What are you learning about life?
What dreams do you have for your life?
In case anyone cares for my answers, these also serve well as my thoughts for the New Year. I challenge you also to consider the questions as we enter the new year.
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Glad you asked!
I'm learning many many things about life.
I can't serve both God and Mammon. That's a big one. I've been learning more and more what that means for my life on a practical level. I've also been learning the follow-up to it: that I need not worry how/whether God will provide my needs. I need only trust that He will, so long as I am seeking his Kingdom.
Another thing I am learning is that people do not understand my art; and they may or may not WANT to understand my art. I'm learning what that might mean for my practice and career as an artist.
I'm learning how to live in community. "Everyone wants a revolution but nobody wants to do the dishes." So I've become a dish-washer. I always clean my dishes when I use them and I wash any dishes I find in the sink, whosever they may be. I also just started a discipleship group with some of the men at my church. I'm looking forward to that.
Dreams.
I had a vision back in September, a rough image of what God wants me to do in Chicago. It has three folds:
1) 24/7 House of Prayer and Worship
2) Homeless Kitchen and Resource Center
3) Community Art Center and DIY Showspace
This vision is definitely still in a conceptual stage and continues to develop slowly. But I've been praying and thinking about it a lot over the past few months.
I believe that I am still to be involved in church planting. This is not a church, per se, but perhaps just ministries that I would like to bring to the city. The church would be the people that come with me to implement these ministries and walk alongside me to manifest the Kingdom of God in the city of Chicago. My pet name for the project is the "Kitchen Sink". That is, the place I go to do the dishes of the revolution.
I haven't added much to the site yet, but I've already started a blog page to document my progress. You can drop in periodically to see how it's coming along:
http://dishesdance.weebly.com/
I plan to dig my heels into NYC this year, so I will not be doing much traveling. I'm looking forward to what God has for me here in the city and as I develop this vision He has given me.
I hope I've aptly answered your questions!
Peace, [friends].