The Vine

I returned Monday night from a weekend in Switzerland to the town I have come to love so much, Canterbury. I can't wait to share with you all my experience in Switzerland, but since that'll take quite a bit of picture uploading and it's already 3am here, I'll have to leave you in suspense until a later day.

However, the reason I decided to blog at such a late hour was because tonight was a beautiful night of God's intervention. I hate to use that term sometimes as it makes me a feel a bit over dramatic, but there is no better way to put it. Yet again, God has opened my eyes, comforted my anxieties, and reminded me He is with me always. Only, this time, He did it through a fellow American. A pastor from a church here in Canterbury called Vineyard Church came and spoke tonight at the Christian Union. He is a Californian who moved here a few years ago with his family and started this church in Canterbury.

The Christian Union asked him to speak on priorities, and he turned to the well known analogy of God as the vine, we as the branches. He read that passage, and then went on to break some cultural barriers that we have in our world today. He explained how we live in world where we are trained to produce. We go to school and get good grades to go to college and get a good degree to get into a high paying career to start our family and have kids and tell them to do the same. We are so focused on what we can do on our own, we ignore God.

The pastor used the example of his eldest son, who is only 10 years old and in his 5th year of school. Now, Canterbury is in the Kent region of England, and in Kent, a test is given to 6th year students (11 year-olds) that basically puts them on 1 of 2 tracks: better education or vocational training. These kids start to train for this test 2 years before they take it. Now, we live in a world where not doing well enough for the "better education" option means we fail in productivity, we fail at what is supposed to give us our self-worth. And they are putting this pressure on 11 year olds! He and his wife have decided not to have their son take this test because of the crazy amount of pressure it puts on kids and the wrong message it portrays in this aspect of productivity and self worth. I mean, imagine taking the GMAT, LSAT, or MCAT at 11 years old. Talk about a mental breakdown.

Back to the vine and branches analogy. The pastor made the point that this verse is about Jesus being the vine, the source, that we need to connect with so that we can "bear fruit." It's not the other way around. Our priority is to connect with God, fuse our branch with His vine, and watch as God makes this fruit from us. Our priority is Him.

It's funny when I write about things that have been said to me that I find important and want to share on this blog. After reading it, it sounds so simple, and the truth is, conceptually, it is simple. There's no difficult thought process to it. Yet, I find myself in need of a constant reminder of so many of these "simple things." So, priority #1 is a connection with God. We all know that right? Yet, I find myself in awe of how God reminded me exactly that message tonight, and He knew very well that it's what I needed to hear most right now. That isn't simple; that is divine intervention.

I'll post pictures and talk about Switzerland soon! Love you all.