10 Minutes that Changed a Life

Many years ago I found myself doing an odd job that involved me driving a van all over Chattanooga delivering flowers for Valentine's day. I took dozens of flowers all over the area. One in particular stood out to me the most and still touches my heart even today.

I approaches this small house on missionary ridge and, as I had with so many houses before, checked thrice to make sure that I had the right address. Once I was certain that I had arrived in the right place I approached the door. An elderly, black woman opened the door and greeted me. I returned the greeting and asked "Are you Ms. Joy?" (pseudonym....duh). She responded with a very confused "yes?", and at it was then that I offered her the flowers.

Her eyes flew open wide with shock and she began stumbling over her words as she asked, "What? What? For ME?! Are you SURE?! Who would send ME flowers?!" As she took the flowers from my hand she began to cry, still asking if I was sure they were hers and if I knew who sent them. She held the flowers close as tears ran down her face in pure happiness from receiving the unexpected Valentine.

Ms. Joy no longer looked at me with confusion and as if I were a stranger. No, I was now embraced with a look that spoke of friendship and love. Though we knew each other not, the barriers of defense and difference had been removed. She hugged me in gratitude and thanked me immensely for delivering the flowers to her. Soon she began sharing the gospel with me and exhorting me to be encouraged to always chase after God's will for my life!

Soon we bid each other farewell and went our separate ways. That 10 minute encounter changed my life. I didn't know who sent the flowers, but I hope that she found that person so as to be able to show her love and gratitude to them as well. I hope they know how much they deeply affected Ms. Joy that day.

There are so many people out there living in utter loneliness. In a world that is so heavily saturated by social media and means of communication, we are beyond "disconnected". The very people in our churches and even our own families go throughout their days in loneliness; they are overwhelmed by the deafening silence. They go un-encouraged and feeling completely out of place in the world. Teenagers cry themselves to sleep at night not knowing whether or not they are loved by their parents; young women give themselves away to advantageous young men who see their craving for affirmation and love. We can change the world, but not by bribes, petitions, force, or hype. No, we change the world through the power of Christ and by the outpouring of the love of Christ. We can restore the Church by just stepping out to love those that we share pews with every week.

It's not Valentine's Day for a couple more months, but that doesn't mean that we can't go out of our way to show love and appreciation to those around us. Perhaps you know of someone who is lonely or in need of some encouragement right now. Why not do some small, random kindness to them so they might know that they are not alone; to let them know that they have not gone unnoticed or unloved? You can touch the life of a lonely, old women, and you might even change a delivery boys life too.

Love God and Love others...

Grace & Peace,

Stephen

"Shin'do Sin'dorei!"

I love World of Warcraft! Even though I haven't played in over a year, I still know a fair amount of the lore and can share far more details about the story than you (yes, you) would care to hear, thus the title in Thalasian (Blood Elf) stating "Glory to the Blood Bourne". I would be lying if I said that I wasn't proud of my level 85 Blood Elf Shadow Priest named Kohenshedon. Just saying...FOR THE HORDE!

While I loved WoW, I ceased playing for school. I'm cool like that. I didn't let the most popular MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) control my life to the point that I couldn't live without it, nor did I let it affect the way I lived out in the real world...I already liked swords and pretending that I could throw fireballs from my hands before I even started playing. lol. My point is that I managed to enjoy a fictitious game of epic proportions without loosing my grip on reality, which is the the number one fear/ problem with playing such games. 

Role-Playing games have been often discouraged by the Protestant, American Church with accusations of being "witchcraft in disguise" or for causing people to be irresponsible or to escape reality. In some cases this is true. People have dove too far into the world that they were playing in and refused to come back or have attempted to make reality like the fantasy that they engage with.  MMO's are not the only activities, however, that people cling to in their desperate need to escape.

There are a lot of people out there who want to escape reality. Why? Life is harsh and American culture says it should be easy and dreamy. Postmodernism teaches us that truth is what we make it and reality can be what we want...it's all relevant. People lose themselves in pop culture, magazines, TV, movies, and so on. Some even use the Church as an escapism. 

We were created with imaginations and it's good that we use them to create and recreate. I think that movies, music, games, and the like show the ingenuity of humanity and display the divine gifts of the Image of God in us. Namely creativity and imagination. I believe that, even if the all the creators of these games and movies are atheists, they are are glorifying God by their action of creating and forming. Any negatives are a result of the sin nature found in ALL of humanity. Therefore, I support the creation and playing of games like WoW, but if one is unable to stay rooted in reality or begin to negate their responsibilities in the real world, then it is best that that person cease playing such games...or watching movie, whatever the activity in question is.

Love the life you have been given and accept this gift knowing that, unlike your game character, you will age and waste away as time passes and it can never be bought back. Don't waste the gift you are given. '

Peace be with you,

Stephen