More on Tradition

Saturday, the week before Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to be a part of a historical moment in college football history. If you have ever been to Kyle Field in College Station, TX for a Fightin’ Texas Aggie football game, you know that the crowd can really get loud! This week was especially mind-blowing though, because they broke an all-time record for student attendance to a college ball game--there were 31,005 students! The overall attendance topped 91,000 people, which is definitely the largest crowd of any kind that I have personally been a part of.

The Texas A&M Aggies hosted the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the game was high-energy the entire time, even though neither team scored a single touchdown. The fans kept the volume high, and the Aggie football players pumped the crowd for more after almost every single play. The defensive lines for both teams were really rockin’ this day--the only points scored were the extra points on the oh-so-close fourth downs. It was a great game! Ags pulled off the win, 9-6. Awesome!

I’m so glad that I was not only able to watch this game, but to be immersed in the Aggie culture. You may or may not know that Aggies are very...unique. First of all, they have “yell leaders”, not cheerleaders. These men with military haircuts wearing solid white uniforms run back and forth along the stands, using various hand signals to lead the fans in a variety of cadence-type yells. It seems that everyone knows exactly what to do, and are right on cue every time. When quarters end, the entire stadium is full of people rocking back and forth, singing in unison. Most fans have a small white towel that they swing around in a circular motion almost constantly as they do the yells. With that many people swinging a towel around, from a distance, it looked like confetti wiggling all over the stadium! After the win, the entire student section plus some others swarmed the field. It was really a sight to see!

There are still so many other traditions that the Aggies have carried on throughout the years, and as I reflect on them all, it has caused me to realize how much weight these long-practiced customs actually have. Traditions are more than just things we do because they’re “what we’ve always done”. That phrase has really never meant much to me anyway because I am such a logical thinker. I can’t justify doing something just because it’s what we’ve always done. As I ponder the Aggie traditions, I see some things that spark a new desire in me to uphold traditions of my own in other aspects of life.

We continue traditions because they honor those that paved the road for us. What makes a tradition special is its ability to transcend time, but only as long as the ones that carry it never set it down. It must be passed from generation to generation, but even when you pass a tradition on, it stays with you, too. It’s as if it has a way of stretching indefinitely, but never wearing thin. In the same sense, it can increase in richness and expand in complexity, yet never become a burden to those that hold it. A tradition honors any man or woman who ever had a hand in carrying it on because it actively shows others that the original intentions, purposes, and goals of those it represents were worth noting then, now, and always.

I am realizing that traditions are not only crucial to our future, but are the very thing that give humanity the cohesion required to endure all forms and levels of hardships. Without traditions, we lose touch with the generations that went before us. The original intentions, purposes, and goals become a faded memory to one generation, and then complete unknowns to the next. Without traditions, we can quickly lose sight of why we do the things we do, why we fight for what we fight for, and why we love who we love.

Some would argue that traditions can become a meaningless, mindless, religious, routine. They might say something about how times change, and so should we. They may say that we have to adapt to the evolving world around us, but I am convinced that even in an ever-changing environment, we must still have some constants. It’s not simply that we are afraid of change--it’s about upholding honor for those that cleared the path for change!

Let’s look at the family unit, and remember how family traditions make us feel. Most loving (and fighting) families have a tradition to get together for a special meal at Thanksgiving or Christmas. If for one reason or another something interferes with that tradition, even a dysfunctional family feels a sense of loss. Why? I believe that when we honor a tradition even as common as a Thanksgiving meal, we honor each other. Our actions speak a message of love, and also give value to the purpose of the older generations. Without that tradition, the honor that once flourished, now wilts in the heat of whatever that interference may be. It could be uncontrollable circumstances such as a death in the family, a new job, or that someone moved far away. In these cases, it certainly brings on feelings of disappointment, but sometimes interference with our favorite traditions comes in the form of a careless, forgetful moment. If we forget the objectives of those generations that went before us, we may decide that it doesn’t matter if we carry out the traditions that they started. As long as we can remember and honor previous generations, we will always have a solid foundation to build a new thing upon.

I’d like to point out these same principles as they apply to the church-going experience. Some parts of the Body want to modify the culture around Christianity to “change with the times” and “stay current with the culture,” while others feel like any deviation from the old model of “church” is sinful. If traditions are a way we can honor the previous generation, then we should certainly keep them and remember that our elders made it possible for us to be innovative in our approach to gathering with other believers. We must keep the original intent and purpose of gathering (to interact with, share and support other believers) and I believe that continuing some traditions is the way that we honor and keep our predecessors’ goals on the forefront of our minds. We can build a new thing upon this core foundation that was set in the past, and still have the freedom to be who we are. We don’t have to be stuck in a religious rut, but we should still carry on the traditions of old.

I’m asking myself, “Why do so many people these days feel like that going to church is a waste of time and an empty experience?” Could it be because many of the churches out there are afraid to allow some innovation to be stacked onto their tradition? Or on the other hand, is it possibly that they have only conformed to the culture of the day and let the traditions that honor the previous generation fade?

I think the Aggies have the answers to these questions--whether they be asked about the family, the church, or any other unified group. It’s not just about belonging to a “group”. It’s about surviving every hardship we could ever face as God’s creation.

Honor those that paved the way by upholding their traditions of old and by building a new, innovative tradition upon that solid foundation. We need each other. We need all generations working together so we can endure and prevail against anything!

Woke Up This Mornin'

A New Family Tradition

As a member of a web design team, I’m fortunate enough to have a job that offers an unimaginable array of colorful varieties of both people and causes. One of the latest websites we have created has an especially unique call to action. Because of Tom McQueen’s Legacy Nation USA (www.legacynationusa.com), I’ve been inspired to start a new family tradition.

Tom McQueen is the author of Letters to Ethan: A Grandfather’s Legacy of Life and Love. You’d think this is where I’d plug the book (available November 1st), but the truth is that I haven’t read it. It should also be noted that although I plan to read it, the website reveals the heart of the author, the purpose of the book, and the inspiration to leave a legacy for your loved ones.

Letters to Ethan is the product of a father’s love and commitment to a tradition to first his son, then to his grandson. Tom shares how he began the tradition of writing letters to his son over the course of his life. He saved these letters for all of those years, and then presented them to his son on his wedding day. What a gift! Now, he is dedicated to writing similar letters to his grandson, Ethan. Tom writes about a father’s love and wisdom attained by learning from his own mistakes.

When I think about the determination and patience that is required in order to present a gift of this value, I really find it a challenge to commit to leaving this same type of legacy for the little ones in my life. I am not yet a mother, but I am a very proud auntie. I often think about how different the culture here in America will be by the time my niece and nephew are adults. Everything certainly does change quickly, but I also know that every generation always has the ability to leave a mark on society. Just as I have gleaned and will glean much knowledge, wisdom, moral values, traditions, and so much more from the generation that has walked before me, so will it be for the next generation from my own.

This poses a stark question: Am I living in such a way that will positively affect the future?

I have examined myself, and I feel like I can answer that question by saying, “yes”, but I still will always be looking to choose paths that lead me to better ways to make that ‘yes’ an emphatic one. Legacy Nation USA has motivated me to leave my mark in a new way, and hopefully in a way that will survive the storms of the ever-evolving culture that we live in. I don’t want the fickle culture to shape who my kids become--I want to give them a solid foundation for building their goals upon.

I’ve decided to start writing letters to both my eight-year-old niece and my two-year-old nephew, and when I have children of my own, I hope to continue this tradition. I think I will save them and give these gifts at their high school graduations. It may be that I don’t feel like I have the stamina to wait until they marry, but I also am remembering how quickly life changed after high school. I think that during that time, I would have loved to have had some written words of love and wisdom from the adults in my life. Some understanding only comes when it is birthed out of life-experiences. Not only would letters like these be insightful, but they could definitely strengthen relationships. When light falls on a dark path, fear has no ground to stand on. If we can bring another person some understanding in the midst of a hard situation, we can really empower them to rise above the odds and overcome. That’s the kind of legacy I want to leave for the next generation.

I challenge you to begin writing letters to the young people in your life. Give them something to hold in their hands--a written legacy of your life and your love for them. Inspire greatness for the future of those you love, and for the future of this great nation!

Look Again!

He is moving us, shifting us into a new season.

I read these words in the days to follow this blessed time in His anointing when He showed us the honey:

“Rapid success from a small beginning will be as sweet as honey!” ~Chuck Pierce

In the book Come Walk With Me: A Journey Into Intimacy by Jacqueline Varnedoe, she quotes Chuck Pierce referring to a time just before the STYOR Conference in 2009, when some of those on the prayer team saw a hummingbird in the tent during a 1-3am prayer watch. Then, just as these guys were telling Chuck about the bird, his wife, Pam called to tell him that she was watching the rain outside her kitchen window, and there was a hummingbird hovering and watching her! The quote explained the prophetic significance of the hummingbird.

What is it that He is beginning in us? Where is it that He is leading? As we walk out of this last season, we ask Him to end this spiritual drought within us. In the midst of this new beginning, we press into His side. We will not despise a small beginning. We lift our eyes, and LOOK at all the signs around us. We look above our current circumstances and obstacles, and know that the new season requires a new perspective. We choose to taste the sweetness of His honey. We choose to release the word of the Lord with boldness and clarity. We believe that He is showing us new ways to get over the ruts in the road that may have tripped us up in the past.

We draw near to Him with the knowledge that intimacy with Him is the key to our security and provision.

In the book of Ruth, Naomi and her husband left home to live in a land of strangers in order to survive a famine. We don’t know if they left out of fear of the lack of provision, or by His guidance, but I believe that they were trusting God to lead. After 10 years, Naomi returned with Ruth to her homeland because she heard of the blessings of the Lord on the harvest. She had lost her husband and her two sons, and grieved deeply for this loss, but didn’t let that loss keep her from moving forward. Naomi had to make a choice: she could draw close to God, or she could turn away from Him and become bitter. We have this same choice when facing tragedy or daily struggles. Naomi’s future was unknown to her, but she went home at the start of the harvest time.

God’s timing is so perfect. He prepared a new beginning both in the natural and in the spiritual.

He is providing a new beginning for us today, both in the natural and in the spiritual. We may have made a move to survive the famine, but He is giving us news of a plentiful harvest. We choose honey instead of locusts! We choose to draw near to Him, and ask Him for this honey to saturate us!

I don’t normally ask the Lord for specific signs, but in my desperate prayers yesterday, I asked Him to show me a hummingbird this week. I just really wanted to know for sure that this word was for us in this season. I am amazed that I am able to say that I just saw my hummingbird!

It was raining so beautifully earlier. My sister even commented on the beauty as we watched it out the window. After the rain had subsided, I was playing with my niece in the living room, when I glanced out the window to see the tiny little thing. We have trees with purple blooms on them just outside our apartment window, and a hummingbird was hovering over them just next to our window. I tried to get a picture with my phone, but the glare on the window was interfering.

It didn’t even matter. I lifted my eyes, and I saw the sign right there in front of me! I am thankful for this special gift from the Father, and for this new perspective. I’m so thankful that I LOOKED AGAIN!

Maple Drops of Revelation

The sound of His heartbeat was in the drum, the sound of His breath was in the keys, and the sound of His truth was in spoken words. The atmosphere was thick and weighty. It was His glory descending on us, kissing the back of our necks. We worshiped. We sang. We lifted our hands to Heaven. We waited. We listened.

He spoke.

His voice was in a song, a word, a dream, and a vision. Not one of these, but all of these. Now, it continues on for days—His confirmation of His words to us! It’s in what I’m reading. It’s in what I’m feeling. It’s in things here on the earth, and it’s in things from Above. His unfailing love never stops flowing.

What is there of this life on earth, if not for to allow His love to flow through us?

“…Pour it out…drip it down now…like warm honey revelation from Your throne…make Your way to our hearts…wisdom and revelation all the way to our hearts…”


It was for each of us individually, and it was for our nation. It was dripping down on the White House, and it was dripping down onto our foreheads from a great tree in our midst. It was light that was also honey—sticky, messy, healing, purifying, and a sign of His coming that sloughed off all signets of compromise. It left no room for any other but our God. It changed our hearts instantly, and it swirled around in the spirit realm, bringing healing to the region and beyond. It was representative of a choice for the saturation of God in our lives, or famine and plagues.

It was for one, and it was for all. He stirred up creativity in His people. He stirred up boldness. He broke us from the maintenance mode.

He woke us from a slumber—not with a jolt or a thrust, but with a sweet-tasting, satisfying nectar from Heaven.

Thank You, Father.

Longing for His Glory

Today, I was browsing through an old spiral notebook of mine.

It has notes and thoughts on various topics, and I came across something from last year--almost exactly this time of year.

I love reading things I wrote in the past, because it's always interesting to see how life was back then. Stroll down memory lane with me.

02 June 2009
I've been really obsessed with cloud-watching lately. I always wonder (well, lately anyway) when I get fixated on something, if it might be that God is trying to show me something.

When I look at the clouds that have super bright lining coming from behind, I imagine what God's glory would look like. I wonder if it might be similar. I guess I just sort of associate that kind of beauty and light with God and His glory since it is in the heavens, and so mysterious and intriguing.

I made a comment earlier about how the clouds have just been really amazing lately, and added that maybe it was because of the storms that have been coming and going.

Today, it was overcast when I went to work, and a few hours later a very large storm blew in. It was in Dallas and Fort Worth on the radar, and as I looked out the windows of the hospital, I was thankful to be indoors at that moment. By the time I left work, it was hot and muggy, and the clouds had broke.

I think the most beautiful cloudwork tends to show just after the storm has passed.
As I ponder this idea, I wonder if it's the same in the storms of life.

I wonder if God's glory shines more brilliantly after the storm has passed.

I wonder if in the moments after we withstand a fiery trial, the Lord's glory blankets us in a greater array.
What is glory?

In Strong's Concordance, it actually is defined as weight, but only figuratively, in a good sense, splendor or copiousness--glorious, glory, honor.

For some reason, I stopped writing there. Now I want to dig a little deeper.

Dictionary.com has several different definitions for glory, but the two entries that catch my eye tonight are these:

4. resplendent beauty or magnificence.
5. a state of great splendor, magnificence, or prosperity.
The word prosperity really snagged me.

His glory is the ultimate copiousness of all good things. There is nothing more abundant, prosperous, or fulfilling than His brilliant glory.

His glory is more than just a beauty or magnificence too extravagant for words.

His glory is provision.

His glory is a fulfillment that cannot be duplicated or imitated.

His glory is the substance of my affection, my longing, my searching.

His glory is healing and brings freedom from every single thing that would press me down.

In the midst of one storm or another, I pray to press through, and that I would not stop longing for His glory--to, in fact, desire it even more. I pray that I will take on the weight of His glory in exchange for the weight of any other thing.

Here I am again.

I hear His voice comforting me with words that edify me--that instruct me to look up above the obstacle I see in the path ahead. I can see Him waiting with a big, honey-colored glory blanket on the other side, ready to wrap me up in His magnificence and prosperity.

Breaking Out of Maintenance Mode

I'm just reflecting on the events of this long weekend. It's been a full weekend, but still somehow so relaxing. Even though I feel like everything I've done has really had purpose, it's somehow still been such an easy-going time.

I just feel so covered in the Father's love. He has called me, led me, provided for me, and blessed me beyond measure, and I have been especially aware of that this past weekend.

I made plans to visit a friend that is helping me make a business idea a reality. We worked hard to get things rolling with that, but also never seemed to miss out on time to have meaningful conversation and fun in the sun this Memorial Day.

The whole weekend has seemed to be full of little love notes and gifts from the Father. I met some new people that I am certain will not only be lifelong friends, but also seem to be the kind of friends that are placed in my life for reasons affecting destiny. The Father created us for relationship--first with Him, but also with others--and sometimes we meet people that are clearly His choice for those relationships. From the very first moment of meeting these people it felt organic and real. This made it so hard to leave and get back to the routine of my daily life, but the Lord is reminding me how every little step we take affects the next step. I know that going into this week, I am equipped with something that I didn't have before.

I love that my Father has created me as one part of the body of Christ. Every bit of who I am and what I have to offer to the Kingdom of God affects how the entire body moves. It gives such a sense of purpose and reminds me that we are all so very special. It's impossible to fathom how many different paths that are contingent upon our actions, words, and prayers.

This weekend has been a special marker in time for me, simply because I was able to step out of my usual routine--nose to the grindstone, maintenance mode way of living. I just feel so refreshed and ready to see beyond what I may have thought my "purpose" is. The Father's dream for His children is so much greater than what we see for ourselves in the natural. My prayer this week is that I will open my eyes to the path that He has laid before me. The path marked by these supernatural realizations of who I am, who I influence, and what the real purpose is in what I am doing day to day.

This maintenance mode is purposeful in itself, but not a place that we are to camp out in for long. It rolls around in seasons. We have to lift our eyes above what is happening in the natural and question our human mind's logic. Sometimes God's plans don't seem to make sense, but that's how we get to see Him operate supernaturally in our lives. We step out in faith regardless of what the logical outcome is, and the Holy Spirit fills that gap that our human minds can't seem to occupy. We may look at our lives and think that what we see doesn't add up to our own expectations, but His voice is calling out to us, telling us to look above the natural circumstances. I hear Him telling me that even though the circumstances of my life in this season seem to just be surviving instead of thriving, He is stirring the heavens and preparing my heart for a new season. He's aligning me with people that are important in the next season, and strengthening relationship with those that I am already aligned with.

So I encourage anyone out there that feels like they are surviving instead of thriving to look up--above the natural circumstances, look into His eyes and listen to His voice. He is giving strategy to those that in this time, can venture out of the logical, human mind and into the supernatural. Break out of the maintenance mode simply by realizing that there is so much more happening in those actions, words, and prayers that you are offering to the Kingdom! Be strengthened, encouraged, and receive the vision He desires for your eyes.

The Elastic Box

This blog is Twitter's fault.

I've recently realized that I am an information junkie, and Twitter is responsible for this addiction. My world used to fit in a little box that I decorated with little tattoos that represent all of the various pleasures of my life, love, and imagination. Then I signed up for Twitter. My little box got so full that it's lid popped off and all those tattoos stretched out so big that it was hard to make out exactly what they were anymore! The list of things that I find interesting multiplied, the variety of types of people I interact with expanded, and the number of resources for more information is so astronomical that I can't ever possibly begin to fully soak it all in. It's time to add some tattoos to this elastic box, and get to stretching!

What's the fun in being inspired if you don't share it with others? So here's to all those writers out there that are not afraid to speak their mind, share their passions and mottos, and teach the principles that guide their lives. Looking forward to adding to the spectrum of color--the increasing variation of shades of Amber Gray.