tuesday inspiration.

Otherwise known as sunday inspiration, part 2.

A couple of days ago, I posted links to some of my favorite projects and ideas online. Today, because I don't have a lot of personal thoughts and inspiration to offer, I thought I'd point you towards some of my favorite things I've read recently, of a deeper nature.

-- 1 --

"But, the desire to live a life bigger than our house begins with our hearts. It’s about praying the big, scary prayers… asking the Spirit to guide you in the ways of courage instead of comfort...No matter what it looks like for you, you have to desire this kind of life."

~ Nish from The Outdoor Wife

It is so true that no matter what adventure you're called to, its something that you have to pursue intentionally. Its all too easy to be seduced by the comfortable things we know. Reading this post reminded me of that.

-- 2 --

"For me – for years – God had a third world address. He moved there after I went to El Salvador in 2005. And for years afterward I got on planes to meet Him and missed Him when I came back to the cul-de-sac again. Against the backdrop of the darkest poverty and out-in-the-open evil, His light and love was clearly visible. My spiritual eyes adjusted to the brilliance of His compassion streaming from every church and every servant I met in Uganda, Ethiopia, India, the Dominican Republic…But back home I couldn’t see a thing in these muddled middle tones."

~ Shaun Groves

Shaun writes about the mourning that takes place after you've experienced poverty, and about learning to see God in America. As I adjusted to being home, as I have been struggling to process the what-next part of going to Africa, this post was a beautiful reminder to me that God is here, too.

-- 3 --

"I don’t want this trip to savored and then slowly forgotten like a “life-changing” piece of pie. I want this trip to be a seed planted deep within my soul that with the proper care will bloom, grow, and bear beautiful fruit. I want this trip to be a recognizable turning point in my life. I want this trip to be a recognizable turning point in my heart."

~ Lindsey Nobles

Lindsey went to Guatemala on a Compassion Bloggers trip just a few days after I returned home from Africa. My soul resonates with the words she shares about those things we call life-changing - how can we really know if something was life-changing, until after we've seen if life was truly changed? I still think the bigger impact of my trip will be something that I won't understand until months, even years down the road.

-- 4 --

"Environments are more powerful than words, no matter how carefully those words are crafted."

~ Pete Wilson from WithoutWax.tv

This post on the importance of environments has been running in the back of my mind for the last two days. I'm wondering, are there places in my ministry where I've tried to inspire people (volunteers, parents, and kids) to something, only to throw up a roadblock?

-- 5 --

"Fear makes you settle. Fear puts limits on what God wants to do with your life. Fear “tricks you into living a boring life.”

~ Kim from Yellow Songbird, via Tiny Twig Goes Out on a Limb

Kim writes about taking a leap of faith to spend four months overseas teaching English. I love this reminder that our God is not a God of fear.