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One of the struggles we often have in our normal life is the...


One of the struggles we often have in our normal life is the lack of beauty and peace. It’s always 100 degrees, there is no beauty (cement, trash, etc), and there aren’t any parks or natural spaces.
If we aren’t careful we can really feel like we are missing out. I’m sure it’s a feeling we all have from time to time. But then there are moments when the Lord gives us a gift out of nowhere and we realize we have been believing a lie. Our life is actually very rich.
The times I sweat to death doing a long training and I realize that I am witnessing things that many of my peers would love to see. I am doing a work that touches on the eternal whereas many peers may be losing passion for a job that seems to be meaningless. Or attending retreats throughout the year with soul stirring worship that many don’t get the opportunity to enjoy. These are just a few examples.
Well, then enters last week. We get invited to spend a week free of charge at a retreat home in the mountains of Colorado. This home has to be with at least a million dollars with amazing fees of the national forest and 12,000 ft mountains from the dining room table! Not only that but the kitchen was stocked, there were coats to borrow, a play room full of toys and books, and a beautiful sound system.
I don’t know if it was the lack of beauty in our daily lives, or the gratitude towards these amazing brothers and sister in Christ, but we weeped when we walked in the door. The magnitude of the gift was so great we couldn’t hold it all in. And the peace that comes when you enter a space that has been surrendered to the body of Christ, a space where the Spirit has been invited to reign, it feels like heaven and earth are coming together in one place.
For 6 days we ate well, played games and read books by the fire (I think Abigail finished 3 books!), listened to music, shopped in the quaint little town, and took some easy hikes for the kids. We even had the pleasure of having K’s parents join us. They don’t often get a chance like this to get away so we were happy to share it with them. They got to play with the kids and they even offered us a day out just the two of us which does not happen very often at this stage in our lives.
It is a joy to serve God and sacrifice many things. It keeps us alert in our life of faith. It challenges us to strip off the ‘layers of fat’ in our faith and stay trim and engaged with Christ. And then there are these moments when the graciousness of Christ reminds us that we do not lack a thing… nothing. We are not beggars. We are children of the King. Fellow heirs and members of the body of Christ with all his riches at our disposal.


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