Small Bills and Big Bills

There's this commercial here in Denmark advocating small bills as opposed to big bills. It's a commercial created by a cell phone company that wants you to switch and use their services. I haven't switched yet. I've been thinking that there are several big Bills I would love to be more like: Bill Gates financially, Bill Johnson spiritually, Billy Graham evangelistically, Billy Joel musically. I don't hold a candle to any of those guys. The only bills I get anywhere near are the ones that pile up on my desk at the end of the month. I do a lot of laundry, I work at the office, I shop at Netto. The rain splashes on me from the puddles when I ride my bike on grey days. I sometimes hurt my friends because I forget that I have two ears and one mouth so as to listen twice as much as I speak. I have dustballs under my couch. I don't live a very glamourous life at all.

But this week Dave and I have gone around and interviewed people who have been part of the church we planted ten years ago: A lady who met Jesus because a team from our church did some yard work for her. A man who met us in the town square when a group of us handed out chocolate bars right after we started the church. He only googled us back then, but a seed was sown, and seven years later he joined us and is growing in his walk with God. A newlywed couple, who were just twenty when we started, but dedicated their first years together to being our worship leaders and cell group leaders and are "still going strong" because they put God first in their marriage. A single mom who can barely make ends meet financially, but who finds strength and healing in Jesus and now leads one of our cell groups.

There's this old cliché story of life's tapestry, how we only ever get to see the back of the tapestry here on earth, we only see all the tangled threads and the mishmash of colors that blend in a brown mush. Not until we get to Heaven do we get to see the front of the tapestry, the wonderful picture that God has sown. But this week, interviewing these people whom I rub shoulders with on a day-to-day basis in our church, it's been like boiling it all down. It's like the tapestry has been turned around for a bit. I can see that though we went through some really tough times starting that church, God has been so faithful. He has done great things through our small lives. We gave him our five loaves and two fishes and He worked a miracle and fed a lot of people. We had baskets full. And at the point when we felt empty, God sent in a new pastor who is doing an excellent job taking our church to the next level. In our weakness He has proved himself strong.

There's a verse in Revelation that says that we overcome the enemy by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony. Testimonies. Wonderful sparkles of life and glory in the middle of life's dust balls and overdue bills. Christ in us, the Hope of Glory. I have heard testimonies this week. I got to turn the tapestry of my life around for a bit and I am just amazed at what God has done with the little that we have given Him. Following Him surely is a pearl of great price!

Don't get me wrong, I would love to own as much dough as Bill Gates, walk with God as consistently and powerfully as Bill Johnson, sing like Billy Joel and preach like Billy Graham. But God likes small bills too! He spoke through a donkey once even, and He has splashed healing on some lives through our lives. It makes me feel very small. A very small bill. With a very big gratitude.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF0TcbY_Z8o

The Reluctant Actress

As a child I wanted to become an actress when I grew up. I loved drama. I loved pretending and I would always try to get roles in school plays. I practiced my lines ferociously and overdramatized my parts so that teachers and other onlookers would not fail to recognize my great talent. I would take any chance to ham it up in skits at brownie summer camps and wherever else I could find a stage, albeit a humble grass one in front of a camp fire. The dream lasted till way into high school when I started thinking about bread and butter and found out that there were a lot of unemployed actors in Denmark. Looking in the mirror, as teenagers tend to do a lot, I also gradually came to realize that I did not look quite like the tall blonde knock-outs that made it to the big screen in Denmark. Like with many other girls who dream of becoming singers, ballerinas or stewardesses, reality eventually kicked in. Paying the bills became a factor in the equation, so instead I became a business translator. Not much glamour in that. I have never really regretted the pragmatic ending of my childhood dream, however. Translating skills have come in handy, translating has been something that I could do part-time as we planted our church and I have been able to employ my faith in my skill, often translating international speakers at conferences, proofreading and translating Christian books etc. The Danish Street Bible has gone out to thousands of Danish students through Youth for Christ with my story of coming to believe in Christ. Many other powerful stories of young people finding faith and purpose in life have been through my grammatical scrutiny. I have become a dotter of i's and a crosser of t's. I like playing with words till they get just the right flavor that the original writer intended, and it is easier to stay awake during a sermon in church when you have to translate it! I often translate for the back row of great people from all over the world who have made our church their home away from home. I like to sit there in the back like a tree trunk with chords for headsets going in all directions like tangled branches. Our church has many branches and many "nuts" besides us Danish nuts and I love it. I love to look back in time and notice how God can intertwine everyday life with divine destiny. I chose translation because I had married a Canadian, thus improving my English. Our first pastor being a Canadian made foreigners feel welcome in our church and they have always had someone to translate for them. Now our church has 14 different nationalities represented and the forest in the back row is thickening. But that is a different story. Back to acting. 

Back to acting, yes. Because the wonderful man who has raised kids with me, paid bills with me and put up with me for almost 30 years of marriage has taken up film. First he made a little movie advertising our church, then another one to send to Venezuela before our youth group went there on a trip. Then he connected with another film nerd at Vineyard Norden Summer Camp and they started live streaming the services and taught a video workshop together. Jørgen, who works with Norwegian television, taught Dave all he knows, and at summer camp, whenever Dave gets lost, I can always find him in the film cave under the bleachers surrounded by cables and dimmers, discussing camera angles and lighting with Jørgen. Some middle-aged men acquire blondes, sports cars or motor bikes, but my dearly beloved has cast his love on film. I have been dragged to a Hollywood director seminar in London (during which I got to shop!!!), I have tripped over books on screenwriting and props in our bedroom. Recently Dave made a trailer for some actors putting on a play, last Fall he made a great movie of a baby dedication for a girl who, for a while, was like a daughter to us during the first years of our church plant. And we cannot wait to present our gift to the bride and groom whose wedding we recently attended. The only bride and groom I know in this day and age in Denmark who waited, who did not sleep around, but both waited for God's best and their wedding night. That is such a rare and precious gift to give to each other, and Dave filmed their wedding and has spent hours cutting and editing what I think is his best work ever. Seeing this video touches me reply and I can't wait to show it to the newlyweds when they come to visit in a couple of weeks. All these good projects require lots of practice. I usually happen to be close by, which is also the case here on our Rhodes vacation, so lo and behold, I have become …. an actress!

Now that I am middle-aged and overweight I am forced to walk across streets by exotic castles, wiggle my toes on sandy beaches, repeat things I just said "one more time for the camera" and smile when I am riding an old bike up a steep hill in the rain, wearing the ugliest orange rented cycling helmet on the planet. I am an actress. I am viewed by an audience of 20 loyal Facebook friends as Dave posts his latest edition every day. I am the wife of a very happy man who finds it relaxing to spend hours creating and editing. And I can just glimpse a tongue-in-cheek smile from Heaven, reminding me that there are many ways that a childhood dream can come true. Because, believe it or not, I have become an actress!