Holy crap...it's 2017! Shouldn't we be living like the Jetsons flying around space and such? Our resources apparently haven't caught up with our imaginations yet, but I'm sure it's coming. Anyway, as many others are reflecting on 2016 and anticipating 2017 I thought I would do the same. I actually sat down to journal this morning and then checked Facebook, and then I looked back through previous journal entries, and now I'm blogging...ADD much? I'll get to the original journal entry eventually. All that jumping around in my brain actually had a purpose though, and it was to look back at an entry I wrote about a dream I had in August of 2015.
I had just started the school year, my second year as a middle school teacher, and I was super excited about trying new things...and then I quickly found myself a few weeks into the year not so excited and really having a tough time. And then I had this dream:
I was riding my bike to work; the road was paved and at some point became a dirt road, which had apparently been flooded recently as it was super muddy and hard to ride on. I hit a puddle and water covered me - my hair, clothes, everything was totally soaked. I ended up falling off the bike, because there was so much water and it was so muddy that I had to walk the bike. There were a few other people coming/going on the dirt road, and one car turned off onto a different road (they were coming from the opposite direction - I was the only "smart" person still trying to go through the impossibly muddy road). I assumed the road got better, but it actually ended up getting worse. I tried to get back on the bike and pedal, and I eventually came to a place where the water dried up, and the road actually became really dry...like desert dry. I ended up sticking close to the very edge of the road because there were obstacles in the middle of it. At one point there was a large, rocky wall of some sort that I had to hold on to to keep moving forward, and after some time I finally got to my stopping point. I went inside the building, assuming that I was a total mess from the ride, ya know, being covered with muddy water and all, but when I looked in the mirror, I actually looked fine aside from a scrape on my elbow.
So I was looking back over this dream and I think this is often how our journey looks; we have the rides that start out nice and smooth on the paved road, and at times it gets a little muddy and hard to navigate. Sometimes we can ride quickly through, and other times we have to walk our bike and trudge through the mud. There are also moments where it's so rough that everyone else is going in the opposite direction, but when you know you're going in the right direction, it doesn't necessarily matter where others are going. And then there are times where we reach the desert, and there's nothing around except the dry, cracked ground with obstacles in the middle, and we need to use the rock wall to hang on to as we continue forward, but you know...we still come out in one piece with just a few scrapes. I went back to this dream some months later and while I thought it was just a couple of months prior, I realized I had written about it several months before the moment I was looking back over it; this is what I felt in my heart as I was reading back over it:
There are times when you fall off the bike, and you can't jump back on it. Sometimes you just have to walk it - you walk beside it and you push it through whatever terrain is too tough to ride on. It may be too scary to get back on the bike at times; it may be too frustrating; it may be physically impossible, because what you're going through sometimes requires you to walk it slowly instead of speeding through it - you may miss what you need to see/learn/hear if you're going too fast. These are the times that we find our strength in the Lord, and the treasures of His word that were previously hidden come alive to reveal truth, bring transformation and guide us through.
I think there are also times that we're trying to walk that bike through the roughest terrain, and the Lord is like, "Dude, leave the bike; it doesn't even matter." It's that thing we're trying to hold on to even though it's making the journey ridiculously difficult, but we are determined to hold on for whatever reason - safety, pride, fear - and He's just like, "Stop. You don't need this where I'm taking you." It may or may not have been necessary in the previous season, but it's definitely not necessary for the next one.
I just want to encourage those (and I think there are many) that feel like 2016 pushed you down and then kicked you while you were down...over and over (as seen by the many funny, but real memes on Facebook) - it's a new season, and a new year, and it's ok to hope again. So, dude, leave the bike. You don't need it for 2017.
So here’s the deal, a Canadian on paper, but a southern Californian at heart, Curtis has a huge heart for the SoCal area (and America in general) and to see people really loved and known as they experience the true heart of God; however, in order for him to pursue his dreams here and actually do what God has placed in his heart, he needs a green card. He’s been so blessed as to receive opportunities to work towards this, but that also requires paperwork and money. Below you’ll see a personal video from Curtis himself as he shares his heart, dreams and crazy stories. If you want to partner with him financially, there is a link at the end of the video to help support him and watch him thrive as he pursues the dreams that God has given him. You can also connect with him on FB to hear more about his story, personal testimony, and how much he carries hope and the heart of Daddy God to the world. 