Breathe

Today marks the first day in a long time that I have watched the sun rise from my window pane. Experience nature all around me by the trees as they shake and shimmy in the gentle breeze. It is in these times that I am thankful to be alive, to have life and attempt to live it to the full.

In this season of reflection, I am reminded of my summers in North Carolina. It was always so much to do, but the pace of doing it was different. My brother, cousin and I were locked outside with a pitcher of ice water married with plastic cups as the adults got a break from us -- the noise makers.

On the days in which no one would be home, I went to work with grandma, the librarian and often times the library became my summer home. It was a space where you had to be quiet, books were everywhere, and maybe, just maybe, grandma was planting seeds for me. The seeds of learning through books where you can go anywhere, be anyone, and most importantly, be so much.

And how could I forget the apple tree tucked in the back corner of the yard. Below it, was a sandbox that granddaddy built for us to play in. We used to climb the tree to see how high we could get, a competition of sorts. Bragging rights were our reward. And the sandbox, became a place that would catch us when we fell. We would even be allowed to pick apples off the tree for the apple pie grandma would make for dessert at times.

In the midst of the breeze, the library and the apple tree, God is and was there allowing us to breathe, be at peace and experience life. In these moments, we can live again. So breathe and live life with reflections of the past that can charge and change your future. Breathe and take a time out.

Overflow

I remember my former lay leader used to say "my cup runneth over and my saucer is full as well" and I used to chuckle to myself that that didn't make no sense. Or so I thought...until now.

I was in a small cafe tucked in the interior part of a European city recently and I ordered a cup of tea. They brought out a mildly worn tea pot and the tea bag tag was hanging outside of the pot. When I went to go pour it, I forgot what I was doing and filled the cup up to the point where there was some residual tea in the saucer. Then my lay leader's motto hit me. Oh, how my cup did runneth over.

My cup runneth over in the realization that every round can go higher and higher in the presence of the Lord. Remembering 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we live by faith and not by sight, it is sometimes easier to "want to see" than actually seeing. What do I mean? Well, I have been praying that God show me the next steps for my life. I want to walk in God's will for my life, but can I handle the next steps. By trusting in the Lord, that ability is possible.

Until then, I will fix a cup of tea and wait on the Lord.