Thoughts while Traveling

So I was driving home from work yesterday and singing along with Phil (it's not as fun as in real life) when the Lord hit me between the eyes with a reminder of his character. Actually, it was more like a little inside game of connect the dots. Surprisingly, I am very thick-headed and stubborn (there is a hint of sarcasm there) , and sometimes God has to put a magnifying glass up to my out-of-focus eyes and show me all too clearly what He's doing. Allow me to elaborate. If you haven't noticed by my random and spaced out blogs lately, I have FLYING on the brain. I know I have mentioned before how much I love the line, "I'd rather die than not have wings to fly..."
well, I do. Because I would. To take away my freedom is to take my blood from my veins. Now, over the years God has re-configured this trait a bit, and still has more to do in this area. I am a stubborn child sometimes. Because that's the thing I have learned : It's not MY freedom. I have known this for a long time. But if I wasn't granted this freedom from my creator, I wouldn't know what love is, and ultimately, what and who God is.

Now. Back to flying. And dot-connecting.

Melissa is a girl I work with. Last week she looked like she was having a really rough time. I asked her if she was alright, and she simply told me with tears in her eyes that God was working in her. I chose at that moment to just say, "Ok." Real deep and encouraging thing to say to a sister in Christ, Anna. Well, I panic sometimes and freeze. Anyways, that's not important. Yesterday, I asked her again how she was doing and she lit up and told me a story.

She told me how she had felt for a while that she was supposed to attend law school. She was already accepted for next semester and was ready to register. She said she was never very interested in law, but that she thought it was the best way to obtain credibility and respect in a society where all she really wanted to do was make a difference. It had never occured to her until last week that there was any other option. She thought of law school as something to "endure for Jesus" and she believed she would emerge much more wise, knowledgable, and disciplined. That's what Jesus asks us, isn't it? To "take up our cross?" yes, it is. Well, the story continues. She went on to say how she had prayed last weekend that if law school wasn't right, God would do something big to change her plans.

Well, long story short, she actually began "skipping" on the sidewalk to the law school to withdraw herself from the program and then skipped right over to the School of Communications and put in her application for the script and screenwriting program. She has always come alive when working with kids, and she loves more than anything to write plays for children. So, there is the moral of the story. She "gets to" (as she put it) pursue what she loves and what brings her to life. And to hear her describe it, she says that God told her she didn't HAVE to do what she thought was needed to be obedient, that being obedient is what brought her here to Virginia, and what brought her to this freedom.

I wonder if anybody else can see what I see through this. I see...

To witness the absolute joy on the face of someone who laid herself down and surrendered and THEN received the desires in her heart....is beautiful (seek YE first). And it reminded me of some other "dots" that needed to be connected. The heart that is attached to mine is one of those dots.

What does this have to do with flying? Phil knows.

"...for I must die if I'm to ever have those wings to fly..."

Thanks, Melissa and Phil. Thanks, Lord, for the close-up illustration.