This little light of mine...ain't so little

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

There is a fire burning in my heart to see people live the life they were created for. I'm stuck in the office at my house while a meeting takes place in my living room so this is the best place to shout it out. We are people who are created to bring hope to people's lives, to inspire them to dream, to live better lives because they see Jesus in us! I want to do that! I want to so transparently be a son of Jesus that people are inspired to change the world after a cup of coffee with me, not because I'm amazing but because God is amazing. Is that even possible - am I just too full of myself that I think that could happen?

I've been stuck on Matthew 5:14 for the last week: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." We are the light of the world?! Not "a" light, but "the" light! Without us this world is a dark place! We are intended to help people see where they're going, to be their beautiful sunrise that fills them with so much wonder that they can't help but declare that God is amazing! Living in Oregon, we know what light does - it brings us out of depression and despair. "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your heavenly Father!" I want it to shine out of me, but even more I want it to shine out of my students! We are people who should be blazing with hope! Our cry to God should be that we would shine more brightly than anything people have ever encountered! We are created with a purpose! LET IT OUT! OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND LET THE LIGHT SHINE OUT OF YOU! EVERYTHING AROUND YOU TELLS YOU TO HIDE IT, TO KEEP IT TO YOURSELF! SCREW THAT! GIVE THE DEVIL THE FINGER AND DECLARE THAT GOD HAS DONE GOOD THINGS IN YOU! PUSH BACK THE DARKNESS WITH YOUR STORIES OF GOD'S LOVE!

Awaken

The sky is
falling,
falling,
falling,
into a deep abyss to
which there is no end.
I fall,
like a dreamless sleep,
never-ending
remembering the spring,
the wildflowers,
the fresh scent,
no more compared to the death and darkness that now surrounds me.
Where is the life?
Where is the light?
What is the point of this dreamless sleep?
Should I awake, where will I be,
once again in that field?
I think not
for the only picture painted
in my mind is that
of a gravestone.
Yet there is hope,
for a mother’s smile shines faintly
memories of Deep Love bring images of life flooding
back, and so the dreamless sleep becomes no more.
I am no longer
falling
but flying
on the wings of the dawn.
As a dove surveys the troubled world below
I fly with the peace given me,
And never more shall I sleep,
sleep that dreamless sleep
never more shall darkness reign o’er me.
Oh to share that dream
to share that others might cease
their endless toil of night,
that their life may be painted in Vivid Colors
the way it is meant to be.