Last night

Last night, we had a fabulous time together. We dared to take some time together to look at life differently - to notice something more than just the usual American way of more more more and it was a great time.

We started with some time to relax and little and let the stress of the day fall away a little. It was nice to hang out with some people who care about each other just because - not because of what we have to offer each other, or what we can produce or our social status, but just because.

We then spet some time noticing something ordinary, that is amazing. We talked about hips and shoulders - these 2 joints are both ball & socket joints, but they function very differently. The hip is important for power and support - it needs to be stable and it can move in a lot of directions, but not as many as the shoulder. The shoulder on the other "hand" (ha ha)is much more mobile, but has much less power to it. It does not need as much power, as it does not support our body weight, but needs to be mobile, so we can do stuff with our hands. We took a look at these joints and realized that the hip socket is very deep and the socket of the shoulder is very narrow. The deep socket of the hip makes it more powerful and almost impossible to dislocate. the narrow socket of the shoulder makes it very mobile and allows it to move in a gazillion ways so that we can use our hands and arms to do stuff, but is much less stable and, as you know, is much more prone to dislocate. Now, when I look at the amazingness of the shoulder and the hip and how they just happen to have the perfect design for the function we need, I am overwhelmed. The system works perfectly, the way it is supposed to. Now, some people would have you believe that this happened by accident - that all this happened just because it worked out that way - this seems like an assertion that takes much more of a leap than just believing that these joints were made this way by a wonderful creator who wanted us to have bodies that worked the way we needed them to.

So, the next time you bend down (using your knees to bend...)notice the power in your hips - when you hold your child and balance them on your pelvis - notice the power in your hip - and be thankful - invite God to join you in the midst of that moment and savor the fact that while life is hard and we struggle with so many things, there is a great God who cared enough about us to make our bodies work the way we needed them to. When you are working above your head, or reaching to scratch your back, have a chat with God about how cool it is that your shoulder can move like that and the His design is amazing. Invite Him into the moment and ask Him to be part of your life. You may just start noticing that there is more to life than the usual "more" of the American way!

We will be hanging out again in 2wks at McAllister Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, 6:45-8:00PM, 8/26/10. Hope to see you there if you are sick of the everyday American way of more more more and looking to find something "More" than more.