Feast of Heaven

Keeping thirsty....

So, I am LOVING the summer time. And it's almost over. But that's okay. Honestly, I would have to say this has been one of the best summers of my life. Here are some of the reasons why:

*People are coming to Jesus! Oh yeah, God has all sorts of AMAZING things up His sleeve....
*I have learned a lot about resting in God, and seeing His provision. My "light workload" has freed me up to do things I could never normally do under traditional workaholic circumstances (i.e. spend quality time with kids and friends, use my time to help/ serve "busy people," etc)
*I have developed a much deeper appreciation for the OCEAN.
*I got a tan! (miracle)
*I have totally gotten over my tank top inhibitions.

I suppose that as "back-to-school" time approaches ever nearer, I am aware of how great things have been lately (not that they're not always great, but sometimes they are just more obviously so), and of how spazzy and stressed out I can be when I am in school. Last fall, I was struggling through one of my "Study harder, look better, find your keys, clean out your car, buy a daytimer, locate your phone, remember your friends, get a !@#$ grip" phases, and, as I began to compel myself to obtain said grip, I sat in the hallway of the upper level of the Young Building on the Camosun campus, furiously writing in my notebook, my eyes all blurry and red, I poured out my heart:

The walls I have constructed--walls of chaos and mess and fleeting time, walls of selfish ambition and procrastination and vain imaginings, walls of deceit and distraction and desensitization--they have added up to a needless puzzle--a smokescreen. The things that really matter are so simple. They are ripe and sweet and within my grasp. They are good. They give life. So available, so uncomplicated. But I cannot find them. I cannot find them alone. Someone else has to help me. Someone else must tear down the obstructions of needless worry and fear, half-hearted efforts, failure and fear of failing, electronic time eaters, with monstrous invisible jaws. Sugar and flavour, accumulation of things, fragrance and colour, all rolled into a vapour of hollow beauty, a mist that rests lightly on my skin, awakening every pore with the promise of something new--something better than before, until suddenly every sense of longing is filled to overflowing; every vacancy is occupied. There is no room left for life. I am on pause. Someone press play. I have already tried. Suddenly, it is all I can think about. There must be one quick solution I have not yet thought of. I have been here before, and I cannot afford to come back. Does a prisoner return to the walls of captivity?
Set me free.
Love, Julie

So yeah. I guess I just sort of don't want to return to that place. Granted, the place isn't all that bad, in that my sense of longing for the Lord becomes a little keener, more obnoxious and harder to ignore. And that's okay. I just want to remember the goodness of God in every season. I am in desperate need of Him always, and I'd rather remember that and drink of His faithfulness before I have to experience the dehydration that comes from forgetting my thirst. Amen?

posted by Jules @ Saturday, August 28, 2004 3 comments

Sweet Phenomenon

Therefore, we fix our eyes not on the things which are seen but the things which are unseen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4)

So, we took the M-Seed kids to this conference at a local church last night. Let's just say it was at best, a little dry- at worst... um... LAME. Anywho, after sitting in pews for like an hour and a half, we had gotten through some unfortunately "unpolished" worship (Disclaimer: I am really not about critiquing the church stuff; God is everywhere; there is good to be found in everything, and so forth. However, it would have been a little different is there weren't 15 unsaved/attention deficit "hoodlums" with us. I don't know how else to describe it; the worship team didn't seem to know any of the words. It was tough slugging. I felt sort of bad for them), the offering, and three lengthy introductions to the main speaker. We were in shock, first of all, that the kids were even still sitting! It isn't like we could physically control them, and I certainly would not have blamed them if they had gotten up and left. I know I sure wanted to go, and they would usually tend to do the same in any similar situations. Long story short, we stuck it out, and a couple of the boys went up for prayer at the end, sort of as a joke. A light switch came on in the darkness, so to speak, and these guys ended up BAWLING and hugging each other. There was this really, super sweet older lady who was praying for them; her name was Joan. Needless to say, a chain reaction occurred, in which all the kids took their turns with Joan, and she just held some of them for, like, 10 minutes at a time. I don't know all that the Lord spoke to them through Joan, but these kids were all just crying and embracing one another, and getting so excited that Jesus is REAL. Two 15-year-old guys got saved (one of whom was an atheist), and four other kids had significant life-changing experiences with God. We ended up baptizing four of them in the ocean at Clover Point (they asked for it!) at 11:30pm. And two of the girls asked me if I would bring them back again tonight.

God is working in such a wonderful way; I can hardly believe I get to witness this. Seriously, if you have trouble believing in miracles, let me assure you, I have seen several in the last two days alone! It was not about the "meeting," but about the plan of God for the lives of these broken, disinherited kids. Eternity has bowed low to embrace us. His grace is the bomb.

Selah.

posted by Jules @ Saturday, August 14, 2004 1 comments

I'm going away!

...not that it will make much difference to this site anyway, considering the paucity of updates. But I just wanted to send out a shout to all the brothers and sisters who read this thing and say, um.... "Hi. Thanks for stopping by." I'm going to live on the beach for a week with my nephews and my niece (yeah, and some other family....). Hallelujah. I hope you all are having a sweet summer and we'll chat soon.
Love and Peace,
Julie

PS For some more substantial reading, scroll down and then check out some of the archived articles. Sometimes I am more profound than others. (j/k) Post some comments if ya like. It would make me smile.

posted by Jules @ Tuesday, August 03, 2004 0 comments