I have been doing a lot of waiting recently . . . on God, on people, on my future. In the meantime, though, I have been reading Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli. The chapter I read this morning was about listening to God. The last section discussed waiting. Yaconelli quotes Sue Monk Kidd, "When you are waiting you are not doing nothing. You are doing something. You're allowing your soul to grow up." Huh . . . in response to one of the discussion questions at the end of the chapter, I wrote the following (Note: the formatting doesn't allow me to separate words in order to portray the pace of reading. Just use your imagination). May God use my feeble attempts at poetry to bless you in your waiting:
Waiting, Tiring, So slow, the unknown, Uncomfortable, Surrender
Will it ever end?
What are You trying to teach me? Is it about being taught or being near?
Faith, God's Providence, Trust, Abandon, No control . . . God's control
Worry, Doubt, Fear, Questions, Impatience, Restless, Self-centeredness
Who am I? More than achievements
Stillness, Rest, Peace, Joy, Relationship, BE, Every minute
Senses on edge, Listening, Watching, Peek-a-boo
Where are You? Ever-presence
Groanings, Seeking the ultimate end, Eschaton, Face-to-face, No longer trying
just LOVE
Spirit groans, Jesus intercedes, Father pardons
I'm hearing and seeing
Waiting, again? I thought this was over, Grace for more trust, God's sense of humor
"Peace" Restless, Unknown, Fear, When? Provision? Home? Job? Food? Relationships? Calling?
"Peace" Play, Enjoy, Walk, Trust, Feel, See, Hear, Hope, Love
Peace = YOU
"Peace, Beloved"
Peace
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Welcome!
Welcome to my brand new blog, Overflow. I have always wanted to create a blog so I could share the musings that float around in my brain. Now that I have graduated from seminary, I finally have time to get it started!
As an introductory post, let me explain the title of my blog. Last year in a Christian Leadership class, one of my classmates gave a devotion involving a pitcher and a cup. As he filled up the cup, he explained that many of us live and do ministry by asking God to fill us and then pouring ourselves out. However, if we are constantly pouring ourselves out, we will always end up empty. God did not design the Christian life to look this way. Instead, God intends for us to be always full of his love (my classmate filled the cup to the brim allowing the excess water to pour out). It is out of this overflow of love from our relationship with God that we are motivated and enabled to live a grace-filled life for God.
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6) I pray that this blog will be a place where God overflows out of me. This lyric from the Bebo Norman song "Disappear" has become my life prayer to God and my prayer for this site: "I want to hide in You, the Way, the Life, the Truth, so I can disappear; and love is all there is to see coming out of me, and You become clear as I disappear."
As God speaks new things into my life, I will post them. I will inevitably post about my struggles as a disciple of Christ, too. It's not always easy, and I wanna be authentic about that. Feel free to post comments, responses, or questions that you have regarding my posts. For now, may God bless you and me as we seek to live lives of overflow for Him.
As an introductory post, let me explain the title of my blog. Last year in a Christian Leadership class, one of my classmates gave a devotion involving a pitcher and a cup. As he filled up the cup, he explained that many of us live and do ministry by asking God to fill us and then pouring ourselves out. However, if we are constantly pouring ourselves out, we will always end up empty. God did not design the Christian life to look this way. Instead, God intends for us to be always full of his love (my classmate filled the cup to the brim allowing the excess water to pour out). It is out of this overflow of love from our relationship with God that we are motivated and enabled to live a grace-filled life for God.
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6) I pray that this blog will be a place where God overflows out of me. This lyric from the Bebo Norman song "Disappear" has become my life prayer to God and my prayer for this site: "I want to hide in You, the Way, the Life, the Truth, so I can disappear; and love is all there is to see coming out of me, and You become clear as I disappear."
As God speaks new things into my life, I will post them. I will inevitably post about my struggles as a disciple of Christ, too. It's not always easy, and I wanna be authentic about that. Feel free to post comments, responses, or questions that you have regarding my posts. For now, may God bless you and me as we seek to live lives of overflow for Him.
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