Restorative Living
I find that when we open ourselves up for teaching, God is never shy in revealing deeper lessons in the mundane, the normal life stuff. Earlier today, we celebrated our very first service at our brand new church campus. This new campus is especially exciting considering the specific location; downtown. And not just downtown for the sake of downtown, but pinpointed in a location of great need for some extra support and focus. As I scanned the new church building, I saw a foreshadowing of the plans God has for this area of town. The church, once a warehouse, was (and still is being) restored to use 1/3 for our church and 2/3 still left open for other uses, currently a Goodwill storage place. When the doors opened today, things were great, but surely not perfect yet. There was still dust on the stage and walls left unpainted, but it was functional. You could tell it was well on it's way to being really awesome.
It's kind of how God works. He takes something, calls it out of the dust and gives it purpose. He doesn't expect perfection, but gives it functionality. He gives it permission to grow at a pace that allows the time and concentration to make something incredible.
After Dustin and I said our goodbyes and walked out the door, I dropped Dustin off at his second job that he so humbly and lovingly still works at in order to pay the bills and still have some left over to save for future dreams that we have. He conveniently works just minutes from our new campus and it happens to be a part of town that has been up and coming for some time. It's a work in progress. East Nashville. It's a place where we have found our hearts growing stronger and stronger for. It's not because it's becoming trendy and there are a lot of cool new restaurants popping up, but instead we love how it is close to the heart of the city but also that it is growing from it's projects-type beginnings and stretching and molding into it's own in a major way. We want to put a stake in the ground, invest and be apart of that change.
I decided to hop on my GPS and follow the map to the location of one of the houses we have on our radar. We are planning on seeing it tomorrow in a legit house showing with our realtor, but something inside me just wanted to check it out anyway. Before I continue, you must understand that since we moved to Nashville, we have lived in an apartment complex in the Brentwood area. It's south of Nashville and just north of Franklin. Brentwood is beautiful and very, very well put together! So, you can imagine my slight distaste for the lack of beautifully trimmed trees and shrubbery along the drive to this prospective home. There were lots of signs for discount groceries and rundown businesses and soon after, I pulled up along side the road to get a quick glimpse at this home we'd seen on the internet. It was charming, very cute and full of soo much potential. Let's just say I am even more excited to see the inside tomorrow.
But as I drove home I had so many questions pop into my mind. The kind of questions that really make you feel like an actual adult. Would I want to raise our future kids in this neighborhood? Would we really want to live among some of these neighbors who can't seem to find their trash cans...or the Goodwill? Whats the risk of vandalism or robbery around there? Will we fit in? And while these are wise things to take into consideration when buying a home, it was then that I had that subtle reminder of the journey God takes us through. It's a restoration process. It's easy to say you want to invest in the restorative process, whether of an area of town or in a person, but to actually go out and do it is not just so. Walking through the chapters of life with someone, excepting their flaws and the things that God is not about just placing a bandaid over, but rather reaching deep and hard - it's tough. It takes going beyond yourself, extending grace that you may have not even realized you had in you, not taking things personally and loving people more than what you may feel they may deserve. It's messy and sometimes the trash is left out on the curb for weeks for all to see, but in time, with help and support, that trash on the curb can be picked up and taken away for good. You see Jesus as the ultimate example of this scattered all over the new testament! He never thought himself too high to walk with someone. In fact, he died and rose again for that someone!
In the end, I don't know if that house will be the right one for us. Hey, maybe we'll end up finding we don't really like the inside layout of it. But the lesson learned today is still the same. Am I going to be the type of person that will make people feel like they belong no matter where they are in life? Am I willing to walk through the muck and put in the risk and hard work for restoration? ...for changed lives? ...for community growth? ♥, mK
Photo courtesy of Pete Wilson via WithoutWax.tv
It's kind of how God works. He takes something, calls it out of the dust and gives it purpose. He doesn't expect perfection, but gives it functionality. He gives it permission to grow at a pace that allows the time and concentration to make something incredible.
After Dustin and I said our goodbyes and walked out the door, I dropped Dustin off at his second job that he so humbly and lovingly still works at in order to pay the bills and still have some left over to save for future dreams that we have. He conveniently works just minutes from our new campus and it happens to be a part of town that has been up and coming for some time. It's a work in progress. East Nashville. It's a place where we have found our hearts growing stronger and stronger for. It's not because it's becoming trendy and there are a lot of cool new restaurants popping up, but instead we love how it is close to the heart of the city but also that it is growing from it's projects-type beginnings and stretching and molding into it's own in a major way. We want to put a stake in the ground, invest and be apart of that change.
I decided to hop on my GPS and follow the map to the location of one of the houses we have on our radar. We are planning on seeing it tomorrow in a legit house showing with our realtor, but something inside me just wanted to check it out anyway. Before I continue, you must understand that since we moved to Nashville, we have lived in an apartment complex in the Brentwood area. It's south of Nashville and just north of Franklin. Brentwood is beautiful and very, very well put together! So, you can imagine my slight distaste for the lack of beautifully trimmed trees and shrubbery along the drive to this prospective home. There were lots of signs for discount groceries and rundown businesses and soon after, I pulled up along side the road to get a quick glimpse at this home we'd seen on the internet. It was charming, very cute and full of soo much potential. Let's just say I am even more excited to see the inside tomorrow.
But as I drove home I had so many questions pop into my mind. The kind of questions that really make you feel like an actual adult. Would I want to raise our future kids in this neighborhood? Would we really want to live among some of these neighbors who can't seem to find their trash cans...or the Goodwill? Whats the risk of vandalism or robbery around there? Will we fit in? And while these are wise things to take into consideration when buying a home, it was then that I had that subtle reminder of the journey God takes us through. It's a restoration process. It's easy to say you want to invest in the restorative process, whether of an area of town or in a person, but to actually go out and do it is not just so. Walking through the chapters of life with someone, excepting their flaws and the things that God is not about just placing a bandaid over, but rather reaching deep and hard - it's tough. It takes going beyond yourself, extending grace that you may have not even realized you had in you, not taking things personally and loving people more than what you may feel they may deserve. It's messy and sometimes the trash is left out on the curb for weeks for all to see, but in time, with help and support, that trash on the curb can be picked up and taken away for good. You see Jesus as the ultimate example of this scattered all over the new testament! He never thought himself too high to walk with someone. In fact, he died and rose again for that someone!
In the end, I don't know if that house will be the right one for us. Hey, maybe we'll end up finding we don't really like the inside layout of it. But the lesson learned today is still the same. Am I going to be the type of person that will make people feel like they belong no matter where they are in life? Am I willing to walk through the muck and put in the risk and hard work for restoration? ...for changed lives? ...for community growth? ♥, mK
Photo courtesy of Pete Wilson via WithoutWax.tv
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