They Don't Love You Like I Love You

I kept singing the song "Maps" by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs in my head this morning while I was at Starbucks, generally when I was doing dishes. Dishes is a popular time for me to sing songs to myself. So today's was "Maps" and it was just the one line of chorus that I know. "Wait. They don't love you like I love you ..." And I'm sure that song is about people, but for a moment, I realized it's also about God. And it's Him saying precisely that to me. "WAIT!" He says "They don't love you like I love you!" He proclaims about the world, about my desire, even about the people I know and love and who are equally loved by Him. It makes me think of the Psalm that says "Be strong and courageous and WAIT on the Lord." And yesterday my friend Laura (again) and I were talking and she mentioned how she's in a period of waiting. Now. I'm not actually saying that I AM in a period of waiting, but it is an interesting theme. It's important in this life. To not hurry. To wait. Intentionally. Waiting. Not in despair, but anticipation. And Advent is about waiting. And so it Lent, I think. Waiting for the redemption of the world.

We talked about Lent and what we're doing for it/how we think about it/what our past experiences have been (among other things). And it ocurred to me that you can view Lent as a time of mourning for the world, 40 days of prayer, fasting and intercession on account of the world. One of my small group members, Benny, last year during Lent fasted for lunch every day. And since he's in college, he has a meal card with meal money that expires after certain hours if you don't use it. Then you've lost that money. So rather than wasting the money, Benny used it to buy canned goods and those sorts of items from the cafeteria food store. He stored them in his room and at the end of Lent, he donated them to a food bank. Isn't that awesome? Not only did he fast and spend that time in prayer and investing in his relationship with God, but at the end of it, other people obviously, immediately and physically benefited from that, via Benny's foodstuffs. Maybe Lent isn't always only about what you can give up, but also just what you can GIVE. Christmas isn't the only time of the year to give you know. Jesus gave His life on Good Friday. And we can remember that. We should remember that.

Sibelius Symphony No. 5

Jesus brought me boy scouts.

Let me explain. This weekend, I was driving to work and I saw a boy and his dad loading up a red wagon with stuff, clearly from a school sale, for the neighbors. And I said "God, why don't the boy scouts ever come to MY house? I want to support them." Because I've come to realize that adults aren't actually scary. And that they actually really want to buy the stuff from the kids, to support them and encourage them, because they themselves still see themselves as kids a bit. I did not think this when I was a child. I thought adults were scary and definitely my enemies; they didn't want to buy my peanuts or popcorn, they didn't care about the cookies. But that's wrong! So I wanted these kids to come to my door, so I could let them know adults are okay, buy purchasing some popcorn.
Yesterday evening, I was writing an email to a friend and say a pack of people running up the walk to the door. And I did say to myself at first "ho, boy. I don't want anything from these kids. Can't they just leave me alone?" Then I thought ... "Wait! I wanted this to happen. I asked God for these kids. Alright. I'll buy something cheap." So this cute little boy, whose dad goes to my parent's church, or my Starbucks or something, came to the door and said. "HI. MY NAME IS TREVOR. I'M A BOY SCOUT IN TROOP 70 (at this point his older brother joined in unison). WOULD YOU LIKE TO BUY SOME POPCORN?" And I said "I would LOVE to buy some popcorn, Trevor!"

Listen to the fourth movement of Sibelius' Symphony No. 5