Painting my corner of the bigger picture...

slap, slap, slap, slap

My tennis shoes pound against the pavement as I jog down the path.

"There is no one like you. There has never ever been anyone like you.."

Crowder blares in my ears. To the point people scare me as they pass me because I didn't hear them coming, but I don't care. My senses are being overloaded by something I need more than air at this point... praises.

Now. I have been at Baylor for 3 years now. I know better than to run the Beartrail alone after dark. And yet, there was this pull. You see, for me, the Beartrail means quality catching up time. This has taken many shapes over the past few years: catching up with girlfriends, long heart to hearts when my heart was heavy, and time with Jesus. While I love my time with my girls, my time with Jesus on the Beartrail is always amazing. Or anytime I workout actually. Nobody interrupts, nobody gives me funny looks when it is clear my mind is a million miles away, and its just me and Jesus. Its beautiful, I recommend it.

So I get home, and almost by instinct I flip by Bible open to one of my favorite passages. John 9. Jesus is healing a man who was born blind, and people want to know if he is blind because he sinned, or because his parents sinned. But Jesus replies: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

That hits me every time. In Dei Gloriam. For the glory of God. *Disclaimer- I speak English. I just know that phrase means that and I like it. Who knows how the original text phrased it!*  How many times do bad things come up, or we are faced with challenges, and we wonder what we are being punished for. And yet, maybe it is so God's power can be shown through us. That is a humbling thought to me... that God would want his perfect power displayed through my broken self.  Why would God want to use me?

This last weekend my little brother proposed to his girlfriend of two years. *Insert the aww and smiles* I got to be a part of the proposal, and help keep her occupied until he was ready.  When it was time (8:12 pm to be exact... he was very specific!) I got to bring his princess to him so that he could give her a night she would never forget. As I got back into the car after I handed her off, I cried. It was such an amazing feeling to know that my brother had wanted me to be a part of that special moment and help him in that way. And yet, that is only a tiny glimpse of what God wants to do with my life. He wants to take me and use me and bring about something beautiful and wonderful- and while, as not many people may hear about who dropped her off, many may not see firsthand what part I play in a bigger picture, but it is the bigger picture that matters.

So here I am God. I know there is a bigger picture, and you need me to paint a corner. Hand me a brush and point me in the right direction, I'm all yours.