2 Reflections on God's Calling (Part 2)

Reflection 2 - God is a Coach

            Going to school to be a pastor is an experience unlike any other. While my college years were some of the best years of my life, something strange happened near the end. As I progressed through my Senior year, I started to hear stories from professors about how they told God they would go anywhere but…(you fill in the blank). New York. California. The City. The country. The South. The mission fields. You get the idea. The punch line was that they ended up exactly where they hoped they wouldn’t.

            After a few dozen stories like that a strange idea took shape. I remember thinking that God would either call me to the one place in the world where I wouldn’t want to go, or he would keep from the places that I did want to be. I would catch myself absurdly trying to not think about the places I didn’t want to go. Because He just might send me straight there: “Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.” It was especially difficult because I was attending a school 2200 miles from my family. As time went, it got harder to keep a picture of a God that cared about me. At times I had to talk myself down from the ledge of seeing God as a cosmic jokester using my dreams and desires against me. Of course I never let people see that uncertainty, after all I was studying to be pastor! So I embraced the fatalistic humor and joked about pastoring the 1st Church of my Wor

st Nightmare.

            Then the interview process started. I revised my resume, organized it into a folder with examples of my skills, strengths, and connections. I put on my best suit, tie, and smile. I went into small rooms with other men in suits and answered their questions. A few weeks later, yet more interviews. I became a pro at telling the story of my “Call to Ministry.” Explaining my strengths, priorities, and goals. Describing my devotional life. Speculating on the best response to conflict. Outlining my action in a new church. The interviewers mostly came from places like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maine. I came from Oregon. Those were some of the most conflicting months of my life. I wanted to be called to a church. I wanted some reward for the energy I put into my interviews. But I really didn’t want to end up on the East Coast. When graduated and the last interview was over and I still hadn’t received a call, I felt a mixture of fear, shame, and relief. I was confused.

           I've come to realize that there is beauty in that kind of confusion. Like dissonance in music or suspense in a story, it signals that something important is happening. Besides, everything beautiful comes out of pressure, heat, pain. From diamonds to infants. The Christian walk isn’t different. If you haven’t felt pressure, confusion, and frustration in your faith, you’re not even in the kiddy pool yet. You’re rolling in a puddle at the edge and you’re missing out. Missing out on a life of risk and danger. A place where that in-over-your-head feeling would drive you crazy, but you know that you're only here because God brought you here and has His reasons. So you learn to live in over your head, because you never really are when He's around.

            I’m in Idaho now, the Ministry Lead at a Radio Station. The story of how I got this job is one for another post, but I will say it’s the most challenging experience of my life. There are days when I feel no hope that this thing will work. When I feel like I’m a huge poser and they’re gonna figure it out any day now. Then God does things. Things like letting me talk to a woman who chose not to end her life because of the ministry I’m a part of. He lets me pray with depressed people and talk to people mourning the loss of their baby. Then He stops me and tells me to look back and when I do and I’m amazed at where we’ve come.

           See, I’ve learned that God isn’t a jokester. He’s a coach. Him calling me isn't to prove his authority, but to grow my faith. Sometimes its terrifying, shameful, and hard. But the pressure is not meaningless. Like any coach He guides, leads, and always has my best interest at heart, but sometimes I need Him to make me drop and give Him 20. I need Him to make it tough! I need Him to make it real.

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2 Reflections on God’s Calling (Part 1 of 2)

After weeks of silence, mostly a result of graduations, cross country treks, new jobs, farewell parties, welcome home parties, and other little things, we are starting a series of posts on a topic that is close to both of our hearts: The Calling of God. It will be a series of 5 reflections on the calling of God in each of our lives.

Reflection # 1 - God has the right to tell you what to do

Sometimes in our culture of freedom and opportunity, we get the idea that if I’m not a pastor or missionary, then God has given me freedom to live my life without his interference. So the thing that I do to earn money, becomes my career. The people with whom I share life become my family. The church where I choose to worship becomes my church. Yes, I will give some of my money to my church because I think its important and it gives me a nice tax break.

God’s only impact upon my life is contained within the 1 hour a week that church occurs. If I choose to go to Sabbath School then I should be commended for my commitment. Anything that occurs during the week, especially on Sunday, which is my day, will be subject my schedule but only after it is run by that highest of authorities: my feelings. If someone at the church happens to do something that offends me or, heaven forbid, I find out that someone in the leadership has been compromised, I have the prerogative to discontinue my support of the church. After all it is mine.

Now that I am finished jumping on the toes of every reader of this post, please understand that I am ranting against something that I see in my own life.

I think that the atmosphere of grace and freedom that Christianity is based upon has, at times, made us forget what so much of the Bible screams out. God is God. He is the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, the Bringer of floods and protector of the innocent. He casts down kings and builds up shepherds. He has the right to tell you what to do! That is not to say that God is a tyrant. He is nothing of the sort. In fact he often gives us opportunities to make choices. That is part of what makes Him so wonderful. David reflects on this in Psalm 8:3-5

“When I consider the works of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.”

David’s point is that when we look at the work of God’s hands, we can be nothing but humble. When we know who God really is, when we understand that God spoke and the universe came to be, our petty power struggles suddenly seem utterly childish.

One of my biggest pet peeves are pedestrians at cross walks who walk out into traffic without ever looking around to see what is coming toward them or acknowledging the cars who are stopped to let them by. Its not that I don’t like giving them the right of way, I am perfectly happy doing this. What bugs me is the complete lack of respect for the drivers. Think about it, the only reason why those people are alive, is because the drivers bearing down on them respect the law and value the lives of the pedestrians. In America, at least, this is so ubiquitous among drivers that we pedestrians take it for granted and assume that it is our innate right as a pedestrian to walk in front of oncoming traffic and that said traffic will stop if we are in a crosswalk. No! There is nothing innate about it. There are no force fields protecting you as a pedestrian. You are not bigger and tougher than the Ford F-350 that is slowing to your left or the Semi that is stopped on your right just because you are between two white lines. Those vehicles could and would flatten you if their drivers chose to do so.

The same is true of God. So often we live our lives likes those pedestrians. So taking for granted the fact that God gives us the privilege of making choices that we make those choices without ever acknowledging that God is allowing us this privilege. This is what the Bible means in Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

 The first step in knowing God’s calling on your life is to know that God has the right to tell you what to do. He has the right to turn your life upside down. He has that right because he made you and saved you and gives you life and love. Every. Single. Day.

Next time we will discuss why God calls us. Is it just because he likes telling us what to do? Or does he have a greater purpose?

           

  

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School, Semis, and Bread

I have always been a good student. Not perfect, but I knew what to do to succeed and I would accomplish those things. I have been blessed because school was always easy for me. If I had an idea of what I needed to do, I could do it with a minimal amount of time. 

I cannot stress the blessing that this has been in my life, I also cannot take any credit for it. I was given a gift for learning just as everyone reading this blog has been given gifts. Each person has something that God has given. Some are talents given at birth, maybe music, or the ability to connect with people, or an undeniable common sense. God also gives us skills or learned abilities. For example, my dad can back a semi-truck with a trailer in a perfectly straight line at what has to be the speed of light. I doubt he was born with that ability, although if he was, it certainly wasn’t passed to his son. The fact is, he can drive extremely well because he has been driving semis since…well forever. Other gifts we are given upon our conversion, the Bible calls these spiritual gifts. Gifts like prophecy, evangelism, encouragement, and hospitality among others are gifts given by God specifically to build up the church. Every Christian is given at least one gift of the Spirit and if you are not sure what yours is I heartily encourage you to begin finding out.

A few mornings ago I woke up a little early and had a short devotional.

I had been reading out of Proverbs and that morning I read from chapter 10. Proverbs is seems to be a string of wise sayings that don’t seem to connected apart from their wisdom. But when you read an entire chapter some themes come through. The difference between the wise and foolish, the ultimate destiny of each. The diligence of the wise always reaps bounty, The desires of the foolish are forever unmet because of their laziness. 

It really hit me then how much I had been wasting. How I believe I am called to a purpose, I have worked hard in years past to achieve what I have gotten. But now I am wasting so much of what God has given me. In fact, I’m using his gift as a crutch so I waste as much time as possible. 

My own selfishness and foolishness hit me like one of my Dad’s semis. I confessed and asked how he could still use me. I saw the reality of myself before God. That I can’t even use the gifts he has given me well. Honestly, I have had every opportunity. I have every advantage. I was raised in a Christian home. I was part of the Church from the beginning. I went to Christian schools, had Christian friends, and have on occasion even enjoyed Christian fast food. (Honestly, who doesn’t love Chick-fil-a!) It is so easy for me to think I’m somehow better than someone else who has experienced disadvantage. Yet what have I done with my advantages? All to often I have wasted them. All to often I have lived a life of least resistance. All of this was going through my head when the Holy Spirit brought a new thought to my mind. 

In John 6 The Feeding of the 5000, one of the most important miracles of Jesus' ministry, is recorded. It reads, 

"After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.(6:1-15)"

My question is, how much did the boy waste before he brought the food to Jesus? Did he drop a couple loaves on the way? Maybe he had some figs for dessert that he ate first. The Bible doesn’t say. Why doesn’t the Bible say? Because its irrelevant. The amount of food that the boy started with is not the point. Say the boy started out with 9 loaves and 12 fish, would it have been easier for Christ to feed the 5000? No; it wasn’t resources or gifts of the boy that fed the people, it was the power of God. 

Does the waste of our resources make an impact? Of course it does. But only because those resources weren’t placed into the hands of God. Any gift that isn’t surrendered to God is wasted, its just that some people waste their gifts more efficiently than others. If we insist that we are the ultimate authority in our lives, then we are wasting our gifts. Whether we use them for Grand Theft Auto, McDonald's, and a nap, or for Mutual Funds, kale, and a marathon. Gifts given for the glory of God will always be wasted if used for the glory of man.

Ultimately the wisdom of the Proverbs is the wisdom of the boy. I still have a lot to learn, I still am struggling with taking the gifts of God for granted and wasting what he has given me. But I realize that it is only when I place those gifts as depleted as they might be, into the hands of God that I will cease to waste them.

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Shine!

  Light shines the brightest in the darkness. When I was in Cuba, power outages were not uncommon. As a matter of fact, the newspaper often published a schedule with the dates and times of the power outages for each zone. For some reason, our zone always got the worst of it. We were always scheduled for night time darkness. If that was not enough, I guess the guy in charge of turning the lights back on always fell asleep or did not like us or something because we always enjoyed darkness for longer than we were supposed to. It was not fun. 

  There is something about the darkness that paralyzes us. Every time the lights went off, everyone in the room sat still and quiet until dad turned on a candle. That single candle made all the difference. It brought life back to the room. The light on that candle would have gone unnoticed in the middle of the day when the sun shines bright. It would have gone unseen if there were power, its light eclipsed and overpowered by the ceiling lamps and light bulbs. But in the midst of the darkness the flame on the candle always shines the brightest.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

  Jesus said this in His famous "Sermon on the Mount." Jesus was talking to a very wide variety of people. People from all different walks of life had met there to listen to the words of the Master. Some of them had little to nothing in common, but they all knew Jesus. To this group of people who knew Him, Jesus said: "You are the light of the world." My question to you is the following: Do you know Jesus? If you do, then He is calling you to be light. As a matter of fact, "light" is not something Jesus is calling you to do; it is what He is calling you to be. The world needs you to be the light. What are we doing with our flame?

  There are two things that make our flame invisible. The first is more light. It is hard to see a candle in the middle of the day. Hiding our light in the light is probably one of the biggest temptations that those who know Jesus face. It is easy to preach about the love of God to those who already know Him. It feels good to hide behind majestic churches where we talk about the light all the time. It is easy to get comfortable with so much light that we become afraid of darkness. We become so afraid of the darkness destroying the world God called us to save that we decide to ignore it. The crazy thing is that we have gotten so good at ignoring it that even though our lights are becoming darkness, we continue to tell ourselves that we are the light. My question is this: Can you see your light? If you look around you and all you can see are people whose lights seem to shine brighter than yours, then step out in the darkness so that others who have been consumed by darkness can see you and "give glory to your Father who is in heaven." My challenge is be a light in the darkness. The world needs to see the Jesus that you know.

  The other thing we do with our light that makes it invisible is hide it. I remember one Sabbath morning I was on my way to church. It was about a 30-minute walk from my house to the church. So, like a good Christian, I was wearing my suit and tie, and I was carrying a leather Bible under my arm. Everything was going well until one of my friends from school saw me and asked me if I was going to a wedding. I was a little surprised about the fact that my friend had failed to see my leather Bible. So I explained that I was going to church. Then with disbelief on his face my friend said, "And you are a Christian?" My heart broke.

  That day I came to realize that I had hidden my light so well that, even when I carried an oversized Bible in my hands, others could not believe that I was a follower of Christ. They could not believe that I knew Jesus. I had hidden my light for the sake of my comfort. I had placed my lamp under a basket because I was afraid of being rejected. I wanted to be what those around me liked me to be, not what they needed me to be. Being light is not easy, but we must keep in mind that is who we are, who we are called to be.

  I want my flame to burn. Jesus promises to keep that flame alive when we hold on to Him. He promises to walk by our side as we step out of our comfort zones and let the world know of His salvation. Are you ready to take your light to the darkness? Shine!

photo credit: Herr Olsen via photopin cc

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Long Distance Relationships and Jesus

     For the last three years, my fiancé and I have had the opportunity to enjoy the ups and downs of a long distance relationship. Since the moment we agreed to be exclusive with each other in this romantic, emotion-filled relationship, we knew long distance was waiting for us in the future because of our career choices. We had to make a decision at a very premature stage of our relationship. To pursue this adventure or not. We decided to commit to each other and to move on. A few months after, we found ourselves a few thousand miles away from each other with the ocean in between us. Being away from the person you are in a relationship with raises a whole new set of challenges that we just weren't ready for. Going through this experience, we learned things that helped us stay afloat during this time, but they also taught me a lot about how Jesus relates to us.

   In one way or another, every Christian is in a long distance relationship with Jesus. Sometimes we struggle to keep the fire burning and compromise our relationship with Him to follow something or someone else who promises love and comfort for us today. But deep within our hearts, we know that those affairs are only a fantasy and that only God's love can quench our thirst to be loved. How can we keep our relationship with Jesus alive? There are three important tips I learned from my long distance relationship that can make a difference in your relationship with Jesus. They sure did in mine! Here they are:

1. Start the day with her, end the day with her.

   It did not take long for us to realize that in order to keep things going we needed to start the day together and finish it together. When everything else fails, we have something to look forward to. Every morning, we talk about our plans for the day, and every night, we talked about how much we accomplished. This allows Betsy (my fiancé) to give me her input on things before they actually happen and to hold me accountable at the end of the day. We practice this both ways, and it has really made a difference in our relationship.

   Imagine what practicing this can do for you relationship with Jesus—making Him the first one with whom you share your plans every day. If you are someone who does it on a regular basis, then you know the value of practicing this. If you don't, then think for a second how different your day could have been if you would have made Jesus part of it this morning. One of my favorite Bible verses says: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV). God has great plans for your life. I don't know the plans you have for you, but I know this: God's plans are better. Tap into His plan and purpose for your life every morning and every night! Let Jesus be who wakes you up and lays you down.

2. Make her part of your world

   Living in two completely different worlds is very difficult. Different people, different setting, different culture! You name it! Before we realized it, our "worlds" had pulled us apart from each other. We became so consumed by everything around us that we got absorbed by it and separated from one another. It wasn't long before the only conversations we had were those in the morning and those before going to bed. Even then, those conversations were short and dry. We were falling apart. Until one day we decided to make "us" part of our world. That meant small calls here and there, in between classes, and during lunch breaks. Even though I looked silly to some of my friends because of how many little phone calls I made a day, it saved our relationship.

   Jesus doesn't want to give you a blueprint of how your life needs to be every morning; He wants to be a part of it every day. He wants to come into your world and be close and intimate with you. Regardless of where we are or how far we feel, He pursues us desperately. The question is: Are we getting so absorbed by this world that we forget about our Savior? The Bible says: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20, ESV). Think about the fact that the Almighty God, the One who created everything we know and see with the breath of His mouth, clears His schedule for you every day, regardless of whether you meet with Him or not. Let Him in! Remember that Jesus Christ gave His life so that you and I can live. Make Him your world.

3. Never lose sight of her love

   Like every other couple in the world, Betsy and I sometimes fight. This is especially difficult over the phone. If your significant other is getting mad over something insignificant, the problem can sometimes be fixed with a hug or a little kiss on the forehead. Well, guess what? You can't hug people over the phone. So every argument had the potential of becoming a big issue. Sometimes, out of frustration mostly, I run the risk of fostering thoughts in my mind that undermine her love towards me. So I often need to remind myself how much she loves me and how she shows me in many other different ways her love for me every day. This is the solution for every bump we have along the road.

   Regardless of what your situation is today, remember one thing: Jesus loves you. Yes, life can get rough sometimes! Yes, things can often be more complicated than we wish they were! But that does not change how much He loves you one bit! I often hear people saying stuff like: "I am mad at God because of _______!" Really? Can you imagine if God actually got mad at you every time you walk away from the cross, where He laid His life for you? Instead, He chooses to love you despite of your shortcomings! When things get rough, don't lose sight of His love for you! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, ESV).

photo credit: SPIngram via photopin cc

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Vomit-Green

I am eating a Peanut-Butter and Jelly Sandwich right now and it is glorious, made even more so by the Black Raspberry and Blackberry Jelly that is inside. When I was a 1^st Grader I always wanted, or rather, I needed my mom to pack a PB&J sandwich in my lunch. Every. Day.  One time she didn’t, opting instead for the much inferior Tuna Salad sandwich. She happened to be volunteering at the school and was nearby. I went in and asked her why she didn’t make me a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich! I wasn’t throwing a fit or anything, it simply crushed my young spirit that I didn’t get to eat a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich that day. I remember tears filling my eyes at the realization. I liked Tuna, but PB&J was PB&J, and Tuna was not PB&J. PB&J is what I had been wishing for all morning. I was weird.

            This odd sentimentality didn’t limit itself to PB&J Sandwiches. You see I grew in a 70s
era double-wide mobile home. On its own it would’ve been a trash heap, but due to the work and expert care of my mother it always had grace and charm. However, my mother’s expert care could do nothing about its vomit-green carpet. It was disgusting. No one knew what the previous occupants had done in the house but all of their wonderful residue resided safely in its confines. For years my parents lived with it awaiting the day that they could afford a change.  Finally the day arrived, the carpet guys came, the vomit-green carpet was torn out, and new carpet and linoleum was installed. The process took a few days. One night I remember walking outside to where the old, vomit-green carpet was and crying. I was really gonna miss that old carpet with who-knows-what living inside it. My parents came out and saw that I was crying and when I told them why, they took me into my bedroom and showed me where a patch of the old green stuff was, right inside my closet. Evidently that satisfied me.  I was a strange little boy. I think Jesus is just as strange.

This has been a crazy week with ups and downs, victories and defeats. Yet here we are, minutes from closing the Sabbath, from starting a brand new week.  As the second hand draws us closer to its end, think about this. You and I are the vomit-green carpet. So often we made the stupid choice and each time we got a stain and turned a little further from God. Pretty soon we were worn and toxic. But the good news is that Jesus didn’t just stand there looking on, not even with tears in his eyes. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8) When I realize that the maker of stars and galaxies and all things bright and beautiful, came to this world to save us I am overcome. All the time I have wasted, all the mistakes I have knowingly made, when the king of all gave up everything for me. How could he care for this vomit-green mess of a person? But he does and even though it doesn't make sense that he would rescue us he did because God is very definite in his opinions, and when saw that you were lost he saved you, even though he has a Universe. He likes the Universe, but you are you, and the Universe is not you. You are what God is wishing for.

 You see God is weird. A little sentimental. He’s just crazy enough to love a strange little kid like me, and strong enough to save a vomit-green world.

Photo Credit:

http://www.bbb.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1.png

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When Mountains Explode...

            On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted. Located in South-Western Washington State, St. Helens had been seen as one of the most beautiful and peaceful sights in the Pacific Northwest. The mountain is one of several large volcanic peaks that make up the Cascade Range. Other prominent peaks include Mt. Rainier near Seattle, Mt. Hood near Portland, Oregon, and Mt. Shasta in Northern California. At its base was a picturesque lake where visitors camped and fished. The mountain was taken for granted, a landmark for people seeking escape from the constant buzz of city-life. It took but a moment for this vision of splendor to erupt in ash and magma.             

            For two months, geologists had known something was coming. Small earthquakes, a visible bulge on the surface of the mountain, and other anomalies hinted at the power stirring beneath the earth. Yet the fury of the final eruption astonished everyone.

The picture of Mt. St. Helens Eruption I remember
from my parents coffee table book.

            Throughout the spring as the mountain had been rumbling, the snow that clung to its sides had been slowly melting, continuing a cycle as old as Creation. The melting snow seeped into the earth. On May 18, as the pressure of the white-hot magma bulged upward an earthquake suddenly occurred and the spring-soft face of the mountain gave way. One of history’s largest landslides released two hundred years’ worth of volcanic pressure and sent a molten cloud of steam, ash, and magma rocketing across the countryside at nearly the speed of sound. It leveled everything in its path and radically changed the landscape. What had once been a peaceful recreational area at the base of a beautiful peak became a post-apocalyptic wasteland in minutes. Trees were leveled for miles, then stripped of all foliage even further away. Pieces of heavy machinery were tossed into the air like children’s toys. The beauty, stability, and majesty of the mountain was destroyed.

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To Trust or Not To Trust?

photo credit: Oberazzi via photopin cc

If we are honest with ourselves, trusting God is probably one of the most difficult things for us human beings to do consistently. It is so easy to trust God when things are totally out of our control, when all human resources have been exhausted. Only then is when we cry out to the Lord, “Help me!” Most of the time we only do this to make sure we have someone to blame, other than ourselves, when things don't go as we plan. Interestingly enough, as humans, we have been doing this since the very beginning. When Adam and Eve sinned and the Lord exposed their sin, the words of Adam were: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3: 12, ESV) The default response of men after sin is to blame someone else for his mistakes. But all of that happened because they decided to put their trust on themselves and their desires, rather than on God and His commands.

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What This is All About!

If you are reading this then you are a very close friend of ours or extremely curious, which I believe are both good things most of the time. "Two Worlds, One God" is an idea the Lord placed in our hearts over this last summer and He affirmed it to us through friends and random people telling us: "Hey you should write something!” So I called Braden and finally here we are. The reason we called this blog "Two Worlds, One God" (which was Braden's idea) is because Braden and I have very little in common other than our God and our preference for Starbucks, but since this blog is mainly about God, we will leave the Starbucks thing for another day. I am sure Braden will dedicate some time to tell you guys about himself later, but I wanted to share just a bit of my story and how God has guided me in my walk through this life.

I was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. My birth itself was a miracle, but I won't tell you much about it since I want to dedicate a post just for that experience. Growing up in a communist country was definitely a challenge for my Christian walk. Every day when I left the house in the morning I knew my faith was going to be tested in some way, but this process helped me to lay a strong, logical, foundation to what I believed and why. However, there was one thing missing; a relationship with Jesus. I knew to keep every aspect of the Law and how to speak and behave properly, especially in church! But no one ever told me about this relationship with Jesus stuff. Don't get me wrong, I was sure that Jesus came to this world, and died for me, and was risen from the tomb, and will come back eventually! But He was just way too busy making sure the universe functions properly to have, or even want, a relationship with a this Cuban, red-headed, freckle-faced, little boy. This all changed in March 2006.

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