Wonder and Adventure

"“We are made of the Same Things” by Sarah Jane Jernigan Whatever it is in my heart that sparks..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:55:00 -0400

“

“We are made of the Same Things”
by Sarah Jane Jernigan

Whatever it is in my heart that
sparks when
an orange-yellow sun
glows against
a velvety darkness,
You have it too.

When God made you, He opened your
mouth and breathed words tinted with
shades of hope and adventure and
courage into your depths,
just like He did in mine.

When He molded your heart, He
pulled it apart, butterflying it like surgery,
and He planted, there, something wild.
It was just a seed then, but it grew,
as you did,
and its branches tangled into the
wild branches in me.

Somehow, the glitter of hope
that I glimpse dancing behind your
blonde eyelashes reminds me
of the face in the mirror
reflecting back to me
the hope that I’ve always been
afraid to realize as reality.

There’s a strength behind
the words you choose that
adds layers of confidence
to the confidant parts of me,
and seeps into
the cracks of my core,
flawlessly filling
places I fear.

It’s not like puzzle pieces.
We don’t simply “complete each other”.
There are no seams.
I rest in you.
You rest in me.

”

- —“We are made of the same things” by Sarah Jane Jernigan

I wrote this poem to help put words to the sweet community I have been blessed with. If you have best friends, maybe this will resonate with you.

Happy Friday, y’all.

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:29:35 -0400

Happy Friday, y’all.

“I believe in music the way that some people believe in...

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:16:00 -0400

“I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairytales.”—August Rush

Avett Brother’s concert. My faith in live music’s ability to heal and sooth broken places in people’s hearts has been renewed.

"“My favorite stories will show me compassion without leading me to despair, foster belief..."

Sun, 05 May 2013 02:58:00 -0400

“

“My favorite stories will show me compassion without leading me to despair, foster belief through imagination, and even when I disagree with an idea, give me something real to think about.

A good book is a transformational experience. A bad book may be too, which is why it is important both to read good material and to be a good reader. Reading can satisfy the soul with truth. But truths, especially important ones, are easy to forget, so I rarely resist the urge to re-read.”

”

- Same Old Story

Jenna St. Hilaire

Photo

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:51:09 -0400

Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood. I am absolutely in love...

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:50:01 -0400

Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood.

I am absolutely in love with this song.

"Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan...."

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:14:59 -0400

““Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan.”
— Prince Caspian”

Adventure is Anti-darkness.

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:44:00 -0400

Ok, so it’s 3 in the morning, I can’t sleep, and I’m sitting here, smiling at the idea that God has me here for a reason. But, I need to back up, I just jumped ahead a little too fast.

I’m really bad at sleep. I tend to get somewhere between 4 and 6 hours on a normal night. On a less than normal night (nights that happen consistently about every 5 or 6 days) I’ll get 2 hours or less. No, I don’t have insomnia. No, I’m not up cramming for tests. I have sort of ridiculously bad dreams. Consistently. I dread bed time. This has been true since I was about six years old. I’m twenty. And these aren’t just like your everyday, once in a blue moon, “Oh man, I shouldn’t have eaten that before I went to bed” dreams. These are what look like excerpts from horror movies I’ve never watched in dark places I’ve never been. And what’s worse? The people in the nightmares are of people I love. They’re incredibly dark, riddled with all the trappings of what I would assume to be a decent horror movie. Imagine a six year old watching a particularly gruesome scene from Saw. You get the gist.

Ok, so now that you probably think I’m a dormant sociopath that’s one bad day away from doing something terrible, let me tell you what I think happens. I’m about 98% sure these dreams aren’t from me. I’m about 100% sure that nightmares are one of Satan’s primary tools of attack in my life. He must think if he can scare me into not sleeping, I’ll be too weak to combat him in the daylight.

I’ll be honest, some days, that’s true. But I’ve been realizing a few things about this whole dark dreams business. First, Satan can’t do anything to me without permission from the Lover of my soul. No, I don’t think God is punishing me. Yes, I still firmly hold fast to the fact that he wants what’s best for me. NO, I don’t particularly enjoy being twenty years old and being afraid of the dark. But I know that God hasn’t left me to do this alone. He’s taught me how very real Satan is, and he’s given me the chance to seek His arms in my deepest, hardest, most embarrassing places of fear. He is in control, and that is a very comforting thought.

The second part of this realization is more like an epiphany than an entirely new thought. My heart was designed with a thirst for adventure. I long to be apart of an epic story. Very much like Samwise Gamgee, “I wonder if we’ll ever be put into songs or tales.” I desire to experience the world my Lover has made. I want to answer that call, and go to His people, hopefully bringing with me the Love that captured me so tightly. Who knows, maybe God’ll even send a man with a heart for wonder and adventure my way.

So if those are the dreams in my heart—if I’m finally learning to recognize how much God wants me to dream, if I’m starting to understand that these desires and dreams are some of the way my life could reflect Him—OF COURSE Satan would want to take control of my dreams at night. He’s working hard to instill fear in me: fear that travel leads to disaster; fear that my desires to GO will somehow wind up inflicting hurt instead of bringing joy; fear that I will lose things I care about if I dare hope for the future. Satan wants me to fear GOING and ADVENTURING. He’s hellbent on keeping me frozen in fear, petrified to even think about trying to realize what God may be calling me into.

Some nights, fear wins. I don’t say that because I’m some damsel in distress, needing to be rescued. I’ve been rescued. It’s done. Period. Jesus died to rescue me. I say that, because it’s true. Fear is like a disease. It sort of sneaks up on you, and before you know it, you’re completely overwhelmed. Those nights, I’m really thankful that God made some one creative enough to come up with Gilmore Girls. Lorelei and Rory are often the remedy for bad dreams. I’m also thankful for Scripture like John 10:10 that reminds me no matter what Satan tries to take from me, God died to give me life to the fullest. As I pull the covers closer under my chin, I repeat those words over and over and over….

….till they sink in, melting my fear-frozen heart. Deep Breaths. My heart slows from frantic pounding to steady beats. I drift off too sleep remembering what is true: I have been called into wild adventure, and my God loves me enough to comfort me in times of trouble.

Sweet Dreams, y’all.

Photo

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:58:46 -0400

dailyoddcompliment: “Appreciate That”

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:57:20 -0400

dailyoddcompliment:

“Appreciate That”

A picture’s worth a thousand words. This photographer...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:23:00 -0400

A picture’s worth a thousand words. This photographer wanted to show beauty. Real Beauty. Raw Beauty. And he proved that beauty isn’t just for the select few. He proved that we all have it. It’s lurking in the corners of our eyes. It’s in the light dusting of freckles sprinkled across our noses. It’s pushed into the corners of our smiles, dancing in our voices. It’s there. How often do we miss it?