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Gracepoint Inaugural - Changed Lives

 

I was really blessed by the Gracepoint inaugural worship service and by the 30 members who walked across the stage with words of how Christ changed their lives. Right before service, I was asked to write the three signs that said, "Christ changed our lives," but i had no idea what it was for or what the big picture was. But during that part of service, I saw it all come together and I was really moved. I was particularly moved by one sister because I knew her "before Christ," and when I saw her flip over her sign, and as I reflect over how far God has brought her and how Christ has changed her life, I couldn't help but say "Amen!" and cry tears of joy and gratitude.

More than her, beyond even the 30 brothers and sisters on the stage, there are so many testimonies of how God changed people's lives. I felt so grateful and amazed as I thought about what words I would've used for my own life "before Christ" and "after Christ." This really reminded me indeed this is what Life at Gracepoint is all about, transformed lives because of Christ; and to this end, I commit to continue to labor.

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Working on the Sierra Lodge

 

I had the chance to go work at the Sierra Lodge last week. I shoveled about 2,000 pounds of gravel along with 4 other sisters. It was a long hard day’s work. Afterwards, our brothers and sisters from our Davis sister church took us out and treated us to a sumptuous dinner. They usually cook but they said they didn’t have time this week. I went home that night with a glow in my heart. My body was aching, but I had learned a valuable lesson, a lesson about what community means. It means that it’s not about me and my body and how I feel and the fact that I spent a single Saturday shoveling dirt in the hot sun. It’s about those who went before me, who dug up the dirt and got all the rocks out, who laid down the foundation of the house. There were brothers who took off days of work to come work, brothers who slept in the trailer to do guard duty, the seminarians in their late 30’s out there pounding nails and making re-bars. I didn’t realize how much hard work and effort was poured forth into this lodge, to make it a house for all of us to use, to make it a camp for our ImpACT kids, to make it a place where we create and share memories together. I slept soundly that night; like I said, my heart aglow with my newfound ownership over the Sierra Lodge. It’s our house that we are building together, each of us has a stake there. I thanked God that night that he made this fiercely independent and self-sufficient girl someone who now enjoys and appreciates community.