. My fear of fat was paralyzing. I had blisters in my mouth and had holes on the roof of my mouth. I lost a lot of hair and my finger nails did not grow.
Despite it all, I hid it well. Most people didn’t know. I never talked about it, and my curvy body shape allowed me to hide the disorder. I felt inadequate, unattractive and insecure. I was extremely competent socially; people would come up to me for advice and friendship, so nobody imagined ‘I’ could struggle with something like ‘that.’ I didn’t ask for help, and never shared my struggles and flaws. I thought if I shared with others they would think I was too much.
In 2008, I attended a women’s retreat where I heard for the first time the story of the bleeding woman in the gospel of Mark. She had been cast away from society; the world with its doctors had nothing to offer to her. She heard about Jesus and traveled for miles to see him. She believed she would be healed if she could only touch his robe. And she went on this long, difficult journey after Jesus. She was healed, and she was called daughter. I felt I was like the bleeding woman, and I was ready for a journey after Jesus.
The spiritual component of my struggle started to make sense that weekend. God softened my heart. I learned that I was untrusting, which led me to feeling inadequate, not worthy, not whole, and not good enough. I was covering up these feelings with an erroneous sense of independence. The truth was that I needed to believe God’s promise that he would never leave me, never forsake me. He was my father and my maker. Even more, he had made me perfect, fearfully and wonderfully made, and he had a plan for my life – Psalm 139:14. So if the God of the universe had made me, who was I to tell him that he had messed up? Who was I to tell the God of the universe he had gone overboard in the hip department? He had made ME; perfect, according to his plan.
With my new found identity as a daughter, who was loved, cherished and who would never be left alone, my self hatred was over. My recovery had just begun. I spent the next two years looking at my relationship with God, and how it spilled into my idea of self. I learned about feelings – I was actually given a feelings chart in counseling and got to use lots of new words. I understood it was ok to be open and vulnerable, and there was no point in being rigid and always in control. I learned to be in the moment and constantly checking in and asking myself “How do I feel NOW??? Can I name it?” I understood having needs was different than being needy and ended up liking who I was as a person. Recovery was a time when I got to see me as God intended me to be.
I got to attend New ID for the first time in 2009. I learned so much about my identity in Christ. I heard the message of freedom being presented for the first time, and by this point I had seen quite a few counselors that had informed me this would be my life- long struggle. The idea of not having an eating disorder attached to my identity was revolutionary without a doubt. I had to dig deep to realize while I was going through the motions of freedom, I was not really free. I had learned to manage my disorder, but I had become attached to it.
Since 2009, I have not stopped being involved with New ID as a co-leader helping to facilitate the class in various churches in Charlotte and seeing many women from many walks of life hearing, for the first time, that freedom is possible. God delivered me from this hell and set me free. I know he loves me; he is in control, and he has a plan. I know that there is nothing that can happen that he cannot use to deepen my relationship with him, and I have submitted my life to his plan and his authority. I am currently walking in freedom, which is not an easy path because I am constantly tempted, but when I hit a bump I look back at where I started and remember I was redeemed.
This is a 20 video that is well worth your time. This is Brene Brown's TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability, from 2010. It is a talk that challenges me and stirs in me a hunger to embrace and move more deeply into the uncomfortable terrain of vulnerability. In the coming weeks, several women are going to make bold moves of vulnerability in sharing their stories and themselves through this blog and at our September 19th En Route Gathering (you can get the details here).
I am reminded of something Kelly Boyce shared at our July En Route Gathering...honest self-reflection is daring and takes courage, but the gospel gives us the courage and confidence we need to be vulnerable, knowing we are undergirded by God's love and grace.
Brene's message is so good!!! I hope you can take the time to pause, to listen, and receive.
Your Invitation to See, Pray, Do on Friday, Aug 31st
In my head—where visions of my ideal self reside well fed and contented—I am a stellar spy. Actually, I’m one of the best.
In real life, I routinely lose at hide-and-seek.
As difficult as it is to admit, I could likely never pull off being a “leap across rooftops in a short leather skirt and take down national enemies with a kiss” type of spy.
However, I’m learning to be a different kind of spy.
For the past year I’ve been invited to spy out hope in the most unexpected of places: among the sex-trafficked and traded.
I’ve had the opportunity to interview survivors and modern-day abolitionists throughout the US and SE Asia. I have heard gut-wrenching stories that have made me want to scream out in fury. And, I have listened to extraordinary tales of transformation that have struck me speechless.
Young women…and young men…turned into commodities. Some captivated by force; others imprisoned by the hope of love, the need for money or the fear of death. And some of these young women and men have been rescued, liberated and actively helping others.
On this journey I have seen more potent pictures of the Gospel than I’ve ever encountered before.
This August 31st, I invite you to become a spy too. Please join me to hear a couple of short stories of the trafficked in SE Asia and find out what is happening right here in Charlotte. A survivor who was trafficked in the Carolinas will share a bit of her story and the creative and soulful work she is doing to help stem the sex-trade in Charlotte. We will also take time pray for the hundreds, if not thousands, who will be brought in and exploited during the DNC. And, you will find out ways you can make a difference in this fight and not only spy out hope but also spread it.
DATE & TIME: Friday, August 31 // 7:30-9:00pm LOCALE: Warehouse 242 RSVP: tamarapark@mac.com INVITE FRIENDS? Of course! WANT TO HELP WITH THE EVENT? Fabulous. Contact me at tamarapark@mac.com.
Do you pick a theme for your year every January? I do. I think a lot of people do, but I also think a lot of us forget about it a few months into the year just like we forget about our renewed commitment to exercise or read more or whatever. But there is something significant about putting a name to things. It gives clarity.
At the marriage class this past Tuesday, (which has been so good by the way if you were unable to attend). Palmer asked "What do you expect or want from marriage? What makes an A+ marriage?" I love that question because it is so easy to rock along in life never naming who you want to be, what you want to be core in your life, your goals, your vision for life. This can be applied to almost anything. Your career. Parenting. The culture you desire for your family and home. Your struggles. Your crisis. Whatever season you are in. Something happens when you name it. It is a powerful thing.
Palmer also quoted Zig Ziglar who says, "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." But even more tragic than "hitting nothing" is missing God in the moments of your life.
We meet God in the naming. The past few months have been hard ones for me. And then this past week has been a week of upheaval and heartache for me personally. It has been a week of grief and loss. So yesterday morning I opened my journal back to January and I read through my conversation with God about the year 2012. I read about my desire to surrender control and know Him in weakness, to posture myself in such a way that invites Him to carry me, lead me, hold me. To not be so self-reliant. I also read about my theme for the year of courage, courage of heart.
I have some heros when it comes to courageous hearts. And in January 2012 I journaled about these women. One friend's courage to forgive and heal. Another friend's courage to hope when it would have been easier to "move on." And our brave Libba Armenta's amazing courage to truly Live in the moment amidst tremendous grief and sorrow. I wrote,
"Each of these women have courageously trusted their hearts to you when they could have "played it safe" and protected themselves. Some might even have considered it wise and prudent or "guarding their hearts" to have walled themselves off. Yet verses like "guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life" and "out of the heart the mouth speaks" speak of how incredibly valuable the heart is because it is the center and source out of which we live. We must care-well for our hearts (not wall them off) if we want to live well. Each of these women have chosen to embrace living from the heart and courageously, not naively, trusting you through the process."
Right now I find my heart is in a fragile place that I would not have chosen for myself, yet God was so very kind to whisper these words to me back in Janaury. To "aim" my heart towards this kind of heart courage. The words He spoke, the year He named for me back in January is orienting me through a disorienting time. It is anchoring me. His words are life. His words sustain me. His words can sustain you, too, but it begins with creating the quiet to pursue Him and hear Him. We must take the time to name where we are. We must pause to hear His namings, His vision and hope for our seasons.
This is what it is be a traveller. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, He is not safe, and so the journey isn't always safe either. It is not for the faint of heart. But He is good. He is good. He is good. He is good.
The theme of our retreat last March was Your Story Matters. And over the coming months we intend to share stories. Stories of Travellers. Stories of how God meets us. Wherever we find ourselves. He meets us. In broken and painful places. In ordinary moments. He is there. But sadly we can miss Him because we live with a lot of noise. We do not take time to listen to His whispers. We power through heartache and hardships. We numb ourselves with distractions. But He is there. If we will quiet ourselves, if we will seek Him and ask Him, He will speak to us. He will speak to us when our life feels like it is unraveling, and He will speak to us while we are washing the dishes. He cares about it all.
In September Libba Armenta will be sharing with us at our En Route Gathering about her journey as a traveller through the difficult loss of her daughter, Glory. And there are other stories that will be shared here, through our blog. But I encourage you to take pause and to invite God into your story today. To create some quiet space to hear from Him and name where you are. Name this moment, this season, wherever you find yourself. Encounter Him in the naming.
And if my life were to have a sound track, I would "name" this my theme song for the year.
What would be your theme song?
Below are the scriptures we hope you will join us in meditating on, and memorizing this month. Over the next few weeks, several women will share their thoughts and reflections on these verses. We would love to hear from you and know how God is speaking to you as you meditate on these verses.
God spoke: Let us make humans in our image, make them reflecting our nature. (from Genesis 1 The Message)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139. 23, 24
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21- 23
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29
If you weren't with us last Wednesday, you missed a thought provoking conversation on the Spiritual Significance of Self-Awareness led by Dr. Kelly Breen Boyce. Here is a reminder of some of what we talked about.
Over the fourth of July holiday, I went to visit my dear friend, Nicole, out West. We ate wonderful meals, got facials at a spa, slept in, and reminisced about our days in graduate school together. There’s little else I could want in a vacation. During the trip, we also went to Zion National Park in Utah. Born and bred in the South, I have spent much time in the Blue Ride and Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. In such stark contrast to the serene greens, blues and greys of our mountain ranges, the red rocks of the American West stand uniquely their own. While in the park, we hiked a well-known trail called The Narrows. Over half of the hike requires wading through the river, making sure to steady your footing while navigating the slippery rocks. The perpendicular walls enveloping you continue to narrow as you trek deeper into the gorge. The slow pace forced by the rushing water below gave me plenty of time to notice all of the variations in the red rocks and to marvel in this rugged beauty that only desert conditions could sustain. Radically different from my familiar North Carolina mountains, I was struck by the creativity of God. Not only did give us the gift of mountains, he created mountain ranges and rock formations with such diversity.
Appreciating the beauty of God’s creation, I remembered a famous quote by one of the earliest church Fathers, St. Augustine:
Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the long course of rivers, the vast compass of the ocean, the circular motion of the stars...but they pass by themselves and don't even notice.
As impressive and majestic are the red rocks of Utah, we, as people created after God’s own image, are more robust reflectors of the glory and nature of God.
“God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature.’” Genesis 1: 26
A prayer of response: Our Father, as we enjoy the beauty of your creation, may we be reminded that even much moreso than a majestic mountain range or the vast ocean, we most accurately reflect your nature and glory. With that firm belief, help us to tend to ourselves and others with great care and attention.
THEY DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO THE APOSTLES' TEACHING, AND TO FELLOWSHIP, AND TO THE BREAKING OF BREAD, AND TO PRAYER." ACTS 2:42
DEVOTED: committed, ardently dedicated and loyal (Merrian-Webster)
What am I (are you) devoted to?
If I am honest, I am probably most steadfastly devoted to my morning cup of coffee. No matter when I wake up, how late I am running, even if we are out of coffee in the house, I make it happen. Without. Fail. I am also committed to my computer...email and the internet. I am committed to certain TV shows. I am committed to my phone. It is with me where ever I go. And the list could go on.
Of course I am also devoted to more substantive things in life. I am devoted to God--to walking with Him and yielding to Him, to my husband, my children, dear friends, etc. But as I contemplated devotion in my life, I was struck by how easily, even thoughtlessly devoted I am to some things, yet the more important things in life require discipline and intentionality to truly live a life of devotion beyond simple lip service. And I was also saddened by my devotion to somethings that actually takes me farther away from the person I want to be.
When does my devotion to things (bad or good) other than God cross the line into idolatry?
As Tim Keller says, idolatry is when we make a good thing into an ultimate thing. I loved Kelly’s talk last Wednesday because we so easily keep a pace in life that leaves no room for self-examination, no room to stop the busy doing, to silence the noise, and reflect. And that pause and reflection often exposes the idols of our heart and the insanity of how we live inconsistent with what we believe and value. We so easily drift into sleep-walking. So be it entertainment or money, our job, the noise of the phone and internet, materialism, whatever, or even more subtle things like our marriage or desire for it, our children, friendships, it is so easy for good things to creep in our hearts to a place of wrong priority and idolatry, to become ultimate things that we hinge our hope and happiness upon. It is so necessary to pause often and take inventory of our hearts. To confess and repent and re-align our hearts to God; to that which is true, and noble, and pure, and right, and lovely (Philippians 4:8).
What does it mean, what does it look like to be devoted to these things?
I love that the verse says, “They devoted themselves...” not that they were devoted to these things but that they actively committed themselves to these things. One translation actually says, “they were continually devoting themselves” showing that it wasn't one and done, but an ongoing choice. They intentionally together purposed to faithfully pursue these things. On Sunday, Kurt quoted Dallas Willard as saying, “grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” The early church did not commit themselves to these things to make a new, ‘Good Christian Checklist’ for earning favor with God, but rather they understood that these disciplines or efforts would lead them toward ultimate things... towards knowing God and walking with Him.
THE APOSTLES' TEACHINGS
For us to be committed to the Apostles’ Teachings today, is to be committed knowing the scriptures, particularly, the good news of Jesus and the implications of salvation through grace. By reading the Bible we better know who God is and what He is like. We come to know His character is good and trustworthy. We come to know truth, most significantly in the person of Jesus. Devotion to truth is submitting to it. Letting the gospel inform every aspect of our lives, our choices and actions, even our view of ourselves and others.
FELLOWSHIP
I think Christians often romanticize fellowship or living in community. The truth is true fellowship requires sacrifice, caring for the needs of others, and it also requires transparency and vulnerability, a willingness to lovingly engage in the lives of others and to receive the same. We can often be in love with the idea of community, but overlook the cost. It isn’t always pretty. It almost always is messy. But if we allow it, it can be a place for encountering God and real transformation in our lives.
THE BREAKING OF BREAD
Some people believe “breaking of bread” is referencing communion while others think it actually is referring to sharing a meal together, sharing life together on an intimate level. I love both. It is in many ways, a restating and emphasis of the first two things--to remember Jesus, the cross, to stay anchored to the gospel, but Together--in a corporate context of relationships. To share the gospel and your life with one another in an intimate (again, not always easy or pretty but) authentic and deeply meaningful way.
PRAYER
To have a healthy, cultivated prayer life is to be surrendered and dependent upon God.
I love this John Ortberg quote that Marie Matthews posted on facebook last week. I think it does a beautiful job of giving us a vision for how prayer leads to a transformed life.
Prayer, more than any other single activity, is what places us in the flow of the Spirit. When we pray, hearts get convicted, sin gets confessed, believers get united, intentions get encouraged, people receive guidance, the church is strengthened, stubbornness gets melted, wills get surrendered, evil gets defeated, grace gets released, illness gets healed, sorrows are comforted, faith is born, hope is grown, and love triumphs. In prayer - in the presence of God - we come closest to being fully ourselves.
So this is the substance of our name, Warehouse 242. This is what we desire our DNA to be. What a beautiful and powerful thing if we truly purposed together to live this out.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to the breaking of bread, and to prayer." Acts 2:42
This post will be Two Part. First I am going to pose some questions around our namesake verse here (did you know that Warehouse 242 got it's name from Acts 2:42?) I would love to hear your thoughts. Please chime in on the comment section of this post or feel free to email me, if you prefer (women@warehouse242.org). I will write a follow up post in a few days, but first I wanted you to have a chance to think on the questions yourself.
DEVOTED: committed, ardently dedicated and loyal (Merrian-Webster)
What am I (are you) devoted to? If you are like me, you can start with your morning cup of coffee and roll it out from there:-)
When does my devotion to things (bad or good) other than God cross the line into idolatry?
What does it mean, what does it look like to be devoted to these things? •The Apostles' Teachings •Fellowship •The Breaking of Bread •Prayer
written by: Holly Norton
"The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
What does He do?
Saves, delivers me from guilt, shame, sin
Takes great delight in me, rejoices over me with gladness!
He loves without conditions: NO LONGER rebukes me, reproves me for my sin
He finds joy in me and sings loudly over me
God is speaking through Zephaniah to the people of Israel. God says, his people are “rebellious, they listen to no voice, accept no correction, they don’t trust the Lord and they do not draw near to Him”. They are prideful. They don’t pursue God. This is a picture of a warrior king defeating the enemy. He pursues his enemy, defeats them and then finds delight in conquering them.
Lord,
What a picture you have given me in this verse! You are defeating me. I have fought and rebelled and desired to be free from your rule. I have wanted my way, I have pursued other things. You came after me and captured me in my rebellion. Just like a child who is so emotionally distraught and angry at not getting her way. Her dad must hold her tight until she finally gives in and melts into his arms. THIS IS AGGRESSIVE LOVE! But, you delight in me and find great joy in me! You don’t bring up my past rebellion. You don’t reprove me and list out my sin and the many times I chose to follow after other gods. You love without conditions. You sing and rejoice over me simply because of Jesus.
You find delight in me! That is very hard to understand. Much of life is defined by doing something or being something good in order to receive someone’s delight. I seldom, if ever, find delight in myself. I seldom think others find delight in me. I can only see where I don’t measure up, where I have failed, and my ever present selfishness. But YOU DELIGHT in me even though I often seek love, approval, control and comfort from other things and other people. You desire for me to be yours. This is aggressive love. This is freeing love. I am free to see what you see. You have made me for yourself and for your delight.
Lord, enable me to see what you see. I need to be reminded that you delight in me. Daily capture my heart with your aggressive love and let me hear you singing loudly over me, telling me I am yours!
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Growing up in the church I somehow learned that once you became a Christian you turned into a clone that followed a certain set of rules, listened to a particular kind of music and behaved in a specific manner. There was a sense that you didn’t have your own personality but rather became a blank slate that was then smattered with a set of rules for living. I became zealous to stop my friends from drinking, partying, and smoking, hoping they would ignore my hypocritical behavior and accept my invitations to church. I was on a wild search for my identity and had no idea how to meld my church life with my everyday life. As I read over the book of Galatians it seemed like Paul was trying to tell the church to stop putting their energy into a set of rules (the law) and understand that their identity was in Christ. They were free from the law because of their union with Christ in His death and resurrection. I like the way the Message says it in Gal. 2:19 - “I [Paul] tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man.” Clearly, a body of clones living out certain rules or laws isn’t what God had in mind for His children or else Jesus wouldn’t have had to die. To paraphrase Gal. 2:21, if we are made righteous (holy, perfect) because of a set of rules or laws, then Jesus died for no purpose.
So, what did Jesus have in mind? What does it mean to be crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me? Are we all clones or is there something more there?
When we surrender our lives to Christ and unite ourselves with Him, He mysteriously gives us a new identity in Him; makes us a new creation in Christ. The old person is gone and the new person (spiritually) has come. Christ then gets to live out His character through us in ways that look and feel different because He has made us all uniquely. We don’t have to identify ourselves with our old ways anymore and get to claim our new identity as a son, daughter, heir… as holy, righteous and renewed. We battle with our old flesh (sin, past wounds, oppression) all the time but we can live in faith knowing who we really are. And we can stand tall and fight. As I grew in my understanding of identity in Christ I found that dying to myself didn’t mean becoming a robot. It meant that I was free to let Jesus live through my personality gifts, and abilities that He specifically created within me.
And dying with Him is not the end of the story – I get to live with Him in a resurrection like His. Romans 6:5-6, 11 says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin…. So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
We are alive and free. We are no longer in bondage to sin. We carry around his death in our body so his life may be revealed to the world around us (2 Cor. 4:10). We will be raised to life with Him in eternity. We are His beloved, made in His image, His works of art. We are fully accepted, fully His, and no one can take that away.
Though these thoughts just skim the surface of this verse, my prayer is that we will know that if we believe in Jesus and follow Him, our identity is a new creation in Him. God looks at us and sees who we really are in Christ and doesn’t define us by our sin. I pray that we will know we are free and that He has created us each uniquely and wonderfully, with gifts, abilities and passions that express the life of Christ to those around us. I pray that this verse will help sturdy us when life seems hard or confusing. Amen.
"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." Isaiah 26:3
The other night, at the end of my sweaty, novice yoga ‘practice’ for the day and at the instruction of our teacher, I attempted to enter into a state of ‘rest’—my feet spread out in front of me, my back resting against the hardwood floor cushioned by my thin, blue mat, and the palms of my hands poised upwards toward the sky as if in a wordless yet fierce inviting. I choose the word ‘attempted’ carefully… You see, even amidst the challenge of holding countless yoga poses presented throughout my class (the ones where you will find me in a perpetual state of teetering and falling by the way), the movement into relaxation is always the point in the class that confuses my body, mind, and spirit the most.
Somehow even after thirty-five years in the daily ‘practice’ of living, the concept of ‘rest’—true rest, the kind that is said to be marked by peace, wholeness, and a surrendering of the mind, heart, and soul to God still eludes me most of the time.
I will back up and tell you, that if you were to spend any amount of time in the internal trappings of my mind, you would discover a cycle of spinning questions, worries, judgments, self-critiques, laments, desires, and hopes…and then more worries and self-critiques. In the story of ‘Martha and Mary’ in the Bible through the telling of Luke 10:38-42, I, in my natural state, am the proverbial ‘Martha,’ struggling to hear the gentle words of Jesus saying, “(Beloved Jill), you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one” while my hands remained clinched around what I desperately seek to control like a child who you find hiding just around the corner holding tightly to gooey remnants of a secretive piece of chocolate that has since melted in their hands…
As I continued to attempt to move into a state of rest on the mushy cushion of my yoga mat that night, my teacher’s words continued to move me farther along as she directed, “Trust the Earth beneath you, it is strong enough to hold you. It will keep you.” I was struck in this moment by this simple yet profound truth as if it swept anew across my mind and caused my limbs to relax deeper into the floor that was indeed holding me. It was a simple truth that when laid conscious in front of me I could not deny. I was ushered back to the gentle whisper of Jesus who echoed, “I have you. I got this. I am strong enough to hold you. I am on your side.”
As I meditate on the scripture in Isaiah 26, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” my ‘practice’ enlightens especially as I continue to read the next verse, “Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord, the Lord himself is the Rock Eternal.” So much stronger than the hardwood floor that undeniably held my body, our Lord, is a ‘Rock’ that is ‘Eternal.’ His words, His presence, and His body of believers that surround me today and since the beginning of time hold me. Love and rest, then, is when I realize that He is on my side—that he has my back forever and always, even in the midst of judgments and worry and self-critiques that assault my mind. And alas, I can let go, little by little, more and more of these superfluous, deadening thoughts as my mind believes Him and finds rest.
My ‘practice’ then in living out of the true rest and peace described in Isaiah 26:3 becomes a process of remembering. It is today remembering that He is on my side, and that I can let go of my defenses, and open my chocolate stained hands and hold his hand. It is today remembering that above my worries and judgments, ‘only ONE thing is needed’—trust in Him. And it is today remembering that my journey towards trust and rest is simply ‘practice’ and that I don’t have to have it all together. He in his graciousness understands my ingrained tendencies and my scattered wanderings so much so that my ‘practice’ consists simply of setting my mind back on Him again and again and toward more and more rest and peace as He guides me.
I’m sure you’ve seen them. Admittedly, I’ve been one. Perhaps, you have too?
Tourists. Whether screeching up to the Grand Canyon for a quick family-photo, or gazing at the Eiffel Tower sporting new white tennis shoes and a J'aime Paris t-shirt, or getting in all of Jerusalem or Rome’s holy sites in the course of a three-hour tour, tourists have a certain way of seeing and experiencing the journey. Tourists prize speed, efficiency, safety, comfort and quantity.
The downside: they often need postcards and pictures to remind them where they were, whom they were with and what they did. And sometimes they end up just going in circles:
There is another way of moving through the world.
Travelers. At times they know exactly where they are going, but often they’re more excited about what might happen along the way, who they’ll meet, and the joys of discovery. Curiosity compels them. A longing to learn and be shaped anew energizes them.
They, of course, get tired too but each day, each encounter holds the possibility of soulful serendipity. There's freedom to explore...and grace to get lost...lost in the adventure. They are not checking off sites, succeeding with some list of must-sees, but rather they are experiencing, being present.
The traveler does however, have to summon courage and be willing to go the less crowded route:
As women at Warehouse we’re going to spend the next year exploring the imagery of tourist and traveler, not with an agenda to influence your vacation plans (though if you ever want to chat about that, I’m so there!), but rather to enrich our spiritual journey together.
Throughout Scripture God has used concrete concepts to direct us to spiritual truths. Our relationship with God and the life He’s called us to has been described in Scripture with journey imagery (i.e., paths, pilgrimage, heading off to distant lands).
Here’s a look at some of the imagery we explored our first gathering in May (inspired by the chapter "Going to Mordor" in Mark Buchanan's book, Your Church is Too Safe).
Tourists. On our journey with God, we are not called to let another person take the lead (tour guide), tell us what's important, and try to go about it the same way as everyone else. We may end up seeing the same sights...but we may get there in different ways and different times, and different aspects of it might move us most. God has invited us as individuals (in the midst of community) to go on the journey.
Travelers. God does call us into an adventure. He longs for us to be curious---curious about knowing Him, others, the world He created. Our lives' itineraries certainly get rearranged—disrupted—but when that happens the traveler doesn't see the trip as a failure, but as a way to experience dependence on the Lord and somehow know the Divine and others in ways we hadn't had before. And, travelers bring their authentic selves to the journey...no matching t-shirts. They also have to travel light; it's a long journey for most. Baggage/possessions may get stripped, to be able to go where God calls them.
In the midst of the distinct journey each of us take, here are some shared realities I see. We travel in Community—with the Fellowship of Father, Son and Spirit and with the solidarity of other Christ followers. We embrace our need for grace, for God’s mercy and forgiveness, for the wisdom of Scripture, and for the opportunity to converse with God en route. We recognize there is an Evil One hell bent on distracting us on our journey. Yet, God’s goodness is more powerful and His capacity to redeem suffering far more certain. We experience God’s pursuit of love for us and the Divine’s loving pursuit of others. We revel in His invitation to join Him in the redemption of earth and humanity.
I’d be curious to hear how you understand the Tourist and Traveler imagery. Below are the questions our wonderful panel of women discussed during in May. I encourage you to contemplate them with one or more friends and then to pray about one spiritual practice you’d like to focus on in the next month (see Take it Further).
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR OWN JOURNEY
1. Did you ever have to make that transition from Tourist to Traveler in your own life? If so, can you share briefly how that happened?
2. What are some ways you most authentically encounter God? (Not as a tourist - but as a traveler) How did you discover those ways?
3. What happens in your spiritual journey when you feel lost, God seems distant, or you're just utterly exhausted? (What practices might drop off? How has God met you there?)
4. While travelers don't have a checklist and avoid the tour group approach, they often sort out rhythms to make their journey sustainable. What do your rhythms/spiritual practices looks like?
5. If you were going to head out on a long journey with God and could only pack 3 items/spiritual practices what would they be?
6. If you could give one piece of advice for other travelers, what would you give?
TAKE IT FURTHER:
What's one spiritual practice you'd like to try or grow deeper in this month that can help you be less of a Tourist and more of a Traveler?
It’s a gift to be on this journey with you! I can’t wait to see what God has plotted for each of us.
"The invitation to travel is a dance lesson with the Divine." --Graffiti on a gas station bathroom wall
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” Psalm 84:5
