Time to Soar

Today is Valentines Day, a day where we are told to "love one another" and to "show" this through some act or material possession such as flowers, chocolates or a card. I am a huge supporter of loving others and showing them you love them through the little things but having a special day to do that kind of takes the joy out of it for me personally. Love shouldn't be an emotion you show on a certain day, love should be an action that you practice with your life.

I have been learning about love and how to truly love other and I'm not just referring to romantic love. Love is a word that we throw around like a sack of potatoes and most people don't even know what love, selfless love really looks like. I was talking with a friend (okay, honest moment? I was petrified and I didn't say anything.....He talked the entire time) about this topic and it's been stirring in my heart since. Not only because of the season but because I see so many people hurting because of "love". I see so many people broken because of "love" and I've come to the conclusion that love will overcome because love conquors all. No matter what is done, love wins out every time. Because love is not about what you feel, love is not about what you do, love won a long time ago when love sacrificed His life on the Cross for you. There have been so many definitions and so many descriptions of love and honestly the best definition of love is seen through the Cross. We see perfect Love displayed by Jesus selflessly giving His life so that we could be saved. We see perfect Love displayed so that we could have a relationship with our Creator. True love was never easy, I mean I don't think Jesus dying on the Cross was necessarily an easy task for Him. But it was a selfless task. It was a sacrificial act of Love because Jesus thought we were worth it. Love takes commitment and it takes work. Love it not just a feeling but it is a choice. I choose to love you every day because love saved me. I choose in the best days and the worst days to love you because Love decided I was worth it. I may not know who you are but I love you and I think that you are worth it. Do not let the words of yesterday destroy your path of tomorrow.

As a single Christian woman, I made a decision about a month and a half ago that today I would be spending my day with the Lover of my Soul. So after my doctors appointment and after a lovely brunch with my beautiful mother and fantastic sister I headed off to Daytona Beach for the day....alone. Go ahead, call me crazy. When I told a few people I was going to the beach alone to spend the day with Jesus a few people looked at me like I was on drugs. I was even told "how depressing..." a few times. But the truth is---it was not depressing in the least bit but rather all satisfying for my soul. What better way to spend Valentines Day than soaking in the Love of the One who knows my hearts deepest desires? I have been needing an encounter with my Savior. He is the only one who can satisfy the longing in my soul. And let me tell you something my heart was truly satisfied today.

It always amazes me how God can know every little heart string, every fiber of my being and every desire inside of me. He chooses to romance my heart and pursue me. It takes my breathe away knowing the Creator of the Universe desires intimacy with me. I pulled up to the beach and as soon as I walked down to the shore the wind began to howl and the waves began to crash. Immediately, chills rushed down my spine and I felt the Holy Spirit standing there next to me. I put my headphones in and turned on worship music and "Oceans" by Hillsong was the second song on shuffle. When Oceans came on I stared at the waters and just knew I was not at the beach alone but the Lover of my Soul had joined me. It was a really awe inspiring moment because the name of this blog (Upon the Waters) is from that specific song and I was completely overwhelmed by His love. I took a deep breathe of the fresh air and started to walk down the beach when all of a sudden I saw hundreds upon hundreds of birds lining the shore. It was strangely odd--yet beautiful. I stood in utter amazement and watched the birds for 15-20 minutes. Something about the birds gave me peace. One thing I noticed about the birds as I watched was that the birds stayed on the shore line right by the water, except for a few daring birds (the tiny ones who run really fast) who would run away for awhile but would come right back to the flock. The birds were like a huge family and they were all free to soar. In my prayers, I laughed and asked God "why birds?" and I just started speaking my answer verbally. I knew when I would come to the beach today that God would give me a gift to romance my heart and I guess he chose birds. That's why I laughed because birds are so simple, they poop on people while they're flying in the air and they can be pretty annoying at times. So once again, why birds? But as I began to audibly speak (which I'm sure the people on the beach thought I was a psychopath) the answer clicked in my heart and in my spirit. During this time of the year birds tend to migrate to the south for the winter, which completely explains why currently hundreds of them line the Florida beaches. They are uprooted from the comfort of their homes for a season in order to survive the brutal Northern Winters. Birds are forced to travel hundreds of miles to escape the one thing that is destroying their happy home, the freezing temperatures. They come to the South in order to survive and so they soar. These birds are free to fly and they have to trust that even when they are uprooted from the familiar that the unfamiliar will be safe. They have to trust they are going to a place of "better". This unfamiliar place may be scary, but the birds don't go alone. Birds were never meant to go to the unfamiliar alone. They are always together. They soar together. They face the challenge of the unfamiliar together. They survive together. They trust together.

I honestly believe that God is preparing me to be a bird and to be uprooted from the familiar and to go into the unfamiliar. He has been challenging me to just trust Him to provide. I may not always know the answers, I may be that little bird that wants to escape the rest of the birds because I'm stubborn as anything but if I trust Him to be my guide and to lead me I will never go down the wrong path. The unfamiliar won't be that scary. I will trust Him to be my survival, even when I want to stay where I am because it's comfortable. God wants to uproot me and bring me to a place where I soar high on eagles wings. A place where even though I fear it, God teaches me to fly by kicking me out of the nest. He wants to bring me to a place of "better" but birds need other birds. It's been really encouraging how God has recently brought certain people into my life to speak life into my heart. I have been truly blessed. Now, I don't know exactly what God is telling me through all of this but I do know that I'm on a journey and that I need to be okay with whatever path He has for me, I have to allow Him to uproot my own desires and transplant the desires of His heart within me. I have to soar, there is no other option.

So for my finals words on this beautiful Valentines Day I just want to tell you to walk the beach. Fly the ocean shores. Be a bird. But remember you are not alone. You are loved unconditionally. You are worth it. You are beautiful in every single way. Today is your day! Love continually. Pray often. Move forward. It's time to soar.

Happy Valentines Day. I hope this day has been as beautiful as you are!