Egypt Never Looked So Good

This is not what "the dream" looked like. It wasn't supposed to be one battle after another, one more frustration, one more defeat, one more challenge, one more struggle. I didn't sign up for this. This is not the destiny I had envisioned for myself.

I want out.

Egypt never looked so good.

Every time I hear, read, study about the children of Israel and their journey to the Promised Land, all I can think about is how ungrateful and faithless they were and how unpleasing they must have been to The Lord. Ingrates. He blessed them time and time again, worked miracles to free them from the bondage of slavery, parted the Red Sea, provided food and water for them supernaturally. Yet they grumbled and complained and doubted and grumbled and complained and doubted. 

Me too.

I am an ingrate. 

I've seen the hand of God do some pretty incredible things, some things seemingly more miraculous than the parting of the Red Sea. Still I find myself in disbelief, grumbling, complaining, doubting that He is even in this "dream" at all, and desperately wanting to turn tail and run like the wind back to Egypt. (What? You can't picture me running?! I can run. Maybe not like the wind, but I guarantee you if I run I can create a wind.) 

What I really want is an easier journey, a smoother route. I want a first class trip on a luxury jet, but the path He has laid for me is on foot, bare foot through the thistles and thorns. Mountain after mountain, I have to climb. And going down the mountains, the trail is steep, with jagged edges, covered with dampness and muddy puddles. So, I slip often. Scraped and bruised, I fall into the mud, and I linger there. I wallow in it. And there, covered in the muck and mire, I'm so "me focused" I don't notice the beauty that surrounds me, the wild flowers brilliant in color; the branches of the majestic trees swaying in the wind; the sweet serenade of the diverse bird choir; the puffy white clouds (the footprints of my Creator) splattered across the vast blue sky; the occasional rainbow sent to remind me of His promise, His mercy, and His grace; or the star-filled sky on the darkest of nights that's shouting, "The thoughts I think of you are more numerous than this!"

In a moment of desperation and humility, I cry out to Him. And in an instant, that is where He finds me. There, covered in filth, He lifts me up and cleanses me. He heals my scrapes and my bruises, whispers the sweetest of secrets in my ear and sets me on my way, His way, the way that isn't paved in velvet or comfortable, leather seats, but the way that leads me to a better me and a greater destiny. 

If I can do this, so can you. Let's do it together, encouraging each other along the way. The Promise Land awaits. 

I Just Wish You Knew

I wish you could realize how delightful you are, how you can change the mood in a room with your smile, how you make others laugh, really laugh without even trying, how you have this inexplicable way of making others feel loved and special just by being you. 

I wish you could see yourself as others do, the complete package of an amazingly created you, woven together with such a special personality, a perfect blend of humor and enthusiasm, with just the right amount of silliness mixed with seriousness. 

I wish you could feel, truly feel how much He loves you, and notice how He romances you, trying to get your attention, pouring out His blessings on you, pursuing you, never giving up on you. 

I wish you could believe that you are worth so much more than anything any man has to offer, that your beauty is authentic and runs deep, that your value isn't found in the attention of a man, but in the intention of your God. 

I wish you knew how honored I am to be a part of your life, right here, right now, watching you as you face difficult challenges and learn that through Him you have what it takes to overcome them. 

I wish you could comprehend how when you hurt, He hurts, and I hurt too, how your wounds and scars don't confine you or define you, how He paid the price to set you free from them, all of them. Every last one of them. 

I wish you could not only hear the words I speak over you but hear the thoughts He thinks of you, as countless as the stars that fill the sky, as innumerable as the leaves upon the trees, how those thoughts are to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. 

I wish you could know as I know that the you He created you to be is enough. You are smart enough, pretty enough, tall enough, thin enough, lovable enough. You don't have to try harder, be better, or do more to gain His favor. He loves you and accepts you just.the.way.you.are, because, truly, truly, you are enough. 

I just wish you knew...