vision Sunday.

I am officially a fan of Vision Sunday. In fact, if I were the kind of person who started Facebook groups, I might start one called, "I am officially a fan of Vision Sunday." Right after I start the group called, "I'm looking for a Christian Democrat to date in Southwest Missouri -- Are you him?"

Out of respect for your time, I won't list all of the things I enjoyed about Vision Sunday. I will, however, list some visions of my own. What can I say? I was inspired. I thought, why not make this my own day of vision? I have doors around. I can see. Let's rock us some vision right here.

Firstly, some of the high points of 2009...

Last February, I applied to graduate school. By April, I had been accepted. And by August, I was starting my Master's degree (fee free, baby!). My brother was married in January of 2009, to a woman I am so proud and ecstatic to call "sister." Early in 2009, I realized that I had created a life I wanted to live--leaving the grittier parts of my college existence behind me, and embracing a new set of values and goals. I moved to Southwest Missouri, and so far, am making it. I joined a southern pentecostal megachurch that my heart warms to, even when my head says no. I accepted Christ in a theologically conservative manner on Halloween of 2009. I was baptized in November. In December, I rekindled a very important friendship. Not bad for 365 days.

And my vision for 2010...

I see a year filled with grace. A year in which I stop being a person who divides the church, and learn to hold my criticism in harmony with love, while always willing to put the strife aside to help the church push forward. Easier said than done. But I also see this as a year in which I learn to rely more heavily on Christ to guide such processes, to make such changes in me. This is a year to learn patience with the Church. My vision is one in which I step out to become more integrated with the Church. I want to volunteer more, to give more, and to be the kind of person I'd like to run into if I were a newcomer. I want to maintain a healthy skepticism, and use that to reach out to people who are where I am now. I want to love more deeply, hope more fully, and to trust in Christ and others in ways that I don't even now understand. My vision is one of reconciliation. That of my own, to the church; and that of the Christians, to the world.

That's my vision. What's yours?