Where’s your wonder? 🌻
↩️UNFOLLOW University — March 31, 2023
Live footage of your boss’s brain. 🧶
If you ever ask my 5-year-old daughter to pray over a meal, bring your patience. Chandler thanks God for everything!
She thanks him for tables and chairs, food and forks, and her sister and brother. She thanks God for her school and teachers. She prays for people who are cold and hungry, hoping they have somewhere to go.
Chandler pronounces big blessings over the whole world and then thanks the creator of the universe for her cup of water. I’d love to portray myself as a proud dad during her marathon prayers. Way too often, I’m squinting through half-closed eyelids at my plate of cooling food, missing the tiny miracle unfolding.
Earlier this week Chandler said, “I pray God has a great day, too.” She didn’t need to know how prayer works to know that it does.
Maybe there’s a reason her middle name is Grace.
🤯 Radical Truth
You don’t have to be right about God for him to be right about you.
Instead of giving him the best version of myself, I can give him something more accessible: my “yes.”
Saying “yes” means letting go of what I know to embrace what I don’t.
🍁 The God of autumn harvest is also the God of springtime planting.
❤️🩹 The God of divine healing is also the God who designed bodies that break.
💤 The God of rest is also the God of work.
🕊 The God of forgiveness is also the God of judgment.
🤟🏼The God of love is also the God who gives us a choice of who to love and how.
Wonder whispers more often than it shouts. What I call mystery is actually a measure of my constraints, not God’s. The only wonder-less world is the one I create in my own mind.
I’m still learning to look at life with the indestructible wonder of a 5-year-old child instead of the imaginary certainty of a clueless Christian.
I’m learning to celebrate beginnings and welcome endings. To be as gentle with others as God has been with me. To seek surprises, walk slower and forgive faster.
I’m learning to be grateful for the in-between. My limited understanding of God doesn’t limit his love for me.
Each day is a miracle. Every person is a prodigy. The gift of life is not to outgrow our dependence but to choose on who we will depend.
⚡️Courageous Question
Where’s your wonder? What were you certain of 1 year ago that you’re not as sure about now?
🗣 Wonderful Words
“You are the laboratory and every day is an experiment. Go and find what is new and unexpected.”
🙏🏽 Prayer Package
God, thank you for the things I can’t understand because they point to a plan bigger than my understanding. In you, I can let go of the illusion of control. I can surrender to uncertainty. Let my questions, confusion and doubt lead me to curiosity, creativity and dependency. Amen.
🎵 He’s a Wonder - Israel & New Breed, Chandler Moore
🛠 Practical Tool
Several years ago I led a group of teenagers through a study on embracing your “childlike faith” with wonder. Then I forgot everything I taught.
This week I’ve spent time revisiting and rereading the book, Dangerous Wonder. It’s a treasure chest of hard truths without the usual checklists, how-tos and self-help tools.
This weekend is a great opportunity to “wonder” (to entertain, admire and magnify your curiosity). Make it a good one!
If you’re new to UNFOLLOW University you can learn more about me here or check out my previous posts.
See you next UNFOLLOW Friday!
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Every Friday I’ll send you 5 courageous ideas to help you redesign your work life by making better career decisions:
🤯 Radical Truth - A story from me
⚡️ Courageous Question - A challenge for you
🗣 Wonderful Words - A quote worth remembering
🙏🏽 Prayer Package - A moment of meditation
🛠 Practical Tool - An actionable resource
