distracting excitement

It's Sunday evening here in Oxford, New Zealand. My bedroom has been turned inside out as I prepare to pack my worldly posesions into a backpack for the next three months. One week from today I will be in South Africa. Between now and then I have more to do than time permits - yet here I am writing to the general public.

I'm so excited.

Who knew you could live so fully? I love what I do. My life is poured out for the better of others and it's more rewarding than I ever imagined - AND fun. Yes, I'm having the time of my life here! My passions for Jesus, world travel, new experiences, and developing people have all collided as I've chosen to follow God's will. Growing up I had no idea that the word 'missions' could have such depth and breath. Even so, I find it difficult to put that label on what I do. How do you sum up the beauty and adventure and challenge and reward that following God entails? It continues to blow my mind.

food for thought

I love to birth dreams. It's my passion to see people's vision and heart longings be realized. As a result, I gravitate to all things thought provoking. This includes asking the hard questions. Here's an excerpt from a book I'm currently reading:

Whatever it is that has its hooks in you, you will never be free from it until you find something you want more. It's not about getting rid of desire. It's about giving ourselves to bigger and better and more powerful desires.

What are you channeling your energies into?

Because they will go somewhere.

If they don't go into a few, select, disciplined pursuits that you are passionate about and are willing to give your life to, then they'll dissipate into all sorts of urges and cravings that won't even begin to bring the joy that the "one thing" could.

You are crammed full of the "madness of the gods." And you will end up giving the force of your being to something.

Life is not about toning down and repressing your God-given life force. It's about channeling it and focusing it and turning it loose on something beautiful, something pure and true and good, something that connects you with God, with others, with the world.

What is it you've given your life to?

seasons change

Here's to new beginnings. I already have quite a few different accounts of my life posted on-line, but maybe this one will serve a more centralized purpose. I've enjoyed using traveljournals.net, but don't care much for the layout and design.
Seasons are changing for me again. Soon many friends will depart, new friends will arrive, and I will be changing roles within this YWAM base where I live. Even the seasons are changing from summer to fall here in New Zealand. It's beautiful.
I feel that I'm wrapped up in dynamic mess of God's artistic creation. Have you ever watched a painting being created? Often you wonder where the artist is going. Especially at the beginning. They'll make a long stroke across the canvas and you're wondering - what do they see in that? What could that dull line actually become? And slowly beauty is revealed. Time and patience unveils an image.
God does that with lives. We often can't see the big picture, but it's being worked out in our lives as a unique expression of God's creativity.