Deep Breath of Fresh Aire

I spelt Air as “aire” which is the way it is spelt in spanish. Today was a good day. As far as Sundays go I feel like it was one of the most Christian Sundays I have had in awhile.

Firstly I woke up and had meaningful conversation. I called Cynthia Pai to find out that I was not going to church because they merged the 2 services. We chatted for a good long time and I was blessed to havea conversation that lasted for more than 30 seconds in which she really wanted to hear about my time in Latin America. That was good.

I uploaded many photos to the facebook following that, which was nowhere near what some of my friends have done. I have not yet begun to explore the proverbial “monton” of photos that no doubt exist from multiple countries with my face in them. I found that I have some really good pictures. I could probably sell a few of them to travel agencies. Shazam.

Then my dad and I got coffee at an organic store. I got coffee. It was okay. Not coffee from central america.

After coffee I chatted for a good 1.5 hours with my friend Michael Richards about life. We talked about how his room was destroyed by mercury and how my life was complicated and frustrating following Latin America. Then I went to Spanish Church at Northwest community church. This started the process that made me scared of what the Lord has in store for me. He just might mess up my life and make me a pastor or something. Sigh.

I went there and interpreted the service for my friend Ron Pai, I think I did an okay job, but there are a few things that are hard to do. When you don’t know a word and have to stop to think about it, you lose a sentence or two. The pastor gave this wonderful sermon about how during the Christmas season we separate the baby Jesus from the adult Jesus. It is always about the baby Jesus during Christmas and we forget that the baby Jesus we sing about had already grown up, become a man, died on a cross for our sins, and rose again before we were ever born. He mentioned the idea that Christmas is more about the incarnation of God in man. God became flesh. He became one of us. That is what Christmas means.

He followed that with the fact that this baby born on Christmas day (or rather more likely in October) became the man/God that lives inside our hearts today and stands next to us. That our commitment is a lifelong process as opposed to just a moment in time. Our faith is a process played out over a lifetime, just as this Messiah baby grew to be the Jesus we read about in the rest of the gospel story we too must grow. I think that was the jist. It was great.

After the sermon the pastor told me I should preach sometime in spanish. That scared me a bit, mostly because I have spent the majority of my life avoiding the idea of being a pastor…but really, I don’t know that I can avoid it much longer. The problem that the world has lies in the human heart, Jesus is the only one who can change that. The best way for me to facilitate that is to be a pastor. Still, maybe there’s a better way to think about it that isn’t so utilitarian.

After the service I talked to Pastor Barron Miller (who is surprisingly witty) and Ron Pai. It was odd as I left the building because I suddenly found myself feeling like I belonged to a church that gave me strength to keep seeking the Lord and wanted to include me in whatever possible. It was great.

Afterwards I went to help the Huckabys run their new soup kitchen. The restaurant that Kelly Huckaby works at pays for a soup kitchen to happen on Sunday nights at the Little Cheerful cafe in Bellingham. I got to go and give food to the homeless and participate in something wonderful that made me feel all of a sudden like I wasn’t going to be stranded in America at a frustrating lack of expression for the ideas I came to own in Latin America. I felt like I was doing things that Jesus wanted me to be doing. It felt so great. Not out of a sense of checking a box, but actually living the call Christ gives us. Amazing.

Then I went over to the Huckabys’ house and appreciated their company, my scarf, my carhartts, my flannel shirt, and a warm cup of tea. It feels so good to be dressed for cold weather again. I feel at home in these clothes. Far more so than I will ever feel in a polo shirt and the manprees I was wearing the whole time in latin America. The Huckabys are some of the most impressive people I have ever met. I am surprised that they want to keep being friends with me when they could easily be friends with people far more awesome than me. I have known them for years and have been blessed by the process more than I could tell you. They really love Jesus, so much that I look at my own life and wonder just what it is that the Lord will do to mess up my life so that someday it will look as wonderfully grace and faith filled as theirs does.

Today was one of those days where I felt like I could stay in Bellingham and love it. It was as though the cool wind of God was blowing through the stifling frustration in my soul.

PS: The Huckabys also made thinly veiled attempts at setting me up with multiple girls that they know. Some of them sounded interesting, but nonetheless, I don’t like to be set up. No sir. I will maintain my line until I am proven wrong by a setup…not that I have ever allowed one because it violates my principles of not being set up.