The Dream

"You would not have called to me unless I had been calling you."

-Aslan

I went to see the documentary Meru last week with a couple friends. It is a documentary about a climber Jimmy Chin who with a team climbed a mountain peak in India no other climber has reached the summit before. I was so excited! I have been waiting over a month to see it, living in Alaska things are slightly outdated when they reach us. After the movie was over, one of the girls looked at me and joked, "So are you ready to go buy all your gear and climb?"

Not really actually. The movie excited me. It was people setting their minds to do things other have tried, failed, and deemed impossible. They pushed themselves, not succumbing to limits they put upon themselves, they risked and pursued. They found something they loved and chased their passion.

Moving to Alaska was part of a dream spurred by summers working at camp. I desired to come back. There was one evening at camp I hiked one mountain with a friend and we were staring at another mountain across the valley. It was a late July evening, the sun was kind of setting, creating an early dusk feel. He said, "Crazy to think God says if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we could move those mountains." Yeah. It is crazy.

I returned to Alaska entering into what I felt God calling a season of rest. Rest does not mean easy. For example, I can see the mountains, but I can't get to them. Not easy.

Last week community outreach was to the Alaska Coast Studies Center. I had seen their building next to the ocean, so I contacted them to see if they would need volunteers. They did! For manual labor and entering computer data. We arrive, split our group into labor and computers. The gal shows us around the outside of the building pointing to all this stuff that needs to be moved. We would also have to be working around two of their interns who were skinning the sea otter hanging from a tree. We quickly finished our labor, and went to fold shirts and sweatshirts for two hours.

This week we went to AK Coastal Studies Center again. I almost vacuumed a bunch of animal bones I thought were twigs on the floor. I have never volunteer and found myself in situations like these before.

Sometimes we just have to lay on the floor and laugh with God about the adventure He has us in.

For work duties the past couple weeks we have been digging under our apartment building. Something about basement, water proof and some other things. I do not know. All I know, is we have to dig, fill 5 gallon buckets with wet dirt, haul those buckets about 5 meters on our knees, lift the buckets above ground, fill a wheel barrow then empty the wheel barrow. 7 of us. My spot: squatting to lift the buckets out of a stomach deep hole (sure seems like a Crossfit move put into the practicalities of the mission field).

Dream: mountains, Jesus, nations.

Reality: digging holes.

God, how did I get myself into this?

It is a wild ride when we choose to give our lives back to God. We suddenly have this freedom to enter the Throne Room. As Zechariah sees in a vision in the third chapter of his book, God brings us into His court room and says, "Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." We have the right of access to enter into His presence and dream with Papa.

When we stand in the Heavenly court room, we stand justified, free from all accusation. In understanding our true identity, that of the free sons and daughters, we are able to enact the heart of the Father to the nations. We have the identity of Christ the hope of nations, as the Royale Priesthood, it is now our duty to be the hope of glory in bringing our brothers and sisters back to the table.

The dream does not always play into the reality. Yet the reality always plays into the dream. The dream remains the same: more Jesus, more nations. We, the Royale Priesthood, the freedom chasers, the dreamers, the nation changers, are the missionaries sent to go.

The lies require performance, comparison expectation and standards all resulting in us never being good enough. Before you are tempted to spend the night in the arms of lies, spend time in the arms of our Heavenly Father. He knows us. In Him we find peace as we await His perfect plans to guide our feet. Lean into Him, rest your head upon His heart beating for His children. Listen intently to Him calling you. There is no great adventure then listening to Him calling you further up and further in.

"I have made you. I will sustain you. I will carry you. I will save you."

-God 

(Isaiah 46:4)