Sunlight

So, if we talk often, you know I LOVE prescribing meaning to seemingly ordinary things. I'm an NF. It's what I do!

I am trying so hard to get a tan. If you're like me, you have to sit in the sun for a long time before your skin begins to change color. I find myself wondering how long it will take before I will actually see the change.

I was sitting outside this morning when I realized that my relationship with God is a lot like trying to get a tan. The more time I spend in His presence, the more my very being reflects Him. Each encounter with Him brings more abundant life and greater change in who I am. Like any tan, an absence from God's presence causes our character to fade. It is my highest hope that people see His reflection in the way I try to love them, serve them, and honor them. Think about it, we don't have to do anything to get tan. We just sit there.

Coffee & Kites

So, if we talk often, you know that I LOVE prescribing meaning to seemingly ordinary things. I'm an NF. It's what I do!

Coffee

It's not so much coffee itself, but the way people order it. In case you don't know, I'm a barista and the coffee orders I sometimes get are ridiculous. I don't mind the complicated small latte-only a pump and a half of caramel, no more no less-soy milk steamed to 135 degrees- extra shot of espresso-1 inch of room orders. It's the people who don't know how to order coffee that drive me a little crazy. They approach nervously, refuse to make eye contact, and ask me which kind of latte has espresso in it. ...Every latte has espresso. And then there are the people who try to order that thing their friend got that one time, except they don't know the name of it or what it tastes like. Those are the people that make me want to shake my head and roll my eyes.

I wonder if Jesus goes a little crazy when we don't know how to ask for what we want from Him. Like, there are the people that just go for it, telling Him everything they want from the Spirit. They know exactly what to expect from Jesus and they have confidence that He will deliver. And then there are the people that don't know the vocabulary so well. They enter awkwardly into His presence, not even knowing the needs in their souls that He wants to satisfy. I think I fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes - there are times when I boldly ask Him for what I already know He wants to give, and others when I barely know that I need something from Him, let alone what. I've come to the conclusion that Jesus has far more grace than I do. I'm comforted by the fact that, when I don't know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for me (Romans 8:26-28). As long as we come to Him, expecting to receive, we will do just that!

Kites

I flew one recently.

As I was standing there watching it flutter in the wind, I understood a little more about life on God's terms. It's a lesson in dependence, really.

Alone, my life is as flimsy and small as a kite still in the package. It's a good thing the Spirit, like the wind, is expansive, artful, and powerful. I love the way that Jesus empowers us to soar beyond the bounds of what we think is possible. It further goes to show that we can do absolutely nothing without Him. The more we rely on Him, the higher and farther we go. There's just no other way. I think I'm learning more and more that, to be as high as a kite, I've got to let the Spirit call the shots.