Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Living in two worlds is impossible
So a few blogs ago I was thanking Google for the technology and ways in which it can help in those home sick days...todays a bit different. I'm not exactly sure if I love or hate technology. Let me be a bit more specific, I don't know if I love or hate Skype.
Today's Christmas, of course, and typically we (human beings all over the world) find holidays as a time to share with those who mean the most to us, typically including our family. Last night Christine and I had our first ever Chilean Christmas, which was an amazing blessing, lots of delicious food and lasted into the wee of the morning, 3am to be specific. We're still recuperating. One of the biggest differences between a Chilean and American Christmas is that here, everything is celebrated during Christmas eve. We go to an late night service, have a Christmas dinner at about 10:30pm or so and then we open presents at midnight and conversate and hangout until our eyelids are as heavy and overwhelmed as our stomachs were when we finished eating.
So after waking up at the crack of dawn, 11:30 and spending about 2 hours talking with my family on Skype I just wanted to scream. I absolutely loved it and then again hated it.
(1) The internet down here isn't that reliable and so you're praying and hoping that the video will unfreeze and maybe you'll be able to make sense of the jumble audio that's coming through. (2) Not to mention the fact that your trial group chat is sucking wind and people who you dearly love are trying to skype in at the same time and yet you can't talk with 15 people at once. (3) No matter how much time you spend chatting it up and sharing your life there is no way that you can truly share all your thoughts, emotions and recent happens like you can when lounging in your parents living room talking with your parents and brothers and sisters. It's simply imposible to live in two worlds at the same time, no matter how technologically savvy we become.
No don't get me wrong. Yes I'm complaining right now and yet I'm still grateful for the connection that we get through skype and all the other neat things that didn't exist 30 years ago. I just wish that languages, time, and space weren't such "partying killers" and that we, Americans, Chilean, Ethiopians, Russians etc..., could teleport from living room to living room with out losing a second of any of the experiences of truly being with those we love.
Right now we're all somewhere, in the all so sweet physical present... Where ever you are I pray and hope that you truly enjoy and cherish where ever that may be in the all so fleeting present.
¡Merry Christmas & Feliz Navidad!
Today's Christmas, of course, and typically we (human beings all over the world) find holidays as a time to share with those who mean the most to us, typically including our family. Last night Christine and I had our first ever Chilean Christmas, which was an amazing blessing, lots of delicious food and lasted into the wee of the morning, 3am to be specific. We're still recuperating. One of the biggest differences between a Chilean and American Christmas is that here, everything is celebrated during Christmas eve. We go to an late night service, have a Christmas dinner at about 10:30pm or so and then we open presents at midnight and conversate and hangout until our eyelids are as heavy and overwhelmed as our stomachs were when we finished eating.
So after waking up at the crack of dawn, 11:30 and spending about 2 hours talking with my family on Skype I just wanted to scream. I absolutely loved it and then again hated it.
(1) The internet down here isn't that reliable and so you're praying and hoping that the video will unfreeze and maybe you'll be able to make sense of the jumble audio that's coming through. (2) Not to mention the fact that your trial group chat is sucking wind and people who you dearly love are trying to skype in at the same time and yet you can't talk with 15 people at once. (3) No matter how much time you spend chatting it up and sharing your life there is no way that you can truly share all your thoughts, emotions and recent happens like you can when lounging in your parents living room talking with your parents and brothers and sisters. It's simply imposible to live in two worlds at the same time, no matter how technologically savvy we become.
No don't get me wrong. Yes I'm complaining right now and yet I'm still grateful for the connection that we get through skype and all the other neat things that didn't exist 30 years ago. I just wish that languages, time, and space weren't such "partying killers" and that we, Americans, Chilean, Ethiopians, Russians etc..., could teleport from living room to living room with out losing a second of any of the experiences of truly being with those we love.
Right now we're all somewhere, in the all so sweet physical present... Where ever you are I pray and hope that you truly enjoy and cherish where ever that may be in the all so fleeting present.
¡Merry Christmas & Feliz Navidad!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
When you've heard a story 1,000 times before...
it's hard to think that you'll find anything new.
This week we were supposed to study a passage for a group discussion on Wednesday. The passage was on Matthew 2, when the wisemen come to visit Jesus. After rereading the passage a few times, I was stuck.
"Um, Tray, how are we supposed to talk about this for 2 hours??" He didn't know either.
I have realized especially over the last few weeks how quick I am to dismiss things that I think I already know. Which is ironic (not really) because in the same time, God has been showing me again and again how much He wants to teach me as soon as I surrender my pride and admit I actually want to be taught.
Sure enough, as soon as I admitted to God that maybe I don't know everything about this Christmas story and I want to be taught by Him, the real learning began.
Here's what I learned:
When we really encounter Jesus, our innate response is worship. The wisemen, who studied stars and did not proclaim to know God, had to find the star to come and worship the King (v.2).
They also reacted with obedience (v.12) by not going back to King Herod after being warned by God in a dream. Why were they obedient? Because they had spent time with the living God. How could they desire to do anything after but be obedient to Him?
When we spend time with God, when we really encounter Him, our natural response is worship. We were created for it. And when we worship Him alone, we are at peace in this crazy world.
It's also the way we get into God's presence. Gratitude and praise to God always preceded a miracle of Jesus. Paul and Silas had the gates of jail opened and the chains fall off all the prisoners... after what? Singing and praising God all night.
We were created to worship.
So what to take from all of this?
1) Don't ever think that God can't teach you something from the Christmas story you've heard since you were a child...
2) Do what you were created to do this Christmas - Rejoice that your Creator, the King of all Kings, wants to know you and came to this earth only to die for you. Worship Him because He is the only one worthy of it!
This week we were supposed to study a passage for a group discussion on Wednesday. The passage was on Matthew 2, when the wisemen come to visit Jesus. After rereading the passage a few times, I was stuck.
"Um, Tray, how are we supposed to talk about this for 2 hours??" He didn't know either.
I have realized especially over the last few weeks how quick I am to dismiss things that I think I already know. Which is ironic (not really) because in the same time, God has been showing me again and again how much He wants to teach me as soon as I surrender my pride and admit I actually want to be taught.
Sure enough, as soon as I admitted to God that maybe I don't know everything about this Christmas story and I want to be taught by Him, the real learning began.
Here's what I learned:
When we really encounter Jesus, our innate response is worship. The wisemen, who studied stars and did not proclaim to know God, had to find the star to come and worship the King (v.2).
They also reacted with obedience (v.12) by not going back to King Herod after being warned by God in a dream. Why were they obedient? Because they had spent time with the living God. How could they desire to do anything after but be obedient to Him?
When we spend time with God, when we really encounter Him, our natural response is worship. We were created for it. And when we worship Him alone, we are at peace in this crazy world.
It's also the way we get into God's presence. Gratitude and praise to God always preceded a miracle of Jesus. Paul and Silas had the gates of jail opened and the chains fall off all the prisoners... after what? Singing and praising God all night.
We were created to worship.
So what to take from all of this?
1) Don't ever think that God can't teach you something from the Christmas story you've heard since you were a child...
2) Do what you were created to do this Christmas - Rejoice that your Creator, the King of all Kings, wants to know you and came to this earth only to die for you. Worship Him because He is the only one worthy of it!
May your Christmas be full of His peace!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Thanks Google
So here and again I wake up and I'd pay anything for a simple afternoon back at my parents' house with all my siblings. Obviously I miss them all the time, but these strong yearnings to truly physically be there are more random.
This morning I was emailing my parents, which I guess doesn't make the yearning random, and I really wanted to physically see our house, a house that had been my home for about 22 or so years. Without a picture to look at because who takes pictures of their house, well at least I didn't, off to good ol' google we go.
With stalkerish/incredibly advanced technology that we have today you can do and see some pretty cool stuff. When I search my parents address, zoomed in and got to the street level, this is what I got.
(1) This is creepy that I can actually get this close to their house simply using google. (2) This is cool and exactly what I needed to "feel" like I was at home again. (3) This is sublime to see my old whip/car/vehicle parked out front. Which means I was literally inside the house!
I bought that car right before I headed off to college (for a measly 1250 bucks). Oh how I loved that 89 4-door Dx Honda Civic. All the experiences and struggles I had with that car. But let's be honest, it's a Honda so I had very few struggles...pushing it for all it had to make it up a hill so me and 4 other full size men could go snowboard instead of sliding back down the road (while listening to some good ol' Ben Harper I might add), breaking down with 4 middle school boys during Disciple Now, getting my first kiss from Christine, changing car brakes for the first time, trips all over the place for just over 32mpg...boo koos of goodness to say the least.
Well it finally died about 2 weeks before I graduated with a bit over 215,000 miles. Although Joel Pants and I had to push it down Providence Road for it's last haul at 10:30 at night I can easily classify it as a gem.
How did google know that I needed both, the car and the house in the same picture? Or maybe google hasn't updated their street level pictures in oh I don't know, 3 years at least. Either way I'm smiling.
This morning I was emailing my parents, which I guess doesn't make the yearning random, and I really wanted to physically see our house, a house that had been my home for about 22 or so years. Without a picture to look at because who takes pictures of their house, well at least I didn't, off to good ol' google we go.
With stalkerish/incredibly advanced technology that we have today you can do and see some pretty cool stuff. When I search my parents address, zoomed in and got to the street level, this is what I got.
I bought that car right before I headed off to college (for a measly 1250 bucks). Oh how I loved that 89 4-door Dx Honda Civic. All the experiences and struggles I had with that car. But let's be honest, it's a Honda so I had very few struggles...pushing it for all it had to make it up a hill so me and 4 other full size men could go snowboard instead of sliding back down the road (while listening to some good ol' Ben Harper I might add), breaking down with 4 middle school boys during Disciple Now, getting my first kiss from Christine, changing car brakes for the first time, trips all over the place for just over 32mpg...boo koos of goodness to say the least.
Well it finally died about 2 weeks before I graduated with a bit over 215,000 miles. Although Joel Pants and I had to push it down Providence Road for it's last haul at 10:30 at night I can easily classify it as a gem.
How did google know that I needed both, the car and the house in the same picture? Or maybe google hasn't updated their street level pictures in oh I don't know, 3 years at least. Either way I'm smiling.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The Randomness of Our Life
Where's the most random place Tracey could be right now, Wednesday night, at 11:33pm?
If you guessed talking on a Chilean radio show, you are right!
If you know Tracey, you know he doesn't do anything less than 100%. In our Chilean life this has included baking bread, fixing bikes, finding the best fruit combination for banana ice cream, translating for Institute classes, leading small group, and finding the most time and traffic effective route to various points of interest. It is also why he has spent the last week revisiting and researching some of the themes from his bachelor degree to share with a friend from church on his radio show.
The theme: human rights around the world from a Christian perspective.
From his extensive notes and passion for the topic, I know he's doing an amazing job. And I'm sure he will tell you about it later :)
If you guessed talking on a Chilean radio show, you are right!
If you know Tracey, you know he doesn't do anything less than 100%. In our Chilean life this has included baking bread, fixing bikes, finding the best fruit combination for banana ice cream, translating for Institute classes, leading small group, and finding the most time and traffic effective route to various points of interest. It is also why he has spent the last week revisiting and researching some of the themes from his bachelor degree to share with a friend from church on his radio show.
The theme: human rights around the world from a Christian perspective.
From his extensive notes and passion for the topic, I know he's doing an amazing job. And I'm sure he will tell you about it later :)
Monday, December 5, 2011
I've grown tired of giving to the poor...
It's weird, over the past few months I've come to the realization that some of the fundamental parts of my past, I've now become disillusioned with. Not exactly great "missionary" talk...
I remember back when I was in college I would spend every Saturday afternoon giving food to the homeless along with having some pretty interesting and profound conversations with them as well. This was 3 years of a lot of fun, numerous relationships with some really near and dear friends, and experiences that taught me a lot.
So we got to Chile and I was informed that they're doing some of the same style work downtown on Monday nights. Christine and I went out one night to served. It was cool (1) to do it with Christine this time and (2) it sort of sparked some sentiments of nostalgia. But I haven't gone back.
During the last year of serving downtown in Charlotte, I sort of realized that maybe I'm doing more trouble than good. What if through what I thought was love and service, I've been a cause of the problem or at least "enabling"/encouraging these wonderful people do the exact thing I wanted to fight against, homelessness.
The same thing happened in high school when I was super gung-ho for evangelizing; being as studied up as I could on all the apologetics. Somewhere in the midst of that season of life I realized, yes there are those who don't follow/know Christ, yes I desperately want them to know Christ like I know Him, but "explaining"/arguing/persuading them into the kingdom just doesn't seem to be the answer. Was I doing any good to go up to random people who I haven't gained any respect with and begin to question their belief system? Maybe...maybe not.
I became disillusioned with evangelism.
Back to the current train of thought this week.
I've felt Christ telling me, "Maybe it's not that you're disillusioned with evangelism or serving the poor, but with the methods you're using. Try another way Tracey."
I think one of my favorite things to hear is,
Really?! You must be a flippin' genius because I've always felt that interpretation is needed when reading, preaching and living according to the Bible. Which really makes it, "I just preach the word according to my predisposiciones, experiences and world view".
Once again I'm reminded of my need for the Holy Spirit to guide me in all of this and that Christ is always working molding shaping not only my "being" but my understand of how to carry out those Oh So Simple Phrase; "love your neighbor as yourself." It's a process that's messy, filled with ups and downs, corrections, successes and start overs.
So I'm in the process of looking, living, figuring out new ways to serve, share & love. I'm just hoping that my disillusionment streaks don't get the best of me.
I remember back when I was in college I would spend every Saturday afternoon giving food to the homeless along with having some pretty interesting and profound conversations with them as well. This was 3 years of a lot of fun, numerous relationships with some really near and dear friends, and experiences that taught me a lot.
So we got to Chile and I was informed that they're doing some of the same style work downtown on Monday nights. Christine and I went out one night to served. It was cool (1) to do it with Christine this time and (2) it sort of sparked some sentiments of nostalgia. But I haven't gone back.
During the last year of serving downtown in Charlotte, I sort of realized that maybe I'm doing more trouble than good. What if through what I thought was love and service, I've been a cause of the problem or at least "enabling"/encouraging these wonderful people do the exact thing I wanted to fight against, homelessness.
The same thing happened in high school when I was super gung-ho for evangelizing; being as studied up as I could on all the apologetics. Somewhere in the midst of that season of life I realized, yes there are those who don't follow/know Christ, yes I desperately want them to know Christ like I know Him, but "explaining"/arguing/persuading them into the kingdom just doesn't seem to be the answer. Was I doing any good to go up to random people who I haven't gained any respect with and begin to question their belief system? Maybe...maybe not.
I became disillusioned with evangelism.
Back to the current train of thought this week.
I've felt Christ telling me, "Maybe it's not that you're disillusioned with evangelism or serving the poor, but with the methods you're using. Try another way Tracey."
I think one of my favorite things to hear is,
"I just preach "the word" (the Bible)"
or,
"Just do what the Bible tells you to do."
Really?! You must be a flippin' genius because I've always felt that interpretation is needed when reading, preaching and living according to the Bible. Which really makes it, "I just preach the word according to my predisposiciones, experiences and world view".
Once again I'm reminded of my need for the Holy Spirit to guide me in all of this and that Christ is always working molding shaping not only my "being" but my understand of how to carry out those Oh So Simple Phrase; "love your neighbor as yourself." It's a process that's messy, filled with ups and downs, corrections, successes and start overs.
So I'm in the process of looking, living, figuring out new ways to serve, share & love. I'm just hoping that my disillusionment streaks don't get the best of me.
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