Day 18: Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go

This is a great song, kind of sung in that language of old with the thines and thys, but with a fun acoustic accompaniment. 

My favorite verse is the second:

Oh, light that follows all my way
I yield my flickering torch to thee
And my heart restores its borrowed ray
That in your sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be

It says it quite poignantly - our rays are borrowed.  The light that shines through us is the light of the Father and when we acknowledge that and share that with others, He will brighten that light.

When I was heading off to college, I desperately wanted to experience a new setting.  I chose IU because it is 6 hours away from my home in Milwaukee.  Even though it is still within the Midwest, I have found cultural and social differences that I have learned a lot from over these past years.  It has been a good experience.  It has prepared me to go further and embrace new situations in life, and also appreciate and love where I came from.

A big change like that doesn't come without points of struggle, however.  When you leave friends back home that know you completely and thoroughly, and dive into a new situation, you tend to seek that same thing in the new place.  But it is not easy.  Your friends from childhood know where you are from, how you were raised.  In my first year here, I would constantly think, if they only knew where I came from...if they only knew my family...they would know me better.

I believe that is truth.  If you know my family, you know me.  You know the foundation that I stand on.  You know what I stand for.  As I have been growing in my faith, the same thing has rung true in my relationship with God.  If you know me, you will know my Father.  Likewise, if you know my Father, you will know that I am created to be like Him.  If you want to know who I am at my core, seek Him.  I am His borrowed ray.     
~SP

I thought I'd add this photo because it is shows where I am from and where I am going.  I am standing next to Lake Michigan, downtown Milwaukee.  I'm also sporting a B-Town shirt.  God has been present in both of those places.  Even when we pick up our roots or stretch them, He is the foundation that stays with us.  I am thankful for the friendships I have found in both places as well!