wade in the water

WADE IN THE WATER
WADE IN THE WATER CHILDREN
WADE IN THE WATER
GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATER

Like the Israelites you've become comfortable in your chains
a voice in the desert is calling
yet you worry about the rain
and whether it will come
to wash away your pain
o children when will you learn
that all your souls long for
is found in Him
found in Him

WADE IN THE WATER...

All you see is what's right in front of you and you falter
paralyzed by fear of situations that seem impossible to alter
Who is your God?
He is the God that made Jericho's walls fall
with trumpet sound and dancing feet.
In Him the ocean depths and mountain heights meet

is anything too difficult for Him?

He makes water solid and river beds dry
He sings stars into place, knows every tear you cry
He makes feasts from crumbs
restores feeling to the numb
He calms the storms with one word

with one word

with one word He speaks breath into bones
calling forth an army of broken vessels
that shine brightly with His glory
scattering darkness as they sing His name

is anything too difficult for him?

WADE IN THE WATER...

Lift your eyes, look to the other side
catch a glimpse of the freedom that lies beyond
the wide open spaces of promise that He's calling you to
(there are no tightropes there)

God's gonna trouble the water
so jump right in
don't you want to be where He is moving?
something is stirring
'SEE I AM DOING A NEW THING'

so jump right in
jump right in
jump right in

thoughts that don't make it to facebook statuses

i'm not sure where those days come from. you know the grey ones. the grey even though it's sunny and you feel cold even in that sun and then you realise you feel cold right to the insides of your very bones, and all you want to do is curl up tight into a ball in a comfy corner only there are no comfy corners here just grey pavements that throb with your heavy feet that drag as thought they were made like lead which is how your heart feels, heavy like it's sinking to your toes but those feet have to keep on walking even though you can't even remember why you're going where you're going and even the pavement looks like an attractive place to lie down and curl up and hope nobody sees except the one person you'd like to find you who will hold you tight tight tight through the whole night until morning comes and not get bored of your melancholy company and meanwhile you cry silently at the back of a bus wishing it were summer so you could wear sunglasses to hide your puffy eyes but it's not summer it's winter a winter that seems it will never end, winter in every sense of the world only you're scared that even when spring comes in the trees and in the air that you will still be stuck in this season that makes hope less visible and dreams fade and life has become something to survive, not really live and this is what really gets to you that life is too short for this nonsense, for listening to the lies that fill your mind and make you want to disappear and jump out of this crazy head of yours and take a break from being you the you who is scared she might be going insane and yet you can't seem to turn the volume down and even though you know seasons do change because they have to, they always do, you wonder when and how and please please now and you think maybe it's just that time of the month or maybe you're just tired and maybe this is just how life goes but to be honest all of these maybes don't really help because they don't fix it, don't fix you.

i sometimes feel like this. just trying to be real... i've still not worked out solutions. except for trying to cling onto truth, which we sometimes need someone/something else to show us. i really like the lyrics of this song 'Come Awake' by David Crowder Band:

Are we left here on our own?
Can you feel when your last breath is gone?
Night is waiting heavy now
Be quiet and wait for a voice that will say

Come awake
From sleep, arise
You were dead
You’ve come alive
Wake up wake up
Open your eyes
Climb from your grave
Into the light
Bring us back to life

You are not the only one
Who feels like the only one
Night soon will be lifted friend
Just be quiet and wait for the voice that will say

Come awake
From sleep, arise
You were dead
You’ve come alive
Wake up wake up
Open your eyes
Climb from your grave
Into the light
Bring us back to life

Rise, rise, rise, rise, rise
Rise, rise, rise, rise….
Shine, shine, Oh shine
We will shine
We will rise
We will shine, shine, shine

24-7 prayer

On Saturday i went to IAM10, that is, the 10th birthday celebration of the movement that calls itself 24-7 prayer. It's been 10 years since the first prayer room was set up in Revelation Church in Chichester, and since then the idea has spread to more than 100 nations across the world. You can read the book 'Red Moon Rising' by Pete Grieg to find out more.

I wasn't sure whether to go or not (to IAM10), firstly because the last couple of weeks have been very non-stop and secondly i wasn't sure if i 'belonged' there. But as i walked in the door of the venue i remembered that that's exactly the thing that keeps me coming back for more - there is no 'membership', there is no 'in' and 'out', and i have always felt very at home at any 24-7 gatherings that i've been too. Maybe it's the colourfulness, the uniqueness, the ragtag-nonconventional look of the people who come together. But that's just the outside. Really i think its the connection - the shared desire to push the boundaries, not settle, to dream and scheme and journey, and see where God leads. It's the passion for prayer and for mission and for justice, the longing for community and creativity and expression of LOVE in countless ways.

The first time i encountered this was when i was 18 (2005), frustrated with the apathy and sameness i found in church, full of questions, and trying to work out how to express my faith in a way i felt was genuine. I was about to go with 7 other girls to Tenerife, to help out at the Living Room, a brilliant 'chill out space' for those who work in the bars and clubs of Las Americas, and before that we had some training at an event called Transmission - a long weekend camping near Luton with everyone who was going on a team with 24-7 that summer. It was there that for the first time in a long time i heard people talking about following Jesus in a way that really excited me, in a way that i could relate to, and was inspired by. From the band 100hours talking about their passion for music and using their profile to create awareness about AIDS, to people talking about setting up hostels, cafes, to going on pilgrimages, to living life intentionally together... these were things i could start dreaming about. It was also the first time i properly danced without caring and that has since been an amazingly powerful statement of freedom in my life.

Actually many of my favourite memories linked to 24-7 prayer have been about dancing. From some of the world's biggest clubs in Ibiza two summers in a row, to a beautiful villa in Sevilla, to trance-worship in a basement in London, to a church hall in Southampton... this movement literally has inspired me to move. And more importantly in all of these places friendships have been formed, for which my life is definitely richer. And those friendships have led to more connections and more friendships, actually it's crazy to think of the amount of people i now know as result of being involved in 24-7 prayer. People all over the world. People who have and do challenge, inspire and love me in a hundred different ways. Hooray!

I am not saying it's all perfect. I possibly have more questions now than before, and I've seen some of the frustrations and heartache that's accompanied trying to put some of these dreams into action. People get tired and life hurts sometimes. But on Saturday i realised there is lots to celebrate. So, i guess i just wanted to say i'm thankful. so so thankful. but most importantly, as it says in the poem that was a crucial part of the beginnings of 24-7 prayer, 'The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus'. All glory to Him. Without Him all this would mean nothing.

Aqui estoy yo

No quiero perder,
las cosas que me quedan por hacer
las cosas que me quedan por vivir en ti

No quiero olvidar
Las cosas que planeaste para mi
Los sueños que me diste lograre por ti

No tienes que buscar a nadie mas yo quiero ir
aqui esta mi tiempo aqui estan mis horas
Aqui estoy yo

Mi vida es para ti y en ti la quiero yo invertir
Aqui estan mis manos, aqui esta mi voz
"Aqui estoy yo"

Listo quiero estar,
los dones que me diste voy a usar
los años que me has dado vivire por ti.

Voy a conquistar la tierra que me diste y sin dudar
hare lo que me pidas vivire por ti

(Jesus Adrian Romero)