the little things

Well hello city! i'm back and ready to get this summer started! I just had a lovely week in Abbotsford. My internship is only 12 weeks, so i was able to get a week off right at the halfway point. 6 weeks down, 6 weeks to go.

My week in Abby was a nice because i was able to recharge and relax, and recover from a strange cold/flu that i'd had for over a week. The week started out by going to Northview on Sunday. So random, because i never go there for church. I havn't really been going any one place for church for the past year ( I feel incredibly displaced.) but this morning I asked God where he wanted me to go.... and somehow i ended up at northview, where i know no one. But God knew i needed to hear Jeff's sermon that morning.

He spoke on two things that I have really been struggling with lately. The sermon was centered around Mark 4:26-30 - two parables . The first is about the growing seed. main point- God grows his kingdom not me, not people. God's kingdom is unstoppable and inevitable. If you don't know, God wins! and with that I have peace and joy despite rough times, and times when it seems that darkness wins. Here in the city, sometimes it seems dark. I struggle with remembering that i cannot make people meet Jesus. I had the perspective that its Christians' responsibility to save their neighbor. Thats a lot of pressure. And yes, we do have responsibility to LOVE and tell our neighbor about the amazing FREEDOM found in CHRIST! but.. its God that grows the seed! I can't force fruit to grow. After realizing this it was like a burden was lifted from me! I understand that I am just supposed to love each person that God puts in my path.

Secondly, the parable of the mustard Seed. - mainpoint- God takes the insignificant and makes it magnificent. here in east van there are many many ministries going on. Some big, some small. It seems the big ones are doing amazing things(and they are)! like feeding tons of people, womens shelters, youth groups, sending kids to camp, afterschool programs... you get the picture. and it seems like the small ministries have it rough because there isn't a lot of money and its hard to run programs or do anything without money or space in the city. Not going to lie, I was feeling kinda discouraged about being in a small organization. I'd go and visit the established ones and see all the stuff they are doing and the people they are reaching out to and I was a little jealous. who But am I to say where God will work? I was quite humbled... and realized how prideful i was being to think that God cannot use the small things. In this culture we are drawn to success, we have the mentality Bigger is better. and God's kingdom is totally opposite. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.. the tiniest thing ever, and then it explodes into hugeness. I was being pretty critical, and now i'm seeing the positives of being apart of a smaller ministry group. I get to make quality relationships with a few youth, rather than being so overwhelmed by program stuff and loads of kids. because i don't work with huge numbers of people i am able to be really personal with those that i do. like be invited to a family's house for dinner, eat birthday cake with the mom of the girls i teach piano, go for a walk with a mom and her daughter and talk about their struggles, play cards at the beach with a girl who's scared about going into highschool... God works in the little things.