Truth.

It's funny that a great deal of suffering can bring about deep, lasting, unshakable joy. It's funny that death to self is life, and life abundantly. It's funny that war somewhere ensures peace elsewhere. It's funny that hope is birthed out of the depths of tribulation. Emptiness and fullness, gathering and scattering, slavery and freedom, on and on and on. It's funny, the incredible paradoxes that are life in the Kingdom.

Contrary to popular belief...

...I'm still alive. Friends, it's been a while!

All I have for today is this:

"Miss Heather Sullivan,

I have joy to greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus. I am fine and getting on well with my holiday of four weeks. I am getting on well with tuition there at school. My family is happy that you are communicating well with me your son, and God bless you so much. Pray for me and I will pray for you. Read Bible in Jeremiah 33:3. Thank you so much. Yours in love."

Jeremiah 33:3 says "Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

That is a letter from Abdallah Shabani Kulule, an 11 yr. old from Tanzania that I've sponsored through Compassion Int'l for four years now. His letters are usually very long and include stories of soccer matches, his sisters, and schooling. This one just sounds so grown up. "Pray for me, and I will pray for you. Read Bible in Jeremiah 33:3." God is so good, and so providential, that He would use a young boy, half the world away, to bring me a timely word of encouragement. My heart is full of worship. How good is our God?! I can't wait to write him back...

Cabin Fever

Yes.  Today I got out and burned a whole tank of gas (you're welcome environment) because today is the first day I could drive more than 15 mph on most roads.  Two days of barely leaving my house is oh-so difficult for me.  I baked, I read, I texted, I was on facebook way too much, and I read some more.  Now I'm blah-ging some randomness.  The very first entry in my current journal is from August 22nd, 2007.  Here it is.

"Intro to twentysomething.

I bought this journal a week or two ago, and I've been waiting for just the right thought to enter my mind, sink to my heart, a verbalize through penwork.  It seems that in the midst of my waiting, I've had a few pretty decent thoughts come through, and I've done my best to retain them, but nothing worthy of the first page of this beautiful new journal I'm writing in.  I wanted my first words to be as exquisite and treasured as the decorated pages on which I write.  But the truth is, all of it is beautiful, even the messy stuff.  Especially the messy stuff.  I know right where stuff is in my mess.  

And at three months and nine days to 20, life is a little messy.  With college and career and love and loss and bills and wisdom bits, I'm thrown into life and deciphering through what I've heard, learned, and observed, and I'm expected to figure out who I am and where I'm going.  It's an impossible task if you ask me, but unavoidable.  So here it is, here's what I think and what I know and what I hope will be true.  Here's the wisdom I've been given by others, even if they don't believe it's profound, and even when they didn't know they were giving it.  Its a melange of something I'm making into life, and sharing with you, reader.  I invite you to dive into my twentysomething."

Weird, but I do write journals as if they'll be read one day, and almost in book form.  Sometimes I even write letters to grandchildren, especially of things I consider history, or of incredible ways God is moving me.  So here's my pearl of the day:  Write your life down, Christian.  It'll be worth reading about someday.