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Unfolding

My dreams are each like a petal on a flower,
Looking inward at the center until the time of its unfolding
As each passion is realized, it opens to the sun, revealing a piece of the center for the world to see
But the picture is incomplete

My dreams, they seem compartmentalized, like disjointed members of the same mind
All a part of me, yet unrelated to the full reality

But now I can see that as each petal unfolds its beauty, it’s beginning to form a whole

Every dream points to the center, then springs from that source to be seen
And when the flower is complete, each seemingly separate piece
Reveals a whole image—one dream formed from different compartments of my heart

So when I can’t see clearly, and it seems my life is incomplete

I’ll just remember that some petals are still turned inward
But in time they will open and reveal the full center

Truth is Stronger

I hope you know that the enemy will do everything in his power to remove you from the places where you are supposed to have the most influence. The thoughts and the lies can overwhelm. Fear can paralyze you. But don’t let it. Saying no to fear is equivalent to stripping the liar of his power.

Don’t let your heart grow weary. The key is to not focus on the accuser and enemy of our hearts and dreams. Focus on Jesus. Believe what he says, and only what he says. Nothing can stop your influence. Only your willingness to give in.

If you think you haven’t changed, that is a lie. If you think you aren’t good enough to do what God has put in your heart to do, that is a lie. He has called us pure. He uses the least of us to do the greatest works.

Remember that the truth is always stronger than the lies.

And let’s change the world together.

Interrupted: The Thrill of the Unknown

            Something interesting has dawned on me recently in regards to the fact that I am a fairly organized person. Organization often requires planning and routine, and sticking to a schedule. This is easy for me. When I have a schedule that barely varies from day to day, I know what to expect. My life is predictable. What I’ve realized is that for so long I’ve tried to live a predictable life. Because it’s easy. It’s comfortable and secure. If I take a job that guarantees to keep me long term, that is good, because I don’t have to worry about the uncertainty that accompanies a job search for several more years. I tend to feel safe and feel that things are right when I can fit everything into tidy boxes, when I know exactly what I’ll be doing at noon tomorrow, and probably even at noon a year from now.

            But there’s this other part of me. It’s the part that’s always been there but has taken more time to awaken because it’s scary. It’s the desire in me to live adventurously, to think outside the box, to dream big as if limitations don’t exist. I live in this tension and seeming paradox of being a daydreamer while at the same time wanting to stay comfortable. When life is predictable, I can be in control. Fear isn’t an obstacle to overcome because there just isn’t anything to be afraid of.

            There are two things I’ve come to realize over the past few years about being a Christian. One, it isn’t safe or predictable. There are a lot of unknowns. When Jesus’ disciples decided to follow him, they chose to drop everything that gave them any sense of security in the world and follow a guy who wouldn’t tell them what to expect but who expected them to have faith in him. The second thing I’ve come to realize is that the Christian life is adventurous and exciting. I find myself becoming disappointed or angry when things don’t turn out the way I had envisioned. I see now that most of the time, this is because I thought I was in control, and when my time, life, circumstances, whatever it was got ripped out of my grip instead of me willingly letting go, it tore me open. It made me vulnerable when I wasn’t ready. I believe that any adventure requires courage. First, it requires letting go of expectations and what I know to be safe, then it calls for great courage.

            What if an adventure consists of some of the things we would never have thought to put in that category before? Such as forgiveness. Let me explain. If I want my life to be predictable because it’s comfortable and easy, what happens when someone does something to me that I don’t expect and can’t control? Something I don’t like? A reaction on my part will certainly take place because my prediction has been broken. So, what if I don’t place unreasonable expectations on life or people? What if the act of forgiveness can be an adventure because of the courage and love it requires? What if I let my imagination create a new story for someone that has hurt me? Not the predictable kind where I react and get angry and they get punished, but the kind where redemption is possible, the kind where this person gets so filled up with love that they turn around and start forgiving the people in their life, and there is this huge ripple effect that changes the whole world.

            Crazy, right?

            But then again, Jesus used twelve people to turn the world upside down because they were willing to step into the unknown and even get hurt sometimes.

            If my life is too predictable, it becomes boring, and then when the inevitable unexpected thing comes up, I don’t know what to do with myself. Where is the courage? Where is the passion? Where is the love? I am a person who both appreciates routine and is a daydreamer. For the most part, I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow, but I know that I really don’t. Because there are those moments waiting for me that God has in his heart but hasn’t revealed yet. There are those people I’ll see on my walk that need me to smile at them, and if I’m so stuck in just going through the motions of my predictable life, I’ll forget to do it. I’ll miss the adventure of brightening up someone’s day with joy. Of possibly changing someone’s story.

            I have realized how much I live in my own little world. Even when my thoughts are big, they are limited by inaction. I don’t know about you, but I want to see. I want to be present and aware because at any moment, God could drop something into my little world to make it shatter, and I fear I might not even notice the shards breaking on the ground. And at that point, I am no longer living.

            The Christian life is full of glorious interruptions calling us to adventure. Let us let go of control, step with joy into the unknown, and embrace the kind of passionate life that makes walking on water seem like child’s play.

 

 

The Brilliant Writing of Tosca Lee

I just want to write this post to give a shout out to an incredibly talented author named Tosca Lee. Today, her paperback version of Iscariot is out, and I highly recommend you go grab a copy! It is a book about the life of Judas written in first person.
So here is a little bit about why I love Tosca's writing. First of all, she has a way with words that is both poetic and simple at the same time. It's not so poetic that it's hard to understand, but the way she strings words together really creates a beautiful masterpiece. It's like listening to well-performed harmony. Secondly, I love when she writes in the first person. She has been able to portray characters so in depth in ways we haven't thought of them before. I know she does a ton of research for her historical books, so a lot of work and thought goes into her character creations, and it just shows!
Another thing I like about Tosca's writing and why I believe it is so unique is because she explores chracters that are notorious or perhaps have been looked over or have had a bad reputation, but she helps us to see them in a new light. Basically, it makes you think. And that's good, especially when it comes to the Bible. Because so often we either skim over the stories and the characters so we don't get any sense of personality or motivation for these people's actions; or we just go by the Bible stories told to us when we were children, which hardly ever give us a wide or a deep perspective.
You may think the hero of the story, or the main character, needs to be redeemable. Tosca takes a risky approach and writes about characters such as a demon, Eve(the first woman/also the first sinner), and Judas(who is known for betraying Jesus to death.) I appreciate her endeavor to reveal more about these characters primarily because one: they are human and we can relate to some of their feelings and motives(excluding the demon;)), and two: they help to portray the other characters around them in a new light.
I love the book Demon because essentially it is about a demon telling a man the story of Lucifer's fall from Heaven and the creation of the world and man from his bitter perspective. Even though this demon is hateful and cynical, the story he tells is true, and it helped me to be even more grateful for what Jesus has done for us. This demon character's version of the story reveals how much God loves people and the lengths he went to in order to redeem his prized creation, and how audacious that is. The demon is angry about it because he has not received the same favor, but I am left with a sense of wonder and gratefulness for God's mercy as a reader.
The book called Havah is the story of Eve from her creation to her death. I enjoyed this book because it was fascinating to me to grasp what her life might have been like from start to finish with all that she went through. It helps us connect with the first woman on a more personal level, as we journey from her days in bliss in the garden of Eden, to her and Adam's banishment, to them starting their family and living life with this sense of loss because they are no longer in paradise. It was also very interesting to see how, because she lived so much longer than we do now, she saw several generations of her lineage be born. I mean, everyone on Earth came from her. I've never thought about Eve and Adam that in depth until I read this novel.
And finally, I love the book Iscariot, which is about Judas, because it explores his early life as well as some of the possible motivations for his decision to follow Jesus as well as to betray him later. It makes us think about it differently, that maybe his motivation was not what we think. Judas was a man who loved Jesus, just like us. This book makes you ask the question, would I have done the same thing he did? I also appreciate the character development in this book and how we get to see Judas' life from childhood to his death. He is a very well-rounded character. And last of all, my favorite thing about this novel is how it reveals Jesus in such a personal way. Judas, of course, was one of the disciples, who were Jesus' closest followers. I love how Tosca potrays the intimate friendship the disciples shared with Jesus. It made me feel closer to him as well, just to see how real and human Jesus was to his friends.
The last reason you should read Tosca's books is that she co-authored an incredible trilogy called The Books of Mortals with author Ted Dekker, who is a New York Times Bestselling author and pretty much my favorite. ;) Anyone brilliant enough to write alongside Ted Dekker is worth reading in my opinion. But she is good on her own anyway!!
Alright, so if you actually got through this, congratulations! And now go buy one or all of Tosca Lee's books! http://www.toscalee.com/
While you're visiting her website, make sure to sign up for her newsletter, where there are give-aways, bonus chapters to read, and a free magazine subscription. Go for it!

Why I Write

I write because I believe words have the power to create. In the beginning, it was words that made the mountains spring up and the flowers unfold. It was words that shed light into what was once only darkness. It was the Word Himself who came to show us what life and love really mean. The Word becoming flesh: the Word creating life.

            I am convinced that our words and our stories literally have the creative power to restore what has been broken, to birth new callings and identities, and to instigate encounters with the Creator Himself. They have the ability to awaken dormant dreams and change the course of a person heading for destruction. I write because stories have awakened me in ways that have left me changed forever, in the best way possible. And I want to be a part of that. Stories show us that we are not alone in this life. Characters remind us that there are countless others out there who share our pains, our joys, and some of our experiences. Stories incite the imagination, and imagination possesses the power to help us become. Become that person we were always intended to be from the beginning. Stories call us to adventure, and words paint pictures in our minds that make us think of greater places. They help show us what we really care about and the beauty we were fashioned to enjoy.

            Every single word carries with it a seed, and when sowed in the right place and time, that seed can grow into something so much more significant than the sight of that word in the first place. Words strung together in the proper harmony create life and can reveal truth. They can show us circumstances we’ve always thought of a certain way from a new perspective. New perspectives breed growth and change.

            I write because God has given me words, and if I don’t write they will remain caged up inside where they will produce nothing. The gift of writing give wings to the influence my Creator wants to have through my life. Writing has also given me a way to commune with my Savior and worship Him. It is both a gift He has given me as a way to know Him better as well as a gift to be given away.

            I write because there are more stories to be told and poems to be written to match the beating of people’s hearts or refurbish a rhythm that has diverged from its original beauty. I write because I was created to write, and I feel my Creator’s pleasure when I do it.

Bride: A Christmas Poem

When your words formed life

A story began that would end with a glorious bride
All the tension of Heaven climaxed to this point of creation
This beginning of Earth, Eden
From whose inhabitants would spring the origination for all nations
With every exhalation from your lungs
And every note of the songs sung
A new breed sprung
And you, all knowing the outcome of our betrayal
Spoke the words just the same
And from your heart man was made
Recognizing that one day another new breed would have to come
From your own seed
The only way to redeem
A species who too readily received
Lies and false realities
But when that day came
Oh, when that day dawned you opened up your heart so wide
It tore at the sight of your soiled bride
And broke with a love that only your son could provide
So God became a little boy
You infiltrated our world as a baby born to an unmarried girl
As one of us you showed that a new chapter would unfold
And before our very eyes you grew
Until you realized that the reason you had come
Was to speak life
Yet at the mercy of death
With every breath you drew in you knew it was merely a matter of time
Before you would hang upon that Roman beam and die
For the souls of your beloved bride
When your words formed life
You knew the pain it would require
But you were writing a story that would be like no other
That would start an unending fire
Unite brother to brother
And create possibilities
That would invade our sense of reality
And then through this incarnation we would see
That becoming a part of your Kingdom
Was the only route to life and freedom