behold, i am making all things new.

“Good music makes you homesick for a place that you've never been.” - anonymous

I stole it from Bethany Dillon.  I have always liked that quote because I have always liked how music touches my soul.  I could never quite put my finger on it, though.  Why, at least.  Last night, I was a reading some blogs.  Quite random ones, actually.  Ran across one where the writer mentioned a moment at a recent concert.  Where the music was so beautiful – the harmonies, chords, rhythm, piano and guitar and voice, etc.  Heaven must be like this, she thought.  Beautiful.  Perfect.  I liked it.  I thought of how music often soothes souls.  Makes you homesick for heaven.

July 3^rd, 2011.  Driving back from Savannah to Atlanta for the Peachtree.  Just before I jumped in my car, my friend Summers gave me a mixed CD.  So, naturally, I put it in for the 4 hour drive.  I fell in love with the new tunes.  We stopped to eat dinner in Macon.  It was a cool summer night, the sun had just set, and the rain was hitting me as I stepped outside my car.  I felt alive.  I said to Summers, “I want to really live.”  Something happened when I put in that CD.  Something sparked within me when I heard that music.  It made me homesick for a place I’d never been.  Heaven.  A place where everything is made right.  Full living.  Beauty.  Perfection.  Love.  Wholeness.  Shalom.  Everything is right.  No more discord.  No more brokenness. 

Good music so often soothes my soul.  I want to listen to more music that does that.  Good music touches desires of mine that are for perfection, beauty, shalom, community, love.  That is why it makes me homesick for a place I’ve never been.  That is why I love it so. 

And, now on my to do list:  go to a concert.  soon. 

child of dust.

Dear Prodigal, you are my son and I
Supplied you not your spirit but your shape
All Eden's wealth arrayed before your eyes
I fathomed not you wanted to escape

And though I only ever gave you love
Like every child you've chosen to rebel
Uprooted flow'rs and filled their holes with blood
Ask not for whom they toll, the solemn bells

A child of dust, to mother now return
For every seed must die before it grows
And though above the world may toil and turn
No prying spade will find you here below

Now safe beneath their wisdom and their feet
Here I will teach you truly how to sleep

- thrice

panera.

had dinner with my friend laney tonight.  i like this kid a lot.  she was in my core this summer and rocked ozone.  i have loved being able to stay in touch with her throughout the fall.  she is a boss.  anyways, back to dinner.  it was one of those good dinners where you sit and chat for a while.  the ones that make me feel alive.  we were chatting about life and camp and the internship.  and, it hit me.  one of those emotions that rushes over you.  i am absolutely loving working for camp.  hands down.  so glad i am here.

just as a taste, here are some questions i am pondering these days:
money and resources aside, what is my dream job?  what are my dreams?
what are my spiritual gifts?
how prideful am i really?
does god truly delight in and want good for me?
how does sport (specifically soccer) affect my everyday life?
what are important vs. urgent tasks?
how important is the power of story to communicate?

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

- C.S. Lewis

satisfied.

all my life long i had panted
for a drink from some cool spring
that i hoped would quench the burning
of the thirst i felt within.

feeding on the filth around me
'till my strength was almost gone.
longed my soul for something better
only still to hunger on.

poor i was and sought for riches
something that would satisfy.
but the dust i gathered 'round me
only mocked my soul's sad cry.

well of water ever springing
bread of life so rich and free.
untold wealth that never faileth,
my redeemer is to me.

hallelujah!  he has found me,
the one my soul so long has craved!
jesus satisfies all my longings
through his blood i now am saved


- red mountain church.

rfc 2011

just got back from a week in southern cali.  san diego, actually.  a sports ministry conference.  the question came up in one of our sessions:  "why does sport break barriers so easily and quickly?"  specifically, "why can sport break relational barriers in a few hours that the church breaks in years?"

for example, these two ladies - jenna (middle) and leanna (right).  we cycled to the point of exhaustion, chatted about deep stuff, contemplated the lord, pondered life plans, poked fun at each other, sweated profusely, sang justin beiber at the top of our lungs, suffered in pain, and consumed countless numbers of energy bars for nearly 150 miles.  all of this on a bike.  a sport, at least of some sort.

the question still lingers for the moment.  i have ideas for how to answer it.  but, for now i will appreciate it and the relationships it brings...

UGA Ride for Christ is an annual fundraiser in support of the Baptist Collegiate Ministries' summer missions teams.  RFC is a 300-mile, 30-hour bike ride from Athens, Ga, to Jacksonville, Fl, the weekend of the Georgia-Florida football game.

thoughts from cali

i write from the bridge conference - a sports ministry training (conference) in san diego, caifornia.

we talked about it much today:  pride.  the root of all sin.  pride.  the root of all of my sin.  yet, jesus calls to humility and selfless love.

"if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." mark 8:34-35