Category: this is me

I’d say yes to that

Want to work with military personnel overseas? How about foster care children in San Diego? Ever thought of writing for Anthropologie or working for a government subsidized housing program in New York? Want to work in the agricultural industry? Want to teach, preach, or lead in a church ministry? Want to do administrative work for a non-profit or various secretarial duties for a start-up business? Want to drive the grain cart in the harvest parade? How about freelance or contract work – thought about that? Want to work at a university exchange program in the Dominican Republic or for the booming windmill business? Thought about working part-time at a print shop, coffee shop, branding company, advertising firm, or babysitting?

I’ll stop because your brain is swimming.

It’s just that, I would say yes to all of the above. Everything. Actually, I did say yes when people asked me those questions this past year.

Every time I got an email, phone call, or networked connection through friends, I responded as quick as I could get my resume and cover letter re-formatted to fit the job description. I was willing to do anything – literally over 100 applications worth of anything. It was a long banquet table set with a feast of humble pie and I ate slowly and thoughtfully every single day. Every job held possibility to establish my purpose in the States, so I jumped at every job and envisioned the most beautiful version of how it could play out.

I went to San Diego and felt its darkness, but pointed out coffee shops I would frequent and community organizations I would join. I visited companies in Philadelphia and imagined myself saying hi to new neighbors. I went to New York and hob-nobbed with writers in a library bar. I went to Des Moines and talked about my farming experience with the Soybean Association.

I said yes to every open door long enough for it to get shut in my humble-pie covered face. My excitement jumped from one job to the next and my plans were peppered with different geographical regions and career fields every day.

And in the midst of all those slices of pie, God was weaving His story. He was drawing me closer to Himself and deeper into a sustainable joy. He was blessing me through closed doors that pointed me toward His open arms. He was weaving a story that told of His provision, His protection, and His glory.

I’m still learning what it means to be part of His story, but I cling to the blessing that He is the author. Today, He is authoring a story and I am acting out miracles that bring Him glory. Closed doors, humble pie, new dreams, change of plans… all drawing me closer to Him and deeper into a sustainable joy.

I hope I always say yes to that.

let LOVE fly like CRAZY

Posted on by Caroline 2

shouting praise with sinner-strangers

Lord of all the earth we shout Your name, shout Your name
Filling up the skies with endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh, Yahweh! We love to shout Your name O, Lord!

There was something sacred about a the crowd of sinners filling up the Knapp Center with praise last night. And I’m not just saying that because sacred sounds postmodern and ambiguous and the right kind of religious. I use the word sacred because sometimes I need to shake off all my cynicism about Christian music and shout the name of the Lord with a bunch of stranger-sinners because the Lord deserves my praise.

Period.

I didn’t know very many people – what kind of car they drove up in or what kind of family situation they’d be driving back to after we all filed out – but we must have all understood the invitation to fill the skies with praise. I was literally sing-shouting in harmonizing fashion and I couldn’t stop the grin that raced across my face. I felt like Will Ferrell in Elf,“I’m in love, I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it.”

J.I. Packer said, “Any theology that does not lead to song is, at a fundamental level, a flawed theology.” And sometimes we have to start singing to remember all the songs hidden in our hearts. Sometimes we get wrapped up in the time signature and the notes on the page and the really tricky key change on page 43… and we forget to sing.

We forget all His benefits. We forget His abundant goodness. We forget what we once were. We forget He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

We forget to sing.

I really did get a little overwhelmed – thinking about all the sin we brought into that place; all the brokenness and despair and guilt and regret that hung on us like dark clouds. Sin is not unfortunate or uncomfortable – not something we can “get over” or medicate with the right public service announcement. I got overwhelmed because there was a song on the other side of the dark clouds hanging from all of us sinner-strangers.

There is a song to sing when we step back and look at the sheet music and realize the Lord of all the Earth upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. He is Provider, satisfying the desires of every living thing. He is righteous and kind and near to those who call on Him in truth (Psalm 145:14-18 paraphrase).

His response to a bunch of sinner-strangers singing His praise is delight. He delights in the praises of His people (Psalm 149:4). He delights. The Lord of all the Earth delights when sinner-strangers sing His praise.

Please, let’s not forget to sing.

I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The LORD is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
(Psalm 145 ESV)

Posted on by Caroline 1

keep your heart young

 

Just do it.
No, seriously, just keep your heart young.

Today, I’m celebrating so many things:
Dia de Independencia with my Honduran family and friends,
Iowa State football (expected) victory
my Dad’s birthday
tailgating with friends and family
the changing colors of falling leaves
coffee
pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting
bike rides
mo-peds
cardinal red and gold

And, I’m remembering all the ways Jesus encouraged the disciples to be like children – to blurt things out and come to Him messy, injured, and out of breath. Children are precocious little bugars, but they don’t mess around with pretense. And I think this is why they can delight in the wonderful, little things and be so transparent about their tantrums. They’ve got nothing to hide – and they’ll tell it like it really is.

This is a young heart. And I’d like to keep mine that way.

 

Posted on by Caroline 2

hard way home in the passenger seat

Remember when you graduated from high school and the world stretched out like an open road in front of your new-to-you, college-bound car? Remember that?

Somehow my car circled around and I’m staring at the same highway and when Brandi Carlile sings the chorus of “hard way home,” I belt it louder than is probably appropriate for my post-college age.

Now, Brandi and I disagree on a few things – some of them pretty major. But, I find a very steady solidarity in our choosing the “hard way home.” I’m stubborn. And sometimes my stubbornness gets me into sin, a lot of times I guess. I can look back at my tracks and, with Brandi, point to times I should have redirected my steps but pressed on for pride or fear or foolishness.

I don’t know how Brandi feels when she sings this song, but what I feel is gratitude. Oh, man! I’m such an obstinate and fickle girl. I don’t know why anyone would have patience with my antics, but the Lord is steady as an oak and faithful like the sun. Though the lost in me thinks faking my death would be an exciting escape (see the bridge), the found in me delights in knowing that I can never be hidden.

With my car facing that same, great highway, the “hard way home” isn’t a lonely trek when you are sitting in the passenger seat.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 0

grace for the grumps

I like my second job because of the people.

I like to ask questions about their lives and find out what makes them laugh. I like to listen to stories from their growing up years and I especially like when the stories keep going after the time clock packs it’s punch.

I don’t like drinking a fountain soda without any fizz.

What I mean is… I don’t like it when things that are supposed to be awesome, aren’t.

The main reason I’ve held onto job #2 is because of the relationships I never would have had otherwise. And I love it. I love biking through campus to get there, throwing out my hellos when I walk in the door, catching up with Jeremiah and learning about Derek’s newest future plans. I love meeting new co-workers and seeing them smile. I didn’t really know why the print shop was the only part-time work I could find in the city of Ames back in December, but now I’m convinced it’s because I needed to meet Jeremiah and Ann and Derek and Mike and Paul and Katherine.

They are the fizz in the fountain soda called job #2 and yesterday was missing the carbonation. I came in with my usual bounce, but fell promptly into a rut of work orders and frustrating design dilemmas and a case of the workplace grumps. All my answers were short and the space between customers was silent.

I fumed because I love my fizz (have you had ever fountain soda without it?) and then the dissonance got too great.

I punched the clock, walked outside with Ann and thought, “maybe the fizz is here after all.” I invited her for dinner and then to a prayer class at my church.

Later on last night, when my new friends Ann, Alyssa, and Nicole (all new or new again to Ames) sat around a table playing Taboo, I thought about all the flat soda I’d been drinking… all those days that seemed ruined because they didn’t go as planned. And then I thought, maybe it’s a mental thing. Maybe when I expect a day to go flat, it does. Maybe there’s a lot more fizz in my days and I just have to train my taste buds to recognize the flavor.

Maybe God grants grace for my grumps so that flat days still have fizz.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 0

when fun breaks open like a piñata

By Saturday at 9 pm, the streets of Ames still lingered with the day’s cardinal and gold victory. A fall chill had crept up after the sun hid itself away behind the horizon and the night was …

the night was a piñata of possibility.

The coffee brewed with promise as we made plans huddled together like elementary children conspiring a make believe world takeover on the playground. After we’d quibbled about layers and assembled our ragamuffin band, we lined up to break the piñata of possibility and scrambled to enjoy all the fun spilling out.

this is what fun looks like

How many mo-ped gangs do you know that follow the blaring, ride-worthy music of a DeWalt stereo bungee-strapped to one of its riders? How many mo-ped gangs do you know that get high fives driving through campus and hollers as they go down the highway? How many, uh, mo-ped gangs do you know?

Sure, my headlight was actually a flashlight taped to my handlebars and James pedaled several times around the block to get his mo-ped started. Sure, we all felt the fumes of the vintage bikes and made frequent stops to regroup and collect the stragglers who couldn’t accelerate enough to keep up. Sure, there were several Chinese fire drills at stoplights and shenanigans on straightaways. Sure, we pulled in to the gas station and $8.00 topped us all off.

The Mighty Unicorn gang rides the streets with orange caution flags waving proudly, picking up all the fun the nights can hold.

And by 2:00 am, every possible piece had been savored.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 0

safe place

Sometimes, it is best to step into the safest place. And sometimes the safe place breaks free from the dark of the night and splatters golden sun on your face.

I was a stranger the day He called my name but now He calls me friend. A wider, deeper, purer love I will never know. Only in the safe place of His love is laughter unleashed and only in this safe place are dancing feet freed.

That’s the place I’m living this morning.

A laugh-dancing place.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

 

Posted on by Caroline 0

to get where I’m going

I want to get wherever I’m going. And the devil in me says that it’s not right now.

I’m impatient to say yes to something I don’t even know exists – I’m ready to be ‘all in’ at any moment, but that moment seems to stay frozen just beyond my reach. It’s maddening… though I feel foolish for speaking it.

I am impatient to get to a place and a time I don’t even know exists. And the longer it remains frozen outside my grasp the stranger these moments become. Maybe I am the one frozen as the moments move forward and what is within reach is actually where I am going – where I am now.

This is late night talking, but it’s still me.
I think that sometimes I should let the late night talk so the daylight talk doesn’t paint a poor portrait. Make no mistake, I am not articulate and ‘put together’ – less so even than my daylight attempts make me seem.

I am reaching and striving and stretching for things to satisfy and often ending empty-handed.
I am inward and withered and measured by useless, manmade instruments.
I am still young with hope and wide eyes but I am old with the growing weight of unknowns.

I want to get wherever I’m going. And the devil in me says that it’s not right now.

Posted on by Caroline 2

a new start

Today was game day and I woke up at 6 am with my game face on.

Pumped. Excited. Ready. I’m living in the states now and football is one enormously beautiful perk I don’t want to miss out on.

The Iowa State football season opener was packed out with fans in cardinal red and gold, cheering with full lungs at 120 yards of athletic magic. Here’s a little slice of that sweet, homegrown pie:

Sharing a slice of this red and gold pie with family and new friends is what new starts is all about. Maybe today, the start of football season, was just that. Maybe Sept 1 is a new start.

Posted on by Caroline 2

a friday for sifting

I’m between jobs 1 and 2 and it’s shaking out to be a day of sifting. This Friday is being sifted until only the too-big pieces remain on top. And what is of most importance is becoming very, very clear.

It’s normally not so easy to see with an eternal kind of sight. There are coffees to buy and websites to navigate. There are attendance sheets to make and databases to conquer. There are hours to wile away and weekend plans to make. There is an errand to run and another book to add to the pile of those I should read. But, today there is sifting.

And after this Friday is shaken, the big pieces that remain have little to do with what I’ve gained or stored or clocked or typed. The big pieces are eternal things that I cannot manufacture – things that put all other things in beautiful, right perspective.

Today, I am praying that my life is about the main thing, that I don’t treasure my life more than the main thing, and that all other things will fall through my open hands so that I will cling to what remains. I am praying that I delight in Christ so much that I cannot imagine keeping this delight to myself. In my delight and revelry, in my worship and bust-at-the-seams joy, I am praying I live fully in the freedom His suffering allows so that He may be glorified as others hear the same call to freedom from my lips.

Because He is worthy to receive the reward of his suffering.

Posted on by Caroline 0