Look Up

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, it's time to look up!"
-Rend Collective Experiment "Come On My Soul"
What do you see today? Do you see the dreary gray sky, the seemingly endless Seattle rain? Do you see the tasks waiting in front of you, those tasks that also feel like they will never have an end? Do you see the burden of your relationships, that person that you can't quite seem to love the way you should? Do you see the brokenness and meaninglessness of all those milling about around you?
Or today do you see Jesus?
Look up from the things that are so easy to see! See the beauty that he has hidden away for just you to find today. It only takes a seeking and an open heart to find it.
See the joy that fills the smile of that child you get to care for or meet in the grocery store. See the sadness of those around you and offer a smile or a positive word to bring light to their day. See how the rain makes the roads glisten, and thank Him for the life it brings.
We are made to bring beauty and worship our King. Always.
So let's look up today.

January is national human trafficking awareness month. Ask God how you can join the fight. Lives and hearts are at stake.
http://vimeo.com/57094581

Crochet for Freedom

Hello everyone,
For anyone who reads my blog I just wanted to let you know of an opportunity I have to help out a friend I met on my missions trip to Thailand last year. This young lady has come out of the life of working in the bars and after radically encountering the love of Jesus and giving her life to him started her own business crocheting things. We got to meet her last March and hear part of her story.
She is very talented at what she does. I have seen many of her items close up and they are beautiful and wonderful quality. She sells these items to help free other girls in Thailand from the line of work she used to be in, and even has been able to employ a few girls in her own business. Her heart is amazing, and it's incredible to see how God has turned her life around and is now using her in such a great way to help other girls that were in her similar situation. Such a picture of redemption!
I have recently offered, per her request for some assistance, to help her sell some of her beautiful crocheted items that she will be sending me. I wanted to get the word out there now for anyone who might be interested in purchasing something to support this amazing young lady and this cause to get Thai girls out of the sex industry. She told me she will send baby booties and hats. As soon as I receive them, I will mention more about prices and hopefully post pictures.
I'd love to hear from you if you are interested at all or know of someone who is! You can leave a comment on here or find me on facebook, or of course contact my cell if you have my number already. Thank you so much; I can't think of a better cause to support!

The Character and Personable Nature of Jesus

Though it may not always seem or feel like it, Jesus is very present in our lives today. It is different than in the first century when he walked the Earth in that we cannot physically see him like those current day people could.But he is here, still, fully God and fully man, with an unrelenting desire to be active and intimate with our daily realities. After he ascended back to Heaven, Jesus promised the gift of his Holy Spirit. This Spirit is, in essence, him. Jesus. God with us. The one who knows what it is like to be human and to struggle along while living in this world.
Because he did struggle. And yet he lived in such a way that the pain was always worth it. Something greater always came out of it, because of his willingness to allow Father to be in control, to allow his love to come through the brokenness.
So many people suffer through life in a state of confusion and loneliness, questioning even God's own character as to why he would allow such hardship. It doesn't make sense. He's a God of love and peace, right.
Right.
And he showed us the right way to live through our hardships. Love abandonly, even at personal cost. Relate to others with a soft heart, celebrate with those who rejoice, and weep with those who mourn. Obey your Father in Heaven.
The fact that so many of us seem to either miss or forget is that Jesus, or God, understands. He was here, still is here. He's fighting for our freedom today. He won't take away the hard things just so we can have an easy life. Is that really love?
We must rest in knowing and believing that God's plan is the best, that he can see the end from the beginning. We must not question his character. He's living this life with us.
What can we see when we look into the eyes of Jesus? What did the people see who had the opportunity to look at him in person? I like how this book, The God Portal, by Tim Ferguson describes it:
"“So tell me, what should I expect when I meet him?” “When you meet him,” Zabud said, “You’ll remember his eyes…” He paused, searching for the right words. With a look of concentration, he started afresh. “Lawrence, when you meet a man, even one who is a dear friend, rarely are his eyes pure. If you look deeply enough you can see shades of darkness, such as mistrust. Sometimes you see fear. Or you see his cruelty. Or you see his pride, the way his eyes measure you, cutting you into small pieces. Do you understand what I’m saying?” “Yes,” Dr. Macklin said. Zabud smiled, his features softening...
“What did you see?” “I don’t have the words…” His voice trailed off, and he became quiet. “In his eyes,” Zabud said finally, “You will see the love of a brother. You will say to yourself, ‘I can trust this man, for he loves me like a brother.’”
https://kindle.amazon.com/post/SMF75cTKQiqdjF_gPAz_cw
When we look into the eyes of Jesus, we can see eyes that do not judge, that are completely pure and true, and know that we are loved by this man. By this God.
How can we bring into question one who has so clearly demonstrated his love for us, who so clearly desires for us to know his love, and went all the way to the cross to prove it, like we needed proof!
God's character, Jesus' character, can only be good.
What an amazing reality this is for us. Let him be intimately involved in your life today, knowing that he understands you and your life more than anyone ever will.

The Lover

This is from a personal encounter I had with Jesus the other morning. These are the images he showed me. I believe encounters like this are meant to be shared, so I pray that as you read you also encounter the radical love of Jesus for you.

I can’t see his face yet, but my hand is in his. And it’s the best feeling in the world. He wraps his fingers tightly around my delicate ones, and he leads me into a forest. He wants me to go with him, to show me something, and all I want to do is follow. His strength and the purpose I detect in his stride compel me, make my heart lurch with anticipation. So I walk, trailing behind him, into this brilliant forest, with trees so tall I can’t see the tops.

Leaves crunch under our feet, and the sun shines through the trees, illuminating the forest like gold. Finally we reach a particular tree and we stop. He turns towards me and I see his face for the first time. He is radiant with joy, his green eyes dancing with delight. He is more beautiful than the forest we have entered, and he fills my heart with a kind of love I’ve never felt before. What does he see in me that is so lovely? I notice that our initials are carved into the tree like childhood sweethearts.

Perhaps I’ve known this man longer than I realize.

He looks tenderly into my eyes and touches the side of my face until my heart melts within its cage. He kisses me with affection, then pulls away again and gazes with longing and love, smiling. I don’t know how to react; I just want to cry. But I say nothing, just bask in this embrace of passion. He says to me, “My heart swells with love for you.” For me? I think. Then he says, as if in response, “You are worthy of my love because I have made you worthy.” My whole being expands with gratefulness. I just want to look into his face forever.

But he leads me on again, taking me by the hand. We walk through the trees, still shining brilliantly in the sunlight that is cascading down all around us. As we walk I think, this is my lover, and I want nothing but to be with him and get to know him for the rest of my days.

We come upon an unexpected chasm in the forest, so that when I look down all I see is darkness. I lean on my lover’s shoulder, wondering what he will do next. He turns to me and asks, “Do you trust me?” to which I answer “yes.” He then sweeps me up into his arms and effortlessly leaps over the massive chasm, safely transporting us both to the opposite side. He puts me down gently and says, “I would never let you fall.” And I know he won’t.

We continue to walk, my hand always in his strong grasp. He is eager to lead me forward and thankful for my trust. We come upon an ambush. Arrows soar towards us, and my lover shifts me behind him as if he is my shield and pulls out a bow of his own, beginning to slay the attackers. But then he pulls me beside him again and hands me a glowing sword.

He wants me to fight with him.

What do I have to lose? There is no fear in my heart, so together we fight against our enemies. We begin to sprint now, while our foes shoot their arrows from either side. I am holding my sword up high, and it deflects every arrow.

We make it securely through the forest, our enemies far behind us, and we are safe in an open field full of brilliantly colored flowers, sparkling with new life.

He leads me by the hand again, out into the glorious field. He turns and looks at me with his eyes full of joy, and a face that only speaks of love, then offers me both his hands. I take them willingly, as I am in love, and we begin to dance.

We just keep dancing. He lifts me in his strong arms, and I know my lover will do anything for me. He will always fight for my love.

And I know I will do anything for him.

Living your Story

Am I living a great story? In reading different blogs and books lately, I keep running across this question. As a storyteller, am I myself living a great story?

I should be.

I have some goals in my life right now, one of the major ones being to become a published author, a creator of stories. But what if I never get published? Does that mean I am not a storyteller? No—I will keep writing stories no matter what, because I am a writer and stories can change the world.

But is my life going to be about telling  stories or living a story? I want to know how to live a good story. What my life should be filled with outside my writing time, and how that life pours into my writing time, because it’s all of part of who I am. What lives am I affecting when I sit at home on a Christmas break, when I go out to run errands, or when I just dance in my room? Am I affecting lives other than my own? That is the question that runs deep in all of us I think.

I don’t have all the answers, and I can’t tell you I’m necessarily spending my time as I should, treating people how they should be treated, and living a good story. But I want to.

And then today I thought Maybe living a great story has more to do with how in love I am with God than with anything else. Now that’s a thought. Maybe the more I fall in love, the more real and exciting and purposeful my story will be. I think this is more true than I can see right now. I felt like God wanted me to read part of Song of Solomon this morning, like He just wanted me to know how much he longs for me, for my presence and my love.

Could it be that simple? To live a great story is to live a life in love with the Creator? What else could be the key, really? Isn’t this what makes us come most alive?

In the midst of my storytelling and story living, I desire to be constantly aware of God’s love. If I am, who knows who might come alive today?

Sneak Peek "Colin's Vision" from my novel in progress

Disorientation didn’t quite seem the proper word, but rather a gross understatement for the way Colin felt. He didn’t know where he was, only that he was alive. Maybe. The images in his mind were slowly fading away, but he felt from the experience that he had just lived 100 more years, though not so much in earthly time. He couldn’t really think of any further explanation for it, just that there was nothing in the world that could be compared to what he had just felt. It seemed like it had been so long since he had dwelt on the current Earth, and that’s why it took him a while to reorient his mind, soul, and body. The memory hung onto the edges of his consciousness, still so real. It gripped him and he actually didn’t want it to let go.

            It was more of a tangible experience than merely a series of images. He didn’t know when it began, but he remembered finding himself kneeling on a dusty hill, tears streaming down his sweaty face, though he didn’t know why he was crying. But then something stirred inside of him like he was remembering who he was or where he was, and he looked to his right, where two women dressed in dirty robes and headdresses knelt beside him, also weeping. He recalled his name then—John. But he wasn’t John. But he was; he knew it like he knew his favorite color.

            Looking up he became aware of the darkness around him, yet there stood three prominent objects against the blackened clouds. They were rough hewn crosses, each with a man hanging on it. His eyes were riveted on the one in the middle, for immediately comprehension came. It was Jesus. Jeshua. His best friend, dying there in agony. There was a sign above his head that drew his eyes. He couldn’t recognize the markings on it at first but then his mind told him again that he was John and of course he understood Hebrew. It read This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. The sudden realization of the mockery that was taking place stung his eyes and caused more tears to flow. Through the haze over his eyes he saw an ominous black cloud with an outline of neon light bordering its billowing edges. The cloud nearly overtook the light, yet the light remained. Somehow that thought set his heart ablaze, then he looked into his best friend’s face. That was precisely the moment when Colin, or John, lost all sense of time. It was too real to be a dream, but too sensational to be real.

            Yet it was real. His mind screamed no but his thoughts didn’t seem to carry as much weight as they once had. They were just…insignificant in light of all this.

            He heard, as if the words were literally reverberating inside his brain, a loud but strained voice call out “Eli! Eli! Lema sabachthani?” It was Jeshua, right? Or was it him? He couldn’t tell the difference. The next thing that invaded his awareness was the threatening presence of evil, and then his eyes found them. Demons.

            They were taunting Jeshua as he died, and they were taunting him. They swirled around him and hissed into his ears until he could hear no other sound. He wanted to cover his ears with his hands, but he couldn’t move them.

            “He has forsaken you! He has forsaken you!” They whispered harshly, followed by cackles of satisfaction.

            He couldn’t move; the mocking seemed to go on for an eternity, and all his eyes could see were dark, hideous forms moving in circles about him. Then, after a seemingly endless amount of verbal torture, a thought finally made its way somewhere into his being, and it outmatched the voices. He had to say something.

            He had to say something back!

            Somehow he gathered all the reserves of his strength and made his lips move. “Nooooooooooooooo!” he called out, reaching toward the middle cross. “Nooo! He has not left me! He has not left us!” As his arm had reached out, it parted the circle of demons and cleared his sight in front of him. He could see Jeshua’s gory form and knew he was dead. But there was life. There! Above him hovered two glorious beings bathed in light which pushed back the surrounding darkness, seeming to invalidate it completely. One of them looked at him with understanding and compassion in his eyes and he knew it wasn’t the end. Wait—he always knew that, right? He believed in God, right, the God who was alive and active?

            The angel held his gaze and said, “My name is Lucius. And this, my friend, is far from over.” The words filled him with so much peace that he hardly noticed that the demons had vanished. He felt he was in this state for another unidentifiable amount of time, and then he was fading away.

            The next thing he knew was that he didn’t know anything. Just the lingering experience that was no more in the past than the things he had yet to go through.

            No, disoriented wasn’t quite the right word.