Earthquake

So most of you probably do not know this but I am absolutely fascinated by earthquakes. The idea that two ginourmous plates of rock shift and make our "whole" world shake is ridiculous. It is even more amazing to me that we can record the magnitude through the amount of damage they cause, and the force they create. What is even better is the fact that we can build buildings to withstand these earthquakes.

In life earthquakes come, destroy a town or knock down trinkets in our homes, we clean up we rebuild and we move on. In 2010 an earthquake hit Haiti and devastated the landscape there. (this earthquake was less than the earthquake in San Francisco in the 80's) Anyways, this idea of destruction and brokenness is commonly hidden in our society. Like Katie was saying it can be manipulated into really ugly things. In this case, America came to Haiti's rescue for a short period and then moved on. It was easy to try to help Haiti fix itself for a small amount of time but then there was another disaster or a new thing to fix. 

I guess my point is that we like to fix brokenness when it really needs to be embraced. "My understanding was that God wanted to heal my brokenness and vulnerabilities completely." pg 122 The destruction of an earthquake is a chance to rebuild, although devastating it unites people (for at least a short while). Events in our lives shape who we are. They need to be embraced. Whether this is just a shift in the way we live, or a catastrophic event this brokenness and "destruction" helps. Earthquakes are also the reason that we have come up with new ways of building things. We build things to withstand a certain magnitude of earthquake. Earthquakes destroy or "wreck" us so that God can come and rebuild so that we can withstand the next earthquake.

As I read these two chapters I could not help but think about my first summer as a Sonshine staff. I was so amazed at how open people were to sharing about their brokenness, I had never experienced that before. However, as I continued working I think I shared "too" much. I think that I was almost proud of my brokenness instead of being vulnerable or lifting it up to God, I was covering it up with pride. These chapters made me pray that God would push me to be more vulnerable (in a way that is life-giving and glorifying to God) with this team, and with my team barnabas. Vulnerability breeds vulnerability and I know that only God can provide an atmosphere that makes the barneys and drivers feel safe to share. this is my prayer  that God can help us embrace a new way of living, even if causes and earthquake in our lives, but from this a more vulnerable and safe community is born. 

 

I hope you guys followed my analogy even a little and if you ever want to talk about earthquakes come talk to me!

Have a great week!