PSALM 84

 2 pieces of housekeeping to account for. 1- this is inspired by Joseph's story found in the book of Genesis. 2- I am going to write these as they come up for me. That does mean they will probably be out of order. Tonight I was lamenting about being in the prison and being pissed. Now do I have great plans for the prison? Yes! Have I already caught the eye of the prison guard? For sure! But do I want to be here? No!  And then there is that realization that my desire to "return home" is important to God, but His plan supersedes my current desires. And His plan will ultimately incorporate my desires beyond my imagination. Sometimes our intended destination after our release from prison is ALL wrong. Joseph was planning to return home. God was going to use him in Egypt. Just last week I had a plan, a return home kind of plan. Meanwhile God has a plan that will "feed" countless individuals.  If you're in a prison season, go ahead and scream, cry, get angry! Tell...

 I love playing kickball. Maybe it’s because I’m a big kid at heart. We know that a lot of a team’s success in kickball is due to the make up of their team. The team doesn’t have to all be outstanding at pitching, catching, throwing, kicking, or running. Really you just need some players to have some of those skills. The rest is strategy. Who pitches? Who kicks after who? Who plays outfield and who plays home plate?  Marriage definitely requires strategy and it definitely requires a team effort. But unlike kickball, the team shouldn’t be comprised of forced picks. In marriage your teammate is hopefully a choice of commitment and not performance. In marriage hopefully your choice was at least at one time highly esteemed and not mere settling. Perhaps in kickball one may shout, "I should have never chosen you"! But never should those words be uttered in marriage. It’s not a game. It’s not win or lose bragging rights, it’s crush or build souls.  It may be easy to question ou...

  Today was a great day! I gave myself permission to enjoy life, even though life isn’t perfect. I went to the Botanical Gardens because nature fills me up. God faithfully speaks to me whether things are in bloom or not.  Then I went to see Step Afrika. I love the performing arts, particularly anything dance related. But I so rarely indulge in this treat that I forget how deeply it moves me. The creativity on stage speaks to the creativity in me. And tonight as the rhythms pulsated and the crowd chanted “they took away our drums”, I experienced bliss.  I experienced bliss even though my life has chaos constantly popping up. I experienced bliss because I gave myself permission to be present over perfect. I even allowed myself to wear leggings as pants! Today was a great day, because I gave myself permission.  Here’s to permitting ourselves to live life now, instead of holding our breath for some perfect moment in the future.