Unsatisfied By Average

The Musings of a Stubborn Believer

Author: Seán (page 22 of 31)

Too Good to Be True?

January 19, 2011 / / 3 Comments
The word is invigorated. 
Or as my beautiful little sister put it on the way back to Boston Logan after a full weekend–
“You always end with the upper hand if you’re on the right team….”
The God we serve defies the bounds of human logic. I decided that afresh while kneeling once again by the little pile of rocks where I begged for words last week. This time, laughing and crying at once–
“My Jesus! You’re too good to be…to be… 
True?!?

No… Too good not to be True.”

  
Surrender to Conquer was the theme of the Northeast Youth Retreat this year… 
And the paradox has been driven home for me. 
Jesus, keep us faithful…


Photos: Elwyn Garaza & Joshua Nebblett


God is Good… [And the year in photos]

January 12, 2011 / / 0 Comments
God is good.
Oh, so good.
That’s my theme song these days… 
My feet are finally “back to normal,” (after the miles logged in dress shoes in Baltimore :)) but my heart has only started singing. 
Though GYC flew by in somewhat of a blur, God still found ways to articulate His grace to me… Sometimes through thunderous throng, sometimes through stunning silence… 
Every time, right when I most needed a hand to hold. 
When a third of us flew home on a few hours notice partway through to be with my dying grandfather, that’s when grace swept me right off my feet, in more ways than one. It still makes my heart warm to think about it. 
He used sandwiches. One offered, and one bought for me even though I thought I wasn’t hungry. He used a 120-voice choir on its knees. He used the tears in a stranger’s eyes when she said how she’d been blessed. He used Elder Wilson’s compassionate words and prayers. He used the sound of 5,500 voices coming towards me during closing song. He used the prayer room. He used my amazing committee members. He used my little sister’s head resting on my shoulder. He used three hundred smiles from strangers, a “picnic” lunch with old friends and new faces, a solid vote of confidence…
And he used my own weakness. 
Yes, God is good. 
Oh thank You, Your Grace…
Do it again next year. 

___________________________________
For those of you with interest in getting a taste of our year in photos… 🙂



“That’s what I did…”

December 25, 2010 / / 3 Comments

“…But I never did promise [it] to you specifically.”
“I noted that.”
“I just asked you to…?”
“Fight.”
“Mhm.”

.
.

“What am I supposed to do? Fight for someone else’s trophy?”

.
.
.


“That’s what I did.


Merry Christmas…”





______________________________________________

Thus ended the little “dialog” between the Eternal Weight of Glory and a tired soldier feeling more like a little boy in his cold, dark room on the eve of Christmas.
But not because there was no more to say. 
Because there was too much to think about…
Ahh, matchless condescension. 
Matchless abdication of rights.

Matchless benevolence.
To give the best and brightest of your talents, the bulk of your time, the vital force of your life for someone else’s gain, asking absolutely nothing in return other than the honor of giving…

That is the spirit of Christmas.

Australia

December 17, 2010 / / 7 Comments
Home. 
A strange mix of happy and sad I’ve never felt before…
Try loving, and praying, and preaching, and crying for souls… 
And being loved by them, and then saying goodbye knowing there’s a good chance you will never meet again on this side of the gates of pearl. 
Oh, I know.
I’ve done it before too. But this time was different. 
A part of me is still in Australia. 
And that part of me will never come home.
Maybe it was relinquishing claims to those hearts and hands 
to trust them to the grip of One infinitely stronger and wiser…
Or maybe it was just realizing how small I am…
Or maybe it was something else…
Whatever the case, it makes my heart burn for Heaven.
Oh, let’s be faithful dear friends…
I want to meet you on the other side.

Thinking of Thanking…

November 27, 2010 / / 3 Comments
While we’re here still thinking of thanking…
You know what I’m most thankful for?

Lifetimes.

Times to share life… With those around my same breakfast table, and way, way beyond.

We’ll be on the road again tomorrow (here we come, mates!) but before we off, I thought I’d share a few smiles from the last few weeks… 


Utah: Rendezvous with old colleagues, and a good workout…



(…and smiles in the shade)



Michigan: Ministry, and beloved old stomping grounds



I grew up back here…



(And the old swing is still there, 12 years later.)



San Diego: Speaking at AMEN Conference



East Tennessee: Another friend’s wedding… 🙂



This time of life is unspeakably rich… 


We’re treasuring the moments.
And the promises. 🙂

_______
________________________
_______



Next stop: Australia…



Thanksgiving…

November 26, 2010 / / 4 Comments
I have this little theory: 
Remembrance is the better part of Thanksgiving.
It’s far too easy to say “thank you” for the blessings in front of our eyes, 
while forgetting the sacrifices that purchased them for us. 
I’m pretty sure when the pilgrim fathers sat down to that first feast, 
their thankfulness for the provision was sharpened by their
memories of starvation.
(as indeed, they ate within sight of the graves of more than half of their original number)
It would be well for us to remember…
…remember smiles as well as tears. 
And be thankful for them both.

The Glory of Heaven?

November 23, 2010 / / 5 Comments
Not a trillion        sinless angels.
Not a thousand miles of golden streets.
Not a million crowns under construction.
Not the angelic anthems of peace.
Nor the anthems of war.
Not perfection.
Not light.
No. 
None of these things.
“The glory of Heaven is lifting up the fallen…”*
Loving the unlovely.  Making people new.
                                                                         Beautiful.
                                                                                           Perfect.
Thank you, Jesus…
“His glory is His children’s good,
  His joy, His tender Fatherhood…”
*COL 386

Love is Life…

November 22, 2010 / / 4 Comments

When we get to Heaven, come find me in the library at the University of the Universe…
I’ll be studying two things: 
Love, and music…
“Love is oneness– oh, how sweet
   To obey this law,
The unlovely we may meet
  Need our love the more.
Make us one, O love, we plead
With men’s sorrow and their need.
We are one in needing love,
  (Let us true love show)
Only love’s sun from above
  Makes our spirits grow.
‘Love us!’ this is our heart’s need,
‘Let us love’ –and live indeed!
We are also one in this, 
  We must love or die,
Loving others is true bliss,
  Self-love is a lie!
Love of self is inward strive, 
Love turned outward is true life.
Let us love and fruitful be,
  Love is God’s own breath,
Love will kindle love and see
  New life born from death.
Nowhere is a heaven more sweet
Than where loving spirits meet.”


Mountains of Spices: pages 46-47 

Brightest Stars…

November 19, 2010 / / 2 Comments
Sitting on the futon in my office wrapped in a blanket, and staring out glass french doors at the birth of another frosty morning, I am intrigued–
One by one the lights of heaven –suns burning bright and hot in their places lifetimes away– go out. The promise of another blue sky reaching farther and farther west washes them from remembrance, at least for today.
But one remains. It’s not the largest, hottest, or whitest… In fact, it’s not a star. 
But that’s ok. It’s the brightest.
Now my eyes and my heart turn back to my office, my morning, my life.
There are plenty of “bright stars” in life’s night sky. 
But those who shine brightest and longest have no light of their own. They’re simply reflectors. 
We’re no stars anyway!
But that’s ok. As long as He can shine brightest through us…
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure… That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”
Philippians 2:13, 15

There’ll Be More Leaves Next Year…

November 14, 2010 / / 3 Comments
Stepping out into the 7-degree morning reminded me–
Seasons come, and seasons go. 
As I stood there sniffing air so cold it tickled from my nose to my throat, I thought of something…
The change of seasons is really a constant cycle of life, growth, and total surrender. 
I’m reminded of Bigger Dreams.
But this time the focus is a bit different. 
Because before the young tree can hope to grow taller and stronger, and spread more leaves to the sky, it must first let go of everything it has. 
Everything it has worked so hard for. 
The very current of it’s life…
Every leaf must fall, to make way for a brighter tomorrow. 
Those who don’t, might not have a tomorrow.
I’m somewhat a Michigan native, and I remember many times when the snow or ice came before the trees had made their total surrender. Too many of those trees never saw another spring… 
Seasons come, and seasons go. 
In life, and in the weather. 
So while I await the unfolding of the next season of my life, my duty is clear:
Readiness. Willingness. Surrender.
There’ll be more leaves next year.

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