Run Baby Run

I'm living in a place of tension at the moment. I'm tired, and a little frustrated, but so confident that God is working somewhere in this, that I am being obedient to Him.

As I drove to house church tonight, I was playing a Jason Upton CD again, just trying to soak for a while before entering house church which has been a place of tension and so on lately, and I've just been trying to spend the half-hour I spend driving there preparing my heart to meet God. Anyway, as I was driving, I was caught by the song "Run Baby Run." I played it over and over and over again. I must have listened to it 4 times on my way there, over and over, not really completely cluing into why this was significant.

House church was small tonight. We're in summer mode, and that means that people are all over the place. We spent some time simply sharing, and I ended up sharing with the group the tension in my family and home situation right now, and my need to find a job and buy a car so that I can move out of my parents home.

I've known for some time that God is continually calling me to deeper things. That He is placing before me the fulfillment of some of my dreams, that there is incredible freedom waiting for me on the other side of this time in my life, and that I will not be able to walk into these things while I am living in my parents home. I shared all of this, crying (which still always surprises me because it's still so new), and was prayed over, and am grateful.

But here's what became clear. I am living in a place of tension. I feel and hear God speaking words of release over me, over my life and my next steps. But I also feel that the push forward from God is being counteracted by the the grip of my relationship with my parents and brothers. So I am waiting, praying for the fulfillment of my needs as I posture myself to begin to take the steps God is asking of me.

I want to leave you with the chorus of "Run Baby Run" because I hear God speaking it so strongly over my life tonight. I had a picture earlier of the sense of God's release. Picture a child riding a two-wheeled bicycle for the first time. The parent steadies it, holds on, and then eventually lets go. But the letting go is not an abandonment, the child is not suddenly alone. The hands of the father are still there, still supporting, the father runs alongside to make sure the child is secure. I sense God speaking that kind of release over my life. Not a release where he lets go and I am suddenly alone, but a chance to fly, with his presence and support never wavering.

Run baby run

my hands release you

baby run baby run

just as fast as you can

run till your legs lead your heart to the real truth

youÂ’re my daughter, my son,

so run baby run baby run

Fantastic Day

Today was the best day I have had in a very long time. Megs and I spent the whole day together, driving, hiking, talking, eating, planning and scheming for ways to make the rest of the summer this fantastic. We drove the Highwood Pass - the highest drivable pass in Canada. You can see the summit sign here.

So, just to prove how fantastic it was (in case you don't see me before my "you missed some spots" sunburn fades), let me give you some pictures, and some commentary to go with the pictures.

This is us at the Esso station in Longview. We picked up some of the famous Longview Beef Jerky, and headed up into the pass from there.






This is Megs, by the sign for Pickle Jar creek. We're collecting funny signs this summer.








This is Ptarmigan Cirque.


















Here you have Megs sampling some of the ice cold mountain water, and a couple of the nicer scenery shots we took.

As we drove back to the city, we began scheming and came up with a list of ten or so things that we're going to do together (and with other friends if they'd like to join us) over the next three months. We're going to document each thing with pictures or journal entries, or both, and put together a scapbook of our summer. We've already started on the pages for today.

It was such a blessing and refreshment to spend this day in the the mountains with one of my closest friends. We talked about God and church last night, and life and boys, and food, and plans for the future. We schemed and planned fun for the rest of the summer, talked about bikinis, and even went shopping for bathings suits (she found one, I didn't yet...)

But we mostly just hung out, listened to each other, shared life, the things God is showing us, the things we want to learn and understand about Him, and enjoyed the freedom from distraction, the fresh air, the beauty of one of my favorite parts of the mountains, and the chance to simply be together. We got lost, at ice cream at a mountain store, ate beef jerky, ate a lot of apples and carrots, drank water from a mountain stream, listened to at least 5 different cds, saw a black bear, and a whole lot of big horned sheep, nearly swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting a gopher (her not me), hiked a six kilometer loop that climbed the mountain to the beautiful meadow and cirque and then wound its way back down, shopped for supplies for our scrapbook, learned how to upload photos from her camera to my computer and how to print photos from her memory card at Walmart, got sunburned, had Subway for dinner, went bathing suit shopping and so on. And the whole time we just caught up on each others lives, talked about the things we struggle with, and the things we're loving right now, caught up on each other's families and mutual friends. We had no time restraints, nothing to be back for, no schedule, and we loved every minute of it.

Praise God for the blessing of a beautiful day spent with friends!

Day Hike?

I forgot in my last post. A friend and I are planning to go hiking for part of the day on Monday in the Highwood Pass (weather permitting). If you've never been in this part of Kanaskis, it's beautiful. The Highwood Pass is the highest drivable elevation in Canada, and the road is closed for half the year every year because of the elevation and snowfall among other things. At the summit of the pass, there is a beautiful hiking trail called Ptarmigan Cirque. I've done it a couple of times in the past, and the elevation gain is challenging, but fairly easily accomplished if you go a bit slowly. I think even young children could probably do it - most of them being in far better physical condition than me!

If you'd be interested in joining us, drop me an email, or give my cell phone a call. As far as I know we'll probably head out sometime in the morning, hike the first half of the trail (the hard, uphill climb part!) eat lunch in the meadow on top of the mountain, then hike the second half and drive home to be back in time for supper.

loosey goosey liturgy?

I'm excited and a bit nervous for church tomorrow night. A good friend of mine, a girl I went to high school with has decided to attend church with me. Which is exciting, because so very few of my friends outside of church are truly interested in spiritual things.

This friend has always been what I would consider a "spiritual" person. And I'm excited that she's willing to come check out church with me.

But here's the thing. She was raised Roman Catholic. We met in a Catholic high school. (Now, I have a longstanding love and respect for the Catholic church born out of a variety of circumstances including my family connections, the time in the high school, and a bachelors degree in church history, all of which can be expounded upon some other day!) But I attend a Vineyard church.

She's used to liturgy, and I'm taking her with me to a church where the "order of service" is loosey-goosey at best. And I wonder a little if the things that used to shock me will surprise someone who is used to the set in stone liturgy that has changed little in the last 5 centuries.

But hey... I've assured her that she doesn't have to participate in anything that she doesn't want to, and we'll go from there. I'm praying that it will be a positive experience, and that she will connect with people in meaningful ways as she has mentioned boredom and loneliness after moving back to Calgary following five years of university in Ontario.

Thoughts on the run...

I've only got a couple of minutes. I'm in the middle of a stretch of full shifts at the Bay, and I have one in a couple of hours. Before that, though, I'm going shopping with a friend for bridal shower gifts.

The little boy I mentioned in my last post is home. The doctors think it was simply a severe virus as nothing showed up in any of their tests.

Haven't heard anything new about a job. I'll be in contact with the placement agency on Monday to see if they have anything on the horizon for me.