Vapor

I took this photo in Harbin, China. Old gentleman like this man here would take water and paint Chinese characters on the ground with a small stick and a rag wrapped around the top.


I remember wondering why in the world they would take all that time to write out such beautiful characters that would evaporate within five minutes. I couldn't understand why anyone would waste such precious time doing something so temporary.


The more time has passed by, the more I look back to that and understand the reason why.
Everything in this life is so temporary, everything evaporates so quickly, but we are children of God, and were created like him, and he does the same thing all the time! Creates beautiful things that so quickly fade away.

I have been so moved by sunsets here in Mexico while overlooking the ocean... Colors like I have never seen as the sun dips behind the ocean line, lighting up the sky with reds, oranges, purples, and yellows that take the breath out of you. And yet it only lasts for a few short minutes, and if you aren't watching it and taking time to stop and enjoy it, you will miss it.


I think about so many things in this life that are so temporary. I think about the lives of the my three friends that have gone home to be with the Father. None of which reached their 27th birthday....
But, I wouldn't dream of saying that their lives weren't worth it.

I think about the friendships that I have made in the years I have traveled. People that I have connected with so deeply, and have had to part with. But, I wouldn't dream of saying those relationships weren't worth it.

There are so many things in this life that come and go. So many things that sometimes we think the energy isn't worth putting in for what we will get out of it.
But as I look at this man drawing these characters, I remember the way that it made me feel when I walked past him on the street. How each stroke he made was perfect and how he took the time to make each one perfectly concise.


This work of art dried up in five minutes, but for those five minutes that man stopped people in their tracks to admire something out of the ordinary. To let themselves feel the spirit inside of them come alive for just a few moments to the beauty of life.

I think we were made to spark, explode, and flame out, leaving people breathless.


I pray that my life is like these characters drawn on the cold cement in that small town of China. I pray that as I move with his spirit and follow him wherever he asks me to go, that I become a beautiful piece of art for my saviour. I pray that it takes God's breath away as I spill my life out in offering to make something beautiful for him.