Head First by Leah Smith | posted 2/28/2002
|
Church
on Lenox Avenue
|
Hey
there Creeksiders,
This
week, we are all moving! Creekside
will have its first ever services at Redmond
Junior High this Sunday. What
an exciting time!
Dave
[my husband] and I have moved a lot – in fact one friend told me
the “S” page in her address book was completely full because of
all the times she had to cross out an old address of ours and write
a new one in. We’ve
been in our current house for over 3 years – a new record!
For me, moving is always a mix of excitement, hard work,
nostalgia and anticipation. I’m
always eager to move so I can tackle the new things: I get to
decorate all over again, I get to discover which one is the “sunny
window”, and I get to explore a new neighborhood on my walks.
But I’m always exhausted by the process, and sometimes
I’m even a bit wistful. A
good friend of mine was able to buy a house and move out of the
(what seemed to me) moldy and cramped house she was living in.
I expected lots of joy, but she was tearful for a week.
She said she kept going around the house and thinking of all
the many important things that had happened “in this room” or
“on that spot”. She
finally made a video tour of her house on her camcorder, recording
all these special memories in her own running commentary as she
filmed. After her video
was finished, she felt like she could get excited about her new
home. I
think back over Redmond Elementary and remember fondly the time I
first met someone in a certain row of chairs.
I remember sitting there for Journey 1.0 and meeting some
other people we now hold dear.
I think about the meaningful, tearful conversations I’ve
had with wonderfully supportive women in the nursery.
I think about a particular sermon that touched my core and
shook me to overwhelming repentance “in that spot”.
I remember watching two little girls twirl around to the
music “in that room”. I’m
also looking forward to our new time at Redmond Junior High.
Which spots and rooms there will be meaningful to me?
I am excited about people I will meet, conversations I will
have, songs I will sing, and messages that will pierce my heart
“in that spot”. I
encourage you to take a bit of time in the next couple of days and
pray for the move. Once,
a group of us who helped some friends move, finished the day by
going around their house room by room - praying over each spot,
asking God to bless them, challenge them, and speak to them in this
new house. It was a
very moving experience for me.
A prayer team at Creekside already spent an afternoon doing
this at Redmond Junior High – isn’t that exciting!
Take some time and pray again for Redmond Junior High –
that we will be a blessing to the teachers, students, and staff
there…that God will speak to us….that he will challenge
us…that we will meet many new people there.
You may want to take some time and walk through your own
apartment, room, house, and talk to God as you walk through.
Ask him to show you what plans he has for you in your own
space. Take some time
to listen and to reflect. I
look forward to seeing you in our new space, and to being a part of
what God does there! Grace
& Peace, Leah
Smith How
lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty. I long, yes, I
faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole
being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. Even
the sparrow finds a home there, and the swallow builds her nest and
raises her young – at a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my
King and my God! How happy are those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises… A single day in your courts is better
than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the
house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
For the LORD God is our light and protector. He gives us grace and
glory. No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who do what
is right. O LORD Almighty, happy are those who trust in you. To respond to this message, please direct your emails to: lsmith@ecreekside.com . . . |
