Waking Up to God’s Movement

As a kid I loved to sleep in on the weekends. Who am I kidding? I still love to sleep in and not just on the weekends. During the school year my Mom would wake me up multiple times each morning. Her patience with me getting out of bed, especially in my teenage years, should earn her a special place in heaven. “Sara, honey, it’s time to wake up,” Mom would say quietly as she gently shook my shoulder trying to get me to acknowledge her presence.

I didn’t budge.

Mom would try again. “Wake up, Sara, you need to get ready for school.” I’d mumble something unintelligible, roll over, and go back to sleep. Over and over Mom would wake me up. Why she never made me set an alarm is still beyond me. If you are wondering, yes, the snooze button has become a dear friend.

Weekends were a little different story. When 10:30 a.m. on Saturday rolled around and (if) I was happily asleep in my comfortable twin bed, my sleep ended quickly. Dad was home and Mom’s gentle nudges gave way to Dad’s abrupt, shade snapping wake-up calls. Dad’s wake-up calls were filled with just as much love as Mom’s. But, there was one big difference: he only came into my room one time to wake me up. When Dad woke me up on the weekends, he’d turn on the light, snap the shade, and say, “Good morning Sara, time to wake up.” At the time it sounded like he was SHOUTING over a loud speaker. (For the record: He wasn’t shouting.) But, there was a guarantee on Saturday morning: It was time to wake up and Dad was making sure it happened.

My parents still remind me that God’s ways of getting our attention are sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious. Waking up to God is about experiencing the every day as people on mission. To live missionally is to enter into the daily drama of life with eyes open and attentive to God.

Whether you head to the office or go to school, whether you are a stay-at-home parent or a car mechanic, whether you work in an office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or from home 7 am – 3 pm, your vocation provides a context to be in mission.

We are invited to enter the story with God each day. As we seek to be a missional church, we are God’s people sent into the mission field of daily life.

Over the course of the coming weeks, I’ll be blogging about waking up to God in our midst. There is a rhythm I’ve used for years. It will serve as our guide. The rhythm includes beginning the day with scripture, serving in the city (or seeing work as service), and surrendering to Jesus at the end of the day with celebration.

As simple as it sounds, I hope you’ll find the playground of life provides a breadth of opportunity to embody God’s love in the world.  I hope you’ll stay with us and join the journey. Perhaps you’ll see a different perspective of the institutional church. More importantly, I hope you will catch a glimpse of Jesus shining brightly in your life and in your community.

We will share stories of ordinary people waking up to God in their life and stories of a community seeking to live missionally. We do not have the market cornered on “living missionally” or being a missional church. We have learned some lessons along the way that we hope will be helpful to you.

By holding the tension of daily living with the initiation to live missionally, we believe we need community to journey with us. These posts are an invitation to you into that life-journey with Jesus.

Let me say it again: We do not have all the answers, but may have some suggestions for ways you can wake up to God in your midst. Said another way, we hope to encourage you to use your life as the context for mission. So, yes, you’ll want to experience what is being shared. Maybe you’ll even find a way to experience it with others. That’s really what being a part of a missional community is about anyway. While we will share stories and insights from our ministry experiences, the real content of mission is your life.

Whether a gentle nudge or an attention grabbing move, the invitation is to wake up to God’s movement around you. Look for the light of Christ today in your every day, ordinary life. Christ’s light is there. Christ’s light is shining in your life. Sometimes, thought, we can be too immersed in the world to see it. So what do you say?

It is time to wake up!

Here’s your bonus: Take a listen/look at All Sons & Daughter’s song, “Wake Up”