I Do, but I Don't

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Siem Reap, Cambodia, listening to the loud, chanting voices from a funeral several blocks away. It's in sing-song Khmai, so I have no idea what's being said.

I've been in this country for just under two weeks now and in less than 48 hours I will be on a plane heading back over the Pacific Ocean to my beautiful home state of Oregon. 

I don't want to go back.

I do, but I don't. 

This always happens when I travel anywhere, even in the states. I never want to go back home. I fall in love with people and places and cultures and ways of speaking and living wherever I go and I hate leaving it behind. 

That's ok, right?

Sure it is, but that's not usually the only reason I don't want to go back home. 

As I'm sitting here in this hotel with WiFi, I'm checking emails and Facebook, seeing what I've missed while in the other side of the world. And as I'm using my handy dandy little iPad to browse my social media, I realize something...

I don't miss it at all. 

Yes, of course I miss my friends and family. And don't get me wrong, I have a great and amazing life in the States! I have people who know me and love me and support me, I have work, I have ministry, I have things to do. There are people that I know and love and miss and there are things I love to do and be back home.

But here, on the other side of the world, I gain such a different perspective. 

I realize what a rat race culture I live in. I realize what a media-driven culture I live in. I realize how social media and busyness are rulers in not just my culture, but my life. And here, on the other side of the world, I don't miss it at all. 

I don't miss drama and busyness and people who don't look you in the eye. I don't miss everyone being on their smartphones all the time. I don't miss being on my iPad all the time! I don't miss my phone or the million things demanding my attention every day. I don't miss social media. I don't miss entertainment or our "please-me, make-me-happy" mindset-driven culture. 

I don't miss a lot of things.

And yet, as I travel, I know that every place I visit has its things that are wrong. There are issues everywhere. And I know, that anywhere I settle – any state, any country – is going to have things I wouldn't miss if I were to leave it for a time. And I realize, I really am blessed to live where I do. Like I said, my life really is amazing. I live in a beautiful state, I am provided for abundantly, I have everything I need, I have amazing people in my life, I have amazing opportunities to do amazing things...

And I have a chance to make a difference.

Every time I travel, I change a little. A difference is made in me. I gain different perspective. And wherever I go, I have the chance to do missions. I have the chance to meet people, make choices, make a difference. I have the chance to learn from other cultures and then to take what I've learned back to my own. 

Because every place does have its issues. We live in a fallen world, after all, and that's a universal thing! 

SO! When I get back to the States, my goal is to do life a little bit differently. What will that look like? I'm not sure yet. I'm still processing that, so I guess that's a topic for another day. But I've tasted another culture and I've seen the pros and cons of my own. I've fallen in love with more people around the world and I'm returning with a larger heart to love even more the people I have at home. 

I do want to go home. It's where I'm from, it's where my story originated and it's the place I have the most permission to make a difference in. It's where my roots are, where my people are, where jobs and missions are still for me. It's where my calling still is, where I'm still supposed to be. 

See you soon Eugene :)

To See the Nations Worship

To see the nations worship.

Under one Banner, one Name.

The name of Jesus Christ. The Son of God. The Way, the Truth, the Life.

Not very politically correct, is it?

But that's my dream.

For years, I have had a burning desire to use music as a tool to reach people with the hope and message of Jesus Christ. As I pursued musical training, I discovered I love leading worship. I love leading people into the presence of the Living God and seeing people encounter Him. There is something powerful and incredible about a room full of Christ-followers, declaring their love and passion for Him through song. There is something about corporate worship as the Body of Christ.

That's great Corinne, you say. But what has that got to do with the nations?

Everything!

The Body of Christ is made of people from everywhere.

A few years back I went to the beautiful country of Mexico. I fell in love with the people, with the culture, with everything about it. I fell in love with the churches there, their passion for God and the way they worship.

Since then, I've been on several short term mission trips. Each new place I visit or each place I revisit, I fall in love with the people, with the culture, with the churches and with the way they worship God. I am reminded that the world is so much bigger than my hometown of Eugene, Oregon and the Body of Christ is so much bigger than my local home church of New Hope.

I've been trying to figure out what to do with all the different passions stirring within my heart: passion for worship, for leading worship, for seeing people encounter God, passion for reaching different types of people. Why do I love different cultures, different languages, different expressions of worship? Why do I leave pieces of my heart anywhere I go?

I want see the nations worship.

If you've never watched this video from the Passion Conferences and Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin, now is a great time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-ZtKzw-ipo&feature=share&list=RDQ-ZtKzw-ipo

There is something about knowing that our God is not just the God of America. He is not just the God of the Western Hemisphere. He is God of the Nations. He is the Creator who imagined colors, languages, and diversity of peoples and He is the One who breathed and spoke them into being. His arms are big enough to hold the world and His heart is for the nations.

There is so much more to the Body of Christ than I think.

God is calling the nations to Himself. He is gathering His church and gathering into His church. That's what I want to be a part of.

That's what this blog will be dedicated to.

"Look to Me and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by myself: The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, 'Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength.' " -Isaiah 45: 22-24a

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." -Ephesians 4:4-6