Jabez

You know how some parts of the bible are tremendously riveting with a rollercoaster of action and inspirational thoughts; well I was beginning 1 Chronicles this morning, which is about the exact opposite. It’s an extremely precise genealogy of Adam all the way through the kings of Israel and Judah. It’s dry, bland and even though I realize the importance of genealogy to the Jewish tradition and to how beautiful it ties together Christ as the messiah, I still wonder, why Lord. Why am I reading this?

Well, as I was dragging through chapter 4 I ran across this section on Jebez.

“Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.”

I actually read this prayer every time I walked into the main office of the church that I grew up in. It hung on an engraved chunk of wood that would always catch my eye as I entered. I never understood it. It felt strangely foreign from what I had understood prayer and the desires of a Christ follower to be. I always thought of Manifest Destiny…give me more stuff, more power, more comfort, in the name of God, and yet “God granted him what he requested.”

With all of this in mind, what made this prayer stand out even more was something my pastor, Jonathan Martin, said during the sermon yesterday. “People typically don’t pray specifically for outlandish miracles to occur because they fear having to wrestle with the thought of receiving a response of no from God and looking like a fool.”

He said yes to Jabez. He says yes to families praying over their baby stricken with cancer, to couple trying to keep their marriage together and then other times the response is no. “No’s” are messy, hard to swallow and may even leave a taste of resentment and anger on the pallet towards God.

I honestly don’t know where I’m going with this, but it has weighed heavily on me ever since I read it this morning. God has definitely provided for my wife and I through outlandish miracles and he continues to baffle us that much more with our new venture into Chile.

How do you pray for God to wreck your life and mold you into a humble, gracious and loving person and yet pray for more; more stuff, more power, more comfort, more outlandish miracles of financial blessing…

I guess all of these thoughts just push me to reevaluate how I pray and how much faith I have in Him.

Two Communities

            Renovatus (our church) had an event out at Birchcroft Apartments where we were serving the large refuge population that lives there.  The whole time I had this urge to really dive in and get connected with the families & people I was meeting and yet I knew that Christine and I would be gone by the summer. 

            Stephen, one of the missionaries who lives in the Birchcroft community made it crystal clear that committed relationships are what this community needs, in place of “quick Christian handouts” from people who haven’t dedicated the time to have a relationship with those they are serving. 

            I couldn’t agree more with this mentality. Without true relationships I fear that we’re doing the community and ourselves a big disservice, and reducing the greatness of what I believe Christ has in mind when he tells us to love our neighbor, the widow, the orphan and the poor.

            I say all of this because today was one of those days when I strongly felt the weight of being divided between “two communities”.  

            I wake up in the morning and I read La Tercera (a chilean newspaper) to keep up to date on what’s going on, I head off to my school that will be shut down next year to serve and love on those students for a few more months.  I skype with our community in Santiago about future plans we’ll be involved in and then I head off to our small group to plan our next service event which I may not be around to participate in.

            Christ is teaching me to be mindful and aware of the ever so quickly approaching changes and yet to not forget to still show his love where ever I find myself at a particular moment…

Keitt Update - March 2011

My first blog :)

So these are my first steps onto the unknown terrain of the social network that burst from every seam of our society… (Sorry, I felt like my first sentence for blogging/social networking should be magnificent or something, but that’s all I’ve got L)

One more thing before I get “profound”

I’m very humbled to find out that magnet is not spelled “magnete”, which is what I wrote on numerous cards. It’s not a big surprise because I obviously can’t spell and I’d actually go out on a limb and say my Spanish spelling is better than my English. Just thought I’d throw this out there for anyone wondering about my academic level after getting the card :).

…ok, so I’m beyond excited about the next few months and how crazy it is going to be to actually move to Chile. I’ve been madly in love with the Latino culture for about 6 or so years now and its finally coming true. The ability to really get involved and serve in South America is something I’m continually thanking the Lord for providing. Christine and I sat down a few days ago with some Missionaries who just got back from Uruguay; by the way I think this is one of the funniest country names to say especially with the proper Spanish pronunciation.

Its right up there with Djibouti.

After talking with them I came to a strong realization that we’re truly going to be “walking away” from so many strong and vital relationships that we’ve taken for granted to a degree. I guess we only know the extent of the relationships when they are out of hand’s reach. Christine and I are trying to make the most of the next 6 months, but over all it’s a bit of strange mix of emotions, super excited to finally live out a life long dream along while putting a physically barrier between my friends and families that I love so much. It also doesn’t help that I dislike like electronic communication so much, (text message, facebook, blogs, twitter) and yet here is my first post. Aaron and Tracey (the missionaries) really encouraged us to keep up with the “blogging” and stuff, so I’m getting some practice in early.

I feel like this is sufficient.

I’ve incorporated high level vocabulary (thank you little red squiggly line and auto correct), two different smiley faces, various profound thoughts that the world should be made aware of, and I’m attempting to steal the quite catching sporadic spacing of Rob Bell (is it working?)

…just kidding.

Have an amazing day and thank you for your prayers for Christine and I. We truly appreciate them.

Big News! (No, we're not pregnant...)

If you’ve known Tracey or me for any amount of time, you won’t be surprised to hear we are moving to South America!  Many are asking details and we thought we’d take some time to present the little information we have to those inquiring or interested.

Fortunately for me, all my “big” decisions in life have been made before I realized it.  I can’t tell you how I came to know Christ, want to teach, love to travel, yearn for Latin America, or wind up in Charlotte, NC.  And meet and marry Tracey?  If that’s not divine intervention in a near-sighted girl’s life, I don’t know what is.  All this to say, I am beyond grateful for the ways God has shown me my heart’s desires in an order I wouldn’t have planned myself.  It also makes these “big” decisions much easier :)  Now, ask me what type of peanut butter to buy and I’ll go back and forth for days; as far as moving to another continent in a few months, I feel comfortable and confident about it all working out the way it should. 

Tracey and I are like-minded in this whole “God’s will” mentality.  We believe God gives us opportunities to know Him and His heart through prayer, the Word, and the other infinite ways He speaks to people.  Undoubtedly He gives us all direction in life, but we’re also not gonna sit around and pray about what color socks to wear each morning.  Because He also gives us passion and drive towards certain things over others.  And if we love Him first, we can trust that our passions align with His “will” for us; and if they don’t, we won’t have a problem giving them up. 

So we both happen to love Jesus.  And Latin America.  And traveling to new countries.  And speaking Spanish.  And being totally put out of our comfort zones.  And learning.  And serving the marginalized.  And working for social justice.  And teaching… most days. 

The direction’s looking pretty clear, huh?

Well it did to us as soon as we saw it.  Thanks to a friend from my childhood church, we found IAM.  Once we talked with the founding missionary of the group, we felt that peace that only comes with the realization that God actually figured something out WAY before you did.

I’m not gonna lie, we were hesitant about investigating any path that included support raising.  Maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s supporting the whole tent-making philosophy; but you realize when that peace comes the insignificance of figuring out the why.

So we’re not trying to figure out the why.  And we don’t really know exactly what we will do when we get to Chile.  We have some ideas and a team that is willing to wait patiently and pray alongside us as we figure it out!  So we are excited in the waiting.  Just like Oswald says: 

"To be certain of God is to be uncertain in all our ways, you never know what a day may bring. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation."