With Arms Wide Open

In July of 2010 I started on a journey...  a crazy, exhausting , beautiful journey.  I went back to school as a Social Work major.  I know.  Didn't I say?   Crazy.  After all, no one looks at this and says, "Yep!  That's for me!" But I knew.  I knew what God wanted.  And my choices were pretty clear:  yes or no. I was either all in or all out. These lives we lead... they take courage to live.  It takes courage to get up out of bed and face an unbelieving world.  It takes courage to live in a community that thinks differently than you.  It takes courage to talk about Jesus .  It takes courage to plan your life around His dream for you . .. to know that people are going to tell you that you're crazy. (Follow those links to meet some beautiful women who are every day teaching me how to walk this out.) It takes courage .     en·cour·age verb (used with object) 1. to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence dis·cour·age verb (u

She sits at the head of the table:  still-     except when she's moving. And then she's grand... but precise.  Her hands dice and sweep the air- does she practice?  It's working. They're captivated. Some of them. The one on her left- she fidgets.  It's constant.  She's easily distracted by her hair, movements around her.  Her feet dance.  Her chair adjusts itself minutely.  You talk.  She dances. And beside her, in perfect stillness, the listener.  She's reclined in her chair, eyes heavy-lidded... gaze fixed on the sky.  Her hands are folded in seamless lines across her body.  She is storing every word. Next to her, the pretender. Her eyes on your face. Her head nodding, sometimes when it's supposed to. Her laughter somtimestooquick.    s o m e t i m e s t o o s l o w. Her mind a million miles away. On the other end of the table- the anchor.  The analytic.  The one who has words buzzing on the tip of her tongue that she holds back ou