Layers

So now I'm wondering how many layers of paint have been applied to the walls of my home. From what I know, my house was built before I was born so yes, that leaves quite a few years and a few tenants to apply each of their own touches to interior to make it their own. If we were to peel back the layers of each, could they tell a story or share memories of years past? Peel each layer like an onion and you'd find happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy and love. When a new layer is applied it erases the colors of the past but it doesn't remove them, it's part of the homes story. Much like our life's stories.

One of my favorite movies is Under the Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane. She is going through some hardship in her life at home, a divorce, and while on a tour in Tuscany, she decides to purchase a farm in Italy with the hopes of transforming her life. She renovates this old house, top to bottom, making it her own. During one of the monologues she says something along the line that she's building a relationship room by room. Slowly cleaning the antiques left behind and repairing the many things in disrepair left by neglect and aging. It's a metaphor for how she's learning who she is again, slowly removing the old things of her past and repairing her heart hurt. I think that we spend a lot of time trying to cover our past, hide our insecurities all the while we have a God who has made a way for us to not be ashamed of what we may have done OR what may have been done to us. It's our layers.

For the last couple of years towards the end of each year I pray for God to give me a word to lean on, one word that during times of struggles or times of celebrations the word would draw me nearer to Him. Two years ago my word was TRUST, I trust everyone from the beginning, it's theirs to lose if they choose. I was challenged to trust God more in making the decisions, trust Him more with being my one and only. Last year my word was HOPE. I needed to have hope, hope that my dreams would come true. Hope that I'm becoming the person God wants me to be and hope for my future. While praying for this year, He gave me my word early, I knew my word for 2018 at the beginning of December and  it's...BRAVE. I know deep down have to be brave this year. I must be brave in following through with my bold faith move He's given me the privilege of. 

I'm not sure if it was coincidental that in church today the message included that you have to find your word but I know I have mine. Each of these words in the past years have built layers for me in my life. Learning to trust when others have broken it, being hopeful when it didn't seem that things would work out and now to be brave. Brave when the unknown is around the corner. Be proud of your layers because they're what made you who you are today and search for your word and remember that when all is said and done, the God who created the Heavens, created you and He intimately knows each of your layers, and LOVES you beyond compare.

L Shaped trees

Have you ever seen a weirdly shaped tree where it's bent somewhere in middle of the trunk to form the tree in the shape of an "L" and asked yourself, how'd it get that way? We assume that trees should grow straight reaching towards the sky, right? Logically yes, but there's a story behind the bent trees. 150-200 years ago Native American's would purposefully bend the trees to create trail markers notifying travelers of things of where there was food and water near by or to mark warnings of rough country ahead. They were important for the navigation of early travelers. Someone having created for you a guidance system of where you were supposed to go yet keeping the knowledge organic and secret was necessary for survival. Trees shaped like this are mostly lost to age and disease however there are few that still remain and allow us to see history.

Think of your life's journey, I'm almost certain that you've had crooks which were purposely placed in your life haven't you? Challenges with jobs, marriages, children or anything that you believe strayed you from your life's trail. Do you think that these trials have been placed in your path that forced you to bend in a different direction for a good reason or do you think what you faced was unfair? As we start the new year we have high hopes for new beginnings or changes that will allow us to grow and become better people, better than we were the year before. Things we want to be different and now we have the chance for them to be changed. We as Christians believe that God will provide all needs but if we're being honest, somewhere tucked in the back of our minds we wish that we could have a trail marker. A guide book from Him for early navigation, we want to see the bent trees.

But we know full well that's not how our walk with the Lord works. We want easy flat groomed trails that lead us in predictable 90 degree angles. We don't want hills or valleys or swamps to waddle through, we want to come out clean on the other side with little to no effort. We're lucky though, we don't have clean trails but we've been entrusted with a travelers guide, the Bible. We have fellow Christians that will walk along side us, our community for safety in numbers. And of course and most important, we have a trail blazer, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is constantly stepping before us, navigating us to food and water and giving us directions to stay away from danger. Our guidance system was well thought of before time existed and our community with whom we blaze the trails with was created by the One who created the guide book. Every time you think that something should be going straight but has wavered crookedly, think of it as a trail marker. Something along your story line that the Lord has gifted to you because He has gone before you and made a way, a way for us to grow dependent and rely on Him has been forged.

Let us step confidently into 2018 with our heads held high, our trail shoes on and our travel book worn from reading and researching. We have the necessary survival skills instilled in us but we must trust our trail blazer and let Him show us the way.

Luke 9:57