Chris's Louisiana Reflections

We were right where God wanted us to be in Louisiana. Instead of many scurried trips back and forth to and from New Orleans and other places, we limited our longer-distance travels in order to make more time for one-on-one bonding as a family and with the people we were meeting in Baton Rouge. Sure, we were there to do relief work, but God was also doing His work on us individually, as a family, and as a community of close friends. The time we invested in each other was a true gift, and it definitely allowed us to better instill Kingdom values in our children.

It was no mistake that both Randy and Larry (the pastoral staff at the Baton Rouge Ministry Center) function in complete contrast to the type “A” atmosphere common in my job as a radio station manager. Instead of being delegated a laundry list of “to dos,” Randy and Larry told us simply to fit in as the Spirit leads.

I was admittedly a bit uncomfortable at first, because I was afraid of having too much idle time. But I also began to see early on how Randy and Larry leave their daily schedules flexible enough to allow for divine appointments. They are all about personal relationship building. Despite numerous setbacks with the completion of their actual church building, their witness and impact in the greater Baton Rouge community has gone unhindered.

Randy later told us his biggest prayer for us while we were there was that we would grow spiritually and bond even closer as a family. Here indeed is Kingdom of Heaven on earth living…a pastor who doesn’t know for sure if he will be getting regular paychecks after September, assuring us that he is more concerned with our relationships than he is about what we can physically accomplish on his behalf.

This formed an incredible foundation for us, as we truly experienced the freedom to “Be still and know our God.” We had deep, meaningful studies of the Scriptures, read books, built relationships with hurricane evacuees and residents in the neighborhood, gave lifts to stranded pedestrians, and provided food and job training to hurricane evacuees striving to rise beyond the many, often unspeakable, setbacks they have faced. Sunday church services took place at another local church building, and were more like intimate Bible studies than traditional church services. Attendees were often new converts with whom Randy and Larry had begun relationships. Many of them have deep, powerful testimonies. I dare say many of them know their Savior better after a few weeks than some who’ve been Christians for decades.

Many evenings, we would walk through the local neighborhoods as a family, and strike up conversations with residents on their patios. They got used to seeing us out walking, and when we hadn’t passed by for a few days, they would say “we haven’t seen you out in a while. We’ve been watching for you.” One woman, after our first real visit with her, said “I love you,” and stretched out her arms to hug us all. That’s just not a common experience among strangers in the Pacific Northwest!

I am truly grateful our time in Louisiana didn’t fly. I wanted to savor every moment. Still, I can’t believe it’s over and we’re back home. I will miss the incredible daily interactions with the many people we met in Louisiana. But the incredible sense of community we had in Baton Rouge inspires me all the more to seek out this same depth of community in our local relationships.

Before we left Baton Rouge, Larry delivered a tear-jerker sermon for Father’s Day. He and his wife Krista are adopting a 3-year-old boy from Viet Nam, which made their Father’s Day that much more spectacular. Our great friends there gave us an awesome send-off before we left Baton Rouge. As the pastoral staff prayed for us, they said they consider us to be a part of their local church body, but they are “deploying us back to Washington state,” where we believe we are still called to be.

Being so deeply moved by the work of the church in Louisiana, where critical needs to hurricane evacuees are being met every day, and where people in the church are heroically rising to heed God’s call, God revealed to me three distinct questions that I have now begun regularly asking myself to help keep my attitude in healthy spiritual condition:

1) Lord, am I living for You?
2) Lord, am I doing your will?
3) Lord, do I truly know You?

Even before our trip to Baton Rouge, I wanted to develop a life prayer-- something that would describe what I wanted my life and legacy to look like.
Then a few nights ago, while spending time in prayer and in God’s Word, God granted it to me, as follows:

Lord, I choose today the Armor of God over the power of my flesh. I choose faith in place of fear. I choose to forgive as You have forgiven me, and to walk in humble obedience to Your Call. May I hear Your voice today and not be hard of heart or slow to listen. May my legacy be a Godly life that honors You, welcomes and blesses all with whom I interact, speaks the truth in love, and points my children to you, their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May Andrew and Melanie grow ever passionate for You and Your Kingdom, both on earth and in Heaven. May they always seek after you with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and may I do the same. Strengthen me, Lord, that I may daily put off my sinful old self and choose instead the path of righteousness You have marked out for me, regardless of how rugged the trail or unpopular the route. Great is my need, and yet greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. May God’s Glory and Power prevail through me forever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.