Unlikely of Places

Where do you feel the most connected to God? Is it at church worshipping with music, taking a hike and camping in the mountains, staring at the ocean, flying in a plane and glancing out the window, laughing with friends on the front porch? Are heaven's streets really lined with gold and a big pearly gate? I'm not sure, but I know God created someone who wrote something beautifully poetic in Revelation to describe something us humans can only dream of. The beauty of curiosity God leaves us with is pretty moving, sure frustrating at times. However, it leaves us dreaming and hoping for the day we get to find out for ourselves.

The allure of worshiping in a church with people is the connection, and I also believe there's such a solid foundation for gathering within a church. I also believe God created this world to travel and experience Him out there too. Outside the walls of a church, because His church are also the people. To go. See the creation, experience His people, walk the shoes of a different culture, but I also mean to FEEL Him. To really feel raw and have your walls broken down. What has that looked like for you?

I experienced God in an unlikely place. I was alone at the Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C. walking through the Burning Man exhibit. Yes, the Burning Man exhibit. The art in there was wildly beautiful and I as walked through I just kept feeling this tug at my heart, this feeling of "Britney, I've got you. Don't be afraid, break down your walls." So bizarre because I've never looked at art and felt it and here I was feeling it to my CORE.

I walked into a chalkboard walled room. I'm not sure what you'd call it. The bold print read, "Before I die..." I stood in there for a very long time reading other peoples answers and feeling heavy for a moment because I couldn't pinpoint what I wanted to do. Helping other people went through my mind mostly, but questioned what I wanted to do for me. It finally clicked and without hesitation, I wrote, " I want to be unapologetically myself." Where in the world did that come from? What came over me that I wrote that? What did that even mean?! So many questions, but I went with it and honestly have been trying to live in that ever since.

As I was walking up the stairs to the smell of sawdust and having no clue what to expect. I was greeted with a sanctuary/temple made out of plywood with a soft glow and so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It was breathtaking. As I entered there was a sign explaining this place was a place of reflection, it was a place of celebration or mourning, a place for people suffering a loss or just hurting, or needing forgiveness. If you know me, you know I have the most difficult time sitting still and alone. I need my people around me, but I made myself sit there until after my uncomfortableness dripped away and the tears began to fall. I was in an art gallery crying like a baby. I was feeling like I've never felt before. The burdens my heart clung to so tightly melted away. I had no time restraint, I had no one to care for and I was looking at something beautiful someone created. So it was my time t take it all in and be still. Also, let's take a moment to recognize God created the brain of someone who created this place and the people who created this art. After sitting there I decided I would fully engulf myself in this art gallery and participate. I wrote something I was mourning and celebrating letting it go all at the same time. I left that gallery with my heart a little more open and a little lighter.

I've also experienced God having a dance party at an elevation of 12,095ft on top of a mountain for my birthday, with a toast of champagne accompanied by a very close friend of mine. I think it's about the experiences He gifts us with and how we accept them. Are we delighted in Him? Are we being fully open to what God has to say? Both times, it's been about my anxiety. It's been about feeling 100% myself and feeling free. He is making us free in Him...in our lives, we just have to pause a moment and see Him working. Even in the most unlikely of places.

Those two experiences happened years apart and they were saying the same thing and each time I'm stepping closer to feeling God's hand in mine. no matter the pain I go through or the worrisome thoughts. He is guiding me and constantly bringing me back to him. Inside a church, on a mountain, in the shower crying, He is always there. That's the beauty of God, He created weird unlikely folks and He created a world for us to marvel in His delight.

Breathe deep friend and take it all in. Every. Single. Moment.