Fire

Trial by fire..., "You're fired", Refined by the fire, "Things We Lost in the Fire"...



All of those references to fire, but a variety of meanings...



I watched the above mentioned movie this past week, "Things We Lost in the Fire". TEAR JERKER!!! There are a few movies that have really rocked me, that one, City of Angels (about 10 years ago) and Million Dollar Baby(Always protect yourself). These are movies about love and loss, perseverence, strength, beauty in the face of tragedy... I am sure we could all list more themes that touched us, but they are very emotional women in very developmental situations.



Bonnie Raitt has a song that has a memorable line for me... " Women, we're the strong ones, somehow we always make it through, but the way I feel right now, I don't even think its true. To me their lots more broken, than anyone can really see. The way the angels turn their backs on some... its a mystery to me..."

Our backs are broken on so many things in this life. Death, literal and perverbial, life, born and lost, experiences that would shake many to their core, these are the things that we are made of. (What happened to sugar and spice?) The fire.... It burns so deeply, but we are so refined. When we come out on the other side, and the pain subsides, the tears dry, and the clouds part, sometimes it isn't until we are sitting on the couch in the quiet, with our perfectly prepared coffee, our flannel jammies on, that we realize, "hey... the rain stopped. I can see the sun shining." What we have to remember is it is the Son shining. He is so faithful. I stand in awe of the fire he has allowed in my life and the lives of those around me.

I love my children so much. I can feel them in my arms. I can conjure up the actual softness of their skin agains my fingertips in my mind when they are away. I can close my eyes, clear out the cobwebs, and remember how amazing they were when they were first walking, talking, or dressing themselves. But you had better believe that when they crossed the line between good and evil and thought they were going to dance on the other side, I wore them out. Often times I would give them a spanking, send them to bed, and then cry alone in my bedroom, aching to just give them a hug and kiss and snuggle in bed with them instead. It was my love and my dream for successful and blessed lives that I gave them those heart wrenching spankings. I refused to allow them to get used to being outside of the plan that God had for them, instead ushering them to walk in obedience, be respectful, or whatever the case may have been.

Our fire. It often comes from our Father who loves us too much to let us stray. Of course there is the fire that we so innocently light and play in and then beg for the Great Fire Extinguisher for rescue! Either way, He is faithful to draw us near to Him if we will just submit to the fire and allow Him to do the work. Relax, my beloved. Hide under the shadow of His wings. The fire will come, it will purge the impurities, and on the other side, we will look more like Him. How will we know? We will see the difference. When we look to the world and the things that used to be so comfortable and familiar? It will be stranger and stranger to us. Us who are called by His name...



Walk in the blessing and the love that is Your fire.

oxox.