Doctor Who and adventures without the Flying Blue Box

Alright, alright. I confess:

Doctor Who is my favorite t.v. show.

Why you ask? I think that somewhere inside us, if we care to admit it to ourselves, we all long for adventure. A big, blue box to take us somewhere into space, meeting characters, rescuing planets and meeting with adventure and leaving the mundane far behind. We all long for that idea that there's something more.

The Doctor always has a companion with him. To keep him company, to help save the world and more often than not, to keep him out of trouble. His companion is always human. Usually some unsuspecting person that, when swept off into the unknown, is in for a world of adventure.

And the Doctor. Unlike anyone before. Mostly because he's not human. Always there to save the day. Always ready with a solution. Charming. Beyond time. He never ages, never really changes. He may change his appearance every once in awhile, but he's always the same Doctor.

After working a long day, with people being their usually ornery not-so-nice-kind-of-people, faced with the feeling of despair and defeat- I wouldn't mind a good travel through galaxy type of adventure.

But adventures don't always come wrapped in blue boxes. They come wrapped in challenges that we face everyday, in traffic jams and shopping store lines.

The Doctor may not really be there to save the day, but you know, we have someone who is a whole lot better than him. And that's God. God may not pick us up in a blue box, but when He stretched His hands out on that cross, it was an open invitation to join Him on an adventure. That adventure of everyday life.

In one episode, "Th Family of Blood", a young boy is trying to explain who the Doctor is and he says, "He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and can see the turn of the universe. And...he's wonderful."

It's a beautiful explanation, that hints at so much more. Like our God. There are subtle clues around us but it hints at so much more. But our God is not fire and ice and rage. He is love, redemption and forgiveness. Our God shines bright like the sun. He reaches into yesterday, today and forever. And He's....wonderful.

Wake up tomorrow looking for adventure. For while we may not see a flying blue box, we may just see our God with His arms stretched wide, waiting for us to join Him on a journey.

  

Going through a Storm

Life has way of getting you down. Of picking you up and dropping you.

That's how it feels now.

But it never stops. When you ask life for a reprieve, unfortunately it doesn't care about your opinion. You face the next obstacle, the next trial, a new day. Just keep going.

Sometimes it doesn't even have to be something big that has rocked your life. Little things chip away, slowly breaking your resolve, crumbling the walls that you've so carefully built. What happens when those walls come down?

Have you ever been tired of being strong? As if the walls you're holding up get too heavy, and you simply can't hold them anymore? I'm scared I can't be strong enough for everyone. That I won't be able to hold up the walls for them too.

These storms in life can get the best of us. Sometimes we weather them and sometimes they seem too strong.

But storms always end.

The thunder may rumble now, your heart resounding with the sound, and the only thing you can hear is that you're alone. But that's a lie too. You're not alone. It's just that once in awhile the storm in so dark you can't see anyone else. But they're there.

The lightning may flash, fear finding it's way into your heart. Giving everything a twisted, distorted look to the world.

But something I've noticed is that after a storm, the skies can be so beautiful. Splashes of color painted across the sky. It gives us hope. It gives us a sense that maybe things will get better, we just have to wait out this storm. Because a beautiful sky is waiting on the other side.

Every once and a while, a storm can be beautiful and majestic in it's own way. It all depends on how you look at it. But that's another story.

This was the first real blog that I've been completely open and honest with. The others were pictures, or short devotions I wrote. So in short, I don't know why I'm writing this. But sometimes in life, next to God, ink on paper is the next thing to go to. If you're in a storm, keep going, it will get better.

Faith...

So this week over at Written Inc., the theme for the thematic pictures is Faith. And here are my photos that remind me of this theme:

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the staircase."-Martin Luther King Jr.

I love this picture because it reminds me that without fail, these tiny flowers bloom every spring. Even after a harsh winter, they are faithful to show up. It's a reminder that while we may be going through a winter, a hard time in our own lives, spring will come again. And it will be all the more beautiful.

Our God can paint beautiful masterpieces. Faith in Him that His love for us is shown in the beauty all around us.

We don't always know where this road in life is going to take us. There are twists and turns and surprises of every kind. But we can have a faith in the assurance that everything will turn out in the end.

Stuck in Indecision

I read a blog post today that really got me thinking about decisions and choices, you can read it HERE. We make a lot of decisions in our life. Little decisions and big ones. Sometimes we make the right ones. But sometimes we make wrong ones too.

I’ve been known to be terrible at decision making. You give me a choice I will always answer with “I don’t know” or “It doesn’t matter” or something along those lines. People know that if they need a quick decision, then not to ask me!

When I’m faced with a decision, particularly a big one that involves my life or a choice that involves others, I freeze. I see the thousands of possibilities swirling around me and then I feel the fear of not making the right choice. I’m worried I will disappoint someone, I will make a fool of myself, or I will fail. I’m afraid of all these things happening to me. So I freeze. Stuck, paralyzed by indecision.

And that’s one of the worst places to be.

When you’re stuck or paralyzed, you don’t move forward or backwards. You’re in exactly the same place because you’re scared that that step forward you just took will take you two steps back. But even if it did take you two steps back, at least you would still be moving. And you would then know what you needed to change in order to go forward.

I’ve been stuck in the same place many times because I’m afraid to move. If I move, then I’m open, I’m vulnerable. If I move, the unknown awaits me. And that’s enough to keep my feet firmly planted.

But can I really afford not to move?

It may be scary, I may fall, I may even make the wrong decision. But I have to move forward.

"Go back?" He thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" Bilbo from the Hobbit page 69.

We can only keep moving. We have to be wise about the decisions we make. Sometimes God tells us to stay where we are for a reason. But that reason is never fear. If the only reason you are not moving is because of your fear then maybe you are meant to move on.

I believe that God doesn’t want us to be afraid. We’re so scared of falling that we won’t even take a step. Like a baby learns to walk, so we learn to walk in faith. We may fall a few times but we have to get back up.

Philippians 3:13-14, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Let’s keep moving on. Moving ahead. Seeking God with everything we have. Don't let fear stop you from stepping out. We can't let our fear of making the wrong choice stop us from making choices at all.

Is the fear of the unknown water keeping us on the shore?

Waiting for the Son to rise

Some thoughts I was having on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday....

Holy Saturday. A day of reflecting on what happened and what will happen. A day of anticipation.

I can't help but think what that first Holy Saturday was like. I wonder what the disciples must have felt. They had just seen their very best friend and their Lord, brutally murdered before their very eyes. The shock and despair had to overwhelm them. They believed nothing could stop Him but He was laid dead in a tomb. He left them with a promise that He would rise and it was to this they had to be desperately clinging too. His promise. His Word.

I wonder if any of them faced doubt. Death looked like death. Death looked very final. They knew that they had targets on their backs. They were afraid, they were deathly scared so they hid in the Upper Room. They mourning, hiding....They had to wonder if the sun would ever shine again. I imagine that they didn't want to talk to each other much. Sifting through their thoughts, re-playing over and over their final conversation with Jesus. Looking for some hint of hope. I imagine them trying to fight off the guilt that laid so heavily on their hearts, because when Jesus faced death alone, they abandoned Him.  They ran. They hid for their own safety.

Where would they go from here? How did they approach that first day of waiting? I think maybe some were doubtful, some were afraid, but I bet they all had broken hearts. Maybe they wanted to full-heartily look towards Sunday and believe without a doubt that Jesus was coming. But maybe the questions hung too closely to see much else.

Can you imagine as they went to sleep that night before the most beautiful morning? They fell asleep with questions, despair hung close, but the sun rose in the morning; bringing with it hope. Bringing back their best friend.

The new day dawned, and the Savior was risen. 

The Battle of Dreams....

I didn’t realize that I was in a fight. I didn’t realize that I was engaged in full out battle on the front lines. But I was. And still am.

This battle isn’t fought with guns or hand grenades, but it’s no less deadly. You may not be hit with shrapnel, but your heart will be pierced with things just as sharp. In this fight, the sides are not always clear-cut. I often find myself on both sides, fighting as hard as I can and I’m simply fighting myself. Other times, I don’t realize that that I’ve been attacked and I’m defeated before I can get my defense up.

This is the battle of our dreams. Our God-given dreams that we have a heart and a passion for. I’ve never thought of it as a battle before tonight.  I have a dream that brings excitement that makes me feel alive. But I’m also my own undercover assassin. I start to dream, to let myself believe that changing the world is possible, and then I stop myself. With worries, with worldly cares. I dream to have my dreams torn apart by myself….

This is a battle I think we all go through. A spiritual battle that occurs more often than we think. It’s a battle between whether we’re going to take the God-given dream we have and step out in faith or if we’re going to listen as the world squashes those dreams. We have many adversaries against our dreams. We have the world whispering that we will never be good enough. We have the devil shouting that God would never want to use us. And often we have those closest to us telling us that we will fall, that we will fail. But there are also those along the way who spur us on, who pick us up when we fall. We just have to realize that this is a fight. And we’re all engaged.

I’ve been listening to the world, and myself and to lies for too long. I have believed that since I don’t have a college degree that I am of no use. I’ve believe that I’m only one person who could never make a difference. But God is whispering  something more. So much more. He has amazing dreams for us. But we have to fight for it. It’s an intense fight. A fight that will take you out as soon as you look away. But the good thing about this battle is that even you’re down, you feel as if it’s impossible to get back up, it’s not. When God said that we are more than conquerors, He meant it.

Let take down our dreams off the dusty shelves and start believing again. Let’s fight and let’s let God give us incredible, world changing dreams. Let’s do this. 

Facing a New Year

I stand here at the edge of a new beginning. 12 months behind me filled with laughter and tears and 12 new months ahead of me, filled with the wonder and worry of everything new.

What will this year hold for me? Will it bring bad or good? Will it disappoint or will it change my life?

Where will I be at this time next year…..the unending questions are enough to drive anyone crazy. The worries crowd out many thoughts. If this is a new beginning, then where should I be going? Worry of disappointing those I love echo in my mind. What if this New Year is not all that I hope it to be?

I could be standing at the door of a new adventure, or standing at the door of a year just like all the others. What will it be? I suppose it will what I make it. And where God leads.

 But in this time as the start of a New Year is still fresh, this is a time to reflect on who we are, and who we wish to be. We could change that. The New Year holds the promise of a new start. Where anything is possible and for a brief few days, it feels like we can dream bigger and greater things than we ever have before. How are we going to change the world?

By the time next week rolls around, I might feel like I felt last January a week in. As if nothing has changed, as if the New Year holds nothing new, only days filled the mundane and normal. But what if I didn’t let it? What if I choose to make this a year that is unforgettable?

That question, in itself, is scary. Could it really all come down to a question I challenge myself with? If this is going to be a year where I step out of the boat and onto the water, I need Jesus to be guiding me.

In a way, I need this year to be different. I need this year to be an adventure. I can’t let myself live anymore in the mundane. But which door is the right one to take? Will this New Year show me?

So as I stand here, I pray. I pray it will be different. I pray for that door. And I face 2012 with hope, apprehension and excitement.

What is this new year going to hold for you?