"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

I heard a man speak about the process of an eaglet learning to fly. He described the eaglet sitting in the nest in all its comfort, as its mother kicks it out of the nest.

I can picture this eaglet franticly flapping its wings as a survival instinct as it plummets towards the rocky cliffs bellow. The little eaglet was oblivious as to what the purpose of this was; he was comfortable without a care in the world! Now all he sees is a range of jagged rocks in its near future, certain immense pain and possibly death!! What the young naive eaglet doesn’t realize is that, learning to fly is essential to its survival and there is absolutely NO other way to learn. As the eaglet rapidly approaches the rocks, wind brushing its feathers like it’s never felt, his mother swoops down to catch him. She grasps him tightly, bringing him in close to her as she ascends upward. She then gracefully places him back into the comfort of the nest… That is until lesson number 2!!

I recently went through one of these “getting kicked out of the nest” experiences. For a time I felt like the world was going to crash down on me, like something that was so meaningful and precious was about to get stripped away. Then, by the grace of God, He swoops down and carries me and places me in His comfort. It was undeniably a sudden manifestation of the essence. There are quite a bit of things that I need to change about myself in order to “Survive” to move forward in Gods plan for my life. Yet another lesson that God has taught me in order to someday fly with Him in His presence.

No wise man ever wished to be younger.

Another birthday has passed. Unlike others, this one actually felt celebrated. For the passed 15 years, birthdays seemed to be like any other day (with cake, if I were lucky!!) But to have someone considerate enough to make elaborate plans for my birthday was entirely foreign to me. I don’t think I handled the unfamiliarity to the best of my ability. Sometimes when we’re not used to something, even if it’s infinitely more wonderful than what we’ve ever know, we can - well I CAN react the complete opposite from what is to be expected. Certain uncomfortable anxiety seems to settle in when I’m faced with benevolence that is foreign to me.