What does Epiphany mean to you?
I don’t use the word Epiphany too much in my
everyday conversations, but is important to the church. The Epiphany
of our Lord is a day on the church calendar that is dedicated to the idea
that God is revealed in real ways to each and every one of us. God breaks into our lives, and we all have an
opportunity to open our hearts to the life changing work of Christ.
Personally, I have been taking some time to
think about my own Epiphanies. I
remember the first summer I worked at a Christian Camp in Colorado. That mountain top experience of God forever changed
my life. I met a community of people who
welcomed me and my gifts, and I will always look back on those days with awe
and wonder. I had a chance to share so
many beautiful sunrises and sunsets with others. I had countless opportunities to share and receive
grace, and I saw Christ come alive.
I think it is important to continue to go out
of our way to seek these moments of awe and wonder. Last week I had the opportunity to go on a
mission trip with the youth group. We
traveled to Mexico to build a home for a young couple and their one year old
son. Before the trip, I was honestly
feeling a little exhausted. We had just
finished Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, and I had to pack up and be
ready to leave at 5:30am on December 26th. We ran into snow and road closures along the
way, and part of me was feeling a little burnt out. However, when we arrived in Mexico, we had
this wonderful time with the family.
Although my Spanish is more than a little rusty, we could still share so
much joy together. It reminded me of
Jesus leading his disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, where the
non-Jewish people lived. Jesus wanted to
take his disciples outside of their comfort zone to experience God in new ways.
I have come to look forward to mission
trips. They open my heart in ways that
is hard to explain, but they also show me the power of the Holy Spirit. Today, I pray for hearts to be opened. I hope we can all look at the world in a new
way and see that God’s Light is shining on us!
Blessings!
Brian Ward
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| Working together to build a house... |
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| The family and their new home |
Epiphany: Ed and I were traveling back from Oklahoma. Just past Gallup, NM we drove into the winter storm. With much slush on the road traffic slowed. When passing a truck, I commented that Ed was getting to close because the road lines were diffucult to see.
ReplyDeleteWe hit the ice on the left side of the road, started swaying. Ed was brillant in driving skills to crank the wheels in the direction of the swerve, then guided the car into the median sliding sideways. After stopping we got out the check the damage, there was none. In the two and a half later while praying, the tow truck arrived. The sun had come out and the roads were clear. Thank God we were able to travel home without any more bad weather! Jody Cotton