but i love my rice!

claire LOVES cheesy rice, so i made some for dinner last night. as we were eating out on the patio, she was exulting over her plate, declaring herself addicted to cheesy rice! cameron decided to pose a question to his sister:

cam - "claire, what would you rather have - a one-way ticket to heaven, or all the rice you can eat on earth forever?"

(now seriously, we thought this would be a no-brainer, so tim and i looked expectantly at claire ...)

she paused, then shoveled another spoonful into her mouth ...

claire - "i just can't decide!! this rice is so good!"

cam, shocked - "CLAIRE! well, I would choose heaven, because if you don't, you'll have rice, but get destroyed on earth later!"

while we laughed about it, the whole exchange really stuck with me ... isn't that us sometimes? we're so consumed with our "rice" that we can't see far enough ahead to what's REALLY waiting for us at the end of this life. i love how andy stanley puts decision-making to 1 question: what is the WISE thing for me to do, in light of my past circumstances, my present situation, and my future hopes and dreams? what do i ultimately want at the end of this life, and how are today's decisions going to impact that final result?

i have been feeling the weight of that lately, while tim and i muddle through this whole messy business of church-planting/building. there are so many days where it just feels so overwhelming, and it doesn't seem possible that what we have now could possibly result in an actual church, complete with a building, church staff, flashy kids' ministry, and incredible worship .... and then i come face to face with the fact that: it is. it IS a church, whether we have our own building or not, whether we're busting at the seams, or struggling to maintain 50 people on a given sunday - we are DOING what God has called us to do, and isn't a church really just a body of believers growing in relationship with God, pursuing relationships with others and serving the world together, doing the dirty work of the great commission? we can't get so wrapped up in our rice, that we forget what life's all about: ultimately meeting the living, breathing JESUS, and spending eternity with Him, and as many people as we can possibly bring with us to heaven.

who needs cheesy rice?