Wayfarer

Along my life journey, I've both experienced in myself and observed in others the tragic consequences of suppressing and holding in the toxic emotional waste that builds up as we walk through life and relationship. (Chapter-a-Day podcast on Psalm 6; Text of every Chapter-a-Day [CaD] podcast can be found at tomvanderwell.com)

Life has a rhythm. It has a beat and a flow. One of the things I've observed along the way is that God creates things with layers. My life is layered. My well-being and attitude result from the state of many intertwining layers: physical, mental, relational, vocational, social, personal, financial, marital, parental, sexual, recreational, and spiritual. (Chapter-a-Day [CaD] podcast on Psalm 5; The text of every chapter-a-day podcast can always be found at tomvanderwell.com}

In the quiet this morning I find myself accepting the fact that, despite 54 years on the journey and almost 40 years of following Jesus, I still have very human struggles with responding to negative emotions and circumstances in healthy ways. (Chapter-a-Day podcast on Psalm 4; Text version of all chapter-a-day podcasts are available at tomvanderwell.com)

In the quiet this morning, David's example has me giving a backward glance at the road I've already traveled in life. I've been in, and through, my own personal wilderness before. (Chapter-a-Day podcast on Psalm 3; The text of every chapter-a-day podcast can always be found at tomvanderwell.com)

This world may sink into all sorts of crazy just as it has time and time again throughout the Great Story. But, I know whom I serve. And, His kingdom is unshakable, unbreakable, and not in trouble. (Chapter-a-Day podcast from Psalms 2; The text of every chapter-a-day podcast can always be found at tomvanderwell.com).

The intention of today's psalm is simple. What do I want my life to be? Established, fruitful, rooted, alive, continually nourished in the flow of living water? Or, dusty, dry, void of life, blown about chaotically by every gust of circumstance and trending fear? And, how do I become the former rather than the latter? (Chapter-a-Day podcast on Psalm 1; The text of every Chapter-a-Day podcast can be found at tomvanderwell.com)

In the quiet this morning, I'm reminded that it never ends. For those who ask, seek, and knock. For any who truly follows and obeys. This dance, this relationship, this journey never stops progressing. It keeps changing as we change. It keeps maturing as we mature. It keeps getting layered with more, deeper meaning, and deeper understanding. (Chapter-a-Day podcast on Exodus 40; The text version of all Chapter-a-Day podcast episodes can always be found at tomvanderwell.com).

I believe that this spiritual journey has a destination, and as I make progress on Life's road I'm also supposed to also be progressing in my spiritual maturity and my relationship with God.  (Chapter-a-Day podcast from Exodus 39; The text version of every Chapter-a-Day podcast can be found at tomvanderwell.com)

This life journey is filled with human mistakes. Buy me a pint and I will give you an entire list of mistakes I've made along the way (it might cost you two pints, there are a lot of them). Mistakes that, when they came to light, created all sorts of groans, agonizing, shame, and despair for me. But, I've discovered through those stretches of life's road that God is not a God of condemnation and shame. (Chapter-a-Day podcast from Exodus 38; A text version of each Chapter-a-Day podcast can be found at tomvanderwell.com)

In my perpetual journey through the Great Story I've come to learn that sometimes spiritual lessons are not within the text, but outside of it. It's not what is being communicated that holds value for me as much as how it's being communicated. (Chapter-a-Day podcast from Exodus 37; Text version of today's podcast can be found at tomvanderwell.com)