Tag: care

Posted on

Adventuring Solo

A pair of cats resting under a bougainvillea bush.
Luke 5:16 (ESV)—But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

“I’m going on a solo adventure,” I announced to my husband in our hotel room on Santorini. Not a full one-person vacation but a stretch of time alone in Megalochori before we attended a wedding—where there were people and my anxiety wanted to make an appearance.

With a goodbye kiss to my husband, I strapped my camera around my neck and invited the Holy Spirit into my walk. God met my need for peace and calm with the quiet morning hour. I passed tavernas not yet open for the day, saying hello to the Greek matriarch sitting in a chair outside a restaurant. I explored the nooks and crannies of white-washed homes and businesses, beckoning Santorini’s cat population to pose for photos.

Retreats like this in our day-to-day provide rest to our spirits. Jesus, too, restored his spirit through quiet time with God. He retreated from the hustle and bustle of the crowds who expected healing. Without such rest, the human side of him would have experienced exhaustion, mentally, physically, spiritually, and/or emotionally.

Like Jesus, we can better be present for others when we’re present for ourselves. Caring for ourselves honors God because he created us with a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). He made us to steward his creation, not to fall over from fatigue—the fall did that.

Our lives are busy, true. Things to do, people to see. Yet to carve out a time to walk and pray during a quiet time of day, meditate on a section of the Bible, write a list of things we’re thankful for, or do another practice can provide us the rest we need to serve others better in Christ’s name.

Posted on

Building With Care

Buildings in Old San Juan with metal balconies, wooden shutters on the windows, and various colors of paint, orange, aqua, light blue, lighter blue, and pink.
1 Corinthians 3:8–9 (ESV)—He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

A neighborhood restaurant sat alongside a couple of bars, a bakery, and barricaded buildings in the San Agustin neighborhood of San Juan. A stroll a few blocks north or south to the main roads revealed gas stations and everyday businesses. A twenty-plus-minute walk west to Old San Juan showed restaurants, nightlife, ice cream shops, and chocolate bars.

After witnessing this shift, I began to think Puerto Rico builds from the outside in. And that makes sense, to first build up the tourist areas—their livelihood.

I think they are building with care, like Paul told the Corinthians to. He explained his role as a builder of foundations and the people’s role to build on that foundation. In other words, he shared the news of salvation with the Corinthians and told them that they had a responsibility to perform their role and that the quality of their work mattered.

According to Paul, spiritual growth starts on the outside with shedding worldly ways. Without shedding these, we are still built on the foundation of Christ, but paying more attention to our worldly efforts doesn’t move us toward Christ. Putting in the effort to develop our God-given role benefits ourselves as well as others, for everything God does through the church helps all. Our responsibility is to perform our role to the best of our ability, with the tools he gives us, in the world we live in.

We can think of developing our role in Christ like developing a tourist destination with restaurants and shops. The beauty of the building draws people in. The excellent customer service and good food keep them coming back. When this succeeds, more buildings can be constructed farther into the city, all on the foundation of Christ.