whatever is lovely...

while the masses are yelling at TV screens across the nation, surrounded by family and friends and having perhaps the most advertised party of the year... i have spent a blissfully quiet afternoon, engaging my own loves of writing, reading, and playing piano. it has already been an incredibly rich afternoon, and i am excited to see that the clock only reads 9:02 p.m... in my opinion, the sweetest hours of the day are still to come.

this morning, i once again made the increasingly familiar drive from Nashville to Memphis - after completing weekend 5 of this 13 weekend journey. from the moment i retrieved my suitcases from the bus, to the moment i paid for my iced coffee at Starbucks... all the way home, as i climbed the stairs and finally laid down those same suitcases - these drives always feel like an adventure. special ones, that are each my own. ones that i share with the Lord... constant companion, dearest friend.

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"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers - whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute... if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:6-9)

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these verses were on my heart as i was driving home, and i have been thinking about them all afternoon. there is such practical application in these verses, and yet they also are incredibly poetic - they encourage us to reach beyond the solid things of this world, but they also seem to imply the truth that we must often first appreciate or understand the beauty of solid things around us, in order to reach beyond them. in this way, God's Word brilliantly directs our attentions first to notice the beauty around us - and then in Its illumination, His Word transforms those beauties to catalysts, which by their inspirations direct us still further to understand and know the beauty of Christ, the summation of all Truth, all beauty, and all our joys.

on this earth, there are consistently a few things that never fail to make my heart come alive and seem to draw its nearest to God. i love this dynamic about being a human, an individual, as we each try to find our own unique way of reconciling the Truth we know in our hearts, with the days and settings and other characters of the stories we are placed within - for every person has at least their few consistent inspirations, and some people are blessed to seemingly glean their life's inspirations from anything and everything. as for me, i have found that i often "see" God clearest when one of these things are contributing to my setting:

open roads, good books, crisp weather, sunrises, clocks ticking in an otherwise quiet room, metaphors in prose, the smells of coffee and old books, and lazy evenings with my family. no matter the weather or circumstances, the time or the place, the company or the decimal level of the moment... these things always make me long for more. they keep my mind awake, while bringing my heart the rest it otherwise often struggles to find.

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despite the crazy schedule of this tour, the mileage being put on my dying car, the bruises on my legs and arms, and the incessant testing of my loyalties and my heart's attention... i feel peace. it is evident on my drives home and my drives back. it is evident in the uninterrupted sleep i have been getting, and the brightness of my eyes when i wake. it is evident in the increased desire lately to read Scripture and write about all i am learning. i am grateful for this peace that does, in every way, surpass my understanding.

although this tour just began, there are very few weekends left to go... and then, my world will once again open up into the great unknown. but for now, i am grateful for these quiet afternoons where He can speak quietly and remind me once again of those things that are true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely... preparing me, with the beauty of Himself and His ways, for all my ways that lie ahead.

tonight, my heart dwells on these things.