karentrue.com

Church in the Barn & Other Life Changes

Posted on 21. May, 2010 by Karen True in food for thought

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has changed the default font on campus computers. Why, you wonder, do I care? It turns out that their new font, Century Gothic, is thinner than the Arial font they used for years, and it uses about 30% less ink. This small change will go a long way toward making those pricey ink cartridges last a while longer and might save up to $30,000!

This little discovery reminded me that small things add up to big things and brought two thoughts to mind.

I wonder how much I could save by changing the font on my computer.

I wonder how a few small life changes might make a big difference in the end.

Little is the New Big

The cancer ordeal that our family went through this past December was a big deal. Thankfully, it turned out to be “no cancer” after all, but we walked enough of the journey to be slapped around a bit with the realities of life and death. Such a whipping has a way of realigning priorities, so I’ve been making some changes. Here are the starting four:

Diet: Carrot juice, berries, almonds, hearty grains and lots of veggies are in. Dairy is out. (Except for Parmesan…Who can live without Parmesan?)

Job: No work after 6 p.m. Period. (almost) These hours are now focused on relationships and rest, and that’s a very good thing.

Church: As of this past weekend, our family no longer makes the 20 minute or so drive to the “big church.” We are now worshiping at a house church with an eye toward reaching out to our community. We don’t actually meet in a house. We meet in a barn (not the animal lodging kind but a very comfortable metal building kind of barn). Our “Church in the Barn” is still connected to the “big church,” and we are an experiment and a new church in the making. We watch the “big church” service on DVD, sit together as families and discuss the message afterward. We had 64 people there for our first service. That’s what you see in the picture above.

Focus: Blogging is now a priority rather than a sideline. It’s where I express what God is doing in my life at the moment, and I find that God speaks to me as I type. Good reason for writing.

Small tweaks in my schedule. Not as small tweaks in my diet. Some meaningful changes in daily habits. None have been earth shattering. Some have proved challenging. Others are a welcome change. Life has brought a new season, and the aim is simply being faithful in small things for I’m noticing that big things are really just collections of small things.

Tags: change, church, diet, focus, work