Harder than I thought...

Seeing as I view myself as someone who doesn't wear shoes a whole awful lot, going barefoot for a day was way harder than I thought it would be.  I realized a few things:  I wear my slippers a lot.  Our house has all tiled and hardwood flooring.  We only have 1 or 2 area rugs because, well, we are messy.  In the winter we are constantly dragging in snow, the spring and fall, mud and in the summer, dirt.  So I have seen rugs as just one more thing to get dirty.  Because of this, our floors are cold almost all year long plus they are, well honestly, dirty quite frequently during the day.  I never noticed until I chose not to wear my shoes, how often I put my slippers on.  It is uncomfortable to walk on a dirty cold floor.  Not to mention the mud and rocks on the way to and from the van.  I was honestly, disturbingly uncomfortable by the end of the day wearing no shoes for most but not even all of the day.  Irritable, almost.  I was surprised at my own reaction and humbled.  I spent a good portion of the day inside working, a little outside in the driveway and nothing even touching the miles that most folks without shoes walk everyday just to get water.

I know all the well-intentioned but sometimes cliche phrases after doing something like this.  The expressions of gratitude for what you have, the compassion for those that don't, the passion for wanting to do something about it all.  And I feel and experience those things but something else as well.  Something of a hole in my heart/soul that these kinds of divides (those with and without, etc.) even exist at all.  Something of an ache, of a longing for this world to be put in such a state where those who have don't even consider keeping more than what is sufficient for themselves (myself) but give as freely as if nothing they had belonged to them alone.  And I know that this is the deep desire/longing for God.  This is feeling of separation from the Creator Himself.  This is the groaning for a reconciliation of this world that none of us can bring about with our own power.  And I am grateful.  For shoes?  Yes of course, but more so for a God who gives me (this world) a hope beyond this mess, a glimpse of life as we all see it could be from time to time.  For Love that does not change no matter how broken I (we) may be.

peace

Rocks

Matt has an affinity for rocks that I don't always quite understand. He finds them wherever we go. They almost seem to seek him out. For him, rocks often have a specific significance . To me, rocks are rocks. Sometimes are they pretty, they make a nice seat, once in a while I take the nice ones home but then I don't quite to know what to do with them and they end up gathering dust.

Since we have moved here, however, I have been a lot more aware of the rocks around me. There are so many more large chunks of beautiful rocks in the woods here. Quartz and granite, pyrite and marble abound (must be why the curbs in town are made of granite:) The milky white and pearly pinks of quartz and sparkle sheen of pyrite are especially noticeable in the streams and ponds.

I love how water can bring a whole new life to rocks. On dry land, a group of small stones seem ordinary, drab, even ugly. Submerge them in water and colors, hues, and textures emerge that where previously hidden.

Playing at the pond at camp with Abigail the other day I realized how much we are like these stones. Dull, muted, hidden, and forgotten on many days. Stepped on by many, unnoticed or scorned by the world. Until we are surrounded by the rushing, babbling, leaping living water that Christ promised the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4). When we are touched by this water, a new person is revealed, a beauty is discovered. The most mundane of us becomes dazzling. Our uniqueness is brought forth and people cannot get enough of us. Not because we alone are so wonderful but because we have been transformed into something surprising by a power greater than ourselves. The living water Christ describes in John 4 isn't some kind of cheap fix that makes appear better than we are. No, he talks about himself as being able to reveal our true identity and satisfy our all our longings.

I took some before and after water pictures of some rocks at the pond to remind me of the difference God's presence can make not only in my home or devotional life but in how others view me as well. When we are well steeped in the Lord, every aspect of us is transformed to others as well and people are drawn. I need to be reminded what an important impact my life can make to other people simply by living daily in God's promises.