Moments Worth Mentioning

I’ve mentioned over and over again about how much I am in love with my city.  As the end of my one year lease at my Atlanta apartment quickly approaches, I am more in awe of how amazing city life is then ever before.

This past Sunday, Atlanta finally got some nice weather.  It was that first bit of 65-70 degree weather that makes everyone want to go outside.  People open windows, smile at their neighbors, take their dogs for walks and steal longer lunch breaks.  Spring time in Georgia is my absolute favorite season.  Wanting to enjoy the warm sunshine, a few friends and I decided to take the short drive to Piedmont Park Sunday afternoon.  We were joined by hundreds of fellow Atlantans’ as we ate our picnic lunch, threw a Frisbee and people watched.  Truly a marvelous few hours soaking up the much-anticipated spring sunshine.  

After the park, we all decided some ice cream was in order.  We took a little drive over to the Highlands and found ourselves waiting in line at a oh-s0-quaint ice cream parlor.  The place takes cash only and serves their Italian Gelato in cute little bowls.  The four of us sat out in front of the store and enjoyed our yummy snack as we watched the city go by.  The strollers, the dogs, the couples holding hands…. it was all there.  All making up the perfect backdrop to a perfect day.

Our next stop was the Wouldn’t-Miss-It-For-Anything 6 o’clock service at Buckhead Church where I was once again blown away by the amazing, truthful, perfectly timed message.   My friends and I fill up a whole row as we worship, sing and pray together.  That never gets old.  That is the single reason why I truly love this city and why life is so good.  It’s that church.  It’s those people.

After church, nothing really says “the weekend is winding down” like a booth full of friends at a pizza restaurant.  We laugh and chat over slices of pepperoni pizza, and all can’t quite believe that another weekend is over.

That is what I love about Sundays.  All of that.  I love that my “normals” never get old.  I love that it’s a guarantee that we will run out of saved seats at church.  I love that this city loves spring time as much as I do.   I love that in seven days, I get to do it all over again.

 Yesterday I spent close to over 10 hours doing “church stuff”.  To put the appropriate spin on this jam packed day, keep in mind that I did it all on a mere 3 hours of sleep…. 

• I was up early for a breakfast meeting to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly from the last two months of a Single’s group I have helped with.  And by helped I mean practically ran.
• My next stop was Buckhead church for an 11 o’clock appointment where I was to meet with a staff member for an interview.  I spent the next 45 minutes telling a complete stranger every piece of my life story.  Every piece.  It was humbling and rejuvenating all at the same time.  The next few months should be interesting as I venture into a leadership role in a ministry that both excites and terrifies me.
• After that, I walked upstairs to be apart of a Q&A lucheon for another leadership position.  The last few months of volunteering in a singles group has allowed me to consider leading a group next Spring.  We ate, we Q&Aed.  We left.
• The next two hours found me walking every corner of a church that I can now call my own!  As of last month, I am an official member of Buckhead Church.  I was amazingly curious about the “behind the scenes stuff” of such a large operation.  By pure coincidence I met a man over the weekend that holds the key to every door in that place…. and he was willing to show me around.  I saw production rooms, secret doors, control panels, a sneak preview of the amazing Christmas decorations, walked through back hallways, walked across every stage… I basically had access to every corner of a building rumored to have hidden tunnels and secret rooms (which may or may not be true!).   This building is approximately 200,000 square feet of amazingness! Why does that excite me?  Because I love that church.
• Finally, at 6pm, I actually “went to church”.  Sat a few rows from the front and got to hear Jeff Henderson do his thing.  The same Jeff Henderson that I had shaken hands with a few hours before.  I love how the “celebrity persona” disappeared a little bit for me.  It makes the whole church feel that much smaller.
• I was supposed to rush from there to help a group go shopping for needy families/Thanksgiving project.  Instead, I threw up a white flag and went home where I immediately fell into my bed and stayed for 10 hours.

My level of involvement in the church makes me want to jump up and down!  I remember being in college and being active in so many groups on campus.  I ran around like a crazy person trying to get to every meeting and complete projects for the numerous organizations.  I remember being stressed out, but amazingly at peace all at the same time.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  My commitments to Buckhead remind me of that fast paced life again.  I love it because I believe in what I’m doing…. which is just kinda fun!!

I have recently found a group of girls through Buckhead Church and we meet once a week to check in, share, and learn a few things about Jesus.  Its been incredible to witness the forming of this group and how the six of us were put together in such a random setting, and yet we have so so so much in common.  Truly Gods work!

These past few weeks we have taken our small group time to be apart of a series that the church is offering.  The topics center around dating while maintaining a Christian walk and also keeping a balance between the new love, the friends, the family, etc.  One of the questions that came up last night was about keeping Christian friends around when you are in a relationship.  The speaker asked us if we should take advice from our Christian friends over the advice from our not-so Christian friends.  The conversation that swirled around was eye-opening. People had strong and valid opinions for both choices.

We all have those friends.  The friends that may not share in our values.  The friends that we love and whose opinions we honestly cherish.  But at the end of the day, those friends don’t have the same moral compass, the same biblical understanding, the same perspective as our Christian friends.  The advice they give is in a secular sense…. without the backing of Christian standards.  I’m not saying that their advice is bad.  I’m not even saying that the advice is wrong.  But I think we need to be careful when trying to walk a path that brings us closer to God when those walking with you don’t have the same destination in mind.

My past once again sheds light on how important this truth is.  I sat in that auditorium last night and had the realization that there is a chance that I wouldn’t be divorced had I not listened so much to a close friend of mine.  A close friend that is by no means walking on the Jesus path.  And in all fairness, at that time, I wasn’t exactly on that path either.  I love this girl.  I truly value her friendship and her opinion.  But at the time, her opinion was all I had.  And in her eyes, walking away from my marriage was what needed to be done.  I don’t blame her.  Not by a long shot.  But I do wonder what would have happened if my friends surrounding me at that time had been a little more….. well….. Christian.

I think its great and necessary to keep all sorts of people around us.  We need the strong Christians to keep us accountable, to help us grow.  But we also need our secular friends so that we can experience all that life has to offer. They are there to challenge us in ways our Christian friends might not be able to.  They are there to keep us from becoming closed minded.  They are there to remind us that we cannot judge those around us who don’t think or act like us.

I’m so blessed to have found some fabulous Christian girls.  But I have no plans to forget about the amazing people in my life that may not be exactly on my same page spiritually.  Being christian means we made a choice to follow Jesus. But we have to remember at one point we were right where our non Christian friends are.

All of our friends are invaluable.  Let this be a reminder to ask for lots of opinions.  To truly hear from everyone around us.  But to ultimately seek what would be best in order to keep us on that path that brings us closer to God.