I recently read a book by Lauren F. Winner called Mudhouse Sabbath. Lauren converted from Judaism to Christianity and this wonderful little book is about the traditions from Judaism that she believes would enrichen the Christian faith in tangible, day-to-day ways. What she said about the Sabbath caught my attention in a big way…

“I remember that, for Jews, the Sabbath shapes all the rhythms of calendar and time; the entire week points toward Shabbat. The rabbis, who are always interested in the subtleties of Torah prose, puzzled over the two different versions of the Sabbath commandment. Why, in Exodus, does God tell us to remember the Sabbath, whereas in Deuteronomy He instructs observance of the Sabbath? One story the rabbis tell about the difference between remembrance and observance has to do with ordering time. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are caught up in remembering the preceding Shabbat, while Wednesday through Friday are devoted to preparing for the next Shabbat.”

In this remembering and preparing for a day wholly consecrated to Him, our calendar is centered around God instead of our own agendas.

I’ve written before about the Sabbath…wondering how to keep it holy as we are commanded. It’s so easy to fall into the usual pattern — rushing to church, taking the afternoon for grocery shopping, getting everything prepared for Monday’s rush. Every time I read Scripture about this day of the week, I feel a pang of longing. Without getting caught up in legalistic ‘can’and ‘cannot’, I simply want to be obedient…I want to rest in the Father, giving Him time and space to fill my heart. I want to be able to honor Him on this one day that He asks of us, knowing that every day belongs to Him…

The Sabbath is not the only day in which God can give us His strength and a refreshment of our spirit. But it must be for a reason that He commands us to keep it holy, as unto the Lord. I have a feeling it is for our good. I have a feeling that He knows how we need a day free of distractions to truly rest and have communion with Him…

But what does it really mean, making the Sabbath holy and ‘to’the Lord?

It makes wonderful sense to me when I remember that holy means set apart…set apart from our other days. From the work that occupies our brains, preoccupation with our own selves, the chores that keep our hands moving, the striving to ‘get things done’.

We set apart this time apart and offer our hearts, minds, and bodies to the Lord.

If I am to do this, preparation is necessary…I will have to make an effort so that my time can be presented as an offering to Him…and as I make those adjustments to finish up the laundry, lay out church clothes, prepare backpacks and all of those things…won’t my mind already begin to focus on Him? I believe that if we make more of an effort to prepare and spend grateful time in remembering the Sabbath, we will be more likely to consciously invite Him into every single day of our lives. It is a process of acknowledging that our time belongs to HIm…He is the center and essence of our lives.

So I am challenging myself to slow down this weekend, to pay attention to how I am spending my minutes so that my Sabbath may honor Him.

What, exactly, should this look like?

Perhaps it is about paying attention…entering the House of Worship with our hearts already adoring and our minds already on Him. If we have asked His help in being free of the usual distractions, we will be present– fully engaged in worship, fully open to the Word of God. Perhaps setting the Sabbath apart from normal routines will mean more time with our families, taking the opportunity to really talk to each other. Maybe it is opening up the dinner table to those who are hungry for food or for compassion…maybe it is leaving the email in-box unopened…really listening to a beautiful piece of music…taking a walk and rejoicing in the beauty of this marvelously spinning earth instead of sitting in front of the television.

Maybe it is allowing ourselves to slow down…to quiet down…eradicating the noise that drives our week so that we may hear the still, small voice of the Lord.

I believe that if we ask Him, He will help us to live this day unto Him…and I know that our obedience will be blessed. Isaiah 55 says that “all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant–these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.”

So will you join me in setting apart this day and offering it to the Lord? May we rejoice in His abiding presence and surrender our time so that He can direct our paths…may we remember and observe all that the Lord has commanded.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. ~Isaiah 40:31, The MSG

Happy weekend, friends!

　

{Excerpt from—Winner, Lauren F. (2009-05-27). Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline (Pocket Classics) (pp. 8-9). Paraclete Press. Kindle Edition.}

I suspect most of us are very familiar with the passages in Genesis that talks about God creating us in his image. Genesis 1:27 tells us:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

I have been thinking about this for a while now, ever since I heard a snippet of conversation on the radio about being created in God’s image. The person was admonishing his listeners to be better, more righteous, yes, more perfect – because, after all, we were the only image of God some people would ever see, and we needed to be an accurate representation of who God is – and what he expects us to be.

I have to admit; I got fed up with hearing all of this and turned the radio off. But it got me thinking about God’s image and what that meant to me. Or should mean to me.

Here is what I have decided. I am created in God’s image – the Bible clearly states it. But the image of I now carry with me is not one of the stern and demanding overbearing father. Instead, I see his image as an accurate reflection of who I am.

Now, don’t hear me wrong. I am not saying I am all that wonderful – like God is. Neither am I without flaw or sin – as God most certainly is. But when I think of being created in his image what that means to me is that God has expressed himself in us; in me. I believe God sometimes feels disappointment, as I often do. I think he feels anger and even rage, as I sometimes do. I think he loves to laugh, as I certainly do. And I think he loves me with a love that is beyond comprehension, a love that I can only begin to relate to by comparing it to my mother’s love; and maybe even more to my Nana’s heart.

I am blessed to have two children, both married to fine Christian spouses. Between them, they have given me 6 beautiful grandchildren (was there ever an ugly grandchild)? Sometimes, when I am trying to feel God’s love more fully, he reminds me of a scene from several years ago. Two of my granddaughters are now 13 and 10. When they were just 4 ½ and almost 2, we lived a few miles apart. One sunny afternoon, I heard their van pull up, and I went out onto our deck to wait for them. As soon as the door slid open, Shayla, the oldest, scrambled out and took off at a dead run for me, shouting “Nana!” at the top of her lungs. Her little sister, Shyanne, waited impatiently to be released from her car seat and I could hear her demanding “Down! Down, Daddy. Now!’ As soon as possible, she too wiggled her way out of the van and as fast as her little legs could take her, she charged up the walk and into my waiting arms, crying “Naa! Naa” which was how she pronounced Nana at the time. To say I was pleased to be greeted like that is a gross understatement.

I have often thought of that day and I think that is how God wants me react to him – with unabashed joy, total abandonment, crying out his name. I think my favorite image of my Abba is him stretching his arms out to me and gathering me close, then swinging me around and around with joy, as I did to my little girls that long ago afternoon.

Colossians 1:15 tells us

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Certainly, Jesus, God’s firstborn, exhibited all kinds of emotions when he walked this earth. And he is the absolute image – and pattern – for my Father. I only hope I can grow more like him – whether that means I cry, laugh or just sigh in exasperation at times. After all, I AM created in his image. What a relief that is!

Thanks, as always, for listening. Caro

One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia is when Lucy discovers that Aslan is a lion. She nervously asks Mr. and Mrs. Beaver if he is safe. Mr. Beaver responds: “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Re-reading this bit of dialogue sparked something in my heart. I thought of how Noah faced a flood that would wipe out his whole world, how David stood up to a giant. There’s Job, a righteous man who lost everything but his life. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego entered a furnace of flames because they would not compromise their faith. Daniel spent the night with hungry lions. Abraham raised the knife over his promised son.

Lewis spoke truth here, through the mouth of Mr. Beaver.

Following the King isn’t always safe. The path of faith isn’t easy.

But! He is good –He is love–and we can trust Him.

Because didn’t He sustain the family that would trust Him, even as the rain poured down? Didn’t a Hand mightier than David’s guide a stone to take down the giant? Weren’t there four men walking around where there had only been three? Didn’t Daniel call out to the King, “My God has sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions!” Wasn’t everything restored to Job, twice over? And didn’t He stay Abraham’s hand, providing the sacrifice He required?

What He allows always has purpose, whether or not we see it right away…even if He leads us through fire and rain, floods and droughts. Even if we face our fears, bear persecution. In this way, we will be molded and refined into a people peculiar and holy unto Him—and don’t we count it as joy, to be set apart for His purpose? To be made more like Him?

In time of trial, we see His faithfulness. We remember how we need Him. We watch Him astonish with His power and His provision. His transformations from ashes to beauty leave us humble and awed. Even in the very moment of trouble, we can be still and know that He is God…because He does not leave us to face anything on our own. There is peace, there is joy, and there is comfort…even when it looks like we should be falling apart, we are not. He holds us together.

Because of His goodness, we are not alone even in facing the consequences of our sin. For the second and final time….didn’t He provide the Sacrifice? Didn’t He Himself enter the world, knowing that He would suffer with us?

When King Nebuchadnezzar saw that fourth man when he had just thrown three Hebrew men into the furnace, He said this: “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God!”

The word I’m feeling here is hallelujah!

He was in the fire with Shadrach Meshach, and Abednego. And He is in every furnace-fire of trouble now.

From age to age, He is Emmanuel, Almighty God with us! And because He was the Sacrifice for our hearts, Jesus knows our pain. He knows the fear. He understands the weakness, the frustration, and the heat of the battle.

“While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him. (Hebrews 5:7-10, the MSG)

He didn’t choose the easy path. Instead, He learned intimately the meaning of anguish-and He took on our sin so that His Spirit could be within us as we press on through this life to eternity. He becomes our very life. He becomes our strength in every moment of weakness.

Are you in the middle of a mess right now? Will you surrender it to the Father and hope in Him…wait, trusting His goodness…glorifying Him…knowing He is with you…expecting Him to do what is best?

The words of Paul, as usual, say it best: (The Message, from 2 Corinthians 4)

God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God…

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever!

Amen and amen!
{I would love to hear your testimony of how God has been with you in your hard times…please share with us in the comments!}

Today is Tu B'Shevat, it is a Jewish holiday, known as the New Year for Trees. It is based on Leviticus 19:23-25, which states that fruit from trees may not be eaten during the first three years; then the fourth year, which is the first year that the tree begins to produce its fruit, that fourth year the fruit belongs to God. The holiday itself is not found anywhere in the Bible, it was not commanded as a festival, but established as an agricultural and tithing principle.

This neat little holiday, though it is not widely celebrated, caused me to remember my favorite tree. No, I am not a tree hugger; I love the tree because it was my prayer tree. I say was because the tree is gone, but—a much-needed playground is in its place. I am happy the kids at the church this tree once rested, have what they need, however, I do miss my tree.

I travel to this church in Texas quite frequently, with the exception of the last year, there have been so many things pulling on me at home, I have not been able to travel there. I miss that tree! I would spend all day there praying and just spending time in the presence of the Lord. Resting.

This place is very special to me, it was a place of peace for me, a place where all of the distractions seemed worlds away, and I didn’t have to worry about anything. I would simply sit, pray, read the Word, and hear the still small voice speak to me and refresh me. I search for a place like that here at home, to no avail. I long to be there—my heart and soul ache to be there—for when I am there, I am refreshed with grace to face life head-on. I have been talking about taking a trip there for a weekend by myself, but I am not sure when that will happen. I am earnestly praying for me to go soon. I really miss my spot, and though my tree is gone, the place itself represents peace and rest for me—my Bethel.



Peace is rest. To know the God of peace is to enter the rest of God. And until the soul rests in Him in Sabbath peace, God cannot do His higher, His perfect work.[1]

Everyone needs rest. God created Sabbath to refresh His people and His creation as well. God established Sabbath rest for the people, animals, and even the land was to rest every seven years. Sabbath rest is all through the Bible. God rested, not because He needs rest, but the Jewish Bible offers a compelling reason:

“God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.”[2]

I love that. A favorite Bishop of mine has been preaching lately on fruitfulness, that Christians should be producing fruit after our kind. His messages have challenged me to view the Sabbath differently, though it is about rest, it is so much more than that.
Jesus, as we recall in Matthew 12, is ridiculed by the Pharisees for doing work on the Sabbath, considering healing the sick as profaning the sacred day.

“Legalists unfortunately tend to forget that by His actions and words, the Savior made the Sabbath a day of “mercy” rather than a day of “sacrifice” (Matt. 12:8), a time to love God and one’s fellow beings rather than to parade one’s righteousness by fulfilling rituals.”[3]

Rest is ordained by God to refill us and give us the strength we need. It is so important to remember that when God promised to bless His people, it was qualified with the expectation to bless others. It’s never just about us—we need to reach out and touch others.

Jesus restored a man, and healed a woman bleeding for eighteen years. Jesus was astonished that the religious leaders thought about giving their donkey a drink on the Sabbath, yet are outraged that a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen years, should stay that way because it is the Sabbath. (c.f. Luke 13:16).

“The essence of the Sabbath is not a place to go to fulfill rituals, but a set time to be with God, ourselves and others.”[4]

What are we doing on the Sabbath? Are ministering to others or are we rushing to church every Sunday because it is what we are supposed to do, not really being filled, but being drained?

Do we go to church with the attitude, what can the church do for me today?

Do we practice the Sabbath, a set time to be with God, ourselves and others, everyday of the week? What if Sabbath is on Tuesday, what if we invited people into our homes and introduced them to the rest of Jesus? This is what the Bishop challenged his church with and with me. I suggest that we have the Sabbath all wrong. The Sabbath should be what we do for Jesus in serving others and in doing so we find rest. Jesus found strength and food in meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well. When we take our eyes of ourselves, we can better focus on others.

In the words of Jesus in Mark 2:27, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

---

[1] Andrew Murray, The Holiest of All, (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1993), 348.

[2] David Stern, Complete Jewish Bible trans., (Jerusalem: Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., 1998), 2.

[3]Samuel Bacchiocchi, Divine Rest for human Restlessness, (Rome: The Ponntifical Gregorian University Press, 1980), 36-37.

[4] Ibid.

Dear God,
Thank you for all that I have and that I am. Thank you for stretching out your arm, and sacrificing your only Son to save me. Thank you for the Spirit to comfort me in all afflictions, and give me the right and wise words to speak at the right time, and the boldness to do so. Thank you for the gifts that allow me to carry out the functions you’ve ordained for me to fulfill within the Body of Christ. Thank you for the spirit of boldness that allows me to come to you and lay all the burdens of my heart before your throne of grace, knowing that you care for me.
Forgive me for not trusting in your providence, when you’ve promised to tend to the needs of your own. Even when I’ve felt within an inch of death, you sustain me and meet all my needs.
Thank you for the love that surrounds me in the family and friends you’ve given me, and I pray I would be a source of love to those people, and even to others who don’t love me.
As you have always been faithful to me, I pray that I would be faithful to you, in loving you deeply each day and in showing love and kindness to all who come my way.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”~Matthew 5:7

Mercy is pure mystery.
If grace is the place where God’s love and justice meet, then mercy is the medium that transforms our lives into offerings pleasing to the Father. He is the Master Artist, our Father God…and with mercy, He molds and colors outside of all the lines that I’ve drawn to create something beautiful. Something new…something to glorify His name. I marvel at His limitless ability, His creative scope that is so far greater than ours.

When the human eye saw a garden lost, He saw a people that would choose to walk with Him.
When the human eye saw a brother sold into slavery, He saw a people fed in the time of famine.

When the human eye saw a taunting giant and an army running scared, He saw a King who would lead a nation into worship.

When the human eye saw judgment falling and cities crumbling, He saw exiles
returning with joy.

When the human eye saw generations given over to sin, He saw a new covenant and His laws written on their hearts.

Our God is the King who steps into the chaos of the world and works it out, according to His purpose. The bigger story is so far beyond what we can yet see — and His mercy is at work, every day anew, to shape and transform these ashes in our lives into a testimony of His power and goodness.
Do you marvel at this mystery? The way He stepped into flesh, while we were still in sin, and died for us? Not because we were deserving of a second chance to please Him, but because of His mercy…because of His great love. He looks at each one of us and sees more than what we are in our sin — He sees who we are created to be in Him.
I'm reminded of His mercy in my own life every time I look at my children, my daily reminders of how He has changed my world for the better. Because there was a time when I looked at myself as a failure. I am sure that this world saw me in the same way– as another statistic, another teenager who ended up pregnant and in a faltering marriage. There was a point when it seemed sure that my brand-new family was going to fall apart. That I’d be alone and struggling. And in those moments, I only saw the pain. I only saw the potential for love un-done, hearts broken.
But my Father saw more. He saw a family that could be mended. He saw a testimony in progress. He saw hearts that could be molded by mercy into something new. It goes without saying that we have not achieved any level of perfection. We still strive, we still depend on His mercy every single day. But He has taken what was so broken and healed us. We are able to stand together in testimony to His faithfulness and to His mercy. This family was redeemed from division and sorrow and we bear witness to His blessings, so undeserved and yet— so present, in the grins of our baby girl. In the pranks and laughter of our two little boys. In the way we have watched our love flourish in every kind of weather. In the knowledge that God has purposed this family to glorify Him, and His mercy came into our lives and made a way for us to fulfill that calling, in spite of our failures.
Yes, it is pure mystery that the Father would send His Son into flesh, image of Himself, so that His mercy could re-make someone like me.

And I’m left with life over-flowing with His love and wondering–what can I ever offer in return? To the God who gives His all to me, what can I possibly give that would ever be a worthy offering?
Micah 6:8 says it plain: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
In Matthew 5:7, Jesus reiterates this call to mercy: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy…and so I think again of how mercy comes into play when we are guilty, when we stand in need of forgiveness.

I think of how Jesus responds to those hearts that are repentant, how He responds to my failures.

I have been disciplined but never degraded. Humbled but never humiliated. Corrected but never condemned. When He had every right to reject me, He chose to redeem me.
This is how we know what love is, that Jesus laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brother. (1 John 3:16) Even when they’ve hurt us? Even when they’re wrong? In my moments of anger, I’ve thought about how my indignation was justified. Because that person? They did something wrong. They hurt me. So I’m supposed to forgive, even when they’re not sorry? The reminder has come quick. While I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. (Romans 5:8)Yes. Forgive. As He forgave us, we must forgive others. As He loves us, we must love.

No, it isn’t always easy. In our human strength, sometimes the act of forgiveness is the hardest thing we may ever face. But we have to remember that the price has already been paid for this pain. Jesus knew the cost and He bore it so that we wouldn’t have to — and so it is in His strength that we forgive. It is by His mercy that we can show mercy.

To those who have not chosen to surrender their lives to Christ, the love that you show (illogical, mysterious love!) is a witness to the love of the Father. Remember the adulteress who found herself given another chance…the prodigal welcomed home…Jesus came to fulfill the law by His love, in His mercy. He came to save the world, not to condemn it. We love because He first loved us! (1 John 4:19)

And if it is someone in the family of God who has hurt you–I know that this is a particularly rough-edged pain. I truly believe that it's a pet scheme of the enemy to create division in the church. If the family of God is divided, the light we are to shine so brightly as a witness of His love fades. If the family of God uses their words and actions to bring harm to their brothers and sisters, then the focus turns to those conflicts instead of to fulfilling the commission Jesus gave to us.

And so Satan is pleased that the gospel isn’t shared. He is pleased that gossip, slander, and strife replace encouragement, helping hands, and love.

How do we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to defeat this scheme?

We offer mercy. We forgive through the power of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus commanded us to do time and again throughout His teachings. We build others up with our testimony and edifying words. We dwell in His love so that we can love as He loves…humbling ourselves so that the Father will be glorified.

Jesus knew these times would come–which is why He gave us instructions on how to handle wrong-doing among believers (see Matthew 18:15). But throughout it all, we must remember the transformation mercy has made in our own lives…and know that same mercy can breathe new life into any situation.

Regardless of someone else’s response, we must do our part to follow our Savior’s example — and He will heal our hearts. He will bind our wounds. He'll give us the courage and strength to continue putting our all into His work…we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18) Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one…and this unity will only come about if we surrender ourselves to mercy.

We must pray for specific discernment in conflict. Sometimes we must use wisdom when it comes to certain problem-situations. Jesus spoke to the disciples and told them that if His truth was rejected, they should leave that place and ‘shake the dust off their feet’. If you find yourself in a situation where actions and words are clearly rejecting Jesus Christ, this call to mercy does not mean allowing truth to be compromised. However, we must be so careful — because we must bear witness to the Spirit of Christ while knowing that we cannot judge another man’s heart. But if the fruit of that man does not witness to the life and words of Jesus, you can lovingly, mercifully walk away from that conflict. We must stand up for what is right with actions that are Christ-like.

In all times, we must continue to walk humbly and with forgiving hearts. We must live justly and love mercy…and to love mercy is to be like Jesus, to love as He loves us and to lose our lives for His sake. (John 13:34,Matthew 10:38) May we love "more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that we may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God!" (Phil. 1:9-11)

This weekend, my Sunday School group had a beach day. There were many groups of people there, gathered together for many different reasons, and as my husband and I scanned the crowd for our group, we knew just what we were looking for-a group of Christians representing Christ. We were looking for a group that would be distinct from the other groups in their conduct, speech, and dress. We quickly found our group. They were having fun, and we joined in on the fun as soon as we got settled at “camp.” Amidst the people playing Smashball, the kids running quickly into, and out of, the water, and the large and lively soccer/dodgeball game we had going, there were shrieks of laughter. Even on this day of pure fun, we realize that as Christians we represent Christ to the world-we are His ambassadors-at all times. This becomes quite evident in large crowds. Looking for our group, we knew we were looking for a group acting and playing with patience and joy. We were looking for a group who spoke kindly to one another, even in the crazy soccer game, with foul shots and missed kicks. We were looking for a group dressed with dignity, appropriately clothed for a fun day at the beach, showing modesty and dignity in all areas of conduct, speech, and dress.