"There's a white wall we can't see over now
that's ok, we're still learning...mistakes--they are allowed...

"We understand a lot of things about modern technology
but not about dreams. Our hearts are on the shelves,
we can't fix ourselves..."

-Jewel on her album "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland"

i would like to know

since when is playing it safe a Christian value?

His commands are NOT burdensome!

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart—I have overcome the world!”

Jesus is reigning in victory and I can take part in that any time I choose. The Bible is brimming with the promises of God—all I have to do is claim them. Colossians 2:10 tells me I have been given the fullness of Christ! I only have to live out what I have already been given. Nothing is out of reach. But I still have to reach! Why do I whine about being tired and burdened when I am only a knocking, seeking, or asking away from LIFE TO THE FULL? “His commands are not burdensome”! (1 John 5:3). It’s only overwhelming when I try to do it all in my own strength.

It’s always been a comfort to me to think that my weakness actually invites God’s strength. Where I am swarming with questions, flaws, and losses, Christ is pleased to lend the fullness of Himself. He is all too willing to satisfy: “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10). I want to know, what do I not have simply because I have not asked? What does God want me to know of Him that I simply have not claimed yet? I don’t want to miss anything He wants to give me.

painting...

waiting

Driving back from our cup of coffee, i asked Amy what she was waiting for. We agreed patience has been the running theme of our lives. Mostly because i am very bad at it. What am i waiting for? When i got home i made a list. But when i think about it i am nearly always waiting for something, no matter how insignificant.

My hair to dry.
My coffee to drip.
Autumn to come.
The noise to end.
My film to develop.
An honest word.

i think WAITING is like a kind of dam: it is a stop and stay that creates depth. Waiting inspires what you already have to deepen and strengthen. Without waiting, our lives would be stretched thin to brittleness, without it, there would be no time to reflect, to repent, to change our minds. Our lives would be pure speed with no breaths in between, we would stampede through existence so fast that we would forget our last experience the moment we collided with the next one.

Maybe waiting allows all these things to SETTLE. Our busy lives beg a little time to be interpreted. What may seem like a denial or a boundary, may instead be a reservoir: a holding place for all that we have come through so far, to be sorted and sifted. Waiting gives us room to collect the deep. It gives us time to grow.