Sweet Peaceful Mornings

I am currently in SC on a retreat with my coworkers. This morning I went up to a local coffee shop by myself for a little quiet reading time. The weather is gorgeous-slightly chilly with a breeze and being that fall is quickly approaching I am enjoying the weather even more. I know that fall is supposed to symbolize change and winter represents death, but they are my favorite seasons regardless. Anyhow, I sat outside this coffee shop in an adirondack chair with my hot chocolate, Life Together by Bonhoeffer and my ipod playing Phil Wickham and Patty Griffin. It was glorious. Then I walked around some shops that were close by and talked to a local pottery store owner. She was sweet and excited to talk to someone.
It was just a nice morning. Slow and easy and coming off of the previous night of sweet fellowship (and a ping pong victory) it just felt full.
That is all...greetings from the great state of South Carolina...

Miracles

I wrote this a couple years ago...I haven't proofread it, so I apologize for that...its just something I have been thinking about again.

I believe in the natural. I believe that the Lord is active, daily, in our lives. I also believe that “believing” in the supernatural is our man-made way of magnifying the Lord. The problem with magnification of this sort is that it is impossible. How do you make something infinitely, out-of-our-comprehension huge even larger? You can’t. You don’t need to. Yet that is what we attempt to do with this so called supernatural. It’s because our view of an infinite King somehow gets emaciated and bastardized into something unrecognizable. You could call it idolatry. I think the problem is not the belief in the supernatural, but a lack of belief that the Lord is working in our lives at all times-good or bad. Also, we are so content going about our lives expecting to be under whelmed that we don’t acknowledge the everyday, seemingly mundane miracles that the Lord performs everyday. We expect so much less than He has promised us. Why is our waking or taking another breath not seen as miraculous to us? We cannot make ourselves perform these acts. Is that not what a miracle is? Something that is unexplainable, that is not caused by anything other than the Lord. If this is true, then it has to be that everything, other than sin, is miraculous, because in and of myself I find only sin. However, the Lord causes all good things. So it must be that when I am able to love someone, it is miraculous. But it is not seen that way…I don’t see it that way. Yet, like all Truth, it is true regardless of how it is perceived.
Another way we “magnify” the Lord is by not acknowledging the work that He has been doing in one’s life, but calling one single act miraculous. Take a surgeon for example and say that this given surgeon performs an extremely delicate procedure with unusual success on an ailing patient. We call this miraculous and rightfully so, but on the wrong merit. Yes, the Lord was at work and ordained the preservation of the patient at that single moment in time and that is miraculous by definition, but let’s look at the entire situation. Did the Lord not allow that surgeon to be trained and taught? And why did that surgeon want to be a surgeon anyhow? And where did not only the desire, but the dedication that it takes to be a surgeon come from? What about all the factors surrounding his life, his character, upbringing, etc and etc that make this surgeon who he is and capable of performing what he does? Are not all these things remarkable in and of themselves despite of the status of any given patient? This is not even acknowledging all the other factors that come into play. Point being that God’s entire plan for our lives is miraculous. The way that every fraction of life, every person, situation, and experience are swept together in such a way that creates a person capable of accomplishing any given obstacle is a miracle.
This brings me to another point of how sinful and content with pretty rubbish we all are. Let’s continue using the scenario of the surgeon, but this time the patient dies. Is the Lord any less good? Is this less of a miracle? We see it that way. But might I propose that the connotation of a miracle being something that is undisputedly great and in one’s favor is a bit of an opiate for mankind. It makes us feel frilly and fuzzy on the inside and we like that, but the fact is that not everything can be seen through our naturally preferred rose-colored glasses. The patient dies, but the Lord is still at work. Why do we only associate miracles with good? Is the miracle not that the Lord is still active in our lives and sanctifying us? This is the big picture miracle. That the Creator of the Earth, the I AM, has been executing his flawless plan from before the beginning of time. That part of this plan is to sacrifice His Son as atonement for people who don’t deserve it. But we don’t acknowledge this miracle as having implications in every aspect and corner in our lives. The dictionary says that a miracle is “an event that is inexplicable by the laws of nature…[exciting] admiring awe.” The gospel, all alone, is a miracle. Not make-it-through-the-day watered-down occurrences. It is through this true miracle, the gospel of Christ, that we should view our lives.

Hallelujah

It's the title of the blog, so I figured sharing this night of my life was appropriate. It's one of those times that are just right because they encompass all that we were created for-glorifying the Lord through pure enjoyment of Him and His creation. It is one of the rare times that the tension we live in disappears and we are precisely who we are meant to be...a worshipper. And in that moment our whole being cries out "Hallelujah!" I aspire for my entire life to be like these moments. So here is the story:

I was with some of my students, four girls to be exact. We were on a retreat and decided to take a walk on the beach just before bedtime. In case you have never walked on the beach late at night, without a little creativity it is pretty boring. Basically it is just dark, but with a little imagination and understanding of God's presence, it is magic. And the next thing I knew the five of us were in an intense sand-ball fight (we don't have snow in Florida). We were throwing sand and kicking saltwater at each other. We were so disgusting, but laughing like 4year olds. Then we decided it was time to go swimming...in our basketball shorts and t-shirts and at 1am. We had so much fun laughing at ourselves and enjoying the beach. It was glorious. Then we went inside...

First everyone else laughed at how dirty we were..and let me tell you we were disgusting. So after showering and cleaning up all the leftover sand in the bathrooms, we being girls ended up talking in the kitchen. And that moment happened, the one that youth leaders worldwide hope and pray for and rarely have happen...the girls say, "teach us." They didn't care what it was, but they wanted to know more about Jesus and who He is and how much He loves them. And so we talked and looked at Scripture and thought about application.

I was so encouraged by these high school girls. Their love for the Lord, for each other, and their desire to share Christ with the world are a blessing to those they interact with. They have a passion for life and living it in such a way that God is glorified at all times. These girls will be dangerous, so take note.

I feel blessed to have this memory of them and an ongoing relationship with them in which we can continue to enjoy what the Lord has given us. And that experience has reminded me of just what our lives should be like all the time....hallelujah.