Ribbon Dancing a fruit of the Spirit....

Let's start with the verse of this.  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23. (Different font for verse? Yeah, I copied and pasted). So this weekend has been rather good, which is awesome since it's just Saturday morning (kinda).  But I was talking to a friend earlier and fueling my already happy demeanor by talking about other profoundly happy moments in my life. So let's begin with the summer of 2010....


THE GREATEST SUMMER OF MY LIFE!!!


I have done alot of things in my life.  When it comes to connecting my imagination to real life, there is no filter. I've always tended to do whatever popped in my head.  Maybe I should grant that to my grandfather who  was an inventor...hmmm... Anyways, for years I had really felt this crazy super insane desire to go on a mission trip.  Like I would think about going and just get really pumped.  I wanted to be a total Jesus kid washing feet, smiling and just being love the best way I knew how to whomever was in my presence.  I wanted to enjoy humanity and pray for them in a way I hadn't before.  
I won't get into the story of how it came to be but last spring I found myself signed up for a mission trip to Mexico and the raddest thing ever occurred with that commitment. FREEDOM.  
It was like the movie "Big Fish".  This guy did all these amazing things because when he was younger he looked into this witch's eyes and seen his death.  So see, because he knew how he would die he wasn't afraid to take risks or go on adventures.  Before I lose you here's my correlation: I knew more than anything else in this world I was getting to Mexico.  I KNEW I would live at least until Mexico.  If I tried to not go I was fully convinced I would be swallowed by a whale and spit out there...somehow, someway.  So all summer, I felt complete freedom.  
Now, I really do wonder how many people have really OWNED their freedom.  I believe we as Christians have it, there's no opinion to that it's fact we do. But how many of us have really OWNED it? I found out when I really delve into and own my freedom I'm not afraid of alot.  I may get anxious and nervous at times, but when it comes down to the wire I find myself saying, "Why not?".  It's also in this transcendent state that one really can discover alot about themselves .  For example, if you were afraid of absolutely nothing what would you do? Me?, I did a ribbon dance/fluid movements on a bicycle routine in front of a ton of camp kids to Michael Bolton's "I Can Go the Distance."  There are a few moments in my life where I feel can be put into the epitome of freedom and that is one.  
I was reminded of all this today when I was browsing around on youtube and I seen a interview with this lad by the name of Zachary Levi.  Zachary Levi plays the lead character Chuck in "Chuck" (I've never seen it) and the voice of Flynn in "Tangled" (seen TONS of times). I found out a few interesting things about this young man like his real last name is Pugh.  He said when he was a kid he was made fun of by kids that called him "Stinky", which is stupid to me because they should have went with Pepe (Duh!).  But either way it's not that I was a huge fan of this guy or even that he was insanely funny but, he was so happy and cool in his uncoolness.  I thought, "this guy has got to be a God kid!"  Cause I recognized that happiness.  There was a link to another youtube of him and I clicked on it to find him in the middle of a quick interview saying his waking up moment was when he realized God's love for him.  (and yes, I did do a huge fist pump in happiness). 
So here's my thing going back to the fruit of the spirit.  I think when we have those, I don't think they are always necessarily a chore.  I think they translate into freedom and in that alot of times happiness.  And I find in freedom we become so much of who we are (all quirks, normalities, oddities, or braveries) and instead of asking ourselves "why" we're asking, "Why not?".  
I may write this Levi fellow a fan letter just saying I think he's cool in his happiness and confidence to be who he is.  Cheezy? yep. Will stalker jokes abound? probably.  But I'm free so why not?. 


Waking up moment for Zachary Levi link. 

Error of Era....

Gene Kelly, Dean Martin, Esther Williams, and Audrey Hepburn are normally the actors involved in the movies I watch.  I'm listening to Lawrence Welk on my Pandora station.  I have a 1920's type writer outside on a diner table I greatly enjoy sitting at and typing on.  It's strange, sometimes I think I was born in the incorrect era. Does anybody else ever feel this way?
But even when I try to narrow it down to an era that could have possibly been right it still doesn't completely fit. There's something always missing or needed from a completely different time and place.  Last night I read from Isaiah 51:1, "Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn..."  And I did look back.  I looked at my family, my heritage, all the way back to Abraham and Sarah (which was advised in the latter of the verse).  And although, there are many deep spiritual meanings and revelations caught up in those verses, I had a curiosity about my era induced details.  Perhaps, this is the right era, for no other reason that everything I appreciate and enjoy could not be unless the eras had already passed.

I still have hopes of one day being a part of a community where pocket watches are worn with fedoras, bicycles are the main mode of transportation, and the Bangles are played in the background while everyone wears converse.  Maybe I'll make my own town...not a creepy one like from "The Village" and cool one like from "Big Fish".  However, until then it's a nice thought to think that maybe no one is ever born too early or too late. There is no errors in eras.

                                  

                         

This,for example, could not have been completed without the passing of eras.