It's been almost six weeks since we arrived in Charlotte. Things are beginning to fall into place at last. I'm sick with some American bug I hadn't seen in a while (mostly a cold). Tim finally got over his, which lasted 3 weeks.

This week we attended our small group, refilled the driveway with gravel, took the dogs to the vet, and made a chicken pot pie. All very normal for life in the US, I would say. In the midst of that, I'm trying to remember what makes my life worth living and how to keep my mind on things above, not on the grass in my yard.

Today I was reading about outsiders' view that Christians are hypocritical and how it basically lines up with reality. Like everyone else, we don't do what we say we want to do. I don't do what I say I want to do. My life doesn't always look so different from anyone else's.

What makes a Christian teacher different than any other teacher, particularly teaching in a secular school? I want to know, because as glad as I am for Jesus' grace, I'm eager to learn how to live a life empowered for holiness and radical faith decisions. I wonder what the students and other staff think of me and if the fact that I claim to follow Jesus plays out in my work and professional relationships.

I don't want to be a hypocrite, although I imagine there will always be people who could make that claim of me. I want to know what it means to follow Jesus and then to do it. I want my beliefs to make a big difference in my actions. And I'm curious to see how that will play itself out in the weeks and years to come.

1 Comment

1. Anonymous on May 2, 2010 at 6:56 AM

   Love one another. It takes no words or explanations -- we just DO it and we are BEing a Christian.
   Simply authentic and true.
   Love,
   Martha