The hope of freedom...or, 2 camels and a llama

First, a story... Yesterday I went for a bike ride with my parents along the river. The Rio Grande runs right through the city and has a nice path alongside to ride bikes, rollerblade, horseback ride, walk, etc. etc. etc. The path (and the river) are the lowest points in town so you have a really nice view of the mountains (although really everywhere has a nice view of the mountains here!). On one side of the path is the river and lots of really old, really big cottonwood trees, on the other side are some really nice houses....we're talking millions of dollars type houses with huge yards (including putting greens and tennis courts in some). It's fun to see these houses because they're just so picturesque. Quite a few of these estates have horses and other animals too. Well, yesterday, as I'm riding along, enjoying the wind in the cottonwood tree leaves and imagining what kind of people must live in these houses, I see a llama in one of the corrals. A llama, although an unusual animal, isn't all that unusual to see at these houses...however, along side the llama I see 2 camels! Camels! Who has 2 camels for pets? Did they borrow them from the zoo? Do they ride them like people ride horses around this area? Do the camels feel like they're at an all you can eat buffet surrounded by the dead winter grass rather than desert sand? Do camels and llamas normally get along so well? Who knew an innocent Sunday afternoon bike ride could be so entertaining!

And now, on to the topic which has been on my mind for a few days...first, I have decided that Plan A, B, C, etc. on down the line (see last blog), are to be done away with. It seems like I might be better off forgetting the plans and just going wherever God seems to take me. Not to imply that I'll stop making decisions - I think God gave me a brain and interests and passions for a reason - so I'll keep trying to see where his winding road is leading me, just maybe without the official "PLAN A" marked on the top of the folder, so to speak. Second, I was at a college age church thing on Thursday night called The Well and something one of the speakers said caught my fancy. The message was about the great commission, in particular the unreached peoples of the world. In a prayer towards the end of the night, the speaker was exhorting us to be bold about telling people about Jesus because, as he put it, Jesus is our only hope of freedom. Jesus, the Hope of Freedom... The idea of Freedom has enchanted me for the last half a year or so and it is good to remember that Jesus, who I know and love, IS my key to that freedom that I so long for. And, although I think there is a measure of that freedom that can be found in this life, I don't think that true Freedom is something we know until Heaven. I don't know if that's right, just what I've been thinking about.

Finally, something that has really encouraged me: I have been reading E.M. Bounds on Prayer lately and, in a chapter on Prayer and Trust, he writes, "...Trust is not a belief that God can bless, that he will bless, but that he does bless, here and now. Trust always operates in the present tense. Hope looks toward the future. Trust looks to the present. Hope expects. Trust possesses...." So that means to me that I must trust that God is working in my life and making me who I ought to be, no matter the circumstances I find myself in...not that he can or even will do those things, but that he IS. That's amazing!