The Dance

As I opened my eyes, a warm breeze swept over my body. All around me were towering trees, and they almost seemed to speak to me as they waved their branches. I waved in reply.

The ground was covered with a carpet of delicate blossoms in every hue. Spring and summer flowers alike were thriving in the quiet meadow, as well as many flowers that I had never even seen before. The air smelled spicy-sweet, like an exotic flower. It was hauntingly familiar, yet uncommonly lovely.

I was dressed in a gown and robe of the finest silk, my hair loose about my shoulders. My feet were bare, as I always felt they should be, and I stood upon them to take in my surroundings.

I heard a bird whisper to me from a low branch on a nearby blossoming tree. His song was sweet and low, and as I listened, I began to understand what he was saying to me.

"Below," he chanted in a familiar manner, his voice gaining clarity with every repetition. "Below."

As I glanced at my feet, I discovered another garment of silk. Its pastel shade was one that I had never seen before- a marriage of rose and lavender and periwinkle all spun together in one heavenly color.

"Come away."

The moment I heard the whisper, I instinctively knew that the lovely gown was mine, and I slipped into it, amazed by how perfectly it fit.

"Come away," the Voice whispered again, this time with the trees and birds and flowers joining in unison.

As I turned about, I didn't see an opening or a trail that led out of the meadow.

"To where should I go?" I called out, searching for a hidden pathway.

From somewhere beyond the meadow, I heard a quiet rustle. Almost like a breath, a calm breeze began to blow. The trees circled about joyfully and clapped their hands. As they did, they parted and cleared a path. Still full of joy, they bowed low for Whoever it was that was coming.

He was Light. He was all things bright and beautiful as He walked along the path that was being created for Him. I stood still there in the calm of the meadow, hardly able to breathe.

As He approached me, I followed in the footsteps of the trees and bowed low. He laughed and held out His hand, tender and strong, for me to take hold of.

"Come away with Me," He whispered.

I smiled shyly and nodded, knowing that I would follow Him to the ends of the earth. We walked, leaving the meadow and all of its beauty behind us. The trees continued to clap their hands as I felt an overwhelming sense of peace envelope my entire being, beginning with my hand that He held tightly, and spreading over the rest of my body.

His eyes were upon me always, not ever looking away. Even as He led me along the path, He was sure of where we were headed. Somehow it was not difficult for me to look Him in the eye. His eyes were beautiful- a blend of perfect strength and the purest tenderness.

The path widened and eventually opened out to a field that was seemingly endless. As we stepped onto the greenest grass that I had ever seen, its cool blades soft against my bare feet, I heard a melody coming from the hills far off in the distance, sweeping over the land. It was slow, sung in an enchanting tongue.

The music's pace quickened, and He took me in His arms. He didn't say a word, but no words were needed. His gaze was fixed on me, and I felt nothing but sheer joy as He smiled down on me. He spun me about as if I was light as a feather, twirling me in an effortless waltz that was only graceful because of His perfect strength.

The dance left me breathless- not from exertion, but from ecstasy. As the music continued, He stopped for a moment, His gaze still upon me.

"Please don't stop," I whispered, wishing it would never end. His hand still held mine, and His strong arm was still holding my waist.

"I must tell you something," He said tenderly. "Darling, you are more lovely than any human tongue can ever describe. Don't let everything that you're feeling affect you. Think only of Me."

I knew instantly what He spoke of, yet I didn't want those thoughts to enter my mind. Not now. Not ever again.

"Your heart is precious, dearest one, for I am there. Guard it with all that is in you."

I nodded, unable to speak.

"This lift is meant to be a dance with Me. Never let anyone tell you otherwise," He whispered, lifting His hand to wipe a tear from my cheek.

And He spun me away, far across the valley, to the mountains and the hills, where the singing swelled in one glorious crescendo...

Overwhelmed

I'm taking an 1,150 mile road trip in one month and six days. I won't be back until the end of the summer.

My older brother is moving to Georgia in two days.

My sister and her husband are moving to Indiana in two days.

My little brother just GOT A JOB. (Isn't he still twelve?)

I have a thousand little things running through my head all at once, all vying for my energy and attention. And they've got it.

A few weeks ago I started a new kind of journal. In it, I tell Jesus exactly what I'm thinking- the honest, no extra adjectives, sometimes grammatically incorrect, truth. And today all I could think to write was a paragraph stating the above. When I closed the book and stood up from my desk, Jesus gently whispered to my heart:

"Well, there's your problem!" 


"What do you mean, Jesus?" I ask sweetly, "Do you mean that if I spend sixteen hours a day thinking about everything I have to be concerned about and everything that I need to get done and give You a total of three minutes in the afternoon that I just might get a little bit overwhelmed? Of course You couldn't mean that." 


But He does. And that is my problem. If I spent the majority of my time sitting on the couch watching Masterpiece Theater and eating potato chips and then did ten minutes of cardio each afternoon, the likelihood that my exercise would get me to a place of ideal physical fitness is pretty much nonexistent.

And that is the lesson I learned today.

Plucking Strings



A few weeks ago, my sweet sister and I were playing around a bit on her guitar. At first it was pretty out of tune, so of course, it sounded terrible! I observed, however, that even when you pluck a twanging string, you can stop the noise by simply placing your hand on the string. Obvious if you've ever held a guitar, yet interesting that you can start and stop a beautiful, or in this case, an awful, noise.

There are little things in life that I allow some string twanging to go on in my soul. Silly little things, like finding the dog had chopped off several of the pretty tulips outside. I quickly choose to pluck an out of tune string in my soul, sometimes for only a moment, but more often I pluck repeatedly throughout the day.

But you know what? We can simply say, "Jesus put your hand on this string," and that foolish noise goes away in an instant. Pretty soon, we don't even choose to pluck the string, instead, we get in tune to HIS voice and start to play His joyful songs. I encourage you to worship Jesus by playing some music...not with an instrument or by singing, but with your soul instead.

A Plate Parable

 

This evening I was washing the dinner dishes. Nothing unusual, I know. In fact, it was feeling rather ordinary.

But then, the something unexpected and rather revolutionary happened.

I don't even remember how it came to pass, or what I did, but somehow I put a freshly washed plate on the dish drainer rack the wrong direction. And then the aha! moment came. I had actually put it in the correct direction! Just think! How many times...perhaps thousands?...I have been putting those plates in the wrong way, simply because that's the way I put them in. Now, however, they will dry more effectively and will be easier to put away because they are placed in the way they are meant too be.

I wonder how many aspects of our lives have the same problem. We just do things because, well, that's the way we do it.

I don't invite our neighbors over for dinner, because well, I never do.

I decide things my way because, well, that's how I do it.

I put limits on our limitless, awesome God because, well, I do. 

But we can turn away from the "that's just the way I do it" and have an aha! moment too. It simply means shedding the old in exchange for the new, and allowing our King to be our guide.

Light us aflame, Abba, show us Your way.

Because, well, its the only way to life.

  

 Whether you turn to the right or to the left,

your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,

“This is the way; walk in it.”
Isaiah 30:21

A Revelation

I'm kind of a criminal.

At least when it comes to parking garages.

Please don't tell anyone, okay?

I park on the top floor of the parking garage at Western Michigan University so that I don't have to pay for a parking pass or buy a bunch of quarters that I would much rather be spending on gumballs or shiny stickers or  bouncy balls on my way out the door at Meijer.

There, I said it.

Not only is it cost efficient, but I also get the opportunity to run down three flights of stairs and stretch my legs between hours of playing the piano. While I was making that little jaunt this morning, I saw two birds. (Side Note: A few weeks ago I discovered one of their kin lying dead in the stairwell, and now I know why.)

The birds thought that they were stuck. They kept throwing themselves against the glass panes of parking garage wall, stopping every few seconds to gaze longingly at the world that they couldn't reach. No matter how hard they hit the window, nothing changed. Then, just as I was about to leave them in their captive misery, they stopped trying. They both sat on their windowsills and looked out, their countenance completely changed. Suddenly, they were both content to watch everything that was going on around them and not participate in it anymore. It seemed like they had just given up.

As I gave up my newfound hobby of birdwatching and headed to the voice lesson I was playing for, I thought about how much those birds reminded me of my old self and the way I used to treat spiritual growth.

"Wow, there's a whole world out there to explore!" I would say with excitement. But then I'd hit a wall, assume there was nowhere else to go, and, with a shrug of my shoulders, declare that I was "done for now." After all, I knew more that those "Sundays only" Christians already. And, for awhile, that was enough.

But all it takes is one revelation- one person telling us that there's a whole world beyond that glass wall, and that no amount of throwing ourselves against it will get us out there. In order to discover it, we'll need to discover the only One who can lead us out of the spiritual cage we're in and into the adventure of exploring His glorious Kingdom.

"Circle Zion, take her measure, count her fortress peaks, gaze long at her sloping bulwark, climb her citadel heights— Then you can tell the next generation detail by detail the story of God, our God forever, who guides us till the end of time." Psalm 48:12-14    

"It is not well for a man to pray cream, and live skim milk."

 -Henry Ward Beecher