Category: Faith

Do you remember these scenes at the dinner table when you were younger?
“Mom, I don’t like cheese on the pizza.” –  “But you have to eat it.”
“I don’t want to eat cheese. I don’t like cheese.” – “How come you don’t like cheese?” – “I don’t know, I never tried.”
– “See? You never tried. Well, I’m telling you girl, you don’t get to leave this table until you have tried at least one bit of cheese!”
Today cheese is one of my favorite bits on the pizza.

If you’re a parent you might have to go through these arguments with your own kids over and over again. A child who has never tried, but also never knew how much it missed out.

I find myself in similar arguments today with God.
I don’t like the tasks he sets before me, the people he wants me to connect with, the challenges that will help me grow.
I want to remain right where I am, right in my comfort zone.
So I sit at his table, stare at his offers, and wait.

The truth is, we will never know how good the “cheese” out there is unless we try.
We’ll never experience the freedom unless we’re willing to leave some old boxes behind.
We’ll never enter a new level of intimacy unless we have the courage to open up in our relationships.
We’ll never make new friends unless we leave the comfort of our own four walls once in a while.
We’ll never see more of the world unless we are willing to leave our six mile radius.
We’ll never see the growth in our lives unless we face the challenges to get there.
We’ll never see the beautiful view from the mountain top unless we take on the task to climb that hill. 

We’ll never experience the strong hand of our heavenly Father, lifting us up on his shoulders, saying “Come on, child, let’s try it together” unless we decide to let go and let him win that argument.
Again.
And again.

I don’t dream at night. No winter wonderlands, no nightmares.
But I certainly have dreams.

I used to dream of becoming famous. Someone people would recognize on the streets.
I used to dream of becoming a professional musician and touring the world.
I used to dream of being someone people look up to.
I used to dream of being married to a handsome man by the age of 25.
I used to dream of being and doing so much more.

What material are dreams made of?
When is a dream a dream and when is it just a simple illusion?

I guess we need to live in order to find out.
We need to run with an idea and see how far we can get.
We need to allow a vision to flood our veins with energy and adrenaline to keep us going.
We need to stumble and readjust our view.
We need to watch a dream shatter at the rocky shores of life, say goodbye to mere illusions and overrated expectations.
We need life to refine our dreams and reveal their true nature.

We need to go through this process of running, falling and seeing clearly.
In the midst of it we might discover that dreams are still there.
That new dreams are birthed in unexpected places.
We might encounter the One who has dreams for us, had them all along, and will never give up on us trying.
We might find that our dreams have a perfect place in the bigger picture.

You can’t measure a dream.
But if we allow the master to dream for and with us we might see them unfold right in front of us.

As always, linking up with Kate Motaung and the Five Minute Friday peeps today!

Since I started teaching earlier this year, my life has changed quite a bit.
Every morning my alarm goes off at 5.15 and after a few snooze attempts I really, really have to get up.
In the beginning it was still dark, so I stumbled through my own apartment with just one tiny lamp to not wake my roommate.

I left the house and joined a few other tired faces in the bus and train.
It was simply too early.
However, it was worth it.
As the train made its way through the sleepy landscape, the sun rose. A giant orange ball rose into the sky, pushing away the darkness and drenching everything in a golden light. You couldn’t help but to close your eyes and take in its warmth.

Many mornings I had to think of the verse in the Psalms:
His mercies are new every morning.
What a promise!

It tells me ‘It’s okay. Just try again.’
It reminds me that the failures of yesterday don’t have to haunt my today.
It encourages me to try again. To be myself with all its flaws because there’s a father who looks at me with joy. Just because I’m his.
This mercy inspires me to rise above myself, to step up and out of my comfort zone, a little bit every day.
It challenges me to offer this same freedom to those around me.
They can rise; I give them a helping hand and rejoice with them as they take new steps.

I hope you experience his mercy every morning and allow yourself to live and be in that freedom.
And more than that, I challenge you to extend it to someone else.

“Church wasn’t my thing today. I didn’t really connect with God during worship.”
“I feel bad. Haven’t opened my bible all week and met God.”
“Me, too. I didn’t even meet other believers to connect.”

I don’t know if you have heard similar statements from people around you or also discovered them in your mind.
I do sometimes. Growing up in a Christian home, walking through the entire youth program the church had to offer, living on the mission field telling others about it somehow implanted a certain thinking in my head:
Read your bible, go to church, meet other believers to meet God.
Which, in general, is a good thing.
But with it comes also a feeling of pressure.
You have to do this.
This is the only way.
Which leaves me guilty every time.
Every day without opening my bible, not connecting in worship or even going to church leaves me with a sense of failure and a spiritual bad conscience.
God is to be found in the church and ‘spiritual’ things, so I better do my part to find him.
And what if I do all that, what if I play by the rules and still feel like he’s not there?

Since I started working, my alarm goes off at 5.15 am most mornings.
I am glad when I get seven hours of sleep.
My body is exhausted, my mind is weary from thinking and planning and worrying.
There’s enough pressure out there, and very little time to meet God in ‘spiritual’ ways.

In the midst of all of this I discovered a new sense of freedom.
I met tons of new people, fellow teachers, students, commuters…
I heard a lot of stories, as I got to know people a bit and they allowed me a glimpse into their lives and struggles.
I shared questions and problems and was blessed with unexpected advice, a good laugh (or chocolate).
I experienced genuine kindness, friendship, and hope.
I have seen the most beautiful sunrises, a perk from getting up so early.
I have savored a good night’s rest or a home cooked meal.
I have raveled in the outburst of flowers and spring colors.
I met God. 
Outside the church.

I don’t know how your day looks like, how your lives look like.
I don’t know if and how you meet God. I don’t say one way is better than the other.
But I want to speak a little bit of freedom to your guilt-ridden soul.
I want to release you from the pressure others or you have put on your faith.
I want to challenge you to widen your perspective and open your eyes and heart.
God is out there, he’s ready to be found and meet you.
Right where you are.
In often unexpected places and people.
In the weirdest circumstances.
Are you ready to meet him there?

It’s Friday and I am linking up with Kate Motaung‘s Five Minute Friday. Why don’t you join us? 

We just celebrated Easter, the fact that death does not have the last word. We rejoiced in resurrection and life. The triumph of light over darkness. The relief that the empty grave brought (and still brings) us.

The challenge we now face is to translate this Easter experience into our daily lives. 
To not let this experience remain a story on the pages, a once in a year event. 
So what actually happened that Sunday that we should allow to permeate our day-to-day routine?
Even before his death, Jesus said,

“In this world you will have trouble. But I have overcome this world.” (Matthew 16:33)

There it is. Once and for all, Jesus has done it. 
Death is dead, life has won. 
He has overcome, and calls us to do the same.
We tend to quote and rejoice in the second half of the verse, but there’s more to it. Jesus is not some obscure magician who just – Boom – finishes the work of the cross.
He promises trouble ahead. Why? Because he’s been through it before us. 
He walked this earth and spoke to people. 
He observed their struggles, helped their needs, shared their lives. 
He experienced the trouble this world is so full of and he relieved it. 
Not with magic, not from one moment to the next. 
But he settled it once and for all. 
He aligned himself with this world. 
Made himself one with our hopes, our struggles, our hearts, our lives.
In the midst of our darkness he speaks words of life: I am here. With you. For you. 

There’s still lots of trouble out there. 
Often I am overwhelmed when reading the news. Political conflicts in so many countries, hostility towards other people in my own country. 
But you don’t have to go that far to be troubled. Just listen to people, read emails from friends, meet up with them for coffee and just listen. 
We might not even have to go further than ourselves to experience the dreadfullness of what life throws at us. Too much too handle and seemingly no way out. 
Look into a stranger’s eyes and you’ll see it: trouble. 
Broken hopes. 
Despair. 
Leaning towards death rather than life.

We are called to bring Easter back into people’s and our lives. 
We are called to speak life into seemingly dead situations. 
To not let dread and hopelessness and despair have the last word. 
We are called to overcome.
Not with magic. 
Not all at once, from one moment to the next.
But with ourselves. 
We have time to spend and listen to others. 
We have open hands to lift someone up.
We have powerful stories to tell. 
We have scarred lives to share. 
We have our souls to align with those who suffer.  
We have words, simple words often: I am here. With you, for you. We are in this together. 
Stepping down into trouble, staying with the troubled, and waiting till the storm is passed might be some of the greatest relief we can give.