Breaking Through the Barrier

So much of our lives are lived "inside the lines" because we want to stay safe and know what to expect next, but I read a quote this week that said something like, "If we don't take chances, we never grow." Now, I am one of those who likes to know what is around the corner, but this verse struck a chord with me. What do we have to fear if we are trusting God and living according to His Word? The stock market may fail but the Word says, 'I have never seen the righteous forsaken or His seed begging bread." Crops fail and cars break down, feelings get hurt and pain comes, but this is all common to the human experience. It is nothing that hasn't happened before and that God can't fix. We would have a pretty dull existence if we never came up against challenges, and our characters wouldn't evolve more deeply if we lived struggle-free.
 I am seeking new employment, and to step out into the unknown is such a giant leap for me that it took three days to fill out a simple application and walk in the company's door and hand it to the receptionist. Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear of what I would read into their eyes as they looked at me-all these things crowd into my mind as I force myself to do the things I really want to do! But I have to ask myself: who decides how things have to be and how people should look and act, etc. We just have to keep doing what is best for ourselves and be guided by that inner compass, and trust that God is working out all things in our favor. It is hard to let go and put everything in His Hands, but I believe it is the only way to be happy and find peace.

Witness Post

After repeated warnings, I finally started walking for my health. I actually started while in Florida visiting my mother this summer, and she and I have both continued even after I came home. I began with a one mile goal, and at the crossroads where I turn around, (the half mile mark), is a sign on a weatherworn piece of wood which reads, "Witness Post, Do Not Remove." This serves as proof that here is a legal spot from which surveys can be made, but what intrigued me was the name: an indisputable marker that stood as a fixed representation of its position. Aren't each of us one of these as we view the comings and goings of those things around us? As we walk as though we have a rightful place in this world, ours is each a valid, justifiable viewpoint. My goal is to herein honestly reflect my convictions as I  gradually evolve into the ideal, loving disciple of Jesus I am working to become.

Wedding Witness

I woke up thinking about a young friend who was about to be married, and this verse from the book of Hebrews entered my head: "Seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience the race that is set before us..." Michaela was going to be in the midst of her extended family and close friends who would also be looking at her dress, her groom, her facial expression, her life from this day forward, to see what kind of mark she was going to make on the world in this new phase of her life. What I saw when I looked at her was the same sweet, trusting, little-girl smile I had seen on her face all of her life. We wish her the absolute best happily-ever-after.