Passion (It's the little things...)

Life is in the little things.

Yes?

Perhaps, you're disagreeing with me already.

In fact, as I re-read that first line, I began to disagree with myself somewhat.

While "life is in the little things" may sound quaint and carry some weight, aren't  the big issues of life, the decisions, the heartbreaks, the moves, the education, the experiences, the seminars, the Bible studies, the conferences, the successes, the failures, the people we meet, greet, and sometimes-wanna-retreat-from, the things that make us who we are (and who we aren't)?

Honestly, I've heard it go both ways. But, after tonight, I'm leaning more toward my initial thought. (Repeat line one.)

Life truly is in the little things.

While, yes, life is a collage-mosiac-mix of big, small, and medium-sized, everyday-type things, the passion that attaches itself to truly living life is in the little things.

Sure, big things jar us up from our lounge chairs of laziness, jump start us onto new adventures, and just downright shake us of all we knew to plan for and scare us into uncharted seas. But at the same time, they're like the bolds, the primaries, the reds, blues, and yellows, the colors you simply can't paint without. They're obvious. Everyone sees them. Everyone has them in their box of life-crayons, if you will. They're not easily hidden from sight. 

Medium-sized things typically annoy us. Because. They. happen. monotonously. every. single. day. They're the black, the white, and the varying-yet-unending shades of greyscale-old-school-Paint-program-on-a-PC-type madness. Unless you've got mad art skills and/or work real hard at developing your God-given ability to make something 2D appear 3D through the sheer degrees of fantastic shading, the-black-and-white-and-grey are like daily routines. Useful. And. Necessary. But. Oftentimes. Boring.

Which leads me to my last resort (and my initial report).

Life is truly in the little things.

Words of encouragement? Powerful prayers whispered? Small acts of sincerity? Genuine-yet-simplistic gestures of love? What are they? 

They're the neons. The fuschias. The highlighter pinks. The colors of rainbow sherbert and beginning-of-springtime daffodils. Don't forget Tiger Lilies. They're most definitely like Tiger Lilies, too. They add vibrance, attitude, AND EXCITEMENT to what's already there. Sure, they could easily be left out, but then…. where would the passion be?

Again, in case I haven't stressed it enough, life. is. absolooot-i-ly. in. the. small. things.

Now, I'm curious….What are some little things that are making all the difference in your life today?

Whatever they are,  1.) thank God for them. He's a God whose keen on the precision and detail work of our lives.

2.) Then, go share them with others.

The world needs more passionate people (like you).

Our canvases need more neons (not blues).

If only, if only, more people knew…

… life is in the little things.

Uncharted Waters

Uncharted Waters

I don't know about you, but my personality is very-much-so type A. I plan, I prepare,  and I expect everything to work out in the most perfectionistic way possible. (and yes, making up words is a part-time hobby of mine.)

Lately, I'm realizing now-more-than-ever that my expectations aren't readily lining up with my reality. 

As I realized this, I immediately had to ask myself...

Why? 

Is there an error in my planning? my preparations? my expectations?

Honestly, as I began to explore these thoughts… I acknowledged the answer I was looking for. The reasons my expectations aren't lining up with my reality is because I'm simply not being realistic about the demands I place on myself, the people around me, the situations I find myself in, and the future I have imagined since I was a little tyke scream-singing "deep and wide" into the family video camera.

Since I highly doubt that the sweet little video of my singing will ever be removed from the family video archives, my mind reverts there time and time again, noting that not only is God's love massively DEEP and thankfully WIDE….. but also, sometimes, LIFE is also DEEP and WIDE - and not always in a welcoming-huggy-embracing type of way, either.

Sometimes, the hurts and pains and disappointments in life run DEEP. They cut DEEP. They hit you in places so close to the core of who you are that they alter you. They change your perspective.  They affect your desires and passions. They provide you with an alternative direction in life. They affix who you are today and affect who you will become tomorrow. 

And sometimes, just because the sun sets and restarts into a new day, the hurts and pains and disappointments don't go away. Rather, they linger for WIDE margins of time… all the while, leaving us dazed. confused. wondering. wandering. lingering. and clinging onto anything that will give us hope.  (or, at the very least, give us an explanation for "why" things happen in the ways that they do.)

All of that beating-around-the-bush nonsense to say this: I feel as though I've entered a time/season of my life where I'm completely in the midst of uncharted waters.

The plans I've made have failed.

And the disappointment of it all, quite honestly, hurts.

But, in the midst of it all, I'd be the world's biggest fool to say that God's character is in jeopardy because of it all. Rather, in the midst of the madness, I feel God's character and presence in my life have been magnified. now more than ever.

Without a doubt, I know that God has a plan for me. 

And that it's nothing short of GOOD.

No matter how DEEP and WIDE this "uncharted water" season of my life may appear, I am reminded that God's love is so much deeper and so much wider and His plan is so much greater and higher than anything I could have ever even imagined on my own.

So instead of focusing on the failed plans,

the disappointment,

the hurt,

and the uncharted waters that lie all around me,

I choose to focus on the only One Who sustains - the Creator of the oceans that keeps me moving.

If you're not convinced that His love and His plan override everything that you're currently going through as well, I think I have something from the Hill family home video archives vault that you just might need to see.

What Would You Like To Drink?

"What would you like to drink?"

It's the first question asked at any restaurant. It takes top priority. And quite, honestly, it should. It's a very important question.

You can learn a lot about a person by what type of drink he/she orders.

For example, if they order sweet tea, they're probably from the South.

Unsweetened tea means they've lost their minds. or their taste buds. (or both.)

Soda of any kind means they don't place high importance on keeping their vital organs functioning properly for long. (Guilty!)

And water could mean they're healthy. or cheap. (again, or both.)

And then, depending on the restaurant, there could arise the whole issue of alcoholic beverages, which I see no benefit or wisdom in. 

All of that to say…. perhaps the question of "what would you like to drink?" comes first in the meal because it logically takes the least time to prepare. Or perhaps it's there to show us that while we all have different preferences or "convictions" when it comes to drinking, we all still thirst. We're wired to be thirsty for something.

I honestly don't know about you, but I am ALWAYS thirsty. I could go days without eating with no problem, but it seems like I can't go a half hour without something to drink. Something. Just anything, actually.

I'm by no means a runner, and I don't really have a regular routine of intense workout sessions these days. So, really, there should be no reason that my body longs for something to drink 24/7. When I lived in Florida, I blamed it on the intense Florida sunshine (which I miss very much) and cheerleading practice that occurred in arguably the hottest part of the day, everyday of the school week. 

Now that neither one of those factors apply to me any more, I sometimes like to write-off (in the back of my mind) my thirst as a genetic or inherited issue. My mom is diabetic, and that's sure to come my way one of these days. Therefore, I'm 100% thirsty. all. of. the. time.

However, I lately started to view my thirst "problem" in a much different way. I thought, just perhaps, that I'm always thirsty because I'm not drinking the right things to truly satiate the thirst my body naturally has. Anyone who knows me well could readily testify that my Mt. Dew routine outnumbers my water intake in an embarrassingly high ratio. I'm working on that.

But you know what I find more unnerving than the amount of sodas and the lack of water I drink?

What I "thirst" for on other levels - mentally, emotionally, relationally, socially, and spiritually.

If I'm being real honest, the Sunday School answers I know in my head don't always readily line up with what's going on inside my heart and what it desires, or I should say it may not be so much what I desire but that I desire it too much or the timing doesn't always line up with God's ultimate plan of perfection for my life.

The Bible makes a handful of references to thirst and drinking and has even more lessons that center around water, wells, the Fountain of Living Waters, and never thirsting again. And I want that. Not just as a salvation experience or a I'm-a-good-girl-following-the-rules-and-going-to-church-on-a-regular-basis type ordeal. I'm tired of always being thirsty for more than I have right now. I want to chase continually and intentionally after the Fountain of Living Waters. And not come up thirsty for all these other substitutions that simply weren't designed to satiate me.

In the Beattitudes, Matthew records, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness."

And way back in Psalm, David reminds us of the object of his thirst, "As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee." These are just two of the many men that got it right. At the end of the day, I want to be counted with them and let my "cup" overflow with joy, peace, and rest in my Heavenly Father.

Today, what's in your cup?

Better yet, what's in your heart?

The two aren't mutually exclusive.