Response

The work in life isn't about what happens, but how we choose to respond to what happens. 

The road to freedom is paved by the understanding that attitude is built independent of circumstances.

These two statements have been all I've been chewing on for a week, so with that said, I hope you take some time to chew on them too, 

Click here for the song.

Expectancy

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "expectancy"? Do you think about pregnancy and expecting a baby? Maybe even life expectancy or an expectation of a certain event or person? 

I want to share with you the biggest paradigm shifter for me within the realm of expectations and expectancy. 

Expectancy will cost you your complacency. 

I believe that William Paul Young separated expectations from expectancy in such a clear and true way in his book "The Shack" on pages 207 & 208. I highly recommend reading the entire book, and especially those pages. 

He defines expectancy as being that of a living noun, a word with a pulse, the lifeblood of relationship. In relationship, you have the positive expectancy that you will have a good time, talk together and laugh. This expectancy has no concrete definition, because you're just happy to be together. Once expectancy turns into expectations, spoken or unspoken, however, what was once a living thing suddenly dies. Now the relationship is about performance and value, the responsibilities of a good friend, and there is no grace for mistakes. The degree to which we default into expectations is the degree to which we neither know nor trust God and therefore choose to live in fear. 

Expectations are the foundation for guilt and shame and judgement, and when we resort to them, we set up the framework for a performance based value system. Expectancy has to do with the excited anticipation for just being with those whom we love. It overlooks details. Overlooks wrongs. It overlooks all of the pitiful failures going on all around. It does not care about the numbers, but always searches for the positive and true. Expectancy is a powerful tool that demands we throw caution to the wind with an exposed sense of trust and belonging.

God gives us the ability to respond to any situation and allows us the choice of expectations or expectancy. 

I believe that when we place expectations on people, events, things, and experiences, we basically sacrifice the joy of not needing to control for the effort of chasing the facade of reliability. In striving for certainty, we ultimately sacrifice the sweet intimacy of relationship, and this is exactly why complacency will also cost us our expectancy. So, in a world of unreliable everything, where is certainty? It's in God's character.

How many times have I tried to grasp for control when things go askew in my life? How many ways am I unaware of even trying to gain one ounce of control? Trust me, I'm no master at the kind of expectancy that William Paul Young writes about. It sure is good news that expectancy is a living, fluid thing of the Spirit, and not a work of the flesh. 

If I've learned one thing this year, it's that being in relationship with Jesus has a whole lot more to do with this kind of expectancy than I had planned for. Suspense. Raw, authentic and awkward trust. Knowing him, and wanting him to know me. Learning that settling for any less than this messy, exciting and progressive relationship only reflects my pitiful attempt at scrambling for some semblance of control, something that was never mine to begin with. 

To sum up what I'm truly trying to get at here, if I've learned one thing this year, it's this: 

Expectancy will cost you your complacency. 

The song I've chosen this week is very close to my heart because it's in Spanish. Both lyrically and musically it holds so much power in my relationship with Jesus and I truly believe it will bless you, whether you understand Spanish or not. Just in case you don't, I've translated the lyrics so they have the most impact and make the most sense below. 

Click here for the song.

Here are the lyrics in English:

"The Air of Your House" by Jesús Adrián Romero

I want to breathe the air of your house, to enjoy your fragrance, and be filled by you. I want to be before you every day and bring joy to you in your garden. I want to be close enough to breathe you in, to hear your every heartbeat. I want to be so close I can touch you. I want to imitate your purity, to be your friend and to just be with you. I want to sail in the sea that is your gaze and to rest knowing nothing can take me away from you. I want to walk following your steps, and sit in your lap to learn the hope you have for me. 

Process

Incremental. Compounding. Slow. 

"Change is the task of the Holy Spirit and this whole change thing is a process, not an event. You know that I'm not a huge fan of process, but lasting change takes time, and I hear you whisper that I'm worth your time." -William P. Young 

Christine Caine launched us into a new thought garden, a new metaphor of life and living and hurting and changing on that January day at Passion 2014. 

In my own words, I will paraphrase key points on what she said that changed my life forever. 

You are camera film. Your circumstances are the tools by which photos are taken and developed. God is the photographer. He impresses an image of your future into your soul that is so unique, so intimate and personal, that you may not be able to articulate it even if you tried. He takes you into the dark room. 

There. In the dark. No more clarity. Only his hands. This is where he does most of the work, developing the image he impressed into you, agitating the film (which is you), with the end goal of seeing his masterpiece created in what was formerly blank film. Systematically cleansing and encouraging the film through chemicals and handy materials (circumstances), he brings out of you what only he could have created in the first place. All the while smiling and looking forward with excited anticipation at his handiwork, he is fully present in the moment and in control of the entire process. 

This process takes years. Only God knows how many. 

"People will always have opinions about you. But you live for God because he's the only one who has intimate knowledge of you." -Ann Voskamp 

If you see your life through the "lens" of what I just described, what would be different about how you live it out? What would be different about how you love people? How you love God? How you see other people and their processes? They are the other 35 exposures on the same roll. We can compare what God is doing in each of our lives no more than each exposure can compare itself to the next. 

I encourage you to take a little time today, sit down and write out the image you currently believe God has or is impressing on your soul and what circumstances he has used recently to develop that image. 

In the dark room. What if when things happen that we don't like, instead of reacting with doubt and frustration, I practiced responding with: "this is more proof that I'm in the dark room. Lord, keep doing your thing, and help me to have a soft heart around changing."

Along the Passion conference journey I've been on for the last four years, many images have been impressed in my soul as a result. One of the most "impressing" songs in that journey has been this one: 

Click here for the song.

Bravery

First blog post!

I will be writing one blog post per week with a specific theme. In times past, blogging has been an arduous and fatiguing process, mainly due to the fact that I tend to write run on sentences. Lots and lots of them. 

Truly the purpose of this blog is quite the opposite. I hope to inspire others by passing along the things that catch my ear throughout the week, to pay it forward so to speak. Sharing brief glimpses of quotes, thoughts, prayers, photos and maybe even passing along videos or other blogs that strike my fancy.

So what is the theme of my song this week?

Bravery.

What does this word mean to you?

I read Ann Voskamp's weekly blogs and they are an absolute revolution in my life to say the least. This week I read on her blog that (and I paraphrase) pride is the father of fear. Humility requires laying down pride, and laying down pride requires giving up fear. Bravery looks a lot like humility.

My friend Betsy is one brave woman. She is dealing with Parkinson's disease and I see her playing a humorous and recklessly trusting hand with the cards she has been dealt. I've watched her slow down over the last year, and her attitude reminds me of Mary's as she submitted to God's plan when she was told she would be carrying the Lord of all creation in her womb. 

Allow God the editing rights to the script of your life.

"Character can not be achieved in the ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved." -Helen Keller 

Who comes to your mind when you hear the word "brave"?

In keeping with the theme of my blog, the last thing I want to share here is the song that always calls my heart back to the one who is braver than anyone else I know: 

Click here for the song.