where is God when life happens?

so we've spent the past five weeks at hungry in this series we called 'where is God when life happens?' and it's basically been extended interviews of some folks from our community with me giving a 5-10 minute wrap-up at the end. we did this for a few reasons. we wanted to build another bridge from the stage to the crowd and we wanted to cultivate an atmosphere where it's ok to admit you don't have it all together and you struggle with stuff.

wow, what a couple of weeks. first we had a young woman talk about her parents' nasty divorce and how she's struggled to deal with it, really admitting that she hasn't done a great job of letting people in. then we said goodbye to a couple who are leaving their dream jobs and the comfort that comes with them to move to LA and go to film school. three weeks ago Jessie talked about what it's like to live with muscular dystrophy. then a young woman shared the struggle she went through with her eating disorder, what it took for her to finally admit she needed serious help, and how it changed her faith so she understood that God really does love her unconditionally. and this past week a guy shared how a perfect storm of generalized anxiety disorder, a couple of really legalistic churches, and a personality geared towards some fringe aspects of our culture (goth, anime stuff) really sent his life into a tailspin. and then he shared how He found God's grace in all of it and has turned it into a beautiful ministry to folks who share his interests. wow! we could do this series forever.

thanks to everyone who's been a part of the series. I truly appreciate your willingness to open up in front of a bunch of people like that and let your pursuit of God be the message for all of us. i can't wait to do this again.



in other news... 2 days to ricky bobby... i'm much more excited about this movie than i should be