So I'm reading "The Kingdom Life." It's "a practical theology of discipleship and spiritual formation."
That's right. Be impressed. I'm on page 36. I have no idea what that has to do with anything other than this. I read this sentence and it TOTALLY blew my mind. Obviously I have thought about how big God is before...or TRIED to think about it. It's one of those things I can think about forever. Like what eternity will look like, or how God has ALWAYS existed. Your head starts to hurt after a while...but check out this goodie. "We don't have a big physical universe with a little God flitting around here and there. We have a physical universe that fits on the little finger of a great big God who has been here always and will be here forever." 
Ummmm.......dude. If you read that a few times and you don't COMPLETELY black out on the greatness of God I would suggest you check your pulse. Cause that is a CRAZY image. Fits on the LITTLE FINGER of a great God???? For some reason I imagine Kevin Garnett with his 9 foot wingspan spinning the universe around like a basketball while giving me one of those, "Don't worry...I've got this girl" smirks of his. How can I worry about ANYTHING when the God that is so big that the universe is spinning ON HIS FINGERTIP cares about me intimately. In the words of Andy Gaumer, "WHAaaaaaT?? That is SOOOO ROWDY!!!"Below is Darrin and Andy. Andy is being held. It's a mixture between cute and creepy...heavy on the creepy.
I actually miss Andy a lot. During M2TC (Mission to the City - Where I was for the week in Des Moines) Andy and I got to spend a ton of time talking about the Lord. Since Greg (my legit brother for those that do not have the pleasure) lives with Andy we would come home every night around 10:30pm or 11:00pm just blacked out on the day.
I actually miss Andy a lot. During M2TC (Mission to the City - Where I was for the week in Des Moines) Andy and I got to spend a ton of time talking about the Lord. Since Greg (my legit brother for those that do not have the pleasure) lives with Andy we would come home every night around 10:30pm or 11:00pm just blacked out on the day. Greg (on the left) and his buddy Josh (on the right). They are headed to the dance floor...and they mean business.
Exhausted, but with a Spirit so full of love, sleep was never an option. So we would sit in the living room (Andy on the long couch, me on the chair to the right of the WWII chest) and talk about God. One of us would start with, "Dude. Today was so legit." And the other person would say, "Oh agreed. Tell me your stories." And as if in a trance, we would share, back and forth, about the power of the gospel. Andy's eyes would light up (in the same way that McKenna's eyes lit up the first time she talked to me about the Lord 20 minutes after I met her. I can never forget those eyes.)
McKenna and her straight legitimate eyes
It was dark in the living room, but I could see his eyes, and I could feel his passion. And he would tell me about the gospel. There is something rhythmic about hearing the gospel as a believer. I knew, word for word, what was going to come out of Andy's mouth. By the end of the week I could actually picture Andy in my sleep saying, "Christ died for MY SINS. Who am I to deserve that??" Even as I sit here in Denver I can still feel my brother in Christ sitting next to me, reminding me of the power of the gospel.
It was dark in the living room, but I could see his eyes, and I could feel his passion. And he would tell me about the gospel. There is something rhythmic about hearing the gospel as a believer. I knew, word for word, what was going to come out of Andy's mouth. By the end of the week I could actually picture Andy in my sleep saying, "Christ died for MY SINS. Who am I to deserve that??" Even as I sit here in Denver I can still feel my brother in Christ sitting next to me, reminding me of the power of the gospel.
Andy doesn't know this (and thus the irony of a public blog where private thoughts are spilled for all to see), but looking back, my favorite part of M2TC was our talks. I would come home, so exhausted I didn't know how I would make it upstairs, and as I opened the door a small part of me would hope Andy was already upstairs asleep so I could just go to bed. But I would see him, every night, asleep downstairs on the couch waiting for Greg and me. I would wake him up, and we would begin our talks.
It was during one of our talks when the simple yet urgent notion of fellowship was revealed to me. I have heard the term "fellowship" used since I was probably 3. But for the first time, since I accepted Christ, my heart felt this fellowship. It was in one of our talks that I realized the magnitude of sharing the gospel. Not only do we as believers plant seeds for the Lord to yield life out of in non-believers, but we plant seeds of fellowship within our congregation that the Lord will yield life out of as well. I always viewed fruit being something the Lord would give me the grace to produce around non-believers, but I learned of the fruit that was produced through fellowship.
My prayer is that the Lord continues to remind me of my talks with Andy as I continue my life in Des Moines. I want to grow in fellowship and community with the women of the Downtown Church with as much zeal as I did with Andy in those few short days. I pray the gospel brings me closer to these women as we love as Christ loved, share as Christ shared, and serve as Christ served.
In conclusion, I operate under the belief that no good blog post should end on the same topic it started. Let me see if I can find a way to link "The Kingdom Life," KG spinning the universe on his finger, and Andy Gaumer. Here goes. God is big. Really big. And His plans surpass any rational thought or reason. Sometimes the awesomeness of God is revealed in a picture of Him holding the entire universe on his finger, and sometimes it's revealed in a conversation between two people, in the living room of a house, in Des Moines, Iowa, at 11:30pm.
Kate
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