Monday, February 20, 2012

The REAL Highest and Greatest End

I don't know what it is about dried flowers, but I can't make myself get rid of them. haha! :) Ever since the Mighty Man and I got engaged, I have been dreading the moment when I would have to dispose of my beautiful roses. So, I just decided that I'm not gonna. I cleaned out the vase, placed half of the dried petals in an old jar and then kept seven of the dried roses/stems and put them in a smaller bottle along with the baby's breath sprigs. It looks awesome! :) Thanks for the lovely flowers, Mighty Man. You are my knight in shining armor, and you rescue me daily. :)

Cool news this week! The Examiner.com picked me up as a stringer to cover Christianity in the Kansas City area! Yay!! I'm enjoying writing so far, and it's been an awesome outlet for me to cover topics outside of my comfort zone (i.e. sports). Though, if you check out my site, you'll see that two of my three articles deal with sports. haha! But it's just to get me started. I fully want to talk about so many other things going on in the area and what God is doing here. It's going to be great!

The first article, if you haven't read it already, was about the Mighty Man's church youth outreach. It is an AMAZING ministry, and one that shouldn't happen outside of the power of God. Seriously. They don't have much money, yet they are able to reach about 200 inner-city youth every Wednesday evening by running buses all over KCK and bringing kids in to a local community center to hear God's truth. It's awesome! I'm so thankful for the pastors and volunteers.

I've been communicating a lot about our church lately, so I'm hoping you're not tired of hearing about it. But I guess that's part of what God is doing in my heart lately. He's inspiring me through what He's doing in this teeny tiny little church at 4473 Adams. And it's making me realize how lopsided my view of impact has been for so many years.

I've worked in a global ministry for almost 10 years, and I think on some level, I've adopted the mindset that the only way to make a difference is to "go big or go home," but that's so not true. God has a purpose for FCA on a global scale, but it doesn't in any way lessen the power of what He's doing in small churches like Rosedale. The impact on those kids on Wednesday nights is every bit as meaningful as the impact of a colossal sports ministry that has to operate on the big scale. It's just a different situation. Not greater, not lesser. It's just different.

It's kind of changing my heart, too. I've always thought that I had to be part of something global and work toward the highest and greatest possible end. But what if the highest and greatest possible end looks small by the world's standards? What if the highest and greatest possible end is a one-on-one relationship with a girl at Rosedale who needs a hug? What if the highest and greatest possible end is putting $5 in the pouch at church as it passes by, even if it's not in my "big" weekly tithe? What if the highest and greatest possible end is being led around a crowded gym floor at a community center by a tiny 5-year-old girl who just wants to play for a while? I'm getting it now. The highest and greatest possible end can't be measured by human standards. It must be measured by God's.

So, today I'm celebrating the work of God at every level. Yes, my "work" at a worldwide ministry is awesome, but so is the new adventure at Rosedale Church, which is most certainly making a big difference in the community. Praise God for whatever He's doing wherever He's doing it. In His eyes, it's all Kingdom-sized. :)

Love you all!
- Jill

OH! And you can follow me on the Examiner.com. Just click here to subscribe! Thanks, all!!
http://www.examiner.com/user-jill-ewert

No comments:

Post a Comment