The new job -- on ma way to Chicago

Back on a plane heading east, I once again find myself with one of life's pages in hand, turning it with excitement towards what appears to be a new chapter... how in this coming chapter will the one holding the pen make sense of my past (the ups & the downs... He always does), while bringing new questions, new hopes, new possibilities for the unwritten future.

The new job. So ya, i'm on this plane heading to chicago with plans to dive in headfirst for round two with Warm Blankets Orphan Care. Starting with a completely random (riiiight..) phone call while in the middle of our road trip, Craig (boss @ wb) presented me with the possibility of coming back on the team with a newly defined objective... analyze the water quality of our over 200 orphan homes, become more educated on the many different water solutions available in the third world, go after donors to get the program underwritten & the wheels rollin, find solutions for homes in need of better quality water, then forming teams to take across & do the installations (if necessary). The water guy.. So much more to come here...

My month on the road I've explained was in many ways a month of healing, as well as a month of epiphany... a month spent shedding my own foggy self interests to see clearly His desires for my life. I've always found unique peace in being on the road, and always will. The epiphany was this... I'm ready.

In no way would I take back the last four years of misadventures, in fact I can't imagine where I'd be without them... they've proven vital to my developing into.. well, me.. the today me. I encourage everyone... if there's an itch, itch it.. if there's a curiosity, explore it... but throughout keep your ears open and your spirit raw to the touch and guidance of His voice... and "whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'this is the way, walk in it.'" Is 30:21 The spirit which confirmed my place while on the river, on the road, and wherever, is the same spirit that when I listen now, is calling me to a new direction... and in shedding my selfish desires (the tree farm, maui in the spring, another summer on the river etc...), I was brought through into a field of vision for the next three to five years of my life that I hadn't even imagined before I let the other things go... healing.. epiphany... I'm learning to trust Him more and more each day..

So...

To the right, or to the left... it don't matter. Do you get it? It's not important which direction we go, just so long as we follow the voice of God's spirit... we are in the right way. The voice? "great.. luke's a wacko" Ya, voices (sort of)... a spiritual realm exists amongst us, don't fool yourself. Spirits feeding us lies about ourselves, about others impressions of ourselves, about our capabilities, our past, our appearance, our future... everything. Then there're spirits of truth... & asking of the Holy Spirit - the one which resides above them all, the spirit of our Lord - to come in and fight on the side of good, for you, for me.. for all who seek to know, and believe in Him and his promises.. this is 'the way'. Promises of freedom, of life, of joy, of community, of abundance, of generational blessing.. not free however from suffering, persecution & the likes.. they exist together.. joy in suffering.. it's real.

I'm still learning this.. I would hope to never stop learning this i guess...

I got this visual about a month or so back, it was on the river & I was having a discussion with someone where the physics of the river and the movement of water came up... I learned in this conversation that the fastest place on the river is... where? The eddy-line. The eddy-line is where the current meets the eddy (eddies are usually created by rocks in the water, causing water to go back up stream behind the rock, creating a nice break from the current), creating swirls of water accelerating along the convergence of the two... the eddy-line. The fastest place isn't where I'd've imagined... no, it's not the thick of the current.

While my left brain is learning these new things, my right brain seemed to be simultaneously painting a beautiful image of my life made sense by this new understanding... It's not in the current of society where I've found life, but near the eddies. In the current we're fooled into believing everything is okay... The failing economy, our tortured ecosystem, the manipulated media, poverty & riches.. lied to (opening that box soon). Nearing the eddies we're exposed to all sorts of people. Whether it's Haiti, Peru, the river, the tree farm,... anywhere on the road and in-between I've sought to be near those who challenge me, those outside the current. I don't want to imply that allll i've met along the way have been 'lost' in the eddy.. not even close. In fact it's in these places where I've found myself, it's in the people, the ones I've met and grown close to along the way... But it's where I've been called to shine my light.. and it's in these places i've been met by many different forms of 'light' - as well as new n different forms of darkness - but mostly light.. I'll spend my whole life learning the uniqueness of people's light and still not fill the whole of the spectrum which i'm convinced can only be found in the face of God ..

Anyway, the eddy...

With this new understanding of water, and the painting still working itself out in my right brain, my left made immediate sense of it's interpretation... living in the eddy-line is good, it's where you meet those in need - those going back up stream - with your light, your hope... the risk here (i've learned) is getting swept into the eddy, and then yourself being pulled back upstream. I've found myself in-n-out of eddies.. and more and more I find myself pushing away from the main current. the eddy-line, this is where I aim to be... Forgive me for speaking in such general terms... it's just that each journey is unique, and to each it's own eddy, eddy-line & current. Imagine for yourself where the eddyline might be in your life... just a touch outside your comfort zone.. aware of the risks.. risks of the eddy as well as the current.. and then finding life swirling between the two, touching both, moving faster and with the kinda purpose that keeps ya on your toes... and remember, "where there are two." This is important..

We begin work tomorrow on defining this new position... please send me your prayers/good thoughts as I go forward... The plane has been circling over O'Hare for about half an hour now.. apparently Air Force one and el presidente are making a quick pit stop on their way back to the White House... so obama can cast his vote... for himself... no kiddin... but now we're landing, so i've gotta run.. more soon

be well friends,

luke