Rise.

Welp. I'm back. Hopefully there are a few of you out there that still have some interest in reading my thoughts. My last post was in June of 2013. A lot of wrestling has occurred in my personal life in that. More specifically, my walk with Christ. The main reason for me walking away from GoldenDirt is that I have had a season where I turned my back to the Light of Christ. Not to live a different life, but to numb the emptiness in my heart that I KNEW only Christ could fill. There have been a series of events in my life that made it hard to seek the Light. I wanted to be rescued without turning to Christ. I wanted to lay there on the ground and have someone pick me up. The more time passed without me being picked up, the more I resisted turning to Him. In this time, I always felt God's prescense. I always felt Him with me. If I have learned anything from being in the darkness, it is that God never abandons. Never. I have heard His voice so much in this season. And I have Him to thank as well as the people He used on the way. To Jon Eick, Meghan Good, Mattea Williams, Jake Likewise, Jimmy Stone, Courtney Martin, Casey Hilinski, Brandon Larsen, and Gabe Anderson, I've so clearly seen Jesus in you during my time of darkness and I pray that you will have some understanding of how thankful I am for you all. You have all been a part of helping me get back up. Last night I was watching one of my favorite films, The Dark Knight Rises. I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from the Batman Trilogy. There is a scene in which Bruce Wayne's father asks Bruce as a child the question, "Why do we fall?" to which he proceeds to answer the question with, "So we can learn to pick ourselves up." Later, when Bruce is an adult, he faces darkness again and Alfred asks Bruce the same question. I believe that God allows us to be challenged. He allows us to fall so that we can learn how to pick ourselves up. In the past season I've learned how to pick myself up and it is by turning to the Redeemer of all things. It is something I've known for many years, but just as Bruce had been taught at an early age, he had to be reminded as an adult. Likewise, in our lives, there will be many times when we fall, but Christ will always continue to be there to help us get back up and rise to be who He has designed us to be. I pray that when you find yourself on the ground that you can find strength to turn to Him and rise.

Blessings,

-C.