Do you remember the fair?  It was exciting to hear that “the fair is coming to town!”  I could always see myself walking the grounds with funnel cake in both hands or trying to win a stuffed animal or standing in line for the rides.  The anticipation was an event of its own.   Oh, it was so fun! But as I grew up I noticed, most of the rides take you in circles and you always end back up where you started.  Oh, you laugh and scream and smile, but you are definitely going in circles.  Well, that’s acceptable for a fair, a place that is designed to be a momentary escape from reality, but what about the rest of it?  Is a “merry-go-round” life going to work for us?  Don’t get me wrong, we all want to laugh and scream and smile and go on the ride of our lives, but when it is over, don’t we need to be closer to the dream and further into the journey? Don’t we need to be stronger and better and happier and more of the best of ourselves? Don’t we need to move forward with each stride?  I do.  You do.  We do.  My prayer for us is:

• that we stop rehearsing old habits, and stop being surprised when they produce the same old pain
• that we stop doing old things, living the same old way and expecting a new and different outcome when we haven’t done enough to change
• that we start striding outside of our comfort zone and learn to live and love in ways that we have never seen or imagined before

There is a better way of living with our names on it. Let’s dive in and see just what God has in store for you and me…

MizJAI…waking up to the best of life