Gone Fishin'.

I'm feeling a little bit straight-forward this morning, so straight-forward I shall be.

I haven't written a "new" blog in quite awhile.  God has actually been taking me back to blogs that I have already written and re-directing me from there.  He says so slyly, "Hey Sarah, remember that?" And then after re-reading what I wrote, I surprisingly say "Well, yes, I do!" Isn't it interesting how our lives go through phases and cycles?

Sometimes we're like onions, He shows us one layer at a time.

And, well, all I have to say is that this layer has been a doozy.  Or maybe I should say layers.  The last few months have been a little bit bipolar.  One day I find myself climbing up a mountain, the next day I'm at the top.  The following day I'm at the bottom of another mountain, and the next day I'm at the top.  It's the Acceleration of God. The Bride is making herself ready.

And the rest of the world, well, seems to be going to hell in a handbasket.

It's hauntingly beautiful.  This dance we dance. Throwing off what shackles us and grabbing hold of what lays before us. Freedom. Life. Heaven on Earth.

Now some may say I'm over-dramatic.  And, yes, I do love the theatre. In fact, I LOVE the theatre.  But, no, I'm not being over-dramatic.  The way I see it, if I believe the Bible is true, well...then I believe the Bible is true.  And though I do know that the Bible has been interpreted incorrectly often, I also know that when it is read through the lens of Love, it is absolutely liberating.

And thus leads to me to being straightforward.  And, as per usual, I would like to give credit to my sweet little prophet of daughter, Ella Junebug, for leading the way. (A child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6)

You see, the girls and I have been watching Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue.  And, Ella, is very passionate when it comes to her favorite lines; One of which is "We're gonna build a boat!" I highlight this in BOLD because this line is shouted in our house, followed by the loudest and sweetest giggles you've ever heard. But you know what? She's onto something...

Ella has been very interested in boats the last year or so. She's taking a liking to that Noah guy--and "bainbows". Her sensitive spirit is so eager to hear what God is saying, and that's often why He chooses to speak to her.  There is no striving or fasting or lamenting, she just hops right into the heart of God. She knows how to Rest.  She knows whose kid she is.  And you know what? She has a Daddy who loves her, and dotes on her, and provides for her.

Unfortunately, many in our world don't know this kind of relationship with their Father. I won't even go into the statistics of how many fatherless kids there are in our country and how many single moms are exhausted and forced into heavy-labor. Just look at the entitlement and the rebellion of the younger generation.  It proves what I'm saying.

And even more so, without present fathers and without rested mothers, there is no place for our kids to be nurtured.  We need to understand this.

And, so, we need to build a boat.

God tells Noah "Build a boat. Save you and your family.  A Flood is coming." Noah looks at God like "Who? Me???"

"Yes, you."

Now I know that those of us who have been burned by bad churchy religion might say that God is punishing us because, well, He is mean.  And that's what mean God's do. That's what mean Dad's do.  And, yet, those of us who have the had the lifechanging experience of accepting the loving discipline of Dad know differently.  It's His kindness that leads us to repentance.  We obey because we are safe within His laws.  Floods come because we have chosen to make our own laws--and we make our own laws because we don't know the goodness of Father.

It's an ugly cycle.  I don't know that I am fully accepted, and so I "sin". I control, I manipulate, I get jealous, I get angry, and I get even.  And where does this lead? FLOOD.

On the contrary, the Bible is full of promises.  Instead, it looks something like this.  I was created fully accepted, I got confused, I messed up, I receive God's kindness through grace, I take responsibility, and I hop on that dang boat! And while I get ready to sail on the high seas, I start looking for anyone who might want to come with me....and I invite them in.

Society has it backwards.  We don't invite people in by our rage, or our control, or our pilthy statements about politics on Facebook.  If you're building a boat, you don't play politics.  You play Love.  It doesn't mean you don't have an opinion.  It doesn't mean you don't say what you think.  Please, by all means, say something.  We don't need our greatest Voices hiding in the bushes---but what we do need is leaders who are building boats, not leaders who are trying to get even.



Revenge never wins.  Love never fails.



And so............I have resolved that....


"We're gonna build a boat!"



(To be continued....)