is fear my idol?

"The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but that we want it too much." 

[John Calvin]

Currently, I am going through a study with a group of women from Northpointe, called "No Other Gods: Confronting our Modern-Day Idols" by Kelly Minter. We are only a couple of weeks in, but it's been very challenging to work through what idols are in my life, and what drives us to have idols. 

I hope to share with you more, as we go through this study together. I have five minutes before I go to work, but I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts from the latest section that we have covered. We are discussing why we make idols, with fear being one of the reasons. 

I consider fear to be one of my main idols. It really drives most of what I do... But the author had an interesting point... Fear is not something we want in our lives. We have fear because we want something else... safety, security, etc. I need to continue to think this through, but what do you think about that? Is fear the idol that drives you, or is the lack of what you fear that is the idol? 

Either way, I was convicted by the statement she ended with: 

"Know that if God tells us not to fear, He will empower us not to fear."

 God has said to fear not, that He is in control and that He will fight over me. If I fear, I am disobeying Him. It's easier said than done, especially with an anxiety disorder, but I will pray for this every day. His Spirit, who lives in me, is one of power, not fear. 

((Breakfast date with the hubs this morning. Grateful.))

Halloween in RI

This past week, Nick and I had the pleasure of handing out candy to families and kids on the Eastside of Providence (where we live). Our home group met up and worked together to put on an awesome event for the neighborhood! Two of the church plants in Rhode Island, Northpointe, and Bridgepointe, decided that the best way to reach people where they are at on Halloween is to be present in our neighborhoods, at our own homes. We met at houses with our home groups, and set up little mini carnivals, if you will.
At ours, we had the following things:
- Two games involving glo-sticks, glowing balls, and extra candy prizes
- Party baggies full of candy, coupons for free food from Wendys and McDonalds, and a reflective slap bracelet with Bridgepointe's info on it
- A huge popcorn maker and hot apple cider
All of this was free for everyone, of course, and we had such a good time meeting people and handing out goodies. Everyone who came by was so thrilled about the popcorn and hot cider, and the kids were literally lined up to the street to play the games.

We had at least 200 kids come through just our little event! Not to mention all the families that were at the events all over Rhode Island. So awesome!

It is so common for people these days to shut off their lights and hide from tick or treaters, or to just go to their church and interact with other believers there. Now, I am not hating on the church festival route, it's what I did my entire life...  However, what an incredible opportunity we have just to love on the people in our neighborhoods! Think of the relationships you might be able to build just by making yourself available to those who already live around you. Get creative, look for opportunities to shine, to be different... instead of hiding away or blending in with what everyone else is doing.

5 months

I fail.

I totally fail at blogging.

It's been 5 months since my last blog post.  Boo. The last time I posted, it was warm. I could go to the beach every weekend, eat frozen lemonade, and walk everywhere with perhaps just a light jacket at night. Now, it's freezing. It gets dark at 4:30. I have to bundle up to go outside. No more beach. :(

Anyway.

I love writing, and I express myself best through written word. But life gets busy, I feel uninspired, or unmotivated...

Well, I can guarantee nothing, but I hope to start writing more over the next few months.

Here is a little list of some blog prompts that I have been challenged to write recently. Hopefully I will get to them.
- Grace... and my lack of it.
- Halloween in New England
- Hurricane Sandy
- Identity
- Explorations and Adventures of the past 5 months
- God vs. gods and my everyday life
- "Where everything is 'Christian,' nothing is 'Christian'." - Soren Kierkegaard.  This quote was used by Shane Claiborne when I saw him recently at Brown... I have had some trouble finding it online but would like to discuss it nonetheless.

How does that sound? I will be back later with some posts! (Hopefully!)

:)