A Birthday Thought

It’s my birthday, and birthdays are for me some of the best times to step back and reflect on things: the past year, what’s truly important to me, what is God up to? 

As I reflect, one thing I can say for certain: 2018 has truly been a unique and full year for us: my youngest is nearing her own (1st) birthday, it’s been our first year in our new home and neighborhood, and it’s been a steep learning curve for me and Felise as we shift from parenting two little ones to three. 

And in the midst of this wild and trying year, I am convinced more than ever that the church of Christ needs to transform, and is indeed already transforming in places from primarily a socio-religious organization that provides “spiritualized” goods and services to something much more primal. A place where real, not transactional, relationships are taught, risked, and nourished. A village that raises each other’s children. A pack that protects and provides for the vulnerable. A table where the wisdom of the elders and the passion of the youth cycle and mix. Human beings learning to be human, because God became human and walked among us. 

It’s happening. Christ’s Body is transforming, and I think that’s God’a gift to us in this perilous time and context.  

I for one hope to do my part in birthing it in time for my children’s generation.