A working girl finds a church

Weekends are way too short. Yesterday my adopted parents and I went on a 16 mile bike ride. Apparently I was so slow because I was riding with the brakes on; they had somehow become locked. I was getting so frustrated, because I felt like I must have weighed at least 300 pounds to be riding so slowly. Thankfully we figured out what was wrong after I tried to ride 3 miles that way... It was a gorgeous day, and I had a great time being active. After sweating a lot, I decided to sweat some more by mowing the grass.

All of a sudden I feel like I'm in for the long haul here. I'm used to being away from my family for months on end, but I've never been away from my boyfriend before, because I never had one until now. Let's say I miss him a lot. So instead of going crazy, I'm trying to stay busy and surround myself with people, which is always a good idea.

Today I think I finally found a church, although it was a struggle to get there. For some reason I was sluggish this morning (maybe from the bike ride?) and was running a little late to the service. Getting closer to the church, I immediately ran into the church traffic--there was even a tired looking police officer directing traffic. I got a little disgruntled. My disgruntlement increased when I had to file in behind not one, but two Hummers! I couldn't even count all the Lexuses. I am living in Loudoun county, the richest county in the country, but this was too much. Then when I finally made into the sanctuary, I saw so many people in gorgeous clothes and perfect hair. When the pastor said to open your Bibles, I saw people opening up their brand new iPads to read the Scripture! People barely moved with the worship, and there were plenty of empty seats in the comfortable sanctuary.

So by this point, I was really discontent. I couldn't help but think of the Chinese churches I had been to, where the crowds poured out the door and people were nearly jumping with joy... Or even the majority African-American church I attended last week in Maryland, where joy seemed overflowing. This all started to eat at me, and then I just had to cry out to God for his help. I was being incredibly judgmental, and that was sin. I don't know these people's hearts and lives. I don't know where they are with God. I don't know why they have fancy cars. But I do know that I'm just responsible for myself and the condition of my heart. From that point on, I immediately felt more at peace, and much more open.

The message was great and I hung on to every word the pastor spoke. It's like I've been thirsting for truth. I'm not aware of a single believer around me here in Virginia these past days and weeks. The pastor spoke on Romans 12, which I had just been reading in my Bible! He spoke on spiritual gifts from the perspective of spiritual warfare and how Satan works to nullify those gifts. He asked lots of questions and made me think about things like:

-Have we been sidelined and taken off of the frontlines of war?
-Am I subtly being choked by the cares, worries, and pleasures of this life?
-If I love this world, then I'm an enemy of God.
-We feel God's pleasure when we use our giftedness to advance His kindgom.
-Ultimately we are at war, not on vacation.

That's so difficult to remember when I can so easily be blinded by the comforts living in America and now working in Virginia. Slowly I'm becoming more conformed to this world and I don't want to be!

Afterward, I talked to a nice couple who drive all the way in from West Virginia. I'm going to try and go to their Sunday school class next week. Hooray, I think I found a church!

Now back to another week of work...