Into the Fire

(insert Scottish accent here) Hope everyone's having a grrreat day.

Yesterday was my first volunteer shift at Hope.  Finished up paperwork, did an interview and shadowed Ryan for a few hours.  Actually got to sit in on a counseling session with a guy who came with his girlfriend, and he was really hoping for a positive pregnancy test.  The guy just wanted to be a dad, and I can definitely appreciate his value of human life.

I am completely empty today.  Reading all the material I could, counseling, learning procedure, and memorizing names wore me plum out for five hours yesterday, but it was all well worth it!

One thing I noticed yesterday really caught me off guard, but I am glad it did.  I have grown up in a Christian culture, I know and love God and because of His grace get to experience life with Him daily, but yesterday for the first time I was given the opportunity to put myself in the shoes of someone who has not grown up how I did.  And you know what I learned?  The Gospel of Christ is weird.  To those who are not in its fold, at least.  I liken it to being an Aggie.  There are so many things we call tradition--yells, mugging down, saying "Howdy"--that to everyone else seems weird, but to us tells us that we are family.  That we are a part of something special, something transcendental and greater than ourselves.  And it makes me fall in love with this place called "Aggieland" even more.

This same phenomenon also causes me to love Christ more and more the more I learn about Him and how much different He has made me.  And I know I am not done changing and growing--never will be.  But yesterday, I got to see how weird I am because I am in that Gospel that is so weird to everyone outside of it.  It makes me happy to know that now, not because my weirdness in any way makes me better than anyone but because it helps me understand the best way to tell people about it.  And that, my friends, is through the message of hope that stems from the truth of Jesus and is completely bound in the context of the love He showed to all of mankind.

"Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves."  The message of Jesus is weird enough and convicting enough on its own to make people uncomfortable, and that's why I am to be like a lamb among wolves when I speak about him.  I pray I can be lamb-like while at Hope, if for no other reason than the people in crisis who come there need the kind of compassion.

Thanks for taking time to read my thoughts, and I pray God blesses you through them.