Brian and Libby's Blog

Back from...

Well, we're certainly not back from the dead...maybe you could say we're back from too much living. The last 2 weeks have been an abolute whirlwind of activity, and although some of my more committed blogging friends have been faithful in blogging through it, I have (obviously) not. So where should I start.

Well we had our first Christmas party in our new home, which was a good time. And of course, the next morning my post Christmas depression started to creep in. I decided that this year I wouldn't let it get to me until the appropriate time, not that I'm altogether sure when that is. Either way, it was only December 16th and I chose to enjoy the last 2 weeks of this year very much in the Christmas spirit.

Right after the party ended, I took my last graduate course ever. I'll pause here for a moment. I started grad school a year after we got married. I often refer to myself as the oldest 25-year-old you've ever met, and going to an evening class in Albany and not getting home until 10pm once a week doesn't really fit into my 25 going on 40 lifestyle. I have therefore spent a large portion of the last 2.5 years, during which I've been in class, complaining about it. So on the 15th, myself and my class (5 other girls I've been in class with the last couple of years) decided to celebrate, since 4 of us were in our last class and moving on to work independently on our theses. It is really amazing to me how time can pass so quickly. All of a sudden, that chapter of my life...rushing out of work, eating fast food, reading from my textbooks on my drive down the Northway :) ...it's all over! Believe it or not, it was a little bittersweet, since I am truly a geek and really enjoyed the classes once in a while, not to mention the people I met. Anyways, I'm looking forward to finishing my thesis, hopefully this December, and walking across that stage!

So anyways, after my last class, the real insanity began. We were in full swing preparing for and promoting Northway's Christmas Eve services. Northway was planning to open it's second location in Clifton Park, and although various hurdles were ahead of us, our bold leadership decided that God could make it happen despite these hurdles, and we advertised seven services Christmas Eve weekend in not one, but TWO locations. Not only was the facility still in need of a LOT of work, we needed a certificate of occupancy from the Town of Clifton Park to allow anyone through the doors, and that would be nearly impossible to obtain right before Christmas.

I will not lie, I had my doubting Thomas moments. Walking into the building just days before, I remember looking at a friend and saying "It will be a miracle if this happens on Sunday." Well, it was. And although it's easy to see the miracle in the big things - 800 people worshipping in our very first service Christmas Eve - I had the pleasure of seeing the smaller miracles. Like the family with 2 teenagers that came out the day before we opened and mopped floors with me for 3 hours. Or the night my husband got home after 4 a.m. but couldn't stop telling me about all the awesome things they'd accomplished that night. Or the woman who had been cleaning with me for 3 hours, who later told me she was actually out shopping but saw us cleaning and realized we needed help, so she dropped all of her plans to make it happen. Or the husband and wife who had been there working every moment the doors were open for weeks, who were all dressed up, smiling and greeting every volunteer who came on Christmas Eve (although I'm sure they were utterly exhausted).

I could go on and on, but I think the most beautiful thing I saw in the midst of all of this was true selflessness. People taking time out in the busiest days of the year to do something completely unselfish, despite their own needs or wants, or the fact that they would receive no praise or recognition for it on earth, other than the satisfaction of knowing that they had served God by scrubbing toilets, mopping floors, and painting walls. No satisfaction other than an earnest belief that the windows they had cleaned would somehow have an eternal impact.

During the latter part of this year, Brian and I were made aware of how utterly selfish we tend to be. Our world is pretty comfortable, and why shouldn't it be, since it revolves pretty much around us and no one else? I mean, yeah, we're "good" people. We are nice to our neighbors, we pay all of our bills and we're involved in our church, but suddenly our eyes started to open to those around us, both near and far, whose worlds couldn't be more opposite.

A good friend of mine, and also a faithful proofreader of many papers, important e-mails and the like, was reading our Christmas card this year and asked me what I meant when I wrote that Brian and I were trying to broaden our context. To her credit, I think there is a very good chance that I coined that phrase while writing. So let me explain in case anyone else out there doesn't think it was the grammatically correct way to conclude our Christmas greeting :)

We live in a lovely little context. We have a nice home, we both have cars, we both have jobs and get paid every week. We love eachother and have great friends. We love our church and spend a lot of time there. Everything we do contributes to the balance of our little world, the context we live in. Whether good or bad, it all works out to keep things rolling along nicely in the world of Brian and Libby. Maybe living beyond our context would ideally mean moving to Africa and understanding what it really means to live in a city that has no source of water within a 3 mile walk, or going to church in Pakistan where at any given time, the congregation could be stormed and killed for no reason other than their decision to be there.

But I think that we can start to live beyond our context by acknowledging the safe bubble we live in. By appreciating it and thanking God for the luxuries we have, both big and small. By making a conscious effort to be selfless and kind even when it reaches outside of our bubble and will have no positive returns for us. And by painting the walls in Clifton Park even though no one will pat you on the back for it, just because you know it needs to be done, and you want to be the one to do it.

posted by Libby @ 10:07 AM