NW2BH - Tomorrow

I'm looking forward to "officially" starting our discussion tomorrow. My wife read chapter one this evening in preparation: "I think it's a pretty accurate representation of where you are right now," was her first comment. For me, it's affirming and challenging - showing that there is at least one other person who's putting words to the journey we're on, and showing that there's so far to go, so much to learn, so much pride and condescension of which to let go.

The word that's standing out so far in chapter one is "epiphany". One of the definitions given is this:

A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: “I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself” (Frank Maier).

I've had a few of those kinds of experiences over the years, and honestly had one this morning. We visited a church with a friend, a nice huge church in a nearby town. I've been to similar churches before, but not in awhile, and frankly I felt that I'd been "epiphanied" out of them. But as we sat with her, I was struck by how much she loves her church. She's really on board, and I've known so many people who are just members of a place, or who are just there because it's the big church in town. She's way into her church - as we all should be when we're a part of a local body that's growing us and shaping us together in Christ. That was my "epiphany" as we left for dinner at my folks' house: wherever God places us as a family, I want to be a "church member" like her.