Life continues to amaze me...I expect and envision things to be a certain way and they show themselves to be quite different than i foresaw or predicted....
We realize this amazing truth when we anticipate meeting a new person...or even spending time with someone we haven't connected with in a while...
Also, when we are excited about going to a new place to experience a brand new culture...things are not always different in a bad way...but just different...
We desire things in the future to be perfect and totally life altering...but we find out the hard way that contentment comes not from people, places or food...but from God...
All of this i say in hindsight of the recent "Encounter" tour that we took along the east coast...
I awaited this "tour" (when we give things labels like "tour" or "party"...immediately great expectations are attached to them)...anyways..."tour" was going to be this dream like life changing event that got better each day...
Of course...our trip was not even remotely like what I had in mind in the previous months coming up to it...
It was a battle, a struggle, a great difficulty...one of the hardest trips i have ever been a part of...
Maybe you are surprised...maybe you understand...maybe you expected...or thought our trips and "tours" are never difficult and stretching....
Oh...but there is such value....such a freedom and joy that comes when we go through times of struggle....times of the "unexpected"...when what was "supposed" to be a sweet dream turns out to be more like a "nightmare"...
But even while we seem to be stuck in a "nightmare" in our personal lives as we struggle to build relationships...as our pride and selfish desires get in the way...as we are in the process of self discovery (which has not been so pretty in the recent past for me)....God shows up...His love is portrayed...peoples lives are changed...their minds are set free...their perspectives are liberated from the bondage of self...
God's power truly is made perfect in weakness...it is quite amazing...and peculiar...
I thought i would get to the end of the tour and be the bitter, unforgiving, selfish person i dread to become...
but, quite the contrary happened...i began to humble myself...to appreciate others...to see God in others' strengths (and weaknesses)...to not judge...but give grace...to forgive...to ask for forgiveness...to give of my time and energy for the sake of others...whether it benefits me or not...
I have learned how to love...ha..with much more to learn...but as i look back on the struggle of our trip...I see beauty in the struggle...and hope in what at the time seemed like despair...
I truly enjoy the people God has surrounded me with in a deeper way now...i appreciate them...i am learning to...and choosing to love them...with the understanding that i have of love...
Our Encounter tour was nothing like what i expected....
But also...this freedom, joy and love I am living in has greatly surpassed all of my expectations...
be open...be honest...forgive...give grace...see beauty in other people...(they are made in God's image)...humble yourself and love...let go of selfish desires and truly care for others...
I learned this the hard way...but without the "hard" i'm not sure there would be a "way"...
Be encouraged...be inspired....be loved...and love radically!
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