Awakening in Darknenss

     This morning a group that I am a part of had to be cancelled due to so much illness.  My daughter is not well and all three of her children are sick.  One friend just fell down the steps in a rush - in fact has done that more than once recently.  Another friend just lost her mother after a long illness.  I too have gone through a few dark days sampling various viruses.  When I am sick, other dark areas in my life are revealed to me.  Maybe I am slowed down enough to see them. 
     I do not believe that God strikes us with illness or brings on calamity but I do believe that sometimes, that is the only time that we will really listen.  We like to believe that we have all in control.  Isaiah is made ready for God by having his lips touched by a burning coal.  John Collins, the author of EFM's first year text wonders, "is the human condition only  purified by the painful and radical remedy of burning?"  Think about your own life.  What periods of your life in looking back have caused you to grow spiritually?  For me and most people that I know - it is the dark times. 
     Sometimes, just as many of our biblical friends, I want to hear simply what I want to hear.  I think that I am hearing God when it is really my own ego talking.  The hard and beautiful messages of God have only sunk in when I am perhaps laid out sick, going through grief, experiencing some great disappointment, or depression has hit.  Those are the times when I am faced with myself.  I am out of control and I can only turn to God. 
     If illness or some other darkness has visited you recently, I challenge you to welcome it.  Then listen, watch, and trust that the God of life is there whispering.  Perhaps transformation is knocking.

Keep Moving Forward

Have you ever seen the movie Meet the Robinsons? This 2007 animated Disney film is about an orphaned boy named Lewis, who is a brilliant young inventor and can’t seem to get adopted. After another failed adoption interview and a catastrophic science fair project, Lewis just wants to give up. However, he unexpectedly meets another boy, Wilbur, who turns out to be from the year 2037. To convince Lewis that Wilbur is really from the future, Wilbur takes Lewis there in a time machine. After the time machine breaks down and keeps them in 2037, Lewis meets Wilbur’s family – the Robinsons. As the future starts to unravel, Lewis learns that the fate of this future rests in his hands. With the help from the Robinson family, Lewis saves the future, and they help teach Lewis to always keep moving forward and to always believe in yourself.

I love the message of this movie. Granted, it is a kid’s movie and a little silly, but the message of the movie is fantastic for anyone at any age. At the end of the movie, there appears a quote by Walt Disney, “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…..and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” 

It is okay to look back at the past year and reflect on what you did or didn’t do. Just don’t get defeated by what you didn't accomplish! Instead, think of how many days stretch out before you in 2018. We still have 355 days left! What shall we do with that many days?

Personally, I want this year to be a year of moving forward and improvement. I'm making a detailed list of things I wish to improve or achieve this year. I encourage you to do the same. It doesn’t matter if it is as simple as reading a book, cleaning out a certain closet or as big as buying a new home, paying off a debt or getting into shape. Think through every corner of your life, mind and heart. Write down your goals and how you want to accomplish them. What have you been putting off? What little project needs to get done? What do you want to improve? What do you need to quit? Where do you want to go? Who do you want to get to know better? Who do you need to forgive? What does God want you to improve or change in your life? Some things on your list may be fun, others maybe not so much, but the entire goal is to keep moving forward and grow!

Giving up in life is not an option. God wants us to live fully and abundantly. He wants us to be the best that He created us to be. As hard as it is sometimes, we have to keep going, building on the past and not dwelling there. Our future is what we make it.

Let’s make 2018 a great year! Be brave, be curious, and be adventurous! Dream big, love immensely, forgive lots, work hard, grow abundantly and……………….

Keep Moving FORWARD.