In search of the wildflower

For some inspiration as you read: Tom Petty's Wildflowers

Last Sunday, Corrie had the bright (or not so bright) idea of going to see the San Diego wildflowers in the Anza Borrego desert. We've always talked about making an attempt to see them, but whenever we think of it, the flowers have already bloomed. There's really only about a weekend or two in the entire year that you can see these elusive flowers ... kind of like attempting to find a chupacabra or Corrie's cell phone.

After a 2 1/2 hour drive with a restless baby in the backseat, we arrived at our destination. Only to see ... a desert. The weather was nice and the landscape breathtaking, but the flowers were hiding from us.

The previous weekend, Corrie and I got to attend a conference themed around issues of justice and the role of the Church. Corrie and I used to think we were incompatible because she wanted to be an attorney and I wanted to be a pastor. Little did we know how these two professions could work hand in hand to help bring about eternal change in the world. Confronted with issues of inequality, oppression, violence and abuse, the world is in desperate need of genuine justice. For things to be made right. Corrie and I have been given much in regards to education and opportunities (thank mom and dad!). Inspired by the life of Christ, we want to serve the least of these as a crime fighting justice league.

If you're reading this, you have been give the same invitation to join this league. Opportunities are all around us. We simply need to take the small steps.

While we didn't find the flowers, Corrie and I had an adventurous time driving, talking, off roading, nearly running out of gas and eating world famous Julian apple pie. Pursuing justice is a lot like searching for these flowers. Our hope and vision for what could be motivates us, but the end result is not in our hands. We simply have to make ourselves available and embark on the journey.

Our journey continues this weekend at our church's annual SOMA Conference. My mom (who will now be mentioned as Depa on this blog, the weird Grandma nickname given by my nephew Luke ... thank you Luke for creating a lifetime of non-sensical explanations for the rest of our lives!) is coming down to watch Eva, so we're really excited about that.