Giving In

Raise your hand if you have always accepted who you are? Well, I admit I rarely ever appreciate the girl I am- who I was made to be. I was the unusual child of a rather normal seven-member family. At 8 I turned our jungle gym into a circus and invited guests and sold tickets. All the other kids got nervous and I was forced to enact the whole circus on my own. I wrote poetry for my friends, and daydreamed hours away behind the locked doors of my bedroom between the ages of 14-18. I wore strange fashions before they were cool, like shoe lace bracelets and skirts over jeans. These days I get spiritual inspiration from listening to Pink. I have tattoos referencing Peter Pan and Braveheart. I'm obsessed with science fiction and fantasy, and I'm sure I was born to be Captain Picard's child... "Make it so, Number One" was my mantra. I color in  my Bible and every page that's not colored has a short story in the margin. I am a Christian because I believe Spiderwick, Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. Their stories compel me to believe this world is not all it seems and I was made for a world of so much more. I consider myself both a Barbarian and a Princess and am absolutely certain I can fly-- which is only one of my superpowers.

For a long time I though this wonderlust was a childish part of me that was ridiculous and stupid. When I was 21 The Great Imagination shattered that idea. I was reminded that I was made in God's image. This strangeness that consumes me, it's all a gift from him. I have his perspective on things that others do not get to see. I am an honored being.

Alas, no matter how hard you know something in one moment, your grasp is always loosened. I've struggled and lost a lot of the heart I've always loved. Luckily, The Great Imagination saw fit to send me help in the form of my husband. He is just as strange as I am and he has since then pushed me to great heights with my creativity. Stretching my wonderlust back out again. And he reminded me last night that God has put us together not to just stick through this life as one strange wonder, but to impact it. We're here to change the world. And we've both decided to give in to the deep truth of who we both are- raging warriors, passionate dreamers and hopeful lovers. We're ready to take up the mantle. We're ready to fight for the kingdom come. To live unusual lives for a purpose far beyond our understanding.

We're giving in.