Oh Buellton. This place is such a great metaphor for what God has been working in me. He has been opening up my eyes to the way He sees things and I am blown away and grateful all at once. When my family first moved from Goleta the goodland to Buellton CA, I was bummed. I looked at it as a po-dunk little town where half the population is cows. Have you ever been technically correct, but still so totally wrong about something?
My years in Buellton have shown me what real community looks like. We had the most amazing neighbors, crazy cul-de-sac parties, a realistic and real church community, and an amazingly beautiful valley to enjoy. I love this town.
In preparing for the World Race, fundraising is a big piece. When I signed up for this, I knew I would be putting a lot of energy into fundraising and had some automatic expectations of where the bulk of my funds would come from. Guess what? Wrong again! I had people asking to contribute that I barely knew; friends making very little money offering to contribute monthly; friends who are not Christians, putting checks in my hand and telling me how proud they are. I am BLOWN AWAY by the support I am receiving.
One place that is blowing me away is Church at the Crossroads, in Buellton CA. My family has been a part of this community for years, however, I never have been. They started attending after I left for college, so while I've gone a few times I never considered myself a part of their community. Wrong! Their pastor invited me to come speak to the congregation, prepared them for my coming, prayed over me and my trip around the world, took a voluntary offering on my behalf, allowed me to sell some artwork after church and on TOP of all that, blessed me with an incredibly generous contribution from the church itself.
See how long that paragraph is? I am blessed so much. Blessed by the funding for sure, and even more so by the example of what community looks like. It looks like open invitation, it looks like support, it looks like connection and relationship and help and blessings and openness. Community looks like Church at the Crossroads. Thank you, family, for blessing me so hardcore. I am learning so much about the Kingdom from you.
