Heaven Is For Real

If you haven't heard of this book or read it, you must!  I think I read it in 3 days... I could hardly put it down!  It's the story of a preschooler named Colton, who seems to have an experience of heaven during an emergency appendectomy surgery.  In so many ways, it reminded me of my own surgery and my own hospital stay last year and my own hopes of heaven.  The title of the book is perfect: this child's explanation of heaven brings it close... It's not so far off as we think. Heaven is for real.

And so is Jesus... This was my favorite part of the book.  I was reading it while on the elliptical at my new apartment complex and it took my breath away.  A mundane, regular, every day thing instantly became holy.  Jesus is in heaven, and Jesus is in me, and Jesus is real.  Crazy.

“What did Jesus look like?” I said (Colton's dad).
Abruptly, Colton put down his toys and looked up at me. “Jesus has markers.”

“What?”

“Markers, Daddy… Jesus has markers. And he has brown hair and he has hair on his face,” he said, running his tiny palm around on his chin. I guess that he didn’t yet know the word beard. “And his eyes… oh, Dad, his eyes are so pretty!”

As he said this, Colton’s face grew dreamy and far away, as if enjoying a particularly sweet memory.

“What about his clothes?”

Colton snapped back into the room and smiled at me. “He had purpule on.” As he said this, Colton put his hand on his left shoulder, moved it across his body down to his right hip then repeated the motion. “His clothes were white, and it was purple from here to here.”

Another word he didn’t know: sash.

“Jesus was the only one in heaven who had purple on, Dad. Did you know that?”

In Scripture, purple is the color of kings. A verse from the gospel of Mark flashed through my mind: “His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.”

“And he had this gold thing on his head…” Colton chirped on enthusiastically. He put both hands on top of his head in the shape of a circle.

“Like a crown?”

“Yeah, a crown, and it had this… this diamond thing in the middle of it and it was pink. And he has markers, Dad.”

What are markers to a little kid?

Suddenly, I had it. “Colton, you said Jesus had markers. You mean like markers that you color with?”

Colton nodded. “Yeah, like colors. He had colors on him.”

“Like when you color a page?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, what color are Jesus’ markers?”

“Red, Daddy. Jesus has red markers on him.”

At that moment, my throat nearly closed with tears as I suddenly understood what Colton was trying to say. Quietly, carefully, I said, “Colton, where are Jesus’ markers?”

Without hesitation, he stood to his feet. He held out his right hand, palm up and pointed to the center of it with his left. Then he held out his left palm and pointed with his right hand. Finally, Colton bent over and pointed to the tops of both his feet..

“That’s where Jesus’ markers are, Daddy,” he said.

A Good Word

From D.A. Carson:

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

From an article posted here.

Oh, Dahlonega.

This has been the first time in my life that I can remember feeling sad about moving on.  I've always been one to speed ahead to the next adventure with hardly a glance back.  When I graduated high school, I was so excited to head to the big city with my big dreams about college athletics and independence.  I was so eager for a new experience I never paused to say goodbye to my childhood.  When I graduated college I had new dreams that were even bigger... Now I wanted to change the world: one college student at a time.  The uncertainty ahead was thrilling.  And once again, I don't think I had one passing thought of what I was leaving behind.

But like I said, this time is different.

I never expected this quaint little town to steal my heart like it has.  And whenever this happens, it only seems natural to tell about why something has become so dear to you.  And so, Dahlonega, this is what I will always remember about you...

Preacher's Rock.  Ah, this is the glory of Dahlonega if you ask me.  Hiking up in the dark to watch the sunrise.  Moments of laughter with good friends.  The beauty of the mountains. But I also must mention that a close second to this place is the view driving over the hill from 400 to get into town.  If you've been here, you know what I mean.

My favorite places on the square.  Hands down the Picnic Cafe... I spent hours there: sharing life with others over meals and coffee and cookies.  I've cried there, I've laughed there, I've thought there, and I've learned there.  But I must also mention spending hours wandering around the antique malls just looking at all the stuff and wondering where it came from.  My first taste of fried pickles from Wylie's, yummy dinners at Piazza's, and how orange it is at Hoka Hoka.

That first fall that I stepped onto the soccer field. I will remember how that team upside down that season.  I will remember the moments when I saw for the first time in those girls eyes that they wanted to know Jesus.  I will remember chasing soccer balls.  And the first time I sat on the bench at a game.  How I got my first pair of cleats that the girls bought me for my birthday.  I learned what it was like to love people unconditionally, really.

Driving through your hills and running in your streets.  Both seemed impossible to me at first.  The curves made me nervous in my car and the hills seemed impossible for my body.  Now, I love driving on a pretty day with the windows down and country music playing.  I trained for my first 10K and my legs learned to power up those hills (on a good day anyway).

Gold Rush Weekend.  And all things festival or craft-like.  The good Lord knows I am a sucker for handmade, homemade, unique and rustic sorts of things.  I could browse forever.  I get lost in things like that.  And a whole weekend where the whole town fills up with this stuff!  There are no words.

My first discipleship group.  What a random mix we are.  They taught me this place and shared their lives with me. They are some of my best friends now.

You were the perfect place to heal my soul and heal my body.  I learned a lot about myself... I learned to be honest about who I am to myself and to others.  I learned my limits only by crossing the line and feeling a little crazy at times.  I learned it's ok to be sad and wish some things were different.  You were a still and quiet place where I could hear God's voice.  When the cancer came, you gave me fresh air to breathe and space to rest and a calmness I could keep up with.  And you happened to be next door to a great doctor.

As I leave, there are tears.  Lots of them.  And the life kind of tears.  You know the ones that come because something deep and meaningful has happened.  I'm gonna miss this town. 

Reflections on South Africa

It amazes me how two months can go by so quickly in a blur. Before we went, Jeremy (our team leader) told us that it would be like operating on a low grade fever. Everything is just a little bit slower. I think in the same way, it's hard to really realize and remember everything that's happening. Since being back, of course the first question people ask is, "How was Africa?" And I'll I ever know to say is, "Good!" Haha, how do you sum up an experience like that in a short conversation. I still haven't figured it out. So three weeks later, here's my thoughts...

THINGS I LEARNED FROM SOUTH AFRICANS
- Generosity. I noticed how willing they are to share what they have with others. It is always a community effort with South Africans. If you bring food in a group, you pass it around to everyone in the room. If you have a guest over, you feed them or give them something to drink. They love to share.
- They aren't afraid to be wrong. In our bible studies they would frequently tell each other they were wrong. And they never were embarrassed or ashamed to be corrected.

THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF
- City life is hard for me. I didn't realize it until we were out of the city and at Ebenezer Farm for camp. I instantly felt more free and more alive where there was open land and quiet nights and a sky full of stars. Being in the city surrounded by walls was harder on me than I realized at the time.

Maybe I'll have more things to add as time goes on!

I've been busy since being back in the country! I took a few days to recover from jet lag and rest up before starting back in the office. I visited our Summer Leadership Project the following weekend with our CCP team, and I loved seeing all the students there! I'm finally settling back into a routine at the office, but now I'm trying to find a place to live for next month... And we're gearing up on campus for the new semester to be starting. Phew, I'll be ready for a vacation after all this!

I made a sweet friend, Kristin from CO Charlotte, while in SA.
Here we are selling T-Shirts at Camp.

More Pics From South Africa!

Braai with Students (Friday Night Event) 

 




Cooking pap, chakalaka,
and buttering buns with Fifi.

Typical braai food: boerewors on a
buttered bun (kinda like a brat) with
pap (like grits) topped with chakalaka
(there is nothing that compares to this!)

With girls from Skoonveld:
Nwabisa and Khosi


Lion and Rhino Park

Petting a 6 month old
lion cub... And a tiger, too!


Visit to Soweto Township

Our team in front of Soccer City
(World Cup 2010 venue).

The stand where we bought
our Kota's for lunch that day.

The infamous Kota (bread, fries,
russian, cheese, special meat and sauce).


Trip to Pilanesburg

Our team the morning
after camping out in Africa.

Pilanesburg Animal Reserve

These signs were posted all over.
Yikes!

Rhino...
Up close and personal.


Only 3 more weeks left!

This Week In Pictures

For our cultural excursion this past week we had the chance to go see a soccer match in a nearby township called Soweto.  It was a championship game between two South African teams.  We were cheering for the Orlando Pirates and the whole stadium rushed the field when they won the game!  After the game, people were dancing and cheering in the streets.
 

Right before the game, we had our first taste of fat cakes.  The owner of our guest house made a huge pan them for us before we headed out for Soweto, and we thought they were so yummy!  Kind of like a funnel cake without sugar, or a form of a donut that isn’t very sweet.  We liked it best with jam.  Here’s Blaine eating one in our kombi.

Here are all the girls that came to the Bible Study in Amper Daar this week (it’s pretty easy to pick the girls from our team, Lindsay and Lauren).  Tebogo, a student leader, shared the bridge diagram and then we split up in smaller groups to talk through it.  The two girls in my group acknowledged that they were not on the side of the bridge with God, but they seemed confused about what it would take to get to that side.  Most of these girls think they have to clean up their lives in order to get to God.  

We ate dinner one night in the SS (their student center) after Skoonveld had their Bible Study.  We visit the B-Spot most commonly because it stays open later than other places at night.  You can find burgers and chips (french fries) at this place.  One of these girls had just gotten her first Bible from Lawton and Emily and was telling me how she was excited to learn more.

Cheers from South Africa!

Our first few days in Africa!

Day One (Wednesday). After spending the night at one of our student’s brother’s house, our team packed up our bags and headed to the airport in Atlanta, GA.  We took off for South Africa around 8pm that night.  None of our team had seats together, so we were spread out all over the plane.  I ended up with a window seat and was able to sleep a majority of our 15 hour flight.  When I wasn’t sleeping, I tried to pick a movie from their huge selection (but never could decide on one), ate the food they passed out, or read a book.  The time passed quickly and before I knew it, we landed in Johannesburg!

Day Two (Thursday).  We arrived in South Africa around 5pm their time with swollen feet and sleepy eyes.  I got my first stamp in my passport and realized that for the first time I stand out in a crowd.  After meeting the COJ staff in the airport, we took a lift (elevator) up to where our kombi (10 passenger van) was parked and drove in the left side of the rode to our home for the next seven weeks.  We were greeted by some of the student leaders (Tebogo, Moratu, Beulah, KK, and Michelle for those of you who may know them!) from our campus who helped us unload and had dinner waiting for us.  I was surprised at how nice our place was and was especially excited to find coffee and tea in every room.

Day Three (Friday).  I was surprised that I slept all the way through the first night, because everyone told me that I would wake up around 3am.  We loaded our team up and took our first excursion to the Apartheid Museum where we learned about a key part of South Africa’s history.  I was particularly impacted by the devotion of men like Mandela to their cause to bring about change in their country.  The COJ Campus Director, Jeff, taught us more about South African culture that afternoon and we got to tour the campus.  We finished up that night with a braai with the student leaders.  We all enjoyed spending time getting to know their team.

Day Four (Saturday).  We spent Saturday morning watching our first South African soccer game between two of the residence halls and then learned more about the specific res’s where our students would be ministering in.  Our girls will be spending time in Amper Daar, Skoonveld, and Benjemijm.  As many of you know, the culture in these halls is much like our sororities and fraternities back in the states.  Lauren and Lindsay will be in Amper Daar, Karen, Danielle and Ashley are in Benjemijm, and Lawton and Emily are in Skoonveld.  I’ll get to spend time with our girls in all of the res’s while I’m here.  In the afternoon, our team had a lot of fun playing soccer together.  We finished our evening with dinner and a time of worship.

Day Five (Sunday).  This day will be a Sabbath day for us each week and will give us a chance to rest in the midst of a fast paced schedule.  We attended church at Sophiatown Community Church which was within walking distance of Koffifi, our house.  Our guys played some more soccer with guys from the church while the girls watched and talked.  I got to talk for a while with TK, one of the student leaders with COJ who lives in Skoonveld.  I’ve had many friends get to know her on previous CCP teams so it was sweet to get to know her and hear about her life.  Then we had our first grocery store experience at the Pic’N’Pay.  I’m finding that I like the food here better than in the states!  

We start ministry on the campus this week and we're all excited to get to know students here!