The rain is falling softly outside as I sit here at my computer sipping tea and reflecting on our time here in Portland.
We have lived here for well over a year now. Though it has happened in stages, our lives have changed dramatically. As usual, I have learned that there is so very much for me to learn! It has been like lying down in your cozy bed, in your lazy town only to wake up and find yourself in Wonderland. I have become increasingly suspicious that my Master's hand has had a much greater influence in the mundane realities of our lives than we could expect or imagine.
Before we moved here, we were warned by many of the well intentioned that this, Portland, was a physically and spiritually dark place. My point in this post is not to refute that claim as I have found it at times to be those things indeed. It is not so dark however, as to overshadow the Father of lights! (James 1:17)
We have lived here for well over a year now. Though it has happened in stages, our lives have changed dramatically. As usual, I have learned that there is so very much for me to learn! It has been like lying down in your cozy bed, in your lazy town only to wake up and find yourself in Wonderland. I have become increasingly suspicious that my Master's hand has had a much greater influence in the mundane realities of our lives than we could expect or imagine.
Before we moved here, we were warned by many of the well intentioned that this, Portland, was a physically and spiritually dark place. My point in this post is not to refute that claim as I have found it at times to be those things indeed. It is not so dark however, as to overshadow the Father of lights! (James 1:17)
Have you ever noticed how very noticeable one little light is in an otherwise utterly dark space? The light of Christ is like that. It is brilliantly beautiful and people are drawn to it. They are drawn to Him. I have to believe that even Christmas lights are a testimony to this. They glitter and shine and we are in awe of them against the backdrop of darkness. We all need and want illumination not just in the natural but the spiritual as well.
So this basic longing we have for light is simply testimony to our great need for Christ. The human heart aches for Him. It's true whether you think it is or not.
I am feeling bolder these days. I am feeling unapologetic about it. Our lives are supposed to be spent in some way that matters in the big scheme of things. Why, oh why, do we sweat the small stuff?
This has been a very interesting year. I've made some very interesting friends, each one challenging me in some new way. I have seen, firsthand, God working in ways that you usually only read about, but never get to see. I am watching Him melt hearts all around me, including my own. I am weak in the knees and I am stunned.
Hope deferred has become realized. I want to keep living this way.
As this year wraps up I await the new one with anticipation. As I celebrate Christ's birth this year I am thinking about how God did a new thing. This world has been forever changed because of what He did in Christ. In 2008, I couldn't have imagined all He would do in 2009. He's still doing new things. His creative way of loving us is astounding. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up!
Thank You Lord for this wonderfully strange, old year.
So this basic longing we have for light is simply testimony to our great need for Christ. The human heart aches for Him. It's true whether you think it is or not.
I am feeling bolder these days. I am feeling unapologetic about it. Our lives are supposed to be spent in some way that matters in the big scheme of things. Why, oh why, do we sweat the small stuff?
This has been a very interesting year. I've made some very interesting friends, each one challenging me in some new way. I have seen, firsthand, God working in ways that you usually only read about, but never get to see. I am watching Him melt hearts all around me, including my own. I am weak in the knees and I am stunned.
Hope deferred has become realized. I want to keep living this way.
As this year wraps up I await the new one with anticipation. As I celebrate Christ's birth this year I am thinking about how God did a new thing. This world has been forever changed because of what He did in Christ. In 2008, I couldn't have imagined all He would do in 2009. He's still doing new things. His creative way of loving us is astounding. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up!
Thank You Lord for this wonderfully strange, old year.
And this from our Lord:
"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" Isaiah 43:19a
So what are you hoping for in 2010? I wanna hear about it!
LYMYWY,
Kara
