Unfamiliar

Not the same.

Never the same.

You expected one thing but received another.

You repeated the pattern, but found a different result.

Along unfamiliar paths I am guiding you.

At the place after.

At the point after.

Beyond the point.

Over the limit.

Beyond the boundary.

Over the line.

For it looked like a good path.

For from above it looked like the scenic route.

But on the ground it was a bumpy ride.

At the point of exhaustion.

At the point of exit, you were beyond the point of exit.

For you can choose no other path.

For this is the way you will take.

For you hope for one thing, in this one thing you hope, for I am your hope.

In the chaos.

In the storm.

In the turbulence.

Amidst the crashing waves.

All you want to do is get out of the boat!

WHAT A LAUGH.

YOU CRACK ME UP!

For you have always chosen a different way, a new way, an explored territory, a new path, a wilderness path, the rough terrain, the path so unfamiliar to any “normal” person.

But you know without a shadow of doubt “you are not an ordinary person.”

Yet now you want the certain path, the path of the knowing, the known path, the certain destination, the well worn path, the path where it will be well with your soul.

Yet just when you want to exit.

Just when you can take no more.

I have given you more.

Not more of the same!

An unfamiliar path.

The path you must travel alone.

The path where you are the only one on the road.

The journey through the barren place.

The straight path across that which is plain.

The path of the bugging.

The path with so many bugs.

The path with the splattering.

The path where your vision is not clear.

For I shall lead the blind by unfamiliar paths.

Is this not your calling?

Is this not what defines you?

The path of the promise.

The path of the unfamiliar, yet not the path of the uncertain, not the path without destiny.

The path of the pioneer.

The uncharted path to the uncharted territory.

To a place where you have not been before.

Is this not the destination you seek?

At the point of no return.

At the point of turning back.

Yet you know that, that is not your style.

The only time you go back is to enable yourself to turn around safely.

For the only way you know is forward.

Yet within you want to reserve yourself, you want to play it safe, you want to hold yourself back.

But the time of the wrestling is over.

The dominant one, the forthright one, the bold one, the strong one, the determined one, the confident one, the inspiring one, the one with my authority now comes forth.

For you cannot go back to who you were.

Can the adult become a child again?

Can the butterfly go back into the cocoon again?

Can the living return to his mothers womb?

For you are not who you were.

For to return is to be like a dog returning to his vomit, it just makes you throw up!

You are looking to find certainty in that which is new and unfamiliar.

Just like your daughter wanting to get 100% on the first attempt.

She would refuse to take the step as she did not want to fail.

Yet now she steps out with boldness.

The one you once pushed to step at all, now encourages you to keep moving.

And your son, who loves to explore but likes to be certain, now finds himself without certainty, connected to uncertainty, holding hands with uncertainty.

Yet you called him out, you pushed him to a different perspective, to a different position. You stirred his faith, you told him to come from a position of confidence, to only be defined by what I say about him. Not to come from a place of rejection or to consider anyone’s love more important than mine. To come from a place of strength and resolve for I have his back.

Yet I am calling you out!

For you cannot be in!

You must be out!

For you look to the environment to determine your confidence.

You look for the familiar path, yet find yourself going in an unfamiliar direction.

And here you sit in an unfamiliar place, wondering how you found yourself here.

Yet I am just smiling at the circumstance.

For here I can teach you something that you have not known before.

For the strong one, the mighty one, the confident one, the warrior, the one who has killed the lion and the bear, shows no fear in the presence of an unfamiliar foe.

If you look at your situation, if you look at your incapacity, if you look at who you once were, if you look back, you can only hesitate.

If you look at my face, if you look at my power, if you stay in the place of wonder, you will find yourself walking on that which is fluid, that which would not be solid to anyone else.

For I have made you this day to be a mighty warrior, a mighty instrument of mass destruction, a nuclear explosion in the face of the enemies attack.

Take my hand.

Walk with me.

Come on a great adventure.

Just as you declared to all your friends when you got engaged, and they declared to you their uncertainty, and tried to place the mantle of uncertainty on you, they said “how can you be sure? Don’t you want to see the world before you settle down and get married?

I remember your response…

Have you not seen my girl! She is so amazing! You sound like life is over when you get married, yet for me this is just the beginning of a great adventure. Why would I not want to see the world with her at my side?

I can see the smile on your face then, for you had no care for the unfamiliar, no concern for the uncertainty, for your only desire was to explore with your beloved by your side.

And now you know what I am going to say next….

My beloved is mine and I am hers, and His banner over me is love!

For your beloved is but an expression of my love.

For when you take my hand, life can only be a great adventure.

Feel the warmth of my love, feel the depths of my love, feel my affection towards you, feel my delight in all that is going to happen next.

For my love smiles upon you, delights in you, delights in all that is to come.

Let my love fall upon you, overflow upon you now, be drenched in it, soak in it, lap it up.

Post a picture of your love, be bold about it!