Sparkling for my King

I am a creative person, sometimes to a fault.  I live and dream big, sometimes too big.  Those who know and love me the most will tell you that they have spent most of their life keeping me from floating away or falling off a cliff (that one was a little bit too literal...I owe you one, Holly!).  My whole life has been a process of casting myself out upon the waters and being reeled back in, because it just wasn’t the right time to be fishing.   I have always known God as my rock who grounded me, my fortress who kept me safe, and my shepherd who keeps me from straying.  Those are all true and good things.  God used the loved ones in my life to remind me to stay, stop, wait, and slow down.  Those are wise words for a person like me. Slowly and painfully, I learned to quiet my restless heart, create the extraordinary out of the ordinary, and plant my wandering feet firmly on the ground.  It took some questioning tears, but I placed that cra...

First words create first impressions.   As a wee babe, I would love to say that my first words to the world consisted of a sweet “Love you” or a family-centered mindset of “Mama” or “Dada”.   Nope, it was, “Me-Do”.   And so, my first impression was set and defined for years to come.   If all the world’s a stage, let me do it by myself!   Here I was, a fiercely independent, self-reliant, and confident...baby.  I was a totteling oxymoron.  Let ME feed myself, let ME dress myself, and let ME brush my teeth, turned into let ME fix it, let ME be in charge, and let ME control it.  Let me do it, and we’ll all be happier for it.  Watch out world! God took many years of refining in my life, to whittle down the Me-Do into Him-Do.  I needed to surrender the need to take the bull by the horns, and hand it over to the real bull-fighter.  In fact, I did that again, a few months ago, and it changed my life.   A few short mon...

I am not a Christian to pursue happiness and squeeze as much joy as possible out of this life. I am not a Christian because it is a good investment in my impending afterlife.   I am not a Christian to be issued a spiritual hazmat suit that protects me from the evil and pain of this world. But, I am a Christian because I have seen a glimpse of the master of the universe.  The one true God. The author of life.  The ONE.  I have found Him to be so inexpressibly worthy, that to only glorify Him would be my greatest life’s pursuit. Worthy...deserving of all attention, respect, and effort.  Glorify...to position one’s self in a place where something greater is allowed to shine brighter, be lifted higher.  I am a Christian because it draws the clearest path towards allowing me to best glorify the only worthy God.  If I may do one thing with this rushing lifeblood I have been given, let it be to sparkle for my King.   And, to sparkle ...

"Wild Colors" by Paul Gilbert Call it cliche and cheesy.  I’ll make the ultimate girl confession and admit it.  I like flowers.  I enjoy hiking through a field of them, I enjoy planting them, I enjoy photographing them, I enjoy giving them away as presents, I enjoy walking by them in grocery stores, and I enjoy receiving them.  I even enjoy watering them (that’s true love). And, I don’t just enjoy flowers, I love bouquets of flowers.  I remember summers growing up in the mountains when the wildflower season was in full glory.  I would run around our property excitedly pulling every flower I could find and smashing them into an overflowing cup.  The bigger, the better.  Once I had two cups full, I would race into the house and put one cup on my mom’s night stand, and one cup on my dad’s night stand, then wait with an impish grin for my parents to discover their awaiting treasures.  “Treasures” may be an exaggeration.  But, my par...