Bucket List

Own a Kayak
Live outside of the U.S for more than a year
Go running in a sports bra
Complete a Marathon
Be a foster parent
Go a year without buying clothes
Memorize Ephesians
Go to Hawaii
Be a reader
Be a rock climber
Forgive the Past
Write a book for no one to read
Learn Jazz guitar
Live on Cherry St.
Own two blacks labs at once
Speak Spanish
Embrace my curly hair
Be homeless for a weekend
Get a mentor over the age of 50
Break a bone
Hike a mountain
Love the unlovable
Spend the night in a cemetery
Hug a lumberjack
Go golfing
Ask the Hard questions

Look up.

Look up. Stop shuffling your feet. Quit pouting over these disappointments. Cease your empty thought, oh downtrodden spirit.

Stop. Raise your eyes. Look ahead. Do you see what I have in store for you? Do you see what your future holds? The wonders, the victories, the fullness of life in Me? Bursting with newness and fresh air, with Me, you will find purpose like nothing else! You will find triumph beyond compare. You will find strength you never knew you had in ME. You will experience trials and hardships where you dependence on Me will break your last hold on selfish loss. You will be fully exposed to my glorious divinity as I work in beyond your imagination. Do you believe me? It's true. Let me prove it to you.

So stop being distracted by the little things here in front of you, the small distractions of the moment. What was behind you is done, gone, forgiven. If you look up, breath in, you will see My work accomplished in you.

Now, Run towards Me, and don't you dare let up.

Moving on.

Sometimes life demands we grow up, be big kids, and say goodbye to the way things used to be.

No looking back. No tears. Hold your shoulders back and keep a steady gaze to the road ahead of you.

Change is inevitable. Change shapes and challenges us constantly to be in movement towards holiness. First, the old skin must be slowly peeled away in order to feel the wind, to touch the sunlight.

The question is, what will become of these gaping holes waiting to be filled?

"What I have ahead for you will not disappoint. In fact, it is unimaginably better than what was once important to you. Simply trust Me, let go, and allow your heart to be free in Me. But whatever happens, do not be afraid. Fear extinguishes the beauty found here, found now in the journey, and most certainly will distract you from My relentless gaze. Stop and look into My eyes. Don't look away, get comfortable with this. Captivated? I'm captivated by you.

Be. With. Me. Now."

Wake.

Good morning. The night lasted far too long.

Leap.

What would happen if this thinking stopped, and I took a radical leap of faith into the arms of the faithful one?

Oh, what could happen! What could be done! What walls could be broken and barriers destroyed! In the arms of the Faithful One.

I cannot see what is waiting for me off this mountain top, but I can taste it, I can smell it. I can feel it.

Fear, be gone. You will be blasted away by the rays of Christ's glory.

Go ahead, take a step. It may hurt at first, but He will not let you hit bottom. He can't.

Come back when you're ready.

I am far too easily distracted by you. Like a puppy bouncing about in a new home, but in a much more negative light. Bad sign, newbie. Bad sign.