Dino Bike

I can vaugely recall as an eight year old kid, whose birthday was quickly approaching, a desire to find any present that was coming my way before it actually was wrapped and my actual birthday came. I don't know why the obsession, but it was present. There was this one particular birthday year when I was searching suspiciously for birthday gifts on our farm in Indiana that I stumbled onto an unquestionable birthday surprise in the milk barn. It was a bicycle that was yellow and green and red and had a small fanny pack on the front that looked like a dinosaur head with little white teeth... complete with training wheels! I was extatic. Never before had I set eyes on such a piece of machinery. I quickly returned to the house trying to suppress a grin that was just below the surface. I was later asked wether or not I had snooped into the milk barn and saw the "Dino Bike" and I responsed "Yes". Later my birthday came and I received all my presents... I can recall getting a plastic basketball hoop (a lot of good that did me... I'm terrible at basketball), I got a dinosaur cake with plastic dions on it and I had many friends around the table. When I final was given the "Dino Bike" it didn't feel right. I had cheated the system... I wasn't surprised... I was boarder line mad. Some things are better waiteed for... sometimes we push too hard and snoop too much into what is to come. I think it taints a lot of plans God has for each one of us. Sounds like a few scriptures I know.

Song of solomon 8:4
Psalm 104:27-28

Only you can prevent forest fires...

Our house was blessed with a small piece of paper in our door a few days ago. It wasn't an invitation to a swanky party or a gift certificate to Longhorn Steakhouse... it actually was a citation for burning wood in our backyard. What has the world come to when people can't even burn wood in their own yard. It wasn't like I was just trying to be frivolously burning any wood I could get my hands on. It was strategic yard-cleaning wood burning. I understand the danger though and heed the warning. I read today about these trees that are extremely different from any trees here in South Carolina. They are called Redwood trees. They are apparently as tall as a football field is long. Not that I question the facts... just flabbergasted by the shear size. The reading was from a small group book I am doing with my 8th grade guys who meet at my house each Monday night for a time of "sharpening"... spiritually and Settlers of Catan wise. (a highly addictive board game) The book was going on comparing these trees to the relationships between individuals in a small group. The trees grow roots deep into the ground in order to intertwine with other tree's roots. They braid in order to strengthen one another for the incredible power needed to stay upright in the woods under the strain of tremendous weight and height. It is really a beautiful picture of James 5:16. We in a small group are to grow deep roots in our faith and trust of our Jesus... but also grow deep roots in trust and reliance on one another. James speaks of honesty and confession as a way of staying straight and powerful in the face of trials and failures. I love to think of my friendships with others as roots that will keep me strong. I know I have extra help when I am weak and I am power to those who are also struggling. But how deep do my roots go? Can they grow deeper and stronger? Whose roots are my safety? If we have roots... what is the soil? So I'm sorry I burnt the wood without asking. I will do better. At least it wasn't a redwood.

The future

I have been consumed all day by a single thought.... where am I going?? I don't mean a inquiry of where I will physically be as much as where the depths of who I am will be. Each time I have gotten quiet today for a short period of time my mind has consistantly come back to that question. there are countless places I have always wanted to go in the call I believe God has on my life. A call is just that... a call... I am unclear on where the conversation will end and at times, where it is. The legit desires I have sensed over the past fews years include but are not limited to starting an outdoor leadership camp to train futre leaders, continue in middle school ministry and pour all I have into understanding the middle school mind... scary really, being a part of a large youth ministry team doing youth minsitry in a unquestionably new way (thinking outside of the box), graphic design??? true, planting a church with some of my closest friends who are striving with all that is inside them (and outside of them- God strength) to allow God to use them to change the world. So where is God leading? It's a tough question these days for me. I think that these thoughts have sprung from reading too many books and reading too many blogs of church leaders. Is that possible though? To over-dream? I want my dreams to only be restrained by one thing... God's revealed direction for me.

It is a fresh new time in my life... again... the church has changed over the past few months in incredible ways. Many of these changes are necessary and well planned. I welcome them. It just feels I have had to adjust more regularlly than a chiropractor's office. I look forward to being able to look back a year from now and notice the subtle leadings and dramatic shifts God brings forth each day.

Trevor