Bonfire

I've had this song stuck in my head all day. I don't know what it's called, but it goes, "Lord, I wanna burn for you, I wanna yearn with passion. Lord, I wanna burn." (Or something like that). I don't really like that song because I don't really like fire (for understandable reasons to be expressed at some other time), yet what did God speak to me through today?

I hung out with Brianne again today, and, unlike on Monday, we had a bonfire. This was an atypical bonfire because it was in the middle of the day. Brianne, however, had a blast, and now her summer can officially start. :-) She's not the best fire-building, but she's an amazing fire-player. As I was watching her (from a significant distance, might I add) play with the fire, God spoke to me. Sort of twice.

Brianne loves to have a stick in the fire at all times. No matter what she's doing, she has to be playing with the fire. Well, she kept throwing small branches on the fire. She threw a plethora of small branches on the fire. Enough small branches on the fire and she almost smothered the fire. Branches are good for building up the fire, but too many and the fire is put out.

God's work in our lives is kind of like that. Small changes are good, but too many small changes at once and we turn away from Him. (Maybe that's the Lutheran in me talking...)

Another way God spoke to me through the fire was through the ashes on the bottom of the fire pit. At one time the ashes were good, solid wood that was helpful in fueling the fire. However, later on they became less helpful and even bothersome. If the ashes weren't forgotten about and were turned over, they once again became helpful in providing oxygen to the fire.

Some of our experiences are helpful at the time in growing us closer to Christ. Yet, if we just leave them in the past and move on, they are no longer helpful. If we look back on them and revisit them, we can continue to grow from the good and bad times.

Ok, so that sounded a lot cooler in my head.

<>< Katie

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." Malachi 3:6