Danger: Inner child running free

I just took a trip to Atlanta to visit with some friends and fulfill a dream of the 8 year old princess who lives inside of me...to see "The Little Mermaid" on stage! The show was amazing and as we were waiting for it to start I couldn't help but notice that I had a huge grin on my face waiting in anticipation of seeing Ariel swim across the stage! Not to mention that I had to look all over the theater to find the photo op with Ariel :)

Being there seeing mermaids swim, dancing crabs, and true love triumphing over all made me miss the days of when I was a kid. Now don't get me wrong my inner child runs pretty free most of the time enjoying life but take a step back with me for a minute. Remember when we were kids and each day was an adventure and for most of us all of our needs were met. We didn't go searching for the next big thing that would make our lives easier or finally get us recognized. For me my childhood days were spent playing Barbies with my sister or playing outside. Of course as children we don't have the responsibilities that we do as adults.When we "grow up" we have jobs, mortgages, car payments, and  for some a family. We don't have the luxury to just be care free. However there is one area of our lives that doesn't need to become too grown up and that is our faith. Now hold on before you get feisty with me and say that we don't have responsibilities in our faith because yes we absolutely do! We are also called to become mature in the Lord and pattern our lives after Him. What I am talking about is how we have complicated our faith so much. Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." When we were children we had to trust in our parents and until we became teenagers we really didn't question them. Well most of the time we didn't question them!  The same is true of our relationship with God. 

We must trust in Him with a child-like faith where we are so excited to see Him show up. When is the last time that you were sitting on the edge of your seat grinning waiting for God to come before you? The reality is that most of the time we are all too busy to notice that God is all around us. This weekend I was anticipating a particular event that I already had expectations of how I was going to respond. Most of us don't live our lives expecting God to show up or we only expect Him to show up when something really big is going on.  God is in our lives every single day and the sad part is that most people do not take the time to notice. I have been reading a book in my bible study called "Satisfy my thirsty soul" by Linda Dillow and it is amazing! She speaks about how worship is more than singing on a Sunday morning. True worship is being aware of God in every aspect of your life and allowing His presence to work in and through you. She talks about how worshiping God through our words, attitude, work, will, waiting, and pain only brings us into a closer relationship with God which is what He longs for. It astounds me how the creator of the heavens and earth, the Almighty powerful God wants to have an intimate personal relationship with me. How cool is that!!! 

Disney movies sell girls two very serious and enticing lies...perfect hair and fantasy true love. Seriously who wouldn't want to come straight out of the ocean with great hair or wake up looking like you just stepped out of the salon! The greatest love that we could ever experience is with our Heavenly Father. He accepts us no matter what and will always continue to love us. Now that is the perfect fairy tale ending... but it isn't a story it is the amazing truth of being in relationship with God. I have a challenge for anyone reading this blog..take the time to notice. Look around your home, work, church, Starbucks, mall, wherever you may be for God's presence. Instead of looking at things as luck start to change your mindset to blessings. When I hit all the green lights now I thank God for blessing me and allowing me to arrive on time. Change is most effective when starting small and feeling accomplished. So start with the small things and be amazed at how BIG our God is!