not safe... but good.

A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

-Shedd

     This quote is from a book I'm reading (er... was reading till I decided to start blogging (sometimes you've just got to roll with it!)) called Stewards of Access/ Custodians of Choice.

 It was written by Dustin, McAvoy, and Schultz.  (And for the record, someone should mention to Shedd that it is not the greatest thing to end a sentence in a preposition. Motivational, but not grammatically correct.)  The quote reminds me of the end of Narnia when Aslan is running off on the beach.  Lucy wants to know where He is going and when He will be back.  Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy that Aslan is not safe (He's a lion), but He is good.  

     Often in life, I think we are asked to step out of our safety zone (or at least our comfort zone) to experience growth.  A lot of growth has been happening for me lately since I said "I do [take Scott for better for worse]."  I think that a lot of girls in the college-aged group are just waiting for that prince to come in and carry them off to a castle, and I wonder how many of our friends will truly mean it when they say "I do."  Marriage does not make life all sunshine and roses, and it is not the fix to an all ready struggling relationship.  So many times I have heard friends complain about struggling with purity (and I can definitely relate), but marriage is not the solution to a problem, Jesus is.  (Let that soak in for a while).

     Jesus is.  

     Jesus is the reason why Scott and I make this marriage work.  I don't think fairy tales have the prince leave the castle after 7 months of happiness, to a foreign land to prepare for possible war.  But that's where the "For better for worse" part kicks in.  When those words left my mouth, I sure did mean it.  I made a promise to my husband to stick with him forever.  Period.  Even more importantly, I made a promise before God to love my husband, to try to build a relationship that resembles how Christ loves the church (this is a blog for another time).  Whoa!  What a commitment!

     Such amazing things have come to pass since July 19 of last year.  Such love has been revealed and such growth has taken place (with much more to come, I am sure).  The song, Blessed be Your Name, comes to mind:

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name  Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering 

Though there's pain in the offering  

Blessed be Your name  

     So all this is to say that it is okay not to be safe, because God is good.  I think we live in a society that is very much plagued by fear.  The media gives messages of disease, and death, the newest on terrorism and the latest on evolving bacteria.  Sometimes I think that 1/3 children in America are obese because parents would rather them be playing "safe" video games inside instead of letting them run around the neighborhood.  I think that we should focus more on the optimistic side of life.  Instead of news reports telling about how many college students were killed in drunk driving accidents, why not report on the students doing relief work for others in places like Galveston and New Orleans?  Now that is motivational!  Safety is a lost cause when there is no guarantee of tomorrow.  So let us live in the goodness of today.  And let us grow in the glory of His presence in our lives.