Oh The Places You've Been

We have a dog named Chelsea; she's an energetic little thing, and as loyal as they come! Everytime she sees me, her tail almost falls of its hinge as she runs up to me faster than her legs are supposed to carry her. She then procedes to sit and wait for me to say "hi-five," and as her paw hits my fingers, I know she's saying i love you in that special way only we two can understand. Awwwww so cute, I know...

There is one side of our special dog that I wish I could experience. As soon as she learns that she's about to go for a run, she gets a wild look in her eyes that I have never seen anywhere else in my life. It's like she's free, not one single care in the world but being allowed to run. She takes off down the road and is gone, completely out of sight. I wish I knew where it is my little friend goes, the adventures she has, the feel of the wind on her face and adrenaline running through her body. No one stopping her, nothing slowing her down.

She just has one goal... RUN

What if we could take that kind of mindset and channel it into the church, channel it into our hearts, let it show in our lives? If we took the desires and the hunger God places in our hearts and ran full force, not stopping for anything, imagine the impact we could have on the world. If we loved without ever ceasing, just the way our precious Christ, the one we claim to have living in our hearts does, how many more would come to accept him? If we are going to repair the damage we as Christians have done to Christ's reputation, we must start thinking on a bigger scale than simply helping someone with their groceries, walking a person across the street, or shoveling someone's driveway (not that those are bad, but we must go beyond that). We have to stop trying to do everything in our own strength because through us, God can do anything! All we have to be... is willing

Let's bring back the miracle of loving with the love of Jesus Christ

Oh the places we could go

Oh the places HE would reach

One simple goal... RUN!

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Fight For WHAT?

I wrote this poem tonight:

• firstly because I am NOT tired at all
• Secondly because it's okay to speak up and be real when God challenges you
• Thirdly because I have been itching to blog but haven't really had the time until now
• and... Fourthly... because... I want to :)
• PS: I am in no ways a professional poet, I just write what I think whether or not it is correct according to the poetry police ;) So forgive the errors, or better yet, ignore them and read what it actually says.

... and if you actually take the time to read this, you are SO AWESOME! Here goes... Oh, and smile because God really REALLY loves you! You have no idea...

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You say you’re fighting for love

But whose love is that?

The one who hung up the phone,

And never called you back?

So sick of this false warfare

Oh you’ve got the solution?

Let’s hear it then

Your plans are laughable

They fail before they start

You know why?

You have a poisoned heart

Your efforts are in vain

Coated with arrogance and selfishness

Everything done looks out for number one

Right?

Stop saying it’s your fight!

This battle is already over

It was won by God, not you

You’re not even sober…

Sober in mind of course, don’t get so defensive

I’m not talking about what your body takes in

It’s what your very soul consumes

It’s what you love… SIN

Don’t read this and get mad,

No one will come check up on you

Anyways, I’m talking to myself

so...

I’m the one who has to follow through

Labels

I got up the other day and started off my day amazingly! I was awake on-time, took a shower, had some fantastic hot tea, and headed out for the day. Now this was all awesome, but going back to as I got out of the shower, I got a wake-up call. I got out and grabbed my towel, and one thing about me to know is that I always always always use the side of the towel with the tag for my hair, and the other side for the rest.

So I had the towel in my had, but I saw no tag; it was gone, and for a moment I didn't know what to do. I was lost. I froze. ... Ok so I realize that I sound completely crazy, but here's why it got to me so much: it was a label, something so seemingly insignificant, but it affected me. This got me thinking about all the labels in the world and how we rely on them; labels like race, gender, age, religion (or lack of it), education, political standing, finances, and countless more, more than we could probably ever list. Can you imagine if suddenly all labels were gone?

wonderful? terrible?

Well, there would be no racism, sexism, different religious disputes, age issues, etc. So. . . good right? On the other side of this, there would be no reason to live... just another mannequin in an emotionally empty world. No one would ever want or care to work at getting their name known; how would they? None would feel significant because labels are what separate us one from another, make us individual, who we are. What would be the point of working hard and gaining nothing?

So why not just celebrate our differences as beautiful individuality?

We are defined by so many worldly things, but what would the world be like if we were completely founded and defined in God? Instead of all the labels the world tries to pin onto me, I would simply be known as a child of God who's labels don't matter, because God can use me no matter what my limitations are. He IS the one who created me in the first place. Labels are necessary for many areas in life though, because they give us something to fight for, a side to be on, a way to feel like we matter; but wouldn't it be great if ninety-nine percent of those labels disappeared, and the only ones left would be 'Jesus or No Jesus, Holy Spirit or No Holy Spirit, God or no God.' What a way to prioritize!

Watermelon Status Quo

So I was sitting in my room... it was quite late and I was getting those familiar hunger pangs. For some strange reason, my body is never hungry at the right time; around midnight every night, my body starts screaming at me as it struggles to get my stomach un-twisted. On this particular night I walked sleepily into the family kitchen to see what I could find (prefferably healthy). To my great surprise, there was some juicy watermelon sitting on a plate in the middle of the table, and in perfect condition I might add.

It was almost as though someone had been reading my mind and put it out just as soon as I was ready. Hmmmm... A middle of the night snack slave. Nice! Maybe I should start invisioning a good massage. Although I am quite certain that if a strange figure came out of the dark and started rubbing my back... I would kick some serious butt!

That however has not happened, so it does not present itself to be a problem quite yet. My real problem is bigger... Here's how it happened: As mentioned before, I stumbled into the kitchen to find the ready (and healthy) snack, so I took a slice and ate it as I headed back to my room feeling very satisfied. This unfortunately did not last long; I soon found my insides complaining, so headed back to fill the source of my desire and then once again, back to bed. This happened once more, so I had now consumed three slices of watermelon; my problem is that there was four cut pieces. I looked at the last slice sorrowfully: "I'm sorry, but I just don't need you." If I ate it, I would be a greedy fatty... well... anyways... But if I did not eat it, the last slice would not fullfill it's reason for ever existing in the first place! It didn't have that much longer, and would never make it until morning. It was just sitting there by itself looking so helpless. I turned around and started back to my bedroom, all the while betraying the poor little... well... fruit...

Perhaps we can go a little deeper. How many things in life do we accept, simply because they seem somewhat, maybe, possibly necessary? No, I did not end up going back for that last slice even though watermelon consists of 92% water and really would have done no damage to me in any way. I simply did not need it. Is there something in your life that you let slide because there is no noticeable damage?

Humor me and consider one more scenario; perhaps on this particular night, every time I go back, another piece has appeared that replaces the last I took; constantly available. Each time seems like the first, "ooooooOoo a plate of watermelon, yum!" Soon enough I have forgotten how many slices I have consumed... my tummy hurts, I am exhausted from walking back and forth between my bedroom and the kitchen, and I reeeeeeeeaaaaaally have to pee!

Okay, so a slightly exaggerated story to get my point across, what's new? I guess all there is to take away from this is that things can get out of hand really fast when we are not focusing; it's Satan's favorite game! Like hide and seek, except you really don't want to find what's crouching, quietly waiting. Rather carry the light God gives, and the tools and knowledge that prepare us for whatever trouble our human desires lead us into.

Enervated Tonight

One thing almost no-one knows about me, is that I am crazy about Tennyson. He is a poet from the 1800's, and when I read his words... they speak to me. I first picked up an old rugged book of his at my high-school in Zimbabwe because I was bored and wandering around the library. When I turned to a page that I had randomly selected and started to read, I fell in love with his mind. Funny how a such dull situation can turn into a life long bond of diving into this stranger's different perspectives of life and all that it holds.

The truth is that I am not much of a reader, and there are two things that got my attention about this book; first of all it looked old and vintage, and second, it was small. This little pot of gold was about the size of my hand and the thickness of a pin... well that is metaphorically speaking. Anyways, being that Lord Alfred Tennyson is in my thoughts constantly, it is only natural that he would have something to say about what is going on in 'my head today':

Be near me when my light is low,

When the blood creeps, and the nerves prick

And tingle; and the heart is sick,

And all the wheels of Being slow.

-

Be near me when the sensuous frame

Is rack'd with pangs that conquer trust;

And Time, a maniac scattering dust,

And Life, a Fury slinging flame.

-

Be near me when my faith is dry,

And men the flies of latter spring,

That lay their eggs, and sting and sing

And weave their petty cells and die.

-

Be near me when I fade away,

To point the term of human strife,

And on the low dark verge of life

The twilight of eternal day.

-

I know it's 'ye'olde' language, but if you take the time to understand it, it's pretty wonderful. So yeah... that's all I have to say

Puzzled

Have you ever tried to do a puzzle that has half the pieces missing? SO frustrating, right? Even if there are just one or two pieces gone, I am left feeling dissatisfied. The picture is not complete, the puzzle is not finished, and I will not be content until it is! Maybe I could create a piece that would fit and nobody would ever notice the difference... But I would.

I was thinking about this last night; not about puzzles, no, but about people and situations. When you lose a friend for whatever reason, it's like someone has taken a piece of your very own puzzle. Now what? The picture is ruined! There is a big gap missing, and not just any gap... This 'individual' piece had it's own shape, it's own colours, it's own part of this work of art, and a huge effect of the end product being the picture itself. Another piece may come along that could possibly fit if you hammered it down hard enough to try and force it into the mold, but truth is that it just doesn't fit.

It's the same with situations. Say you have and idea, yup a fifty-thousand piece idea. It takes a while to get that all together, a really really long while. But as each piece slowly lands in it's perfect place, and you know that each one fits perfectly into the given slot, a picture starts to form. It is not just any picture either, it is one that has been specifically designed for YOU!

Life may seem like such a long puzzle, and really it is, but if we are just patient and let the pieces fall into place, soon it won't seem so 'puzzling' after all. The more pieces you find too, the easier it is to find the next.

So in the end I come back to God, like I should have done in the beginning, because He fits every hole in my life and knows the 'bigger-picture' that's taking my whole life to see. So why is it so hard to comprehend God fitting all the missing areas? He's the one who created the puzzle in the first place! He knows every little piece of it by heart, and when we let him do it, he puts pieces together in a way that we never could have imagined. He is the artist, the designer, the one who takes the time to carve out each piece individually and gently hand it to us. I love my picture because it's not like anything I have ever seen, it's one of a kind and complete in The Creator.

Living On The Edge

Well, this is my first blog... EVER! I'm kinda excited because I've never done anything like this before. You see, I'm not one of those people who can just sit down and write in a journal... I can write songs, that's it, but once I'm at a computer it's a different story. Maybe I'm secretly afraid of messing up and having to start over on a new "piece of paper" (haha Psychology in college messes up the ability to think regular non-analytic thoughts about any situation)

So the other day I went to the movies with my family, which got me thinking about some of the movies I love to watch. When I watch a movie, I lose myself in it, let myself be taken in as one of the characters and then have that aweful sinking feeling once it's all over...

I love life, don't get me wrong, but I just get so bored with my personal one sometimes.

Most of the movies I get into have dangerous situations; now when I say this, I don't necessarily mean physical danger, love can be dangerous too! I find myself in situations like jumping from a plane that is about to explode, running from cops, finding romance in the middle of a zombie fight or pirate war, being able to jump through time, falling down a hole into a magical/terrifying world of creepy cats and crazy guys with weired hats who drink tea, falling in-love with some random vampire who could potentially kill you at any moment, or even being able to fly on a magic carpet with a blue genie... Now I'm not crazy, I know when to "snap out of it," i know the difference between fantacy and reality, but let me explain why I get so into these scenarios:

Think about your favorite action movie, favorite comedy, or even romance? Now think of how it ends... does it end horribly? I DOUBT it... All these movies that invole high-risk life threatening moments, or complications in a relationship that no one would normally be willing to work through, or crazy-awesome stunts that you wouldn't dream of pulling... These fictitious characters have NO consequenses in the end... NONE... It always works out in the end. Imaging being able do to whatever you want and always get away with it!

"Ok so you just blew up a ship, but since you're so cool and did it with flare, we won't charge you with any of the damages (just put it on my tab)."

"Ok so you just interrupted my wedding to tell me you love me... Well of course I love you too! Lets get married... TODAY!"

"Ok so you just got shot at by hundreds of marksmen... Lucky you didn't get hit...

........ get my flow?

At the end of the day I'm SO happy with the life God has given me, and I think I would get bored if no-one ever cared about my reckless actions. That's the most exciting part! Having cops looking for you and only just getting away with it, letting yourself fall for someone who may not be the person everyone else wants for you, or even something as small as waiting until the night before it's due-to do an important paper. These thrills and "unknowns" are all part of what makes life interesting and exciting! Knowing that if you mess up, someone will call you out on it, or at least say SOMETHING...

And you know what: even with all these boundaries, I still have loads of crazy things I can do without getting into too much trouble.