It’s Monday.

It’s a new day.

It’s a new week.

It’s fresh.

Today started with what I thought was Laura leaving for work. As she walked out I nestled back in to bed for a few more minutes sleep before the last snooze alarm went into its morning routine. A few moments later, due to the fact that the bedroom is next to the driveway, I saw the red glow of brake lights fly by the window and heard the garage door come up. I thought that she must have forgotten something and would probably come in frantic and disheveled. How dare I think the worst. In fact she came home to do quite the contrary.

As I heard the door open to the kitchen from the garage I looked at my phone for the time and then flipped on the lamp by the bed. I then laid there and waited. I knew for sure she would come in. In fact I fully expected her to whisk through the bedroom, grab whatever was forgotten, and head out frantically. However, she walked in calmly, walked over to the bed, and handed me a tiny donut hole. She said, “this is for you.” She had a little twinkle in her eye as she turned and walked slowly back out of the bed room.

I walked in a daze towards the glow of the kitchen. I could see her silhouetted in the light by the counter and her mini-me was standing their with her. She had bought these baked delicacies for work and thought enough of us to come back home, disrupt her day, and love on us. It was beautiful. It spoke volumes to us without her uttering a word. It was what good days are made of.

It was nice…

It felt normal…

It felt new…

It felt fresh…

Yet…it felt familiar…

Now I sit in my office. My stomach is one donut hole fuller now than it was prior to 7:00am. My heart is one random act of kindness fuller than it was prior to today. Things are not perfect, in fact they probably never will be what we deem perfection. However, today I got a little glimpse of the something new, fresh, nice, and familiar. Here is to hoping I live in that and not the other stuff we tend to dwell in.

i’m a dreamer.

i love to think about what things can be like.

i can get a vivid picture in my head and see what it looks like in reality.

in church world that can be a great commodity and dangerous at the same time.

it is great because vision must be cast out of looking from the clouds and seeing the big picture.

however, this can be very dangerous because sometimes we can get our head stuck in the clouds and never come to the dirt and put the shovel to those dreams.

the people i see doing the most good in the church are those who balance having their heads in the clouds and then parachuting down to the dirt to make them a reality.

we make all sorts of excuses for staying in the clouds.

we make lots of BUT statements…(might I add those are big but’s- #sirmixalotreferernce)

i would get in the dirt, BUT…i might get dirty.

i would get in the dirt, BUT…the clouds are nice and i don’t have to do anything but dream.

i would get in the dirt, BUT…what if others don’t understand what i saw in the clouds.

i would get in the dirt, BUT…i might fail.

i would get in the dirt, BUT…what if God let’s me down.

i would get in the dirt, BUT… i’m creative not administrative.

i would get in the dirt, BUT…my family might think i am crazy.

i would get in the dirt, BUT…

that little word is the difference between living out your dreams to do what God has called you to and staying in the clouds and never experiencing what he longs to do with you.

as much as God is in the clouds,

He is also…very much…

IN THE DIRT!!!

what dream do you need to get out of the clouds and into the dirt?

]]> http://freshairpoetry.com/2012/01/06/head-in-the-clouds-2/feed/ 0 http://freshairpoetry.com/2011/12/29/when-18-year-olds-die-and-change-lives/ http://freshairpoetry.com/2011/12/29/when-18-year-olds-die-and-change-lives/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:05:34 +0000 Trevor http://freshairpoetry.com/?p=2701

there were a few in the internet world that were stoked to have filled their instant gratification desire. the world that we live in is funny. there is no longer a save and buy mentality. we live in a buy and pay off world now. however, what i have noticed is that it seems that we are a lot more unhappy and less satisfied with whatever that thing is that we used to instantly gratify ourselves. what would happen if we waited, saved and then purchased?

first, i wonder if we would even buy at all if we waited?

two, i wonder if time would allow us to appreciate and purchase things that would matter a little more?

three, i wonder if we would still feel the emptiness that stuff seems to bring?

your turn…what do you think?

ready…set…GO!!!

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if you have been following this space or my facebook or twitter over the past week you have seen or participated in the conversation of how creativity and art parallel with the church. through this discussion i had a great online conversation with a good friend and former student of mine who is an incredible artist. i will spare you the great conversation, but she said something at the end of it that has resonated so true in my mind and soul as i wrapped my mind around this topic to teach. she said,

“Every child is an artist until someone tells them they aren’t. I think adults are scared to be as creative as kids are.”

i have read this statement and quoted it probably a dozen times in the last two days as i have prepared and taught on this topic. i think what disturbs me about this quote is that it is more than true in most peoples lives. at some point in life we were told either directly or indirectly that we are not creative. the problem i have with us saying that we are not creative is that it is not biblical. we were created in the image of the greatest creator of all time. we were made to be just like him. we were created to create.

whether you create spreadsheets or symphonies we all have a unique creative bent in this life. there are things that when you create them you feel as if this is what you were meant to do. it does not matter if you use oil and paints, hammers and nails, or shift and F keys. God has put in all of us from the moment of our conception the ability to create. even at the core of pro”creation”, that word tells us that we are meant to create something.

today…create

today…do something new

today…be the creative that you were with finger paints

today…forget that someone told you or made you feel as if you were not creative

today…create because you were created by a creative creator to create creatively (re-read that last line…ok now do it again!!!)

what is it that you were created to create?

welcome to the first friday five. today as i sit and think about the past four days prior, it hit me that just about each week there are at least five things that i have loved from my week. so, with that said here is my friday 5.

1.

loved working in the yard this week and the fact that it has been in the 80′s all week. we are trying to get our garden and yard back in shape for this year. nothing better than having the whole family outside for some good ole’ quality time.

2.

loved playing guitar and helping lead worship a couple times this week. being that i am a drummer at my core, getting to play more guitar has been a fun creative outlet as of late. hope i get better, but like that i can hold my own just a little bit this week.

3.

loved our community group this week. we are continually surrounded by people that we love and genuinely love us. i am blown away by the love and trust that we share with this gr0up of people. side note: happy 10th anniversary to chris and elisa risley.

4.

loved late night laughing at random stupid stuff with my wife last night. there is some funny stuff out there and we laughed hard at it. sometimes the most romantic thing for me with my wife is to simply laugh at stupid stuff.

5.

loved praying with good friends earlier this week and meeting a new friend named bob. could give you details, but all i will say is that it was one of the coolest moments of prayer i have been a part of in awhile. still praying for my friends Joel and Kim, but glad to hear things are looking better.

so there ya have it. nothing to deep on a friday morning. with that said, what are a couple things that you have loved this week?