a2f newsletter.

merry christmas to everyone.

hope all of you are having a wonderful time with family and friends. it’s been an unusually warm but eventful christmas here at west lafayette. we got to welcome a new member to the a2f family, clara choi (matt & sophie’s new daughter), as well as celebrate liam, elijah, and jackie’s graduation.

we’ve been spending a lot of time together with the remnant who are still around in west lafayette. different family members have come by as well as connie and enhui (our iu cpi’s) are here for the holidays. we’ve had multiple potlucks. we watched a “classic christmas movie”, harry potter and the goblet of fire, which triggered a lot of nostalgia and a desire to re-read and re-watch all the harry potters. and we’ve also really gotten into “unlock boxes” which if you don’t know what those are… well, the best way to explain it is: an escape room in a box. i highly recommend “mission 07.”

tabby and i also finally got to take our family christmas photo. just as a disclaimer, it doesn’t look like a christmas photo because we were in los angeles when we took it this past week and it was an incredible 80 degrees there but i promise… it’s a “christmas photo.”

cheers.

dj.

feb 6-8. camp tecumseh, in.

come join us for an incredible weekend. fun. meeting new friends from iu and uiuc. time in god’s word. worship. different workshops addressing a variety of major questions about christianity. and of course a lot of food and late night shenanigans.

sign up on this form - here.

we’re going through the classic christmas narratives in scripture for our devotions this past week and i was personally challenged by mary’s response to angel gabriel’s news that she would be the one who would bear jesus.

gabriel greets her and declares upfront “o favored one, the lord is with you!” and then later doubles down and says to mary “you have found favor with god.” but mary’s response? it seemingly doesn’t match but it’s so relatable to me. “but she was greatly troubled.” and why? here’s an angel telling her that she has found favor with god so why would she feel troubled? disturbed even? if you were here for our sunday message this past week, it’s the same word that described king herod’s response to the news of a baby that would come to be king.

but, if you think about the implications of all that’s going to happen, it makes sense why she would be troubled. bearing a baby. possibility of wedlock. the scandal and the kinds of gossip and rumor that would spread because, remember, she isn’t married yet so for her to get pregnant now? a scandal of the highest magnitude in her time and culture. let alone having to now raise, y’know, the son of god. talk about heightened responsibility.

so yes. this news. it would have huge and reverberating implications on her life. it introduces an incredible amount of uncertainty and instability into her life. and yet scripture is very clear how it labels and views this invitation, favored by god.

i think this narrative captures an important truth. often god’s invitation to a blessed life. to be favored. it doesn’t come in a form that we often expect nor does it give off the vibe of being a favorable or blessed invitation. more often than not, it troubles us.

“hey what do you think about going to cambodia for a summer mission trip?”

“dj, what do you think about sticking around after graduating and just try serving in our college ministry for one year?”

“would you and your wife like to move out to irvine to help start our church plant?”

“hey there is a need out at west lafayette, would your family be okay moving to serve at purdue?”

each of these invitations i’ve received were all blessed invitations. ones that i truly experienced being god’s favored one as i got to experience joys and thrills i never imagined i would’ve experienced. but at the moment of each invitation? ya. i felt troubled. like mary, my immediate response was “how will this be?” how will… my finances work out. how will… my career work out not getting a summer internship immediately. how will… my family and my kids be in a new city and new environment. there was a lot of uncertainty.

and yet after years of this kind of experience, i’ve come to accept that the very best thing that i can do is to just put my yes on the table even though there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of questions because, in the end, time and time again, god has proved himself trustworthy and i have found my life “favored” and blessed every single time.

and so my encouragement to all of you. don’t let the uncertainty trouble you and keep you from saying yes to the invitation. from someone who’s been on the other side of the troubling invitation time and time again, you don’t want to miss out on his favor in the form of the way your life will be blessed.

until next time.

dj.