Here's to new beginnings!

Hey everyone! I have been pondering the possibility of creating a blog for a while now, and with my mission trip to the Philippines coming up I figured what better time than the present. But before I say anything else I'm going to take a quick second to explain my chosen blog title.

I read "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence a while ago. I've actually read it a few times now which you would realize right away if you ever got your hands on my copy of the book.... it only has a few underlined sentences.... and a couple highlighted words! *cough cough* =) In case you aren't familiar with the beloved seventeenth-century French monk, Brother Lawrence was a flat out seeker of God. The book is basically a collection of documented letters and conversations he had. The following couple of quotes are found in the book and really changed my outlook on everyday life.

"Brother Lawrence was able to turn even the most commonplace and menial task into a living hymn to the glory of God."

"We find him worshiping more in his kitchen than in his cathedral...as happy in serving his fellow monks and brothers from the monastery kitchen as in serving God in the vigil of prayer and penance."

I'm sure I will be posting more quotes from this book, as well as from a lot of other books and sources, but for now I just wanted to show the meaning of the title of this blog. Worshiping in the kitchen is something we should all be doing. To serve God we do not have to be well-dressed or sit among the "kings and queens". We do not have to be eloquent or well-spoken, our message speaks for itself. Don't be fooled, the greatness and beauty of the Gospel does not depend on how well we can "sell it", the Gospel can be heard best from those who truly believe it, and even beyond that, from the people who live and walk in their everyday lives as if they believe it. Or as Mother Teresa said,

"There should be less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point. What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone's house. That says enough."

Sometimes the best thing we can do is grab a dirty pot and a sponge and just start cleaning. If we are to serve God we need to be completely willing to do whatever needs to be done no matter how mundane the task may seem. We need to serve everyone around us as if we are serving God Himself......because that's exactly what we are doing. I find I need to take a couple minutes each day to think about that.

Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

Brother Lawrence didn't only find God in the sanctuary, he found him in the kitchen. He knew God couldn't be restricted to a building, and he knew wherever he went, God went with Him, and for that reason I think we should all start doing more

WORSHIPING IN THE KITCHEN

I'll write soon to give an update on the Philippines mission trip and how our fundraiser dinners went!

"And until we meet [or I write] again may God hold you in the palm of his hand."
God Bless!