seashells and sunburns...

i got to spend saturday morning at the beach in santa monica, ca. man, do i love the beach. we dropped our stuff and some of our kiddos and staff ran down to the shore to collect shells, and a brave few splashed into the frigid surf. a few more ran up to the peir to check out the shops, silly hat vendors, and street/peir performers. i spread out and old, unused cardinals blanket to lay down on while i curled up with the Word. no better place to read the Bible. of that, i am most definately sure.

i am convinced that God must love hanging out at the beach. when i finished reading, i watched our students out in the waves. laughing, yelling, being toppled by the force. it looked like so much fun that i got off my blanket and ran down to join them. so, we 4 were freezing together, but enojying God's creation in the truest sense. i cannot describe the sense of joy that i had in those moments, but it was not my joy alone. i believe God was greatly pleased to see His children having fun, in community, in that which He created. i could almost see this huge smile sweep across His face.

i love the beach, and the ocean. i cannot be there and not be keenly aware of the presence of God. it is the experience of a lifetime, everytime.

deep calls to deep

or so the psalmist writes of his own soul, or is it mine?

"Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me."
Psalm 42.6

as we were asked to consider what this means, in light of God's love for us, i was left with the following conclusion (though i might be less inclined to call it an end than a beginning)...

the depths of who God is calls to the deepest longings of my soul, which are both to love and be loved by God. this love is not a nice, gentle love that little kids sing sunday school songs about. it's fierce. it's unstoppable. it is this roaring wave that crashes to the shore, overwhelming and overtaking and overturning everything in its wake.

God,
when my soul is downcast, and when it is not,
when my hope is in You, and when it is not,
when i can praise You, and when i cannot,
when i remember, and when i forget,
Lord, consume me in Your love.
may i be overwhelmed.
may i be overtaken.
may i be overturned.
drown me in the depths of who You are.
amen.

who was that guy? what guy?

as i scrambled to wrap up a message, print it off, and get up the hill to share said message with teenagers at camp meeting, my friend and pastor stuck his head in my office to pray with me before leaving for the same place to be praying for me. his prayer was simple...

"God, may he not strive to be profound in the message You've given him. may he be mostly forgettable in the minds of the students, so long as You are not."

ouch on the ego, but there is something beautiful in this prayer. God and Scripture are profound enough, without my input. He neither needs or desires my "spin" to make love and grace and truth any more impressive or life changing than they already are. and what do i care if i am forgotten, so long as God is heard and remembered?

God, forgive my desire to be profound and memorable. change lives by Your written and Living Word, and make me mostly forgettable.