// directicipation //

God works in mysterious ways. that’s a slogan i’ve heard tossed around christian school classrooms and dual purpose women’s tea/sunday school rooms throughout the majority of my childhood.  

well today i’m praying for clarity.

over a year ago i set out on a journey without any particular destination. i guess you could say the journey was the destination, as cliche as that may sound. i wanted to experience more of life. the thought of waking up one day in in a house in escondido-or even somewhere in orange county-with grandkids running all over the place and no stories to tell them of my youth was enough to persuade my (already) wanderlusting heart to cut what ties i had and set my sails in hopes that God’s inspirational breath would catch them and carry me aloft into that ever elusive great adventure. 

i did what many young men had done before me, and what i’m sure countless will do after me- i went “north, to alaska.” half a year later i found myself in portland oregon, on the doorstep of a church by the name of solid rock. now, almost a year later, i find myself a different person than the one that first passed through those doors, jobless, friendless, hopeful, yet clueless. 

what has changed? well, yes, i have a job. and yes, i’ve made some friends. hopeful? still. clueless? not as much. i guess despite all the growth i’ve seen God work in me over the course of this past year, perhaps the most important change is that i’ve realized (or started to realize) the importance of the balance between direction and participation. 

up until this point, i’ve either been so focused on my goals that i missed the life that was going on around me, or the other way around. but over the course of this year, God has started to open my metaphorical eyes to His leading and direction for my future. He has begun to teach me how to be passionately involved in what’s going on around me while still passionately pursuing forward movement in my life. 

and so I’ve had a bit of a breakthrough over the past couple days. i believe i’m starting to hear the direction for which i’ve been praying and waiting almost a year. 

but i want to be sure. so i’m praying for clarity today. and i invite you to join me. 

join me in prayer today… pray for wisdom and for discernment. and direction. and a humble and willing spirit to follow that direction. 

With a humble and willing spirit, God’s whisper can be enough inspirational breath to catch my sails and put my ship into motion. With a hard heart or prideful spirit, it might take a hurricane. 

ip