Warrior Child

 Sometimes I wear bandanas. It's a little harder to get away with in Wichita Falls TX... but I endure the stares every once in a while. There are some activities I have a difficult time doing without wearing a bandana, or at least a headband. Studying, painting, and definitely playing. I wish I could wear them every day. Some people find this strange but quickly chalk it up with everything else they expect from Californians. Just another 'granola' characteristic of mine, like being vegan and not liking to wear shoes. Regardless, I sometimes feel like I need to explain myself, just to reassure them that it's not because I'm a pot smokin youth rebellion leader. Maybe I watched karate kid too many times growing up, or I just like to dress up my pony tail that I sport 24/7.

If I were to guess, Id say it's because I've always had this sense in me that life was a battle, and I was a warrior. Tackling a project, or even just my day without it feels like being an on-duty soldier without their uniform, or stepping on the court to play vb without my knee pads. Just doesn't feel right. It reminds me how things feel when I step into a certain battle, school, dealing with family, or work without inviting my heavenly father to be a part of it. 

Took this pic in San Fran. I think he felt about his cape how I do about my bandana. 

Some habits never die.

I wonder how many people feel this way... that's why I LOVE this song by Tal & Acacia, a letter written from God to one of his little warriors. 

Here's to you, Warrior Child. 

<3 Laurén

Warrior Child ~Tal & Acacia

The day is ended and you're not even dressed

Its taken all you have to just get out of bed

the war has kept you on your knees and you confess

I am tired

there's nothing left

when all you had was given in the raging fight

you fear your life has been wasted here in this cold night

empty and alone you cry those precious tears

warrior child

I'm still here

forsaken

not my warrior child

abandoned

never will I forget you

my child I love you so

and someday you'll finally know

but until then

please be strong

you've carried soldiers on your back to get them here

the wounded broken ones you fought for all those years

you fed them all you have and now you're weak and faint

loved you are

in heavens gaze

forsaken

not my warrior child

abandoned

no never will I forget you

my child I love you so

and someday you'll finally know

but until then

would you please be strong

forsaken

no not my warrior child

abandoned

no never will I forget you

my child I love you so

someday you'll finally know

but until then

please be strong

To go... or not to go. Is that the question?

Church. (I'll get back to this, promise, promise.)

Over the past couple years, researchers have become more than curious of my beliefs and values. Not mine alone, but those of my generation. Come to find out, there hasn't been an inquiry of this magnitude among human science experts since the 60's (Baby Boomer generation aka my hippie parents). One of the main trends within their findings reveals that like our parents we are a 'counterculture' n. A culture, especially of young people, with values or lifestyles in opposition to those of the established culture.

In the 60's this coupled with a political climate filled with controversy, and of course drugs. Lots... and LOTS... of drugs. In the broad scheme of things, I see my parents' generation as being one whos hearts conflicted with world turmoil in a way they could not deny.

I know... I KNOW. The 60's was just an era of political up-rise that a rebellious generation took complete advantage of by getting lit. There was absolutely nothing meaningful to it. Drrr... Right?

As I change gears, I want you to think about something. Do you always KNOW why you do something? For example, why do I make 'that face' when I put on eyeliner? It DOESN'T aid me in the process. Why do I sometimes blow on my spooned ice cream like it's hot soup? Why do dogs have to walk around in that little circle before they can lay down? How is it that I can drive a whole two hours, arrive in my driveway to realize I was suppose to go to work? I can't even remember a moment of the drive...

My auto pilot terrifies me sometimes.

Creatures of habit we are. Human beings are capable, and even encouraged to live within our warm, squishy, cozy routines. The scary word for this is Hedonism, defined as characteristic of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain (weird, I always thought it had something to do with voodoo dolls). What it means is, we have the tendancy to go with the flow of what's around us...

SO... what was up with the 60's? Is MY generation really a counter culture? and does this maybe have something to do with the our aversion to church?

These three questions alone will cause an UPROAR among culture warriors (and somehow, politics). BUT lucky for me I'm more of an inquirer, not much of a debater.

Going by what I have felt as a (recommitted) church goer, I'd have to say that the cultural view of "Christians"and "Christianity" may correlate with the lack of young people in the church. I believe that the conversations or comments I would overhear growing up, from the mouths of "Christians" who for whatever reason weren't being very "Christlike", had the power to turn me away later in life. A little older now, I know that sometimes people have bad days. Or bad YEARS... and that really when people are being hateful about another group of people, judgmental, or even cynical, in that moment they are not acting out of Christ's love. I truly believe these people need prayer. They are hurting over something, and truly need some agape.

I don't have any answers to these hot topics. In no way am I a social genius, but I do wish that at times of my life I would have been brave enough to not avoid church. I think of all the heartache I could have been saved from, and even the opportunity my true brothers and sisters in Christ could have had to support me, to LOVE me at a time I really needed it the most. (lets be real, I'll ALWAYS need it... praise God.)

Beloved, I believe that when we make Christ the true source of our hearts, people won't be able to deny the love that pours out of us. To say their isn't a NEED to show His love would just be ignorant. But, if you are a Christian, and your reason for not attending church is that you don't approve 100%, or you aren't comfortable I pray that you take a closer look and rethink it. The church wasn't meant to be a 'cultural' reflection of the actions of Christians, but the place where we come together to lick our wounds from battle. Where we find restoration in refocusing ourselves completely on Him. Please, PLEASE don't allow the cynicism to keep you from being part of the body of Christ. He is yours, you are His. I desperately Hope and Pray you find a place to FEEL this, and that your desire for Him grows to outweigh what you have come to know as comfort.

In all His love,

Laurén

To Dream like the KING Dreamer.

Happy Dr. King Day!!!

The more I learn of this man, the more I am in awe of him. When I think of Dr. King, from the stories of his fight for the sanitation workers to his march on Washington, my heart SWELLS with what love I imagine him being filled with. A type of love I can relate to not only because of what he believed, but WHO he believed in...

I wonder... would Dr. King have had such an immense impact if he had not been a Jesus lover? I think of social activists today, some of the most amazing people I could ever have known, but the things they fight for are so very tangible, almost like "Of COURSE we need someone fighting to save the whales, eliminate AIDS, and make the global markets go green." But Dr. King... was a DREAMER.

Sometimes I forget our history. Certain dates and events are memory (so many history classes will do that to you), but to truly KNOW and understand something is to feel it and live it as much as you can without actually having BEEN there. To truly BELIEVE in what this man did, at a TIME where people not only lost their lives for standing up for equality, but were considered foolish for even thinking it were possible. I imagine being a little girl then. Hearing of something on the news that just didn't sit right, or maybe just out of curiosity I'd ask "why?" "Why do we use a separate door? Why can't we sit in the same theater?" to hear that dreadful response from someone older, wiser in year,"That's just the way things are".

I was listening to NPR today where some of Dr. King's closest friends and fellow activists were being interviewed. No matter WHAT the question they were asked, they all seemed to respond on his remarkable character. They talked about how humble he was in everything he did. Humble. As in Humility. It shakes my heart with beauty.

This man was the first to see a world as colorblind, acted on his faith in the love of his neighbors, and was killed for encouraging others to do the same. I have no doubts that what Dr. King knew of Christ's love fueled his fire, and his Dreams.

What a water-walker.

Storm

I needed some music... but couldn't figure out the code junk. Hope you enjoy!!! Storm by Lifehouse cover.