[gather] together
I was frantic. Frantic about a lot of things in preparation for the move to New York City, but one uncertainty loomed larger than the rest. It loomed larger because of its importance to my well-being, and my doubt that I could ever have anything as strong as what I came from back home. It loomed larger because I was about to move to a city of 8 million strangers and because I believe people need people. This thing that so loomed, was community.
But somewhere in my frantic heart, whispered the never-frantic voice of the God. He gently reminded me that He had spent the past two years teaching me how to cultivate the very community I craved. He told me I could go to New York and fearlessly use what He had been teaching the whole time. I could gather women together and create space for Him to grow things and pour out love. I could invite women into a space of conversation, celebration, vulnerability, and relationship.
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New Lessons From New York
a few pretty great things the greatest city in the world has taught me.
New York.
What to say about the city? The city that was featured in my journals and my drawings from a young age. That had a grip on my heart from the time I was young, and held on tightly until it got its way and brought me into it to live. Except now, I see that it wasn’t the city that held the grip at all. New York City instead was a seed that the Lord had planted, and He carefully watered and tended to it and cared for it until it became a beautiful, fruitful plant. Funny how He does that with dreams that are entrusted to Him. Seeds without water and dirt and sunlight don’t grow. But when we entrust them to the faithful Gardener, He grows them into something sweet. He shapes our desires to align with His - and delights in fulfilling them. Below are some nuggets of truth from these past few months living in this city.
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Winter & Waiting
Maybe a true "Christmas Season" is awaiting the arrival of a Savior, sometimes questioning where He is and where He's leading, but still walking by faith toward Bethlehem. A certainty in the knowledge that He's there, and our trek through the colder seasons is well worth it - because I'm sure what He taught Mary, Joseph and the wisemen and shepherds on the journey through the winter, was irreplaceable.
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Rwanda & Revival: Topics of Late
I find it hard to wrap words around what was experienced these past few weeks in Rwanda. As with many things regarding God, Rwanda remains hard to explain, nearly impossible to fathom, and all at once shattering, yet restorative.
As I sit here on the plane headed for home, all the things I haven't had the time or energy to process come flooding to the forefront of my tired brain, and these thoughts keep me wide awake as the rest of the passengers are deep in sleep.
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Seasons Turn (Turn, Turn)
Stopping to smell the roses in a world that rarely does.
My whole life is a series of full planners. I recently came across some of my old agendas from school, filled with color-coded homework assignments, weeknight and weekend rehearsal times, post-it note to-do lists, and barely any blank space.
I have never been one to slow down. Slowing down always seemed a weakness to me, free time was a myth, and sleeping? Merely a suggestion. My outlook on life has always been to live it to its fullest, most colorful completion, but in retrospect, I took this to an extreme. There's nothing wrong with being busy, but it's a balancing act.
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19.
19. Here's to another year of skipping and stumbling through this colorful, laughter-infused, chocolate-covered, coffee-stained thing I get to call life. You've snuck up on me with little warning, hardly any notice at all. Another year of acquired knowledge and new growth and loud laughter has passed, altogether incredibly quickly and yet aggravatingly slow. God has cracked my heart open and let His light pour in, and in His promise I find hope and a hunger for the future.
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