The Shack - Part 3

This has been an exciting past few days in my life, and I have not been faithful to writing in the blog. This past Saturday I graduated from the University of Missouri - Columbia and had one of the most inspiring and grace-filled days of my life. Not only was it my graduation day, but also my best friend of 15 years left for Europe and will be gone for the next 6 months.

The day began with an open house for my family and friends in honor of my graduation. Nearly 40 people came in and out throughout the day, and I had to keep on excusing myself, as I became overwhelmed at the sight of all of these important people in my life all sharing in one place together. It was truley an amazing time, and I just kept on telling everyone how blessed I felt. That feeling is still inside of me. I told my best friend as we were driving to Kansas City in preperation for his flight to Europe that I hoped to remember the feeling I had that day, and be able to feel fulfilled in the love and support that I have from my family and friends.

The quote that I am pulling from The Shack in this post is Jesus talking about the church - his "bride". Jesus says “It’s all about relationships and simply sharing life. What we are doing right now – just doing this – and being open and available to others around us. My church is all about people and life is all about relationships" (pg. 178).

SIMPLY SHARING LIFE
BE OPEN AND AVAILABLE TO OTHERS

These are the two big ideas I can pull from this quote that I think everyone - Christians and non-Christians can realte to. I have friends who have found a relationship with God through their relationships with other people. This is the community of faith that is so important to our development and sustaining ourselves as Christians.

I have fallen the past few days into some old habits and circumstances that I wish I could have avoided. It amazes me how quick and easy it is to fall away from what we are searching for in our lives. My God, what a fight it must be to stay faithful, strong, and convicted! My prayer is that God continues to work in my life so I can be open and available to others and enjoy simply sharing life with those closest to me.