Some wounds do not heal.

I read this on the Livesay's blog and loved it:

By: David R Henson

Some wounds do not heal.

"...But, the wounds no longer bleed, either. When Jesus touches his friends, he does not leave bloody handprints on their cheeks, nor do crimson footprints mark his trail in the Palestinian sand. When he ascends, blood does not pour down on the upturned faces of his friends watching him disappear.

This is the promise of the resurrection — not that we will no longer be wounded. No, we will always be wounded. Between hunger and poverty, war and terror, abuse and hate, our world will make sure that none of us escape unscathed without wounds that do not heal.

But as people of the resurrection, our promise is that our wounds will not always and forever bleed us of our lives, our vitality. The promise of the resurrection is not the assurance of a life without wounds but a life in which our wounds, even if they define us as they do Jesus, do not bleed us. The promise of the resurrection is that, eventually, after the bleeding stops, our wounds, while they won’t ever heal, might just begin to heal others."

Pacing the Cage

Recently fell in love with this Bruce Cockburn song...love the lyrics:

Sunset is an angel weeping
Holding out a bloody sword
No matter how I squint I cannot
Make out what it's pointing toward
Sometimes you feel like you live too long 
Days drip slowly on the page
You catch yourself
Pacing the cage

I've proven who I am so many times
The magnetic strip's worn thin
And each time I was someone else
And every one was taken in
Powers chatter in high places
Stir up eddies in the dust of rage
Set me to pacing the cage

I never knew what you all wanted
So I gave you everything
All that I could pillage
All the spells that I could sing
It's as if the thing were written 
In the constitution of the age
Sooner or later you'll wind up
Pacing the cage

Sometimes the best map will not guide you 
You can't see what's round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places 
Sometimes the darkness is your friend
Today these eyes scan bleached-out land 
For the coming of the outbound stage
Pacing the cage 
Pacing the cage 

Escape

Psalm 124:7, "We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!"

Escape...

Sitting in the ATL airport eating a burger and drinking a beer en route back to Charleston from Nicaragua,  I was with some of my favorites and we were celebrating my birthday (which was the next day).  I mentioned that I've cried every birthday since I turned 19.  Different reasons, different years.  But the overall theme being: I am not who I want to be; I am not where I thought I'd be.  I want to be perfect; I'm so off track from my original life plan.

Rennie looked at me and said, "EA, if you'd been where you'd wanted to be, you wouldn't be where you are.  You wouldn't have gotten to do the things you've done.  You wouldn't be here right now."

Such words of truth and encouragement.  Such a cool perspective. 

As I read this verse yesterday, I thought through some of the things I used to want.  Things that I can honestly say I'm thankful I escaped because I think they would have been real traps for me.  At the time, disappointments and rejections yielded hurt and sadness.  Yet, in due time, they have also yielded real joy and freedom!  I am so thankful that the Lord's ways are better than mine.

One month

from toady, I'll be somewhere over the East Coast heading to Miami.  And then...then, to Nicaragua!  Pretty excited to be back there!

Dancing Dude

I was shown this video the other night and I love it.  As a fellow dancer, I love his moves.  I also dig the message.  It's short and worth a peak.

 

TGIF

Roger's just so good looking.

Always changing; always the same.

That's how I feel.  I remember hearing the gospel for the first time where I really heard it and my world turned upside down.  I questioned everything and I wanted to be sure of what I was getting myself into with this Jesus fella.  As I was hashing some things out with my Young Life leader, I remember saying, "for me it isn't about not getting drunk at parties and not sleeping around...my battles are internal...in my head...and learning who I am/would be as a Christian."  

As the years progressed from the beautiful Windy Gap, my battles got more external, yet the core of who I am and how Satan attacks me remains the same: it is a mind game.  At the end of the day, Satan wants me to believe lies.  Sometimes that comes in the form of, "one more drink will take that pain away," but more often it comes in the form of, "you're just x.  You'll never be y."   

Yesterday, I wrote out a list of things plaguing me.  And I looked for the root -- what hook does Satan try to pull me down with?  And here's the deal: while I know this is a lie, I don't believe that God loves me enough to bless me.  Which is crazy because I am blessed in so many ways.  And I know that.  But there are those other things...the things that feel dry and deserted and anything but blessed.  And my enemy loves shoving them in my face.  

So, what's a gal to do?  Fight.  My weapon is the Word and I looked and asked and the Lord provided.  Psalm 18, clinging to the bold verses.

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his rules were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
with the purified you show yourself pure;
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
For you save a humble people,
but the haughty eyes you bring down.
For it is you who light my lamp;
the LORD my God lightens my darkness.
For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?— the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great.
You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
They cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
You delivered me from strife with the people;
you made me the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
foreigners came cringing to me.
Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out of their fortresses.
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation— the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, who delivered me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you rescued me from the man of violence. For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.