Redefining Adventure

a little blog disclaimer :: these are parts of my faith journey, the ways I am drawn closer to the Father, what I am learning, how I am uniquely refined. what a beautiful place this has been! so hear me when I say that this is mine and may not be yours but may be yours and we are both free to love Jesus.

What I know as of late is that I am learning something fierce about freedom. It's so amazing the ways the little pieces come together to make a most beautiful picture - conversations, experiences, Scripture, people, words, books, writing, creation, other people's stories. It's been so, so fun to put together learning how to live without fear and choosing the peace of God and walking in freedom and moving mountains and living with hope and seeking adventure. It's all the same and it all points to a beautiful picture of a beautiful Christ.

I've always been somewhat of a rule follower. Not that I was perfect {whoa by no means}, but I.love.rules. I love structure, I love direction, I love order and plans. I've always functioned well that way. I was the kid who told her friends to please turn the radio station off because I don't listen to secular music. oh yes.

And oftentimes, through a course of questions that my mind quickly runs through, I assess a situation, look at pros and cons, decide what's safe, good, less messy, and then I'll go and do or opt out.

All of this, paired with my overactive mind, it makes for a lot of guilt.

And this is not to say that rules are wrong. Or that thinking is bad. hence the disclaimer. I think that's great! Clearly, it's who I am. I'm still that way - I believe rules are good and structure is beautiful. Real freedom can't exist without them.

but.

it has spilled into my faith.

and one day I woke up {it was almost that sudden} and I realized I had a checklist. A mold. And God was less a God to be enjoyed and adored and loved and lived to the fullest abundantly and holiness had become about actions. And that beautiful life and beautiful Galatians 5:1 had sneakily slipped back into a yoke of slavery.

it's about Christ. nothing more, nothing less.

Do my subconscious checklists hinder?

Do I often over think myself out of situations and miss something beautiful?

What do I believe about God?

Am I free, moving forward, in His many promises?

We are called to live free - have I missed the big picture?

And so you've seen through many blog posts over the course of my year - the inklings of being free (if anyone tries to tell me 'be free' is the same as yolo, I will smack you). Freedom in Christ, in us being new creations in Him, there really truly is nothing like it.

And so lately, this one big collective journey has led me to learning about adventure.

I am dying to seek it!

I am dying for engagement. I am thirsting to fully live. I want spontaneity!

I want to take that mold, smash it, crash it, live fully engaged and fully adoring and passionately loving Jesus.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

because isn't that freedom?

And so I'm in this deep processing, learning period. storing it all up. God, whatcha got for me?

I have this amazing, awesome new friend who lives spontaneous to the max. He is all about adventure. It is refreshing and freeing and I think a beautiful way to live. And it rubs off and it leaks out of him and it spreads and it's contagious and I hope I've caught whatever he has. Living completely free in grace.

And then I remember the follow up with my life group after we prayed for months and months and worked for months and months and put together a prayer walk for Dove's Nest and raised way more money then we set out to raise, I remember one of my girls saying, 'doing God's will is fun!' I remember then and I remember now what an astutely wise and completely freeing observation that was.

And then I have another wonderful friend whom I got the chance to spend two hours yesterday in deep Jesus conversation over a Charleston cup of coffee. We shared journeys and learnings and celebrations and stories {what a gift to walk through life together!}. And as she's sharing a crucial part of her year, about God meeting her right where she is, and through a grasp elsewhere for significance, adventure, and identity,

she hears God say,

I AM your adventure.

oh the way God speaks through other people.

and then she says

spontaneity? isn't that really just abiding in and responding to the flow of the Spirit?

be happy right where you are.

because Christ is our adventure.

simple my mind is not. but that is refreshingly simple.

Adventure is redefined.

I'm terrified to miss Jesus in the adventure. I'm terrified to even use that word, like I'll get carelessly lost in seeking something that I'll miss Jesus. It goes against the way I've always been. But Jesus, He IS the adventure. A life lived sold out for Him, seeking Him - what an adventure!

It is found in experiencing Jesus.

read lots of books. take your time. create. write. run. laugh. go. do. make decisions. fail. fall. get back up. live by grace. sing. dance. do what you love. play. worship. serve. express your love for Jesus. love people. really love people.

I was on the beach with my mom and brother a couple of days ago and we were talking about future and finances and cars and apartments and all that stuff that makes me say 'I don't know.' But through the lens of engagement and adventure and freedom and no fear, it all made sense. It made perfect sense. what am I waiting for? Christ called us not to live afraid, but to live abundantly. Right where we are. In freedom. What an adventure.

Freedom allows us to be spontaneous in the flow of the Spirit because we are loved fully and fully loved. It allows us to not have to seek adventure for happiness or find thrills, but gives us permission to live life in a different way. A new way. And that way is full of passion, adventure, laughter, joy, gratitude, gifts, fun, in the moment passionately adoring God.

His plan for our lives is RIGHT HERE - right here in who He is, how He has made us, what He has made us to love, His Son, our passions, what makes us come alive. a most beautiful equation.

What has God uniquely inspired in you?

What do you love?

What are your gifts?

THAT IS HIS PLAN FOR YOU.

go out and do it!

the adventure is in Him!

if God's given you a calling, why not do it?

we cannot fail with Him.

I'm still in the midst of learning, but I've never known anything like it.

and the waiting - that ceases to exist! doesn't it? Because life is lived NOW. oh it has to be lived now! And if you roll no fear and earthly failure having little real significance and the peace of God all together, when you throw those things all in, then you've chosen to live life ALL IN. Fully engaged to the gift and adventure of life for Christ that we've each been given every morning to live.

being happy right where you are.

the adventure starts now!

wherever you are.

for you, friend, nevertheless.

Less about rules, more about Jesus. Less about checking things off, more about passionate living. Less about being afraid of the unknown of the big things in life, more about moving in freedom and not in fear. Fully in His plan for each life that is now and is sought in who He is + the gifts He's given. That gives us a hope and a direction. Follow Jesus and see how He has uniquely designed you.

Move towards Jesus.

That is my adventure.

And look how wonderfully that will turn out to be!

Adventurous people, to me, are the most brave. Because failure is silly and they live free falling into grace. They recognize gifts and beauty and passions and joys and they surrender those most fully and run headlong into the life they've been given. And most certainly, they understand that in suffering, there is fullness of joy.

So what I say to myself :: live your normal, everyday life free and with a sense of adventure. Approach situations, experiences, mountains with the belief that life is a wonderful gift and this opportunity placed in front of you is where God is. No fear! Take steps, take moments, and experience Jesus. He is most certainly in everything. Live new, live free, live brave because your story is made new in Him. And what possibly could be better than that?

"Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. He asks us what it is He's made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. and then, leaning over us, He whispers, "let's go do that together." {bob goff :: love does}