Hope

by Heather Myer

At times when life is overwhelming and hope does not extend past my present grief, I watch Schindler’s List. This is a movie about the Holocaust, portraying humanity at its very worst. I only watch it when I feel miserable or depressed. Nothing that I am experiencing can possibly compare to the despair of the Holocaust. Each time, I finish the movie cringing at man’s depravity but feeling alive and grateful. At the end of a very long and wretched week, I had every intention of watching Schindler’s List.

After work, I came to church for my turn of reading the New Testament during 24-Hours of Scripture. Andrea left off with Matthew 26. Seated in the light, far from the darkened corners, God revealed truths to me. My voice was small against the large empty room as I read aloud Christ’s last supper, betrayal, arrest, trial, torture, crucifixion and burial. My voice faltered as I recited Jesus’ last words, and his death, and the destruction of the temple. Then in Matthew 28, Christ arose on the third day! My grief was replaced with joy as Jesus greeted his disciples and offered the great commission. I left LifePoint feeling filled, at peace, and thankful. Perhaps this may become my new ritual when life is unpleasant: greet it with the ultimate suffering of our Lord, his arousal, and my own awakening.

"Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” —Matthew 26:64

What's the Big Blogging Deal?

Blogging is sort of the "it" thing to do these days: TV shows like Quarterlife glamourize it, our favorite musicians use it to voice their opinions, and even local news outlets use them to keep us updated. But for the rest of us, what's the big deal?

Blogs let us—the people of the real world—voice our opinions and share our news. In our corner of the blogosphere, we have a place that's just ours, where we can express ourselves. But if you're like me, you wonder, "What's the use of expressing myself if nobody's reading this expression?"

Enter the LifePoint Blogging Family. Whether or not you were aware of it, there's a group of bloggers at LifePoint, and they've banded together to form the LPBF.

I can hear you ask once more, "What the big blogging deal?" Well, let me tell you. LifePoint's mission is "leading people to be real Christ-followers in life...together," right? The LPBF allows people to be their real, Christ-following selves on their individual blogs while being knit together as a blogging family. How cool is that?

But Sarah, I still don't understand what blogs are? No sweat. Rather than reinvent the wheel, which I hate doing, here's a video from the peeps over at CommonCraft.com who made the following video that will explain in plain English what blogs are and why they rock:

Now that you know how cool blogs are, you want your own right? Blogger.com and WordPress.com both offer free blogs, and they only take minutes to set up (if you feel clueless about setting up your blog, the Language Arts peeps will be hosting a blogging workshop in April—stay tuned to E.notes).

And if you already have a blog, why don't you jump in and join the LPBF? Simply send an e-mail to Sarah (saustin@lifepointozark.com) and request an official invitation. Further instructions can be found on the LPBF page, as can a complete list of LPBF members.

We hope you'll check us out and join us!

—Sarah Jo