Our Conversation Continues

What do speaking to 70 independent school faculty members, visiting the US southern border with Mexico, and sending a child to 8th grade have in common? Well, they all happened within a week in my life!

I wouldn’t call the timing optimal, but it did remind me of three things.

One: maintaining the status quo–eating, exercising, praying, caring for kids and connecting with friends, cleaning, grocery shopping, getting the oil changed, paying the bills–takes a tremendous amount of effort every single day. Being human takes a lot of work.

Two: important conversations, transformational moments, and opportunities to care for people in need happen in the midst of that every day life.

And three: it is not my job to save the world. BUT, in both the every day and in the places of overwhelming global need, I do have the invitation to participate in God’s saving work.

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When we feel like we are drowning beneath the stressed out weight of this world, Amy Julia’s three points buoy us from within. The power of God’s Holy Spirit rises up in us ordinary people as we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Every day we find our own way to embody Amy Julia’s advice.

1)    Building in breathing room with God, we commit to the daily priorities helping us to feel most ourselves, most human, most alive.

2)   We become attentive to needs right in front of us. We have important talks. We notice transformation, within and around us. We calmly care for the people God places in our sphere of influence each day.

3)   In the face of overwhelming global need, we trust the Spirit’s powerful lead, prayerfully participating in God’s saving work, bit by bit, day after day.