Other World

Do you ever look at a beautiful sunset or a raging ocean and feel an ache inside your heart?  Like you crave more and more of the beauty before you, but the more you look, and the more you drink in, the more you ache and the more you yearn?  C.S. Lewis says this of such feelings; "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."

I wonder often about what this "other world" that I was made for will be like.  I think of it as full of green valleys, dotted with tall, purple, snow covered mountains, and resplendant with a golden light.  I imagine more colors than we could have ever dreamed of and I imagine sunsets so breathtaking that they make ours look like dark clouds.

In this other world, I will drink in sunsets and skies hundreds of thousands of times more beautiful than the ones I see now, and I will not ache.  My new body and enlarged soul will be capable of containing the beauty around me.  I will "add to the beauty" and be one with it.  I will dance in beams of sunlight, I will roll in cotton candy clouds, I will fling myself into the arms of Jesus and I will celebrate before his throne. 

Sometimes, when I try to think about my past, I get dizzy.  It's like recalling someone elses life.  A life that I was once the main character in and that still makes up a part of who I am.  That is how we will remember this life once we enter the other world.  It will be nothing more than "a shadow and a thought" compared to the life that we will be living; a dark and distant dream (mmmhmmm Lord of the Rings quote).

Sometimes, I just want to stop being in this world.  This life can seem so pointless, so trivial.  But I know, that it's just part of the journey.  I know that despite my longings for another world, there is a reason that I was put into this one.  I don't know what that reason is, but I know that God does.  And that is comfort enough.

Morning Pleasures

It has been a horribly long time since I last wrote a post.  I am very sorry.  I have not had time for any pleasure writing in the last couple of weeks due to the bondage of school.  It's times like these that I wish I lived in a Utopian government where after working six hours in the morning, I would be allowed to pursue and immerse myself in my passions... not the passions of Machiavelli, Martin Luther, and Albrecht Durer. 

My family and I have always marvelled over how amazing it is that the stuff that our bodies need to survive tastes good.  I love food. I mean doesn't everyone?  Food just makes me happy.  Right now, I am especially looking forward to the rotisserie chicken awaiting me on my kitchen table.  If I could eat for a living, I would.  I really envy food critiques.   There is a plethora of food in this world.  To name every single dish known to man, would be impossible.  Therefore, I'm going to provide you with a sampling of three of the very best breakfast foods.  

1. "I want pancakes. Who wants pancakes? With butter, maple syrup, what!?"  - Gus from the TV Series Psych

Picture this.  It's 7:30 on a Saturday morning,  You were up late the night before, and now instead of sleeping in, you have to get up and ride in the car for forty-five minutes to get to dance class.  You trudge down the stairs, struggling to keep your heavy lids open.  Then, as you step into the kitchen, something amazing happens, waiting for you on the table is a stack of perfectly fluffy pancakes, the syrup cascading down the sides, the butter just starting to melt... problems solved.  Your fork cuts through the many layers of fluffiness, your mouth waters, and then you are chewing what seems to you to be a cloud of perfection.  Summary; Pancakes make everything better.

2. Banana Bread and Coffee. 

I'm not going to pretend to be a coffee fanatic.  I have known and loved many coffee fanatics; people who announce it to the world with triumph when they drink their coffee black and people who base their entire blogs on coffee (Love you stef :)).  While I may not be that crazy about coffee, I definitely enjoy a good cup of joe.  Banana bread is the perfect go-along with coffee.  It's sweet and dense, filled with nuts and sometimes chocolate, making a perfect start to any day.

3. "Eaggle Bagel" Sandwich....with bacon!

This has long been a favoite in our house.  We like to cook the eggs over-easy so that when you bite into the crunchy, sesame seed covered bagel, the yoke squirts out and makes a sticky, but delicious mess.  The trick is to not let the yoke squirt on you and your clothes.  I remember eating this at my grandmother's house when we were visiting once.  I was sitting at my grandma's old wood kitchen table, just as I have been doing for as long as I can remember.  My great-grandma was sitting across from me and we were talking about various subjects.  As I bit into my sandwich, my great-grandmother started giggling and pointing at my shirt.  I looked down and saw yellow egg-yoke, sprayed all over my sleeves.  It's best to eat this before you are showered and dressed in the morning. 

Those are my three favorite breakfast foods.  Yah, very startchy, but hey, at least I had some meat in there!  A nice, tall class of orange juice is also a great way to top off any breakfast meal.  Oh great, now I have a serious orange juice craving!

A Short Post About 2012

Guess what people, I haven't written a blog post all year! Haha!  Sorry Sorry.  I know that you are probably really tired of those sort of jokes.  But, I had to make at least one to start off this year. 

Now, what will this year hold?  What is awaiting us around the bend?  Will a new president sit in the Oval Office, or will Obama continue to wield power?  What new technology will baffle US citizens?  Will flying cars finally become a reality? What new catchy tune will rise to the top of the charts?  What will Lady Gaga wear to her birthday party?  Will we find the answer to world peace? Will we finally find the perfect energy source?  Will the world end? 

There are lots of questions and no answers.  Why aren't there any answers?  Because we're not God.  No one but Him knows what will come to pass this year.  Due to Walt Disney's influence, we all think that we're incharge of our own destinies.  Here's a shocker, we aren't.  God is.  It says in Jeremiah 29:11; " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.' "  The future is not in our hands.  It is laid out before God like a big open pop-up book. 

  

We tend to micro-manage here in the states.  Our iphones and ipads help us with that.  Sometimes, we need to be reminded that we can't control everything.  The world is not in our hands.  No matter how much we worry about life, we can't change the future.  I'm going to make a new New Year's resolutiuon.  I'm not going to worry.  This year, I'm going to let God do his thing and take care of me.  My future is written in the stars.  So this year, I'm not going to get tangled in the sticky web of worry.