The good, the Bad, and the Railroad Tracks

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life), Rick said:

"People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a rail road track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into selfcenteredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings."

The past week I've continued to reflect on this interview. Thank you Mom for passing it along :)

Carmen Miranda & the White House

In fourth grade I did a dance in our church musical where we sang in Spanish about the Fruits of the Spirit and one of my peers macaranaed around wearing a fruit turban in all the glory of Carmen Miranda. I think I was cast as an apple (though I'm less sure what that represented). Each time I hear mention of these biblical "fruits" I shimmy my shoulders a bit and start singing in Spanish. My childish memory, but today I'm reminded that the calling's much deeper. 

I realize some days, like today, how difficult it can be for me to live out the fruits of the spirit. I get stubborn, impatient, frustrated, etc, etc... and out the window they seem to go. Yet their evidence in our lives is a necessary part of living out our faith. Galatians is one of those tried and true books that I always flip past - having felt like I conquered it's depth in fourth grade - but today I reread it and discovered its wisdom completely anew. 

The Spirit and the sinful nature are always in conflict, always at odds, always competing in their desires (5:17). Whenever my heart's at unease, it's likely because I'm failing to yield to the Spirit. After naming the characteristics of the sinful nature - Paul's not just going to let us skirt past! - we're reminded of the fruits grown from a life rooted in Christ. 

Years ago in the front cover of my Bible I copied this poem. A reminder, in all my need for pragmatics!, at how love is at the heart of living out godly character.

Love is the Key

"Joy is love singing.

Peace is love resting. 

Long-suffering is love enduring. 

Kindness is love's touch.

Goodness is love's character. 

Faithfulness is love's habit. 

Gentleness is love's self-forgetfulness.

Self-control is love holding the reigns."

- Donald Grey Barnhouse

After touring the House of our nation's leadership this morning in DC, I realize leadership in my own life starts awfully small, at some profound and childlike basics.

 

*Cha Cha Cha!*

The city that never sleeps!

For the past four days I've had the ol' time croonings of Sinatra's "New York, New York!" circling my mind on repeat (we're in Boston this morning and it still hasn't stopped... uh oh!).

There truly is something so majestic and almost opportunistic about that infamous city. The honking and screeching of yellow cabs, the pungent smell of dirty curbs, the incessant bustle of faces and voices at all times of day. Each night we were in Times Square I had absolutely no conception of time - 2 am could have been 8 pm for all this Santa Barbara girl could tell.

It was my first time back since my graduation field trip in 8th grade. Somewhere in that city of dreams I came down with a horrific virus -- so my memories of the big apple are feverish sweats in central park, my face pressed against the top floor window of the Empire State staring dizzily down at the miniatured street, brusque paramedics asking my birth date in the airport... and me unable to remember.

But this time around I was determined to have my redemptive experience. And in the midst of flight delays, terminal sprints, and a two hour cab ride to meet the broken down bus in New Jersey -- God granted His traveling mercies. My nose against the bombardier plexiglass, my plane into La Gaurdia swooped low across the entire breadth of the city.

The heights of the towers, the greens of the parks, the frame of the water, the noble teal form of Miss Liberty... took my breath away and caught me for a moment in the timeless captivation of New York. I wanted to wave the other weathered travelers over to my window yelling, "Looook!" but most seemed much too cool and disinterested. So I fell back to my view, lost in the grandness and simplicity of seeing this breathtaking landscape from the sky.

I may not be cut out for city life (*ahem, see video below) but for a moment Sinatra would have loved to see me swooning.

* photo by Kenny Kim :)

...go round and round!

Bus life is WONDERFUL.

Tonight marks the end of my California tour with DJ and the Showit crew, and it has been such an incredible experience. I can't believe how much a bus can feel like home!...

One of the most incredible things was having my beautiful friend Christie join us for the adventure. It was so special to share this experience with one of my dear friends! Not mention, Tricia and Tiff joined us in Santa Barbara to see DJ and Jasmine speak!
On the way up the coast we parked at Fisherman's Warf and spent the afternoon meandering around Carmel by the Sea drinking Chai lattes and smacking on old fashioned peppermint chews. We were paid a special visit that evening by Eric of Vision Launchers and his wife Camille -- Eric has done so much to advance NFS web projects, and they are Westmont alums so we have so many connections!

The writing of this post continues into Tuesday, where I know sit in the Sheraton lobby of downtown San Francisco while the bus makes its way to Salt Lake City. I feel so unbelievably blessed to have been a part of the California portion of the tour. Who would have thought I'd miss my tiny bunk so much?? :)

What made it so wonderful was feeling like I was with family. After all the busyness of travel, crowds and shows, we throw on our pj's at the end of the day and flop on the couches with people we love and feel cared by. Surrounded by friends who inspire me to both excel and goof around, I felt completely at home!

Last major highlight... Seeing my family!! My coordinator instinct taking the reigns, I planned NFS meetings for these past 3 days in the city. The bus swung through my hometown of Santa Cruz so I could pick up a car....the neighbor kids all came running alongside the bus, pointing at the spectacle, and sure enough my parents had a whole spread of food waiting on the kitchen table! I loved having them meet everyone (I always hear how similar my mom and I's mannerisms are!). Last night they picked up my brother Adam from his camp counseling position and came all the way up to the city for the show. It was the last time I'll see Adam until he's back from his semester in South Africa, so it was beyond a treat.

And now I'm the last left in the city by the sea, eating lunch in this colorful lobby. We film the next NFS documentary today, so I take off for my grand film debut in just a few minutes :) I'm feeling jazzed and refreshed from breakfast in bed with Jasmine (we stayed behind at the hotel last night!) and feel so excited for all the adventures to come.

MSNBC Special

Check this out!

MSNBC did a follow up special to their raid in Cambodia. The special inspired the work of James (featured at the beginning) who our NFS staff will be flying out to San Francisco next week for a meeting.

Most impacting to me were the stories of the girls featured... I met these very girls just 6 weeks ago when I visited the shelter. Wow.