I'm God's Favorite

“God is so in love with all of you,” I leaned forward in my chair as children sat Indian-style on the floor before me.  I had been in San Antonio, Texas once before to help at a children’s conference in this very church, in fact.  And so I knew the energy each boy and girl had the potential of displaying, but somehow, they graciously kept their composer.  Their eyes were fixated on me as I shared stories and tried to correlate each testimony to their lives.  But little did I know that the words I was soon to hear would carry more depth than I could ever hope to teach or fully comprehend.  And those words would come from the simple and curious heart of a child.        

I said it again, “God is so in love with each one of you!” A hand rose from the middle of this child-congregation and his fingers wiggled and waved as if he had not already been seen.  I pointed to the boy, “Yes?”

He dropped his hand and looked around at the eyes of the other children as they turned their gazes to him.  “I know that God loves EVERYONE, but when I pray, He makes me feel like I’m His favorite,”

I could not have been more impressed.  “You get it! You have experienced how personal God’s love is towards you!” I shouted proudly.  “It is not only that God loves the world as a whole, but He loves you, and you, and you…” As I spoke, I pointed to random children in the crowd and seized their eyes with my own.  My smile, which had already been beaming from the presence of young company, had now amplified at the pronouncing of this boy’s profound thought.  I had arrived that morning with the intent of teaching these children, but I realized in that moment that their understanding of God’s love could, very well, have put my own beliefs and ideas to shame. 

Never underestimate the mind of a child.  Too often, the concepts and beliefs that come naturally to them put years of our greatest studies, teachings and principles to shame.  Their simplicity ought to shine a light on what truly matters, because their love does not gleam from the traditions, moral values or expectations that society or religion have had any chance to place on them.  There is a love and curiosity in every child’s eyes; and I believe it to be Heaven-born.  

How To See Eternity In A Clock

Time can be an unsettling thing.  It ticks and tocks to remind you of its existence, but often moves faster than we wish it would.  We have all undergone those moments of anxiety; the same, in which, we always wish our clocks shared some amount of sympathy for our busy state of existence.  As you may have already discovered, "patience" does not exist in time’s vocabulary; it waits for no one! But I would like to take this moment to brag, in that I have found victory over time itself.  My success is that God exists in every moment, and I remind myself to recognize those instants with Him. 

Watch the nearest second-hand baring clock to you.  As the second hand slowly pivots its way around the face, how many of those moments does God not exist within? If you say “None”, then acknowledge Him with every second.   

You have heard the phrase “Live in the moment”, and I very much agree with these words.  But to live for the time that is at hand does not exclude preparation and acknowledgement for the future or past.  In fact, the present is life’s perfect median between the two.  To “live in the moment” is to appreciate where the past has brought you from, as you simultaneously make steps towards the unpredictable that is before you.  But your heart and mind never have to escape life’s current presentation, as long as they avoid the blinders of guilt and worry.  Guilt comes from a lack of seeing Christ in our past, just as anxiety and worry are conceived when we do not expect Christ for our future.  But to see the past and future without these blinding factors is to see life through its most promising and sober perspective.

And so, look back at the clock, once again.  Remind yourself that God is in every moment.  Now live your life from this perspective.  The moments that you share in a realization of God’s ceaseless presence are times already acknowledging and appreciating your incessant state.  You are at rest with God from now to everlasting.  To see God in every moment is to already see life through eternity’s lens.         

Honorable Perspective

True honor, like love, is a choice of perspective.  You can say all of the right words in front of someone and then completely negate that same person behind their back and still have shown ‘fruits of honor’ without ever having presented any genuineness to that person at all.  But when our focus and intent is to highlight and appreciate someone for the belief that we have for their life, true honor and all of its fruits are naturally displayed.  It is the most selfless act we can engage ourselves in, because honor places other’s agendas, dreams, ideals and words as higher than our own and seeks to give of oneself to see the fruition of another’s dreams.  It is an utter submission. 

Common images that come to mind for honor may be acknowledgements and highlights from a stage, but it begins long before any such public accolades are considered.  Honor is simply believing in someone, whether they currently see themselves worthwhile or not.  It is looking past the personas, walls and hurts that so many eyes have stumbled over and realizing the immeasurable potential that that person carries, and then treating them as such. 

It does not take anyone special to read off life accomplishments from a person that has fulfilled their dreams, but true humility and selflessness is displayed when you believe in someone long before the world sees any reason to give them the time of day.  But when you highlight the goodness within someone, I inspire you to watch as everything about that person matures, is cultivated and eventually blossoms.  They live out their full potential because you saw and believed in it, even before they did.     

Take on every day with an appreciation for the lives that surround you.  Smile, laugh, and listen just to listen.  Show that you believe in someone; you will be surprised by how strongly honor will repay itself to those that are willing to give it. 

            

I Hear Voices

Every year I become increasingly amazed at the specific details that God will speak to us as we listen.  Since my return from 60 Days Walking, I have been very particular about the next steps that I take in life; trying not to jump too hastily into just any job that comes my way.  But the cost of patience in such careful decision making often calls for some amount of trust.  Several weeks ago, I found myself asking God where I was to receive money for my living expenses, as my unemployed state was quickly depleting my bank account.  Immediately, an old co-worker that I had not seen or spoken to in over six months came to mind.  “Joyce is going to call you with a painting job,” God spoke clearly to my heart.  And of course, the next day I received that very phone call.  My mind was blown, but somehow I had expected it to happen that way, because after all, He is my Father; why wouldn’t He speak to me?

It was only about four years ago that I discovered God’s love for speaking to his children, but not just about the ‘important stuff’.  Many would consider it obvious that God speaks to us about decisions and direction, but I am convinced that he is equally interested in the day to day occurrences that even we don’t care that much about.  Why? Because God is intimate.  When speaking ‘religiously’ most might assume God has little care or interest in grocery shopping, watching television, or cleaning the house; but I would beg to differ.  On several occasions, God has even told me the names of characters in movies before they were introduced.  And many might wonder or ask, “Why would God tell someone things like that?” or “What importance or purpose was behind those things? What did you learn?” And honestly, I believe many of the words that God speaks are meant to be nothing more than a reminder of his closeness and a fruit of simply being involved in our lives. 

I understand that this can seem extreme, bizarre, and some may even assume that one needs to be some sort of “highly favored” or “special Christian” to hear God’s voice this way, but everything in me prays that you tear down the superhero mentalities that come with these sorts of testimonies.  The same Spirit that is in me, the same spirit that was in Paul, and the same spirit that was in Jesus, is alive and filled with an equal potential inside of you! God lives in you by His own choice!  There is no superhero status (beyond the idea that we have ALL become super humans through Christ, that is).  Yes there are differing gifts, and yes, people have their own passions and focuses, but God’s voice is here for the hearing, no matter your self-perceived status.  We serve a savior that calls himself “The Word”; I think that makes it safe to conclude that he might be a bit of a “talker”. 

When you pray, listen as much as you speak.  Ask God about the specifics of each day, each decision and even about the lives of people around you.  I promise that God is not shy, and I know that a God as willing to give as much as he has for you will want to talk to you just as powerfully. 

You are His child. 

You are His love. 

What is He saying to you today? 

The Power of Words: Something to Talk About

Words are not only words, as so many of us often suppose.  They have the power to define who someone is, because they set a verbal or written standard by which people position or see themselves.  Example: Why do parents tell their children not to call another person ugly? Because when someone hears this word, the most common response of the hearer is to believe and associate one’s self to the identity of “ugly” to some extent or another.  The same can be true by way of assumption.  Have you ever heard phrases like, “Just be yourself,” or seen lists in blogs and magazines about “How to be beautiful/sexy/successful.”? Suddenly, your mind wonders “Why wouldn’t I be myself?” or you associate yourself as none of what the article is promoting because the context and wording immediately positions the reader as being none of those things.  Thus, as people hear, read and associate, so they live out!

This is not a new problem in the world; in fact, the opening book of the Bible shows the world’s first identity crisis only a few chapters in.  Eve’s actions clearly show that one’s understanding of their position with God is crucial to everything else that that person does, says and ultimately lives out in every way.  In seeing this, ‘belief’ or the act of ‘believing in God’ is no longer man’s one work towards his salvation, but rather, a fully convinced mind/heart that trusts that he is who God says that he is.

In multiple places throughout scripture, references to mankind being created in the likeness and image of God gives us an unmistakable position of which to associate Eve.  She was created in God’s image, BUT what does the serpent tempt her with? “The moment you eat from that tree… You’ll be just like God…” (Genesis 3:4,5 MSG).  Just as in the example of disassociation that a magazine entices its’ readers by, Satan used his words to indirectly say, “Eve, you are not like God,” And we all know where the story went from there.      

We are similar to Eve in that our identity is linked to the image and likeness that we have been created in.  The same lie that caused Eve to perform actions that were not within her nature is still tickling the ears of people today and convincing them of their separation from God.  I believe that from this mindset every religion in the world has been created: man tries to bridge the gap between themselves and a distant god; never realizing that the very God they are searching for has already bridged that same gap.    

Realize that God did not come to save a world of worthless people.  An important question to ask one’s self is this, “Who do I believe myself to be?” But an even greater question, and one that you will spend the rest of your life delving deeper and deeper into is, “Who does God say that I am?” You will be amazed by the answers that you find, and God’s response to this second question will completely rewrite the answer you come up with for the first as well.  Do not get caught up in naming yourself by the flimsy titles and associations that the world provides, but allow your identity to be defined by Truth itself.  In other words, believe what God believes to be true about you.        

Letters and Stories

The more I realize our Creator’s closeness to His children, my appreciation for life and its’ beauties expands.  The feeling is comparable to reading a well-thought-out card or letter from a close friend.  As you skim over each memory, hidden joke and emotional reflection, your heart connects to the writer! The letter is remarkable because it is personal and inescapably heartwarming because each word was inscribed with an obvious love-intent.  I have now come to see the world in a very similar way.

Reading John’s reference to God as “love”, I cannot help but look for the romance between humanity and the Divine.  If the creator of the world is, in fact, the very essence of love, there ought to be evidence of this in EVERYTHING.  Even at the very start of it all, this characteristic should be woven through the very purpose of humanity and its' life.  (So let's take a look 'in the beginning'.)  As one reads the first chapter of Genesis, whether it be historical account or poetic cosmology, the final detail to the world’s formation is mankind.  Is it too much to conclude then, that to a great extent, this world was created for us? That would certainly be romantic. 

Have you ever considered that the earth is a platform for which God schemed the ultimate love-story, and Jesus is the protagonist that drew your heart back to your Father? This way of thinking has changed everything for me.  I cannot see a beach or mountain without feeling completely romanced by its’ maker.  I cannot see an individual without considering how infatuated God is with them.  We are children of a God that is masterful in every detail of His romance, because love not only considers the big picture, but shows its true care in the intricacies of the ‘little things’. 

The Bible is the first few chapters of this indefinite love-story; the same one, to which, you have now stepped into the pages and dialogue.  Heaven and its’ angels expectantly watch as you take on life with your loving creator.  They cannot help but wonder what adventures the two of you will take on together.   

Love Focus

You are radically loved, and it is not prideful to dwell on that heartwarming fact.  In actuality, I believe this to be the healthiest focus anyone can maintain.  Constant acknowledgement for the love God has for you allows for a newness of mind and a heavy change in priorities. In a world consumed by their need to find love, you stand out as one who knows how truly important you are, and can walk with confidence, understanding that the creator of everything is head over heels for you.  When you discover God, you also find love; there is no distinction between the two.  Life with God was not intended to be spent in a love-pursuit; but from your realization of his already existing love, your entire way of thinking becomes inspired by the outpouring of your focus.  In other words, when you see how loved you are, you begin to love in a like manner.  You become the love that the world is searching so relentlessly after.   

I could talk about love all day.  In recent years, it seems that whether I am eating, talking, daydreaming or working, God’s love for me is in some way mixed in with my thoughts.  His love has grown to be the most common factor to any decision, not because I dwell on it directly in each moment, but because my trust in his care has become natural, and in turn, this has made a literal difference in the way I look at people, situations and choices that life brings my way.  I see those around me as being just as deeply loved by God as I am, and suddenly respecting, honoring and exhorting others becomes a natural way of life.  Situations no longer determine my mood or behavior like they used to, because my joy is no longer in search of a steady place to land: I am already safe in God’s arms.  Life choices are no longer focused on appearance, as if I have something to prove to the world; but God has already proven my worth through the price he paid to have my heart.  A change in perspective is a transformed life. 

Don’t consume your thoughts with worries and self-pities.  Meditate on God’s love for you and see if that doesn’t change a few things.  It may begin as a routine you have to be purposeful about and remind yourself to focus on, but your mind will eventually catch up to your heart as your thoughts mimic those of your Father and you become a child with a love focus.            

Yo Hablo Espanol!

I remember back to my tenth and eleventh grade Spanish classes when my lack of any foreseen purpose in comprehending, speaking or writing in a foreign language produced the same grades as I had care.  Although I passed both years, my greatest foreign language accomplishments during that time went no further than my ability to turn the Spanish rendition of ‘The Pledge of Allegiance’ into a way of pretending I was angry with someone, as I would yell, “Yo prometo leatad a la bandera de los Estados Unidos…” all the way through until I produced either laughs or fearful stares from my audience.  (Impressive and brilliant, I know). 

The same jokester that you read above is also the Spanish interpreter for 60 Days Walking.

What happened? I found purpose.

After graduating high school, I took my first ever mission trip out of the country.  The trip was nine days that our team spent in a rural village in the northwestern mountains of Guatemala.  I had very little memory of my Spanish at that time, but during this short trip, something clicked and my desire to learn showed itself.  Eight months later I moved back to this same village for a summer, immersed in the language and culture of a people group that I had come to care for greatly.  This trip was the pinnacle of my Spanish learning, and also the reason that I can serve to interpret today.

Lives and activities conducted without purpose have very little care to develop.  Even when placed in situations that insist we learn, our growth is slowed by our unwillingness to see potential behind every new lesson, idea, or way of thinking.  It takes humility to mature.  When we look down on potential areas of growth, we often consider ourselves greater than the lesson or teacher themselves and our minds convince us that, ‘there can be nothing learned here,’ and we miss out on great opportunities.  But we have the choice to see life and its teachers for so much more. 

Believe that in every situation or hardship, an opportunity to mature only waits to be seen.

See and appreciate that everyone you meet knows something that you do not, and speak to them in an expectation that you will learn.

The Day To Day

Photo by: Jessi Van Dyke after delivering beds
to a poor family in the city of Cristo Rey

Blogging for Beautiful Feet has been a joyous learning experience in both creativity and responsibility.  Traveling with a laptop through third world conditions, finding time to blog without being too antisocial with our contacts, and sorting through countless inspiring stories and thoughts to highlight the ones that best connect to my readers, are only a few examples of the jobs I have had the honor of growing in.  But perhaps the responsibility that has matured me the greatest is the essential task of staying committed.  Some of the most common advice that I have received for writing over the years is also that which would seem the most obvious: “If you want to be a good writer, then write, and write a lot!” But just because advice appears obvious, does not mean it is simple to follow.   

Writing, like any other form of art, cannot be significantly matured and mastered by waiting for moments of inspiration to get you going.  I would compare it to driving a manual car or a motorcycle: anyone can drive when the vehicle is in high gear; it is getting started that stalls you out.  Dedication is deciding to continuously turn the key, no matter how many stalls and stutters it may bring. Updating a blog every other day (more or less) has turned my writing into an obligation, and I could not be more grateful, because efficiency is often a byproduct of routine.  Inspiring others to go after their dreams is one of my greatest passions and desires, but if we choose to only live by the ongoing words and actions of inspiring people and do not begin to make personal forward movement, practice and growth towards our own desires, we make people out to be no more than crutches and fall and fail when they are not around. 

It is time to set goals.

I have heard it said that, “If you write a page a day, in a year you’ll have a 365 page novel,” The mindset behind these words is one that believes in the power of setting simple and relevant goals that bring about huge achievements over time.  I challenge you to put this mindset to the test.  Take your passions and put goals behind them.  Write out your dreams, and take one step at a time until you arrive (or expand the dream).  It is an amazing thing to feel inspired, but inspiration works far better as a progression tool than it does a starter key.

Invitation To Dream

Being guided to the New Song base in Chichigapa, Nicaragua

Where is your life going?

What maps are you using?

Whose advice do you hold onto the strongest?

Are you pursuing dreams? If not, what drives you?

For me, travel always brings these and similar questions to mind – as if to taunt me into dreaming bigger, reevaluating previous choices about my future, or even convincing myself to change life directions all-together.  I love and hate these questions: love, because I believe dreams are meant to be grown, matured and given fresh focus now and again; and hate, because in the midst of travel, there are few places that my thoughts can go besides the seemingly untrustworthy storage capacity of my own memory or, if I am wise enough in the moment, the notes section of my iPhone.  (Because what can someone really accomplish on a crowded eight hour chicken-bus ride when ideas for changing the world come to mind?)

Travel stirs these questions because in stepping away from what I know, I am forced into a place of contemplation and given a broadened view for consideration.  Silence and stillness can be so hard to bear.  Staying in motion has become the ultimate comfort for a large number of people, because whether they like the direction their life is taking or not, they can at least pretend, and in doing so, convince themselves that their busy lives surely must equate to forward progress! But sadly, I believe such movements keep us stagnant.  I am a huge encourager in the pursuit of dreams and the stirring of curiosity and new ideas.  As frightening as curiosity and uncertainty can appear to be, remember that life is not a math test waiting to pass or fail you when formulas and codes are forgotten – dreams are meant to be pursued, and talents exist to be cultivated. 

I do not have any secret formulas or a checklist of “to-do’s” that will bring dreams to life or cause them to grow, but I will write of what I see, and that being a world of inconsistencies that serves as home to a people that seek patterns and trails.  We often long for safe roads and rules that will hold us accountable enough to not fall too far left or right, as if safety were the overarching theme and goal of our universe.  But I would ask that we relearn our childhood curiosity and believe that maturity is found just as much in what we admit to not understand as it is to have an understanding in anything at all. 

Break away from the busyness of life and consider where it is that you desire to go.  Life’s possibilities are endless and your dreams were crafted with purpose by a Divine Visionary that loves to watch His children succeed and grow.  It may begin on scrap paper or a new Microsoft Word document; but the point is found in the process of halting, stepping back, and carefully considering what life you desire to live.  I do not know what you will or will not find – you may even confirm that your life is headed exactly where you have always hoped that it might! But if this blog serves for nothing more, I pray that it inspires you to dream.  

Inherit Genius

Some of life’s greatest teachers, when looked at closely, are no more than situations and individuals who rip their students from the ignorant grounds of the familiar and force them into a pursuit of the undiscovered.  We are creatures of curiosity, but too often our desire to learn is overcome by the deceptive need of having ‘all of the answers’.  Now, I am not concluding that there is anything wrong in having facts and knowledge; but I do believe that when our questions outnumber the answers we can provide, we position ourselves to inherit genius.   

This is one of the many reasons I love travel.

In my travels, I have found that the world is far bigger and smaller than you will ever imagine.  Bigger, because the walls of my boxes never seem to stand against the countless perspectives, traditions, ideas and languages that the world is maturing in without my knowledge and approval; and smaller, because no matter where I go, the same pursuit of meaning, love, friendship and truth show themselves to be clearly universal.  In other words, what is inconceivable and distant in our minds may prove to be closely knit to each of our hearts.

I invite you to be still for a moment and rest in the assurance that having answers and proving points is not the pinnacle of your existence.  Understanding that there are things you do not know can be both a terrifying and freeing realization, but one filled with immeasurable beauty and potential.  Ask questions, search under every rock and take on life from the vantage point of your natural curiosity.  Your talents, personality and dreams are all jam-packed with purpose that is only waiting to be recognized by your own heart.         

From Fear to Passion

I glanced from the bed of Mundo’s pickup at the halted truck before us.  The policeman saw us coming and quickly reached his hand into other man’s truck and pulled out a stack of Guatemalan bills, which he then slipped discretely into the newspaper in his other hand.  The officer waved the truck along and returned to his own vehicle where he pretended to resume a reading – as if nothing shady and unusual had just taken place.  As our own truck made its transition from the dirt path back onto the cement road, the truck that had been halted before, stopped again on the side of the road – this time the man gave us an awkward smile as he stepped down from his seat, as if to say, “I know you saw that – but you didn’t see anything!” and we drove on. 

Today’s venture required us to take a contraband road that connected Honduras and Guatemala.  We knew that many police officers were paid off in this area to keep the transportation of drugs between countries running smooth, and so seeing this scene should not have come as much of a surprise to me.  (But it did.)  I have found that it is moments like these that send reality-checking jolts through my mind and heart as I travel throughout third world cities and countries.  These scenarios first remind me of where I am, but then draw me into a reminiscent state of recounting how I came to be there, and why.     

As far back into my childhood as I can remember, and up until I was 18 years old, I had an unspoken fear of being in dark places.  I could not walk alone through dark parking lots without looking over my shoulder continuously to be sure I was not being followed or watched, as if darkness was only there to hide the evils that desired to have their way with me.  But this all changed when, at 18, I began believing Jesus’ words that I was the ‘light of the world’! With this perspective change I began to see myself as someone that gave darkness a reason to fear, rather than the other way around.  This revelation grew until I finally believed that there was no dark place on the earth I could go that would not be flooded with light when I walked in the front door. 

Darkness cannot be measured because it is formed in lack – that lack being in the place of illumination! In a sense, darkness is no more than a bold invitation for light to shine.       

God took what had once been my fear, and turned it into my passion! When referencing my dreams, I often tell people that, “I want to go to the darkest places of the world and watch God’s light shine in the midst!” And these words can sound impressive, but they are nothing in comparison to the life changing transition God’s goodness brought to make those words honestly expressible. 

Jesus’ words are life transforming when they are believed.  God did not bring a petty and shy gospel, but one of power and unfathomable love – that as people begin to trust Him at His word, the world is changed. 

      

Dream and Reminisce

Last night, Joey, James and I experienced an inspiring time of reflection over our week in El Salvador.  One of our first nights in El Tunco, the three of us spent an evening side by side in the sand, each asking God what the next week would hold, and listening for what God might invite us to join Him in doing throughout.  We heard a number of encouraging words that night, but a greater joy came when, at the end of our time in this surf town, we glanced back at these same words, now fulfilled. 

I have found that it can be easy to lose sight of our dreams.  We go through life constantly looking to the future and forget the beauty of where we have grown from, which consequently, can blind our hearts from enjoying the wonder of dreams fulfilled.                    

As the three of us prepare to leave El Tunco and move on into Chiquimula, Guatemala, I would like to invite our readers and followers into a time of reflection – To welcome you into a place of appreciation.  This may begin in reminiscing about old dreams, or cracking open a dust-covered journal to unmask desires long forgotten, or it may take thumbing through old photographs to see how you have grown and matured throughout the years.  The task is simple, but powerful to inspire. 

Remember where it is you have come from.

Recount the dreams that have become realities and use them to re-inspire the ones that you have not yet lived out.

Count your blessings.

Only dwell on hardships for the quickening growth that came from them.

Collect the words that God has spoken throughout your life and allow your heart and mind to dwell in the reality of his faithfulness.  

Your life is so beautiful and precious – take time to remember that today.  

         

Broadening The Discussion

I shrugged my shoulders and sighed as I watched Joey fill his coffee cup with the last of the church’s brew.  As I set my Styrofoam cup back on its proper stack, I noticed the bag of cookies hidden behind the coffeepot, and my stomach regained much of its enthusiasm.

Joey, James and I were visiting a Christian Surfer’s Church with our friends Sandra and Jill.  The three of us had met the speaker for that morning, as well as the church’s pastor two days before at the orphanage and decided that it would be fun to attend their Saturday morning service.  The guest speaker from California used an interpreter to share his understandings of repentance and then specified the topic by explaining how each person in the body of Christ is called to fill a need in their church.  I enjoyed the teaching, but when it came time for the small church to break off into groups of 3 – 5 to discuss what needs each individual could fill, our group found itself in a laughable dilemma: none of us could claim a regular attendance at the form of church that the man was referring to.

I will not go into the details of Sandra and Jill’s situations, but as for Joey, James and I, our ‘church’ in the United States meets at a home that uses very few organized traditions that might be found regularly conducted in steeple-crowned buildings.  We have all attended such churches in the past, in fact, I have grown up in those settings, but for us to keep the speaker’s discussion topic both honest and relevant to our lives, the five of us found it necessary to broaden the man’s question.

Ideas for more conducive topics jumped between us for several minutes until Jill finally landed on the one that we all agreed could be best implemented into our lives, “How can we best fill the needs of the community around us?”

The topic quickly took a dive into the deep end.

We spoke of identity, honor and love.  Every action or idea had its makings in an understanding of the true purpose of mankind, and acknowledging each person as being just as worthy of Christ’s blood as we, ourselves.  We brought up how people become objectified in their situations by others and discussed the importance of seeing people for who they are, and not limit the significance or reality of their lives to our own measuring scales of what they have or have not done.  We spurred one another on in seeing those around us through the eyes of grace.             

I could not help but notice the congruency between this topic and the lifestyle that Beautiful Feet is learning to live out and promote – a lifestyle that originated with Jesus Christ.         

What would it look like for us to see the individuals around us for the same importance that God so publically and loudly expressed them to carry? Or how much farther could our words and actions reach if each was birthed from a place of true love and honor for its recipient? What does love look like in the first place? What does honor look like?

What are your own thoughts on these topics? Please share in the comments below! 

Happy New Year

Enthusiasm, regret, inspiring words and comments from those who claim to have no care for the New Year – these are the statuses that flooded my Facebook news-feed this morning.  And I imagine yours was not so different.  To most, the New Year brings on an invitation for new beginnings and an excuse to reminisce in the glories and horrors of the previous twelve months.  Every year the same picture reappears like clockwork: the world sees how it has matured and then aspires and promises to grow and live and learn all the more in the coming year.    

This universal dreaming always excites me.  I would only ask that these dreams do not stop flowing when the holiday lights come down. 

Set goals and stick to them!

Create and meditate in new dreams!

Show the love that you have for those around you!

This is your year to cultivate the countless talents that are within you!

You are destined for greatness and you have been fashioned in and for love – my prayer this morning is that you grow in your belief of these simple words over the next year.  If we truly do live our lives from what we believe, I challenge and invite you see the beauty of the manifestation of the words I am sharing.  Believing God’s goodness and seeing his belief and pleasure in you are life changing realizations.

May 2014 be a season that you will never forget!

Happy New Year!