Judgy Mcjudgy Pants.

Life is funny. I totally agree with John Lennon’s quote: “If you want to make God laugh tell him your plans.” There are a lot of things I never expected. I never expected to cross paths with a girl from Tanzania who told me about Monterey Church.  I certainly never, ever, expected to actually like that church. I kept coming back. And I never expected become Christian and get baptized in the Pacific Ocean (in December). Now, some of you may be like: wait a minute, you’ve been raised Catholic. You’ve already been baptized. Yes. True. However, God didn’t speak to me through the Catholic church. I didn’t know Jesus. I knew of Jesus in an historical and theological way.  I just didn’t know him in a “heart” way. 

            I can’t remember which book it’s in, but I think it’s either in Matthew or Mark where Jesus is standing outside the disciples’ boat. It’s dark. It’s cold. He wants in the boat. And I can’t help but think of that as a great metaphor for humanity. He wants to get in the boat. He wants to get in your boat and my boat. Waiting silently, patiently.  He doesn’t judge the type of boat. It could be a dingy or a yacht. He just wants in to help guide it safely ashore. Perhaps, I’m more of an Armenian than a Calivnist. I am absolutely convinced that God is calling every single human being back to Himself. Yet, we ignore His call. We take pride in our  (scientific) advances and achievements. Secretly, humanity thinks that we can outdo God; however, God won’t be outdone.

            As I mentioned to you in my letter, Bolivia truly wasn’t on my radar. I didn’t want to go to Bolivia. As a matter of fact, I judged people who went on international mission trips. The church that I am currently attending has small groups called discipleship groups or dGroups. I joined a dGroup when I first began going to Monterey church to get to know the community a bit better. During my first meeting, there was a woman who shared about her trip to Bolivia. As I listened to her, I became a bit angry. I spent several weeks during the summer working with children from a low-income area. I would hear them tell me about the gun shots from the local gangs that they would hear at night in the neighborhood.  And I looked at her and said: “Why would you go thousands of miles away to help people in need there when there are so many people that need help here? I don’t understand you people who go and do service abroad and pat yourselves on the back and ignore the poor here.” She looked at me with those shining eyes – this woman just radiates Jesus’ love and said “It motivates me to serve people here.” And she does serve people here. She literally goes and prays with perfect strangers. She reminds them of God’s call – that the Father loves all of us. Yes, I was a little judgmental perhaps. Ok, not a little. I was very judgmental. Little did I know that He was going to call me to go to Bolivia.