Go Out on a Limb....

I've been in a dry, desert-ish place the last several days.  I think it's just accumulating circumstances, not just any one thing in particular....but it's been a hard place to be.  I have wanted to write, but nothing was coming to me. 

Today, a friend of mine emailed me at work to tell me she finally gave her dog Sincere away to an older couple.  This has been something she has tried to do over and over but she could never bring herself to do it because the dog was part of their family. Sincere was her daughter's and she's a teenager now....taking care of a dog isn't her priority.  My friend gets home around 6pm every evening and the dog has been in the cage all day.  Not the greatest life that my friend wants for him.  They all love him, so it was hard for her, but she finally gave him to a couple who are home with him and love on him when he wants attention.  She was telling me how hard it was to give him up...and when the couple came to get him it was like he knew what was coming.  He kept looking at them and running to his cage and then running to my friend and jumping up on her like he was begging her not to send him away. 

I thought about that for a second and it hit me.  Sometimes we are so much like that dog.  We don't like stuff to rock our comfortable little world.  Change is coming?!?!  Head for the hills!!!  LOL  We see our circumstances, however difficult or how less-than-what-we-want they are, as comfortable.  They may be not-so-great circumstances, but they are ours and we live in them and we somehow have become attached...sometimes even to the point that it's unhealthy...but we stay.  It's comfortable.  We're not goin anywhere.  Over our dead bodies will we welcome change.  But change comes, like it always does.  And we run to our cages and try to hide or at least make ourselves feel safe.  What we know is what we think is safe.  But sometimes what's coming...and what we don't know....is safer...and can be more comfortable....and SO much better for us.  We just can't see it yet. 

Take a look at that butterfly up there.  It starts out as a caterpillar, makes and seals its own tomb, and pretty much liquifies inside that thing.  I think if they really knew what was gonna happen to them before they became a butterfly, they might be runnin to a cage too!  But...they don't.  When they are ready and they start coming out of the chrysalis, it's difficult for them.  They are weak and their wings are wet and they struggle so much that all they can do at the end is just rest there and dry out. But...now they have become this beautiful butterfly who doesn't have to inch along and eat leaves.  They get to fly and sip nectar out of beautiful flowers.  They are admired by and bring joy to anyone who sees them flying by.  They are so different from what they were before....but so much more beautiful and purposeful than a caterpillar on a leaf.

I thanked my friend today for inspiring me to write another blog.  She sent back another email encouraging me and reminded me of a story we have both read in a book called The Prayer of Jabez.  I couldn't believe it.  I had been wanting to incorporate that story into one of my blogs for months now, but it just never fit with what God had given me to write.  It fits here.  I had to thank her again....what a non-coincidence. :-)  Here's the story.....

There was a man named Mr. Jones who died and went to Heaven.  St. Peter met him there and was giving him a tour of Heaven when Mr. Jones saw a large warehouse-looking building that had no windows and only one door.  He started heading toward it and St. Peter tried to tell him not to, but Mr. Jones was already halfway there.  He went inside and saw nothing but rows and rows of shelves from the floor to the ceiling, each full of small white boxes tied with red bows.  Each row of boxes was alphabetized.  Mr. Jones took off toward the "J" aisle and asked St. Peter if he had a box.  St. Peter said yes, but tried to discourage him from looking for his.  Mr. Jones was already trying to find his, and once he did, he opened it.  His smile disappeared.  What he found in the box were all the blessings that God had wanted to give him while he was on Earth, but he had never asked.  There were probably times he chose staying comfortable over asking for something better.  Cuz something better would mean change.  And change is scary.  And sometimes uncomfortable.  And we like comfort....and sometimes value it above all else.

Step out of your zone today.  Ask for more of what was meant for you.  Ask for what is best for you.  You may find it's not at all what you are living now.  Maybe you already know that.  Don't be afraid.  You've got people cheering you on.  ;-)