Criss Cross
Applesauce…

            “Criss,
cross, applesauce”, I say to myself as I tie the black laces of my 3 year old
blue and white Vans skate shoes. I feel the pressure pushing up into the arches
of my feet where my sandals normally lack support. I stand up from the futon,
wiggle my toes in the tips of my shoes, feeling strong, ready to take on the
world.

            A
smile comes to my face as I begin to think about what the day will look
like.  Church, lunch with Leslie,
baking cookies with my mid-high girls, and walking the streets of Venice
passing said cookies out with a hug and a simple, “God loves you”. It’s the
start of a new day…

            God has done so much lately that it is overwhelming. Tears
fill my eyes even now as I type this and think back on the love that He is pouring
out in this city. Just 1 week ago, I found myself sitting in my red beach chair
that my parents blessed me with, reading a book called “Weird” by Craig
Groeschel, and dreaming up what to do with the mid high youth group. I watched
in my head as God poured out this vision on the discipleship walk, the life of
a “Fisher of man”

 

            Mark
1:17-18 says, “Come, follow me,” Jesus
said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets
and followed him.

 

            Something
is brewing here. Something good. I watched as God unfolded this concept more
and more. He never called us to be prepared. No, He called us to walk. He
called us to tie our shoes, and walk down the road, through the dirt, and into
the storms. He called us to walk the straight and narrow; a road that is marked
with suffering; filled with pain, filled with persecutions, rejections, and a
life of servant hood. He called us to be last. He has called us to a life of
loving our enemies, and bending low as we lift others up. It is a weird life in
which we have been called too.

            So
why do it? Simon and Andrew didn’t know what they were signing up for. They had
no clue. They heard His words, His heart, saw him teaching the thousands, and
feeding the hungry, these were nice things, but not worth what was to come.
Something weird started happening. He healed the sick, He walked on the water,
and He raised the dead. Suddenly there is power behind the words. They watched
Jesus get taken in the garden, and heard that he was going to prepare a place
for them. They watched him hang on a cross, and then saw the empty tomb.

            It
was power, it was truth, it was hope, it was joy, it was filling, it was weird,
it was promise, it was grace, it was LOVE that pushed the disciples on and into
the heart of God.

            So
why do I do it? Because it IS power, it IS truth, it IS hope, it IS joy, it IS
filling, it is weird, it is promise, it is grace, it is LOVE!

He is! He is the
“I AM”, and we are not called to sit around. We are called to walk. We are
called to take up our cross, to die to ourselves, to tie our shoes, and not
just read, but walk and experience first hand the power, truth, hope, joy,
promise, and love of Christ Jesus. 
If only we are willing to stand up and take on the world…

            And
so, the vision grows still, and the walk goes deeper. The next few weeks, the
youth and I will dive into the depths, the heart, and the walk, as we become
“fishers of men.”