It’s Friday, and John and I have been reflecting all week how blessed we have been being a part of The Journey community with all its variety of descriptive words over its colorful lifetime! We know we have forever friends among you because of a deep bond we have shared in all the ups as well as the downs.
I have wanted to write about it all week, but I think I got my best idea yesterday (Thursday). We spent a most encouraging morning in the living room of a prayer retreat house on Beaver Lake listening to Avery Willis (am I name-dropping?) converse about a new book he has written with his grandson, Learning to Soar, subtitled “How to Grow Through Transitions and Trials”.
Let me back up: I know eagles are a familiar example, but it did happen that in getting ready for our Half Day of Prayer at the Center on Tuesday, John sent this out to the staff to elaborate on Isaiah 40:31:
“An eagle will perch high atop a canyon wall and wait for the thermals—warm wind currents that arise up from the canyon below. When the rising wind is just right, the eagle will fold its wings to his sides, literally cast itself into the chasm and plummet into the abyss. Isaiah would not have known this in his day, but God has equipped eagles with tiny sensors in their beaks to let the birds know when they have reached the optimal speed. When this happens, the bird will spread its wings, catch the thermals, rise up into the sky and soar.”
Avery, in his book, talks about how the mother of the little eaglets, when it is time to learn to fly, takes out all of that pillow soft lining from the nest of sticks so that they will begin to get the idea, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t stay here forever…” and think about trying their wings. I’m sure flying takes a lot of courage—it might take a while to see the value of diving into the chasm and letting the thermals lift you up.
When John and I took Perspectives in 2001, we felt like our eyes were opened to a whole new world of possibilities. I imagine we had heard that we were “blessed to be a blessing”, but I’m not sure that thought had ever fully penetrated our cortexes! When my mom was no longer in our care after December 2004, we thought we were ready to fly off to some remote part of the world. Our All-Wise Parent God, however, had other ideas. We needed the cottony nest of the Journey to take us deeper in learning how to walk with God. In April of 2007, we jumped off the side of the nest and are still seeking to ride the thermals. The Journey encouraged us and has supported us in a big way these last 2-plus years and we are more thankful than we can say for that.
Could it be that God has taken the cottony stuff out of the Journey nest for others now? Could He have been taking care of you in this soft spot and is now urging you to embody His purposes, knowing what you now know and experiencing in a real way His nurture and His love, to be His heart, hands, and feet to the world around you?
John and I want to take courage and be spiritual “adrenaline junkies”, riding the thermals in wherever they take us. Want to ride along?
I have wanted to write about it all week, but I think I got my best idea yesterday (Thursday). We spent a most encouraging morning in the living room of a prayer retreat house on Beaver Lake listening to Avery Willis (am I name-dropping?) converse about a new book he has written with his grandson, Learning to Soar, subtitled “How to Grow Through Transitions and Trials”.
Let me back up: I know eagles are a familiar example, but it did happen that in getting ready for our Half Day of Prayer at the Center on Tuesday, John sent this out to the staff to elaborate on Isaiah 40:31:
“An eagle will perch high atop a canyon wall and wait for the thermals—warm wind currents that arise up from the canyon below. When the rising wind is just right, the eagle will fold its wings to his sides, literally cast itself into the chasm and plummet into the abyss. Isaiah would not have known this in his day, but God has equipped eagles with tiny sensors in their beaks to let the birds know when they have reached the optimal speed. When this happens, the bird will spread its wings, catch the thermals, rise up into the sky and soar.”
Avery, in his book, talks about how the mother of the little eaglets, when it is time to learn to fly, takes out all of that pillow soft lining from the nest of sticks so that they will begin to get the idea, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t stay here forever…” and think about trying their wings. I’m sure flying takes a lot of courage—it might take a while to see the value of diving into the chasm and letting the thermals lift you up.
When John and I took Perspectives in 2001, we felt like our eyes were opened to a whole new world of possibilities. I imagine we had heard that we were “blessed to be a blessing”, but I’m not sure that thought had ever fully penetrated our cortexes! When my mom was no longer in our care after December 2004, we thought we were ready to fly off to some remote part of the world. Our All-Wise Parent God, however, had other ideas. We needed the cottony nest of the Journey to take us deeper in learning how to walk with God. In April of 2007, we jumped off the side of the nest and are still seeking to ride the thermals. The Journey encouraged us and has supported us in a big way these last 2-plus years and we are more thankful than we can say for that.
Could it be that God has taken the cottony stuff out of the Journey nest for others now? Could He have been taking care of you in this soft spot and is now urging you to embody His purposes, knowing what you now know and experiencing in a real way His nurture and His love, to be His heart, hands, and feet to the world around you?
John and I want to take courage and be spiritual “adrenaline junkies”, riding the thermals in wherever they take us. Want to ride along?
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