Set Your Eyes

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3

A Little Climbing Adventure with Matt and Jen

Determined to find a way up the rock, I forged through bushes and trees.  I found myself standing on a little tree trying to pull myself up and over.  I could see the footholds and handholds clearly before me.  The way was set.  Yet, I hesitated.  I attempted, but lost my footing and thought I might not quite possess enough upper body strength with slippery footholds.  Discouraged, I tried again.  I talked myself out of a third attempt and fought back through the tangled mess I came through.  We almost moved on to another rock until Matt saw that another way looked promising.  With the sting of defeat fresh on my mind, I pushed forward through more brush.  My legs regretting the choice of my green shorts the entire way.  Whacking a few branches, getting hit in the face with one, and crawling under a tree culminated in being able to step and jump onto the rock quite easily.  Eventually, all three of us made our way to the top of the rock only to find an amazing crevice on the backside.  Of course, Matt decides to go down this way instead of going back the way we came. He gets down fairly easily and then asks us to come down.  I whip out the “Are you kidding me? Do you know how far of a drop that is?” look and then proceed to stare down not moving.  Then Jen out of nowhere decides to go down.  I’m still skeptical even after she gets down.  Yet, at this point, I’m the only one left.  I have scared myself by staring at the obstacles to either side rather than focusing on the rock.  Eventually, I make a decision to focus on each step in front of me rather than looking down.  I get down only to wonder why I ever worried about the drop.  If I had focused on the things to the side instead of the steps I needed to take in front of me, I would have missed out on exploring the crevice like cave and finding a new way out with the encouragement as well as help of those with me.

Oftentimes, I act this way with God.  I see all the big scary “what-ifs” rather than focusing on Him and the steps I need to take each day.  I look too far ahead only to scare myself.  I discredit the voices around me or worse yet refuse their help and encouragement.  Though, as I said here, I’m learning to trust all over again and I’m waiting.  Waiting, trusting and resting in Him.

Waiting

Wait for the Lord,

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord

Psalm 27:14

I make plans. I conjure up ideas in my head about what I want to do today, tomorrow, five years from now. I am flexible, yes, but I still make plans and roll with the changes as they come.  I play out the what-if game in my head and toy with all sorts of ideas.  Yet, right now, I find myself in a place that takes me out of my comfort zone.  I am learning to wait.  I am learning to let go of my plans to seek Him.  I am waiting for guidance. I am digging deep and holding His hand.  I am learning to love the uncertainty. I am learning to trust all over again. I am terrified yet my heart is happy.  I am taking a step out onto the water. I am ready for a little excitement, adventure, and risk.

A Smattering

“It’s not that you’re doubting that God can do something. You believe in your heart that God can do something.  You just don’t want to accept his timing.  We accept his strength. We don’t want to accept his calendar.” -Pete Wilson

“I tend to live the way that I drive. I’m going to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time and by the easiest route possible, but I’ve come to realize that getting where God wants me to go isn’t nearly as important as becoming who God wants me to become in the process and God seems far less concerned with where I’m going than with who I’m becoming.” -Mark Batterson

What do you need to trust God’s timing with today?

Where are you impatient in God’s timing?

Even now, I find myself straining toward the future.  Toward the next great adventure.  Toward wherever I go next.  Yet, the call is to live in the present.  To be fully present. Right here. Today.  Not living tomorrow. Not looking back, but embracing the now.  Fixing my eyes ahead and putting my hand to the plow.  The road will be tough but He will be right beside me.

“You can’t have it both ways.  You can’t put your hands to the plow and then take a break from the plow and do something else.  If you follow me, you stay on that plow.  There’s no looking back.” -Andy O’Rourke “The Road of Discipleship” Luke 9:57-62.

Life

“Everyone I’ve met carries with them a picture of what they want life to be. This picture may be well defined…”I want to get married, have 2.5 children, live in this neighborhood…” or it may an unconscious picture that drives their decision-making. I believe that God asks us to give up the picture. Not because there is something wrong with it but because He has something else in mind. This is where the rub is. Most often we don’t trust Him to give us a life that is better than the one we dream up for ourselves. Jesus said in Luke 9:24 & 25, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Let go of your picture so you can enter the adventure that God has for you!”

-ht: Fridays

In Awe

I wanted to let you all know that the interview this morning went REALLY well and I am so thankful for all the prayers and thoughts.  I’ll know more details in a couple of days, but I anticipate some exciting and “rock my world” kind of announcements soon!  

Thrive Africa

Ever since starting to read this blog, I’ve been thinking about missions, adventures, where God has called me, and how that looks.  Little did I know, that this post had been written a couple of weeks ago and that a follow-up post would be written for me to read today.  All of that translates to: PRAY for me

Scenic Route

Here are a few quotes from WIld Goose Chase:

• He loves leading us down the scenic route because that’s where we learn our most valuable lessons
• “Alexandria, Minnesota” !!!!!! whoohoo
• Because we have a natural tendency to remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember.

I’m on the scenic route.  Although, let’s be honest, sometimes the scenic route toughing it out through the skunk, cow, or chicken smell.  There are valleys and mountains.  Somedays I find myself saying, “I’m done.  I don’t want to. I don’t want to do this anymore.”  Other days, the sun peaks out a little and I’ve got a speck of hope keeping me on the road.  I’ve learned some lessons so far, but I know more will come.  I’m learning to let go of the “whys.”  I’m trying so hard to differentiate between truths and lies.  I’m seeking Him.  I’m begging Him to tell me the truth so I don’t keep buying into the lies.  So, today, in response to a longing in my heart, I’m unplugging from the internet and going on an adventure. Alone. Because I don’t need to always have a boyfriend hold my hand. Not saying that I don’t desire one nor that they aren’t ridiculous fun.  Just saying that I need to learn another lesson. 

Signing off until I’ve gone on an adventure.

Celebration Pancakes!

I officially have signed on the dotted line, paid the deposit and received a set of keys!  Beginning Tuesday, I can start moving my stuff in    We had our first official “Family Dinner” at Amy’s after we got the keys and of course it was breakfast! Yum.  I love breakfast food and love pancakes with peanut butter even more.

Unfortunately, the camping trip was cancelled due to rain; however, we made the best of the situation by having a movie night and then walking around Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet today.  Lots of fun!  Walking and talking and yummy food.  Plus, we watched “Into the Wild”–love it!!  I’m already ready to watch the movie again, that’s how much I liked it.

Memorable quotes from the movie and book (I REALLY want to read the book now!):

“When you forgive, you love.  And when you love, God’s light shines upon you.” -Mr. Franz

“When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it.” -Christopher

“Happiness is only real when shared.” -Christopher

“You don’t need human relationships to be happy.  God has placed it all around us.” -Christopher

“It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it…I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic.  I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life.  In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing.  But I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.  And I lived to tell my tale.” -Jon Krakauer

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.  The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure.  The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon for each day to have a new and different sun.” -Christopher

Hello My Name is God, I like sunsets, lightning bolts, and when people listen to me

So, I didn’t quite get to go on a road trip today, but I did get to go rollerblading! I hadn’t even planned on going until I thought of going when I was waiting to be let back into my deadbolt locked house (yeah…fun story…I love getting locked out!). I definitely explored some new territory and got myself into a few “uphill” adventures, but still made my way back to my house in one piece. Well, we’ll see what my legs say tomorrow about that!  Either way, I loved the feeling of the wind and the warm sunshine (finally!).  I am so thankful for the warm weather!  Now I just have to find some more trails.

In other news, I went to church (Substance) with a friend (Tiffany! One of my redheads! love her!) today. I enjoyed getting a glimpse into another church and seeing how they do things. I had fun being with new people and being let into her world. Plus, the sermon ended with a couple of great questions:

1. Fall in love with the Promiser not the Promise
2. Focus on God, not your circumstances

“Hello God did you lose your compass?  I thought the Promised Land was over here??”  My heart keeps wondering why I’m heading the direction I am when I want/ed to go a different way.  God led the people into the desert so that they could worship Him.  When the people were led out of Egypt they could have taken the “beach road” but instead they headed down into the desert and then back up.  Sometimes the promise is delayed so that we can learn something in the “desert” and fall more in love with the Promiser before we get to the promise.  In summation, the sermon served as a good reminder to seek and worship God in the times of “desert” and let Him bring me to the Promise Land according to His compass not mine.

Open road, mountains, and adventure

This makes me want to go on a road trip really bad and to go back to Washington.