waiting for a new day

This is kind of like confession, but its been like 5 days since my last blog . . . shameful, shameful. I'm pretty comitted to writing at only the times that my heart is stirring something up. When it needs to rest, I want to do that. I kind of turned a corner in my new employment this week with IWU. Getting the hang of it and settling in, overcoming the first few weeks of complete overdrive. Looking forward to summertime (no more summers off, though) to be with my family. My parents gave us a week at their timeshare in Orlando for a week in July so we'll be heading back to Universal Studios. Should be fun, but its a long road trip.

I think about Chad and Palmer everyday. Continually when I get quiet, I just miss them. Yesterday would have been my niece, Kate's 2nd birtday. She also tragically passed a couple days before Christmas. So much sadness. It really at times has just overtaken me. I find myself really counting the small stuff and not worrying so much. Life is just too short.

I just ripped this quote from Palmer off of Blinn's blog, and it is one of my favorites.

"Whisper your hope when you lie down at night; scream your hope when you wake in the morning. Live your hope as if it is the one and only thing that sustains you in this ravaged world. You will not be disappointed." -Palmer

I loved the wisdom and prophecy that came from my brother's soul. This is the stuff of life.

Chrisitianity is not a new Law, it is a Freedom and a new Life. In order to fully embrace it, you need to rebel against the desires of your flesh and the world you live in. You have to learn to live counter-cultural, you have to follow Jesus. If the world screams busy, you must live simply. If the world cries self, you must love neighbor. If the world cries more, you must learn to have less. If the world cries now, you must learn to wait patiently. If the world cries control, you must let go and trust. It is the Way of freedom. It is the Way your heart was designed to live. It is the Way of the Kingdom, and only a few find it.

So hope and life yet live in me. I am waiting for a new day. A day where we see the spontaneous expansion of the Church above and below ground. Where communities centered in Christ and on His mission in this world explode in number and depths of spirituality. I long for a day to see new trees of Elpida sprouting up on the banks of the river that flows from the Temple. Everything those trees touch bring life and healing (Ezekiel 47). Life and Healing is our rebellion as we follow Jesus. We are rooted in that River, not in this world.

We need to die to this world, if want to follow Jesus and taste the Freedom our hearts are longing for.

Stop and notice the Kingdom around you today,