The Land of Inbetween

My good friend Amanda sent me this link where this jewel of wisdom was found.

*****************************************************************************************************************

There's a place between here and there. A piece of ground in the middle of take-off and landing. A section of the unknown within beginning and ending. You probably find yourself there from time to time. It's the land known as Inbetween.

Inbetween is one of the most rugged places in life. You aren't fully here, and you aren't fully there. Your emotions and hopes are strewn across an endless list of possibilities. Door knobs of wood, brass, and silver line the path, but which will open? In the land of Inbetween, the paths are lined with sealed envelopes and foggy dreams. Excitement runs forward and fears hold back. And if you stay long enough, you feel the tremors of your soul.

The land of Inbetween is downright scary. It's a place of blind trust. It's where the pedals of faith meet the narrow road of fortitude and where movement is demanded though there's no place to go. The worst part of this land isn't the uncertainty or frustration that accompany it - it's that God likes it when you're there.

While He's no sadist, God loves the land of Inbetween. He loves what it does to us. He loves the humility and dependence it creates in our hearts, so He creates innumerable forks in life's road that swerve us into the land of Inbetween. The unknowns of job, marriage, children, and home are the signs of this uncertain land. At times, people are thrust into Inbetween by mishaps, accidents, sudden deaths, and even unexpected fortune. Some people visit so many times they begin to wonder if it's life. And they aren't far off.

So what will hold you steady when you walk through the terrain of Inbetween? A recognition that Inbetween is God's design. In one miraculous moment, the Creator of the universe placed you in the greatest Inbetween of all time - the place between the earthly creation and eternity. Life's smaller lunges forward and backward are merely postcard reminders that there's something greater than this place we're visiting.

If you're in your own land of Inbetween, remember that God was the original designer of this journey. You can get mad, scream, and even pout if you want. But it doesn't change the fact that you're merely passing through. Everything else is Inbetween. (from Deeper Walk, a Relevant Devotional Series)

*****************************************************************************************************************

I too am in the Land of Inbetween these days. I find myself here more often then I like, but I am always thankful for what joy the previous land has brought me and the hope of what the next land will bring. What I do know is the God of the Land of Inbetween is sufficient and enough.

So for weeks like this week when the Land of Inbetween alsmost took me down, I depend and I trust fully and totally on the God who became the Land of Inbetween for me!

Middle Girls are Squirley

I survived my first week of teaching Middle School girls this week. I was able to meet about 40 new divas and was even more thankful that I NEVER have to return to those awkward two years of life. I of course pulled out my trendiest outfits in my closet to "impress", "woo", or "coerce" them into thinking that I was cool enough for them to listen to me and attend my class for the next semester.

These are some of my observation my time with Middle Schoolers this week...

1. Some are so very sweet and innocent....some are NOT.

2. Since when did Middle School girls cuss like sailors?

3. They think that people like Katie Perry has hung the moon. (great role model, eh) and their favorite songs are Teenage Dream. Also awesome (insert sarcasm).

4. I didn't come across a single girl that had married parents. Most were either divorced, fathers in jail, or multiple step family members.

5. Most of them are extremely insecure and just want to be loved.

6. Most of them have no idea what godly love looks like.

7. Most did NOT like Justin Bieber. I honestly expected a little more Bieber Fever.

8. Crushes and giggling was at it's peak!

9. Middle School with social media, facebook, and cell phones is a whole different ball game.

So those are my first observations on the surface. I love that I get to share with them my heart and my life over these next 16 weeks and hopefully be a role model to them. I hope they know that there is a God that loves them and that they don't have to strive in life to be wanted or just to be sexy. I hope these next few weeks will be about them finding their worth outside of boys or unrealistic cultural expectations.