Making Footsteps

Don't get me wrong, this summer was absolutely wonderful, but there was some uneasiness in my heart.  I felt restless or anxious.  Last night, I was lying in bed trying to get to sleep and I realized that all of those feelings are gone now.  I feel at perfect peace where I am.  God has shown me perfect clarity in my calling to be where I am, and He's shown me immense encouragement through the people to whom He's introduced me.  I heard a woman say one time that she could feel herself at the center of God's will, and that is exactly how I feel.  I am so sure of this place.  I am so comforted by his sweet, gentle presence every morning.  He is such a good God, and the whole time I thought He was sending me off to be alone without anyone, He was preparing a new spot for me.  I've already seen is some crazy ways how He's been getting everything ready for me, and making footsteps for me to step into as I go.  Thank you, Jesus.

I'm here. Talk to me.

I don't have to go looking for Jesus. He isn't somewhere above the roof of my house, and he isn't in some big chair in the sky.  He is beside me.  He is beside me just like my best friend, or my parents, or my sisters, or my brothers are beside me.  When I am upset, he says, "I'm here.  Talk to me."  He came to rescue me.  He came looking for me.  I don't have to go find him.  He's here.

I crashed and burned

I had a job interview last week.  It was terrible.  I felt like a big dummy the whole time, and near the end I was sweating so much that I was more worried about the sweat stain on my chair than the questions I was answering.  I cried afterward.  I knew it was terrible, and I knew that I would not hear from them again.  Today I got a call from an unknown number.  The voice at the other end told me that she was the principal from that same school.  I thought, "Oh, they're just letting me know that I didn't get it."  Nope.  She said, "We'd like to invite you back to teach a lesson for us." Huh? Excuse me, ma'am, but did you guys pay attention to my interview?  Did you see that I crashed and burned?  I was amazed.  Thank you, Jesus for letting me know that no matter how I perform, your will cannot be tampered with.

Mini-Mansions

Photo taken by: blmiers2

I can't sleep.  So I'm going to write.
This is a blog post that has been a long time coming.  It's been coming since I arrived here on my college campus for the first time.  In 2 days I will be leaving this place. I will be handed a very expensive piece of paper, my family and friends will watch, people will clap, someone important will speak, there will be lots of hugs and tears, and lots of people will ask to see my expensive paper.  Then I will pack up and leave.  I will drive away toward something completely new and completely unknown.  It doesn't really feel like a real thing that's happening to me.  I just feel like life will go on as I've known it.  But it won't.  God is mixing things up.  He's getting me ready for new things.  I know He's preparing them. I know He's already there showing me the way, but I'm kind of scared.
I don't want to be scared.  I like to think of it positively.  When I organize a surprise party for someone or even just a small surprise, I am excited about it.  I want them to be excited too.  I would be hurt if they said to me, "thanks for organizing this for me, but no thanks. I don't want it."  I think God is organizing a surprise for me coming up.  I don't know what it is, but He does.  And He's excited about it! He can't wait for me to see and be surprised and know that I am loved deeply by Him because He cared enough to plan this for me.  How cool is that? Jesus just wants me to be excited for any possibility that He has planned.  Another way to think about it:  God is preparing a mansion for us in heaven, right?  What about here?  I think God builds little mansions for us along our life.  These little mansions are just little glimpses of what the real thing will be like.  What I'm going into now is just a new little mansion, another little glimpse, another clue along the scavenger hunt.

College has been absolutely wonderful.  I have loved it.  It's been a great mini-mansion.  Now it's time to move out and move into my new mini-mansion.  Exciting, right?

Time With the Holy One

"The Holy Three have always existed as a divine dance of romance, a whirlwind of affection and pleasure and love unending.  It was from this pulsating intimacy that God created humanity and the natural order.  Though we will always remain the creation, He formed humanity to enter into relationship with the Trinity."
                                                                               - Dana Candler


I think this is easy to forget.  We are deeply loved and radically forgiven.  Do you think that would merit it a good idea to dwell on our sin?  I don't think so.  The Trinity loves each other with an intense, romantic love.  Then they decided that they wanted to create humanity so that we could experience that love.  They want us to be a part of their "dance of romance."  If we constantly deem ourselves unworthy, we are forgetting that we don't have to be worthy.  Of course we aren't worthy, that's why Jesus gave us his clothes (Let Jesus Dress You).  We are radically forgiven.  If we constantly dwell on what is wrong with us we are forgetting that we are forgiven.  The best medicine for becoming more holy is to spend time with the Holy One.

Seeking the Approval of Others

I tend to seek the approval of others.  I want to make people proud and I don't want to disappoint anyone.  The opinions of certain people matter to me.

Today I was talking to an important friend.  I told my friend that I wanted this certain person to be proud of me.  I wanted this person to be proud of my accomplishments and potential.  My friend told me this: "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. God is proud of you because you want what He wants.  God smiles at you because your life is following His Son's life."

Thank you, friend.
Thank you, Father for smiling on me.

Don't Miss Out

This weekend my family and I watched "Ben-Hur" together.  We also watched that History Channel mini-series, "The Bible."  I realized that there was more going on during the time of Jesus than just what Jesus was doing.  Some people weren't paying attention to him, or just considered him to be some ultimately unimportant guy.  They went along with their lives as usual.  Those people missed out.  They didn't get to be a part of this insane revolution that changed the world, and is still changing the world 2000 years later.  Judah Ben-Hur chose to pay no attention to Jesus, and he missed out.  It made me realize that I don't want to be a main character in "Ben-Hur." I want to be like the main characters in "The Bible."

I don't want to miss out because I'm occupied with my own life and can't be bother with this Jesus. I want to be around him and learning and soaking it all up.  I don't want to miss my chance to be the best friend of the maker of the universe.