Dancing with God

Someone sent this to me today and I wanted to share it with all of you because it really spoke to my heart. I hope it does the same for you.




Dancing With God
When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing 'dance' at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw 'G': I thought of God, followed by 'u' and 'i'.
'God, 'u' and 'i' dance.'
God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.

Musings @ Starbucks

Food for thought. Or should I say coffee?

I'll explain. The other day I went into Starbucks because I absolutely needed a Caramel Frappuccino. Yes "needed" is the proper word because I don't know what I would have done without the jolt of creamy caffeine and sugary goodness. But I digress. As I said, I was in Starbucks and the following sign caught my eye.

Now, I understand what Starbucks is saying here, but am I the only one ever so slightly disturbed by this sign? Again, I'll explain. Since when is it necessary to broadcast that one is responsible and ethical? And secondly, are we so corrupt as humans that we can't even grow and sell coffee to each other in a way that respects and cares for the earth God gave us and the people who inhabit it? Lastly, why do we have to pay more for something that should have had the qualities of "Responsibly grown and Ethically traded" from the very beginning.

Just a thought.

The Derailment of the "Plan" Train

Life is a process, a jouney, with lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. One second things are going great and then "BAM!!", life slams into us and completly derails our plans. It seems that no matter how much we do to prepare it's not nearly enough. And that's so true. We can only do so much to prepare ourselves for life and it's little surprises. We can plan every detail and check and double check but the only guarantee that we have is that it won't go according to plan.

Now I realize all this sounds really depressing. Like why should we plan anything if its all going to go wrong anyway. But just because our plans go awry it doesn't mean that planning is bad. Just the opposite is true. Planning is essential. It gives us something to look forward to, to hope for. As humans though we cling to what we think is the right path and forget that God has bigger plans for us. I like how The Message Bible translation puts Proverbs 29:18 "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves;But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed."

Don't be so scared of change and uncertainty. Of surrendering all you know and understand. Don't be afraid to go off the beaten path. Like Robert Frost wrote:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

God's vision for us will more often than not be the road no one wants to take and sometimes that's hard to accept. But remember this, it will always be the one that makes us who we need to be, and better than we ourselves could have ever imagined.