Unknown Wings.

I had the privilege of attending a graduation this week for someone very close to my heart. Oh high school…such fond memories mingled with both glory and grief. I looked down from the crowded stadium seats and flashbacked to a day not so long ago when it was me embarking from the comfort and familiarity of immaturity to a roller coaster of uncertainty called adulthood. I looked around and all the emotion was flowing quite nicely. The young and old alike welling with tears…either single quiet ones or ugly snot producing belly cries that make you really hurt with the person. These people were looking down at their babies, grandbabies, friends, girl/boyfriends or maybe even strangers and taking in the grandeur of the moment, the simple truth that forced them to realize that this moment demands recognition. The possibilities that are contained in the souls of those little lives are endless, and everybody knew it. These kids have a fresh start, the shiny and clean choice to go this way or that, or do this thing or that thing, decline or accept that opportunity. If I’m going to be honest about it then ill admit I was pretty jealous of that freedom. I started recounting my choices over the last few years since I was given that gleaming golden ticket to life as an adult and at first it made me really sad. I realized that there were so many junctions in my path where two choices presented themselves with equally impactful consequences and I have often chosen the road that has taken a lot of backtracking to recover from. The road that looks like the most promising at first but then quickly turns into the journey marked with the thorns of trial and the briers of bitterness. Feelings of regret have always had a way of creeping around and adding insult to injury and I am an old veteran of such roads but I’m here to say that despite the difficulty I have found them more rewarding then the magical roads of rainbows and butterflies that everyone appears to be striving for. Reread it…it was worth all the blood, sweat, tears and misery that came along with that choice. When these obstacles presented themselves they seemed daunting, the unfathomable became my reality and I was left with a choice, yes another choice…and I chose to fly. That’s right, I chose to jump straight off the sheer cliff of the unknown and pray I wouldn’t find myself squashed at the bottom. And while that free fall is always terrifying it triggered something within me that I never knew existed. I have wings, gorgeous and strong, capable wings. These wings have taken me from those days of insecure and frantic decision making to a person capable of looking past the initial threat of hardship and choosing the better way to growth and glorifying God with my life. God uses the willingness within our hearts to lead us to where he will be most exemplified. That’s amazing to me. That I serve a God who will still use me in the mess of my choices, when I appear to have messed everything up beyond repair. He reached down into my broken little life and chose to give me the courage and the wings to fly away from it…but never forget what I learned in that valley. My possibilities are still endless, and I have more bravery to walk the hard things out because I know I’m going to be more than ok, I’m going to soar. So to all you who graduated this month I encourage you to find the bold and determined part of yourself and run for your dreams. Don’t let doubt stop you, because you will never find your wings if you stay in the comfortable bubble that never causes you to risk. It takes the pressure of falling to discover the strength within. Choose to fly…I know its scary from your comfortable perch…but from those of us who have experienced this life and flourished despite adversity… its better to take the chance to see what kind of wings you’ve been given instead of wondering what it would be like on the outside of the cage of fear that holds you constrained to the life of domesticated birdhood. Happy Flying!

POEM: Go.

Bravery comes from a place within,

Far from the grips of death and sin.

You start off feeling scared and unable to move,

Then within your soul you find something to prove.

No one goes head to head with fear solely.

They have a protector who is righteous and holy.

I set out on a journey not knowing,

That through it I would never stop growing.

Where we find strength to push past,

That split second comes and goes fast.

All of the sudden you feel a rush,

That you cant ignore or even hush.

So you grab life by the hand and walk forward,

With the knowledge you aren’t a coward.

And with God for us what shall we avoid here?

There isn’t any death or end to fear.

These days are sealed and promised by him,

Bravery isn’t a chance but without even trying success is rather slim.