Big brothers

Well, I should make that singular. My big brother is quite amazing, I must say, so maybe he's good enough to fill the role of two big brothers. Thats justifiable.

When we were little, I was forced to play with Steven and my two other boy cousins. Being around those boys really tested my patience. I had to learn to ramp and wreck bikes, ride a go-kart (not very successfully, I might add), climb the trees, be a ninja-turtle (the purple one of course....nobody else wanted to be purple), and try and make sense of the fun they had racing matchbox cars down the hallway...and then pretend I enjoyed it, too. When I got older, my older cousin and Steven decided that they weren't up for playing with us 2 younger ones, so Jason was subject to my wrath. I no longer let him wreck his bike, but he had to decide what kind of car his bike was, how many kids he had, and where he was going. And he wasn't allowed to wreck into me in my "teal mini-van." He also played Barbies, though he may not admit it.

Steven, being 5 years older than I am, quickly realized how un-cool it was to hang out with his little sister, and we'd fight over everything from how loud his music was, to who ate the last pop-tart. He always won, unless mom was there....then I won :) I remember the first time I truly appreciated my brother, though. I was 16 and he was 21. He'd moved home from school already and he wasn't too happy to be sharing a bathroom with a teenage girl. I was working at the gas station in Fountain City and this boy kept coming in trying to get me to go places with him. He would sit in the booth at the station for hours, waiting for me to get off work so he could walk with me out to my car and try to convince me to go hang out with him and his loser friends. Luckily, I had a good head on my shoulders and never gave in. But, my brother knew him, and found out about it. He was not happy. I remember him coming home one night saying that he almost got in a fight with this guy. When my parents and I asked why....he said that he didn't want this jerk bugging his little sister and that he threatened him not to bug me about it again. Well, it worked. My big brother successfully stood up for me and for the first time, I loved him like I never thought I could. He was my hero.

Looking back, 7 years later, I see how much closer we became after that. Maybe he realized that I wasn't so bad afterall....or maybe he liked sticking up for someone. Whatever it was, it was so great.

As I type this, Steven is boarding a plane to head to Bogota, Columbia with a missions team. I called him last night and he was a little nervous. He's never flown before and he's never experienced anything quite like he's going to experience. I know that when he is down there, he's going to see God move in his life and the lives of others in ways he can't even begin to imagine. I know that God is calling him to do great things, but I'm so nervous. Its going to be a long week of prayer, thats for sure. I know God will take care of him, but I know this is new territory for him and he's nervous. I just want him to be at ease and really experience the power in serving others in God's name. I'm so proud of him. I tear up at the thought of how great he is. God really blessed me with an amazing family and I can't praise Him enough for the great big brother I have.

and I just don't know if you could ask for a better hero.

the Queen of England

A couple of years ago, I had a pretty intense spiritual discussion with my dad concerning worship. Him and I have very similar views when it comes to spiritual matters, so its nice to be able to discuss things. He'd noted that our church had started singing lots of worship songs containing the word "me."

"Draw me close to You..." "Take all of me....Lord I'm laying down my life at your feet..." "All I need is You" "This is the air I breathe....your Holy presence living in me" and the list could go on and on...

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy singing these songs....but how is that worshipping God? It feels more like exalting myself to God.

Wait. Hold up. You're probably stammering a "but Stephanie" about right now...so lets look to the Bible.

The word worship in the old testament means "To bow before." Its practicing humility. The perfect picture of us flat on our faces realizing that we are not worthy to be in the presence of the almighty Creator. Its recognizing His superiority. Well, isn't that where we belong?

So picture this: You are in England. Suddenly, you are arrested for stealing an apple from a street vendor (like in Aladdin, ha). You're handcuffed and shamefully prodded until you get to Buckingham Palace. There, you journey down the dimly lit hallway until you reach a beautifully candlelit room, with pillars and gold and velvet draperies. Then you see her, the Queen of England, Elizabeth herself. They put you right at her feet so you can plead your case. Now, what do you do? Well, you surely aren't going to stand up and look her in the eye and say "Oh, hey girl! I wrote about you in my diary last night. I really wanted to meet you. I've had a great time in your country. Nice work!" Um not so much.... Personally, I'd be on my knees, afraid to look her in the eye because I'm obviously not on the same level as a Queen. I'd exalt her as much as I could....tell her she is beautiful and a great ruler and I don't deserve to be in her presence.

If you'd do that for the Queen, why not for God? We have this buddy-buddy mentality with God. Sure, He is our friend... but we are created for the sole purpose of worshipping Him. God is so much bigger than any human. James MacDonald says that "God is ineffable glory. He dwells in unapproachable light." God is so much bigger than ourselves. He's the utmost highest and holiest. In fact, He says of Himself in Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Once we can achieve worship as it was fully intended, God will do great things. "Though I can’t explain it exactly, when the God of the universe is rightly worshipped, powerful things happen. When Jesus is passionately adored without shame or pretense, without entertainment or needless comedy, God shows up." (James MacDonald)

So stop singing about "me" and "my." Start focusing on God...maybe then you'll experience a moment truly in awe of Your creator.