Beyond Bacon; Expectant and Intentional

When I climb down the mountain, And get back to my life, I won't settle for ordinary things
I'm gonna follow You forever, And for all of my days
I won't rest 'til I see You again---“Show Me Your Glory,” Third Day

There are mountaintop experiences and then there is re-entry into normal day-to-day life. The danger of the experience on the mountain is that it will be short lived or forgotten. This is a typical human experience in a range from religious revivals to great first dates. We make assumptions that the feeling or fervor will last on its own. It doesn’t. The revival and the dinner promises last only if there is forethought and commitment.

My wife and I stared at the ceiling and considered how best to hold onto key elements we gleaned from our short sojourn alongside missionary friends in the country of Guatemala. We landed on the phrase, “Expectant and intentional.”

Expectant because God is not bound by our small imaginations. He says of Himself that nothing is impossible. Yet it is easy to box God up with statements such as, “Revival will not happen. The people are too selfish.” We constrain God with simple concepts as if to say, “It’s not rocket science,” of the one that created gravity.

Intentional flows from a challenge we received from Forrest of Servants 4 Him. The challenge is to be intentional in our relationships as we move forward. Let’s say I go get bacon everyday at Stater Bros. a couple times per week. The idea is to talk with the guy that sells me the bacon with the intent of deeper conversation. Conceptually the objective is to go beyond bacon to talk of life, and Heaven and Christ.

We departed the plane Sunday at midnight and walked back into life in California. Easy to lose sight of character growth and the mountain when the work day alarm goes off and one goes back to the day-to-day. Perseverance requires diligent forethought and a solid goal; a concept to hang one’s vision on. So we return to life ‘expectant and intentional.’