I've had so many thoughts running through my head after wild weeks and a wild summer, and I can't relay all of it, but the conversations I've had this past week in restarting school meetings and reentering the BFA bubble are centered around the theme of God inviting me into an incredible work. "Avalanche of reconciliation" is the phrase running through my head these days actually...
A wise Canadian recently reminded me that her walk with the Lord has been a series of intimate moments where God whispers, "Hey, do you want to be part of something awesome?" It's a choice, an invitation, and an honor to be included in God's work in the world. She was answering yes to God by having a conversation with me; I'm answering yes in the personal ways God is inviting me to grow.
I'm also watching other people be invited into great works, and I see a hesitation that initially leads me to frustration. My invitation is actually related to offering those kind of people grace and standing firm in freedom when others try to shame me away from intimacy with Jesus, as a wise Brit told me today. By the grace of God, I've learned from models like these wise women God brought into my life, and by the grace of God, some of my students have learned from me.
One of the students I've mentored for years now has read through Esther with me a couple of times, and we've talked about how the most quoted line is Mordecai telling Esther perhaps she's been placed in the palace "for such a time as this." The part I always try to get my student to focus on is the first half of the verse, though, where Mordecai tells Esther, "Listen, girl, you're being invited into something magnificent, and if you don't step up, salvation will still come for the Jews from somewhere else, and you'll die in obscurity missing out on this opportunity to be a part of something beautiful." (I'm paraphrasing, but that's the actual thrust of the sentiment.) I want my students to step into the something beautiful God invites them into - a different one of my students messaged me this last week and asked if I would baptise him when he comes to visit Kandern next week. He doesn't want to miss out on the invitation, and I'm overjoyed to be a part of that commitment and celebration.
Next week I'll write about the way we navigate getting me into some body of water to make this happen, but today I want to celebrate the invitation I've accepted. I lament the kids who walk away from Jesus; it hurts every day. But I also have overwhelming joy towards the kids who commit to follow through in their relationship with Jesus, to grow when it's tough, to repent of sin, and to love God and others better everyday.
I've spent countless hours sitting at my picnic table staring at the trees and talking to God this summer. I genuinely believe that gave space for me to breathe and listen to the Holy Spirit like never before. I genuinely believe I have a real relationship with the Creator of the universe who is alive and active in the world today and has invited me into an unbelievable story of healing and reconciliation.
Hey, do you want to be a part of something awesome? What is God inviting you into today?