More Llama, Less Drama

I thought you might enjoy Byron's latest newsletter article for the church newsletter:

More Llama

Livestock can add a certain serenity to the landscape.  Our sweet, old horse, Saxie looks so peaceful grazing in the yard.  We drink our coffee on the front porch, look out at her, and it’s a calming sight, she’s a beautiful animal.   Other members of the animal kingdom kind of stick out there with awkward goofiness.  Take for example the llama my youngest daughter has temporarily adopted.  Let me stress the word temporary.   Nothing about this animal is beautiful, graceful, or frankly, pleasant.  To look at it is just flat …uncomfortable.  Personally, I’m pretty freaked out by it.  It’s a creepy, alien looking thing; almost made me drop my coffee this morning on the way to the truck.

 No one wants to stick out, feel awkward, or be uncomfortable.  For teenagers, especially, this is their biggest fear.   But sometimes God asks us to be just that.  God wants us to move out of what is comfortable and convenient and stand out against this evil world we live in.  It’s a struggle, even for an old guy like me.  We’d rather duck our heads into our Iphones than to engage a stranger into a spiritual conversation.  We’d rather sleep late after a hard work week than to get up and go to church.

 We are working hard in our student ministry to train up some leaders who won’t be afraid to be awkward, who won’t back down when things get hard, who will say things that need to be said and will do Christ’s will even when it isn’t comfortable.  They are taking a strong leadership role in our Wednesday night services and they need your prayer.  They also need your encouragement.  Take time this week to love on some students.  Tell them you are proud of them, encourage them to read the Word, show interest in their lives, and let them know that you are praying for them, and really do it.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”  1 Peter 2:11-12.

Maybe I can stomach the llama who is visiting my house by allowing God to use it as a reminder to me of how I need to be awkward, how I too need to be an alien in this world.  We all could use a little more llama, a little less drama.  You think?  Or maybe I can just stay inside until the State Fair is over. 

In Christ,

Byron