Howdy my team <3
I titled this blog "I Blinked and Summer Arrived" because the theme of joy has been on my mind & heart. I remember when I was a kid I would at times be having so much fun in 1st grade that it would feel as if I would "blink" and 2nd grade would arrive...then I'd blink again and then 3rd...then 4th! At the same time, I couldn't wait to grow up! At times, childhood felt like it was lasting forever!
Why was it that, as a kid, it felt as if life was both fast & slow? I couldn't wait to get older and yet it seemed that I was never getting older quick enough! I also would feel as if I wasn't getting enough time with my best friends and it was all slipping away! All of it was true simultaneously.
As an adult, I can fall into the trap of perpetual discontent. Always longing for the next season, vacation, or project to immerse myself in. My daughter is 9-months old and I can, at times, find myself longing for her to be in her "next season" of development (whatever that means!) in her life. It's almost as if there's a perpetual voice in my head asking: are we there yet? are we there yet?
We serve a God who both exists in & outside of time. "...do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day..." (2 Peter 3:7-9). I interpret this text to communicate to us that God is both in it with us and outside of it sustaining the entire cosmos along with our experiences.
In the midst of God's sustenance, I would assume that God is experiencing...joy! He's watching with eyes of love and holding it all together with arms of compassion. This is encouraging news! I don't think God ever says: "This is taking forever!" or "This is flying by!" - I think that God is with us in it all with a perspective that perfectly encompasses joy!
Jesus teaches that, "...unless you repent [that is, change your inner self - your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3, AMP)
Children are perpetually enjoying the present moment! It sure felt that way when I was a child. As an adult, when the year "flys by", like this one did, maybe it's a good sign that I was in the midst of joy and didn't even know it.
Lord, help us be more aware and present to the joy that holds the entire cosmos together!
(I screenshotted below a devotional from Henri Nouwen that was from today - June 6th, 2024! Perfect timing!)
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| This May we sent a group of students to SICM for our annual campus ministry training conference. I'm really excited for what God has planned this fall on campus! |
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| She's growing! Bigger & bigger every day. We're enjoying every minute of it! |
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| We've had a few storms in the DFW area and the last one we had knocked a decent-sized branch in our front yard (see second pic below). We had a couple of friends come over the next day to help us break it down and put it away for bulk pickup. Praise God! |
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| Last weekend we attended a friends wedding and sweet Anaya took a nap on me <3 These moments are getting more & more rare due to her desire to crawl literally everywhere at full speed 24/7, hah! Such a blast! |
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| One of my earliest students at Richland FOCUS - Josh! He just completed serving in the Air Force and is back in town to take classes at UTD! It'll be good to have him back in the area. It was great catching up on him and reminiscing on 2017-18 Richland FOCUS. |
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| Miss these students - I'm excited to see them around at Summer FOCUS here soon :) |
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| <3 Thank you for your support! |
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