Idols

I have been reading from the beginning of the Bible since I arrived in Bulgaria 8 months ago and I am in Isaiah now.  After reading through the Old Testament and how they would turn to idols and other gods so easily, I began to pray about the word "idol" and make it relevant to me.  I wanted to understand in my easy 3rd grade teacher mind, how this word would apply to my life.  I prayed and asked God to reveal this to me.
The other day as we were driving through the Thracian valley in the middle of Bulgaria in the most furtile parts of the country, I was talking and the answer just came out of my mouth.  I was talking about how we as humans put value on things.  Earthly things only are valuable in regards to how much value we place on it.  If we pay alot for something, we deem it valuable.  If it is a family heirloom, we may value it.  This is why we love to watch shows like "Antique Roadshow", because we see value in things we may not have valued before.
We, as humans, have this power of value that we can place onto things and also onto other people (or lack of value, however).
It causes me to think about the things and people that I value in my life.  As far as people go, of course, my faith, my family (my husband and our four AMAZING kids) and friends are the most valuable to me.  People I would die for...
As far as things/possessions, well, I've already let go of most things I valued already (like the Keiurig coffee maker and the Dyson vacuum cleaner).  You might say my laptop or some other thing of monetary value might rank at the top, but  I really would say my Bible.  I know, how cliche, a missionary loves her Bible....but I really do.  It is the most valuable thing to me...I really like it.  I lost it (or left it at the mission house we were staying at in the hussle and bussle of moving) and had to begin in a new Bible.  I like it ok, but the team brought mine back to me last week.  I liked the Dukes and the hot sauce, even the M & Ms, and the beef jerky they brought to us, but my Bible was back home with me.
Anyway, back to idols and the value we put on things.
This was just my assessment of the things I value.  We should all ask ourselves, what we value most...
I believe an idol becomes anything that we OVERvalue.  The idols of the Old Testament were old skulls put on a mantle and worshipped.  Graven images that became as gods.  They took ordinary things and overvalued them.  Made them worth more than they really were.
What have you overvalued?  If everyone else says, that's not really worth much, but in your eyes it's worth more than money could buy, has it become an idol to you?
Can you not sell your house because you have overvalued it?  Can you not let go of something because it is worth too much to you?  Has it then become an idol?  This, for me, is now my "idol test".  Have I OVERvalued an object, a person, or even a tradition?

Unique

We just spent a week with the Christ Community Church mission team in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. I think it would be impossible to describe all that happened in such a short period of time.  I could start with the two Sunday services we attended or the 160 Roma children that learned Bible lessons, sports and songs for five days.  I could describe working with the orphans, elderly or street evangelism, but I want to talk about is the uniqueness of our God.  I am reminded of the scripture:

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NCV)

22 The Lord's love never ends;

       His mercies never stop.

 23 They are new every morning;

       Lord, Your loyalty is great.

Definition of New

1.   Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent: 2. Still fresh 3. Not previously experienced or encountered; novel or unfamiliar:

I wanted to share about how God surprised us this week, which was new or not previously experienced.  We laughed about how these surprises brought us encouragement and even joked how we (Chance and Dee Dee) had arranged all these strange consequences.  I thought of the movie “Funny Farm” when Andy (Chevy Chase) and Elizabeth Farmer had compensated the town in order to sell their house.  As a prospective buyer looked out the window of Andy’s house he said, “Que the deer!” and the deer ran across the yard in order to impress the buyers.  We, as a team, could never have arranged all the unique experiences God had in store for our group.  I know by now you want to know what happened, so here we go:

1.    One member of the group was baptized in a cold river on Mt. Osogovo during our end of the week picnic.

2.    A shepherd walked up with his sheep during this picnic and explained about his sheep and goats.

3.    A missionary from South Africa came and gave his testimony about his daughter and their work with orphans in Bulgaria.

4.    The Pastors of a church in Kyustendil came by and delivered ice cream for the mission team.

5.    A local pastor’s wife gave a testimony about Bulgarian churches during Communist times.

6.    A former Bulgarian solider testified about Communist times and how the church was tested.

7.    We got to experience the Roman baths.

8.    How God moved on the hearts of the Roma people while we were praying during street evangelism.

9.    Americans singing “How He Loves” to the Roma during street evangelism.

10. While in Sofiia on our last day, a Bulgarian always showed up right on time to show us around town which was not scheduled AT ALL.

11.Washing the feet of the Roma that served us lunch all week was more than words can express.

We as a grouped cried…. And… cried during all the happenings during this week.  We are thankful for God’s love and grace during this trip and we know that without organization you cannot have the power of the Holy Spirit.  Even if the same group came next year and we planned things exactly the same, because of God’s uniqueness or new mercies it would be completely different.  I am reminded as a member of the Body of Jesus Christ we desire the same, but we need to embrace His unique new mercies everyday and experience His love and grace.