Shift

This is bigger than me.
This.
What is coming. What is now.
Terrifyingly gorgeous to hold within… making me new.
Different.
There is no “as it’s always been” anymore.
Everything is…
Different.

Shift.

Oh, shift.

You wake me in the night with gentle light, slowly intensifying…Leading me into this.

This.

It consumes me
I wrestle to find comfort in my restless discomfort. Pushing from the inside… growing,  alive.
Changing me.
Changing my mind.

All that does not want to go resists…
And the war within to keep ties with the past
Slowly
Slowly
Subsides

Surrender to the volume of it.
The height
The breadth
The depth
The width
Of worth and treasures colliding into an abundance… an inheritance.
A birthright.

I was made for these moments
For this walk and this work
Words arising
Heart pouring
Mind renewing
Lives changing
Holy becoming
Miracles manifesting

In This.
This…Shift.

>Pages…

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Last night, I was absolutely blessed to experience brand new music from one of my favorite groups, Shane and Shane. A new friend and I spent the evening enjoying the 2nd night of their brand new “Pages” Tour, here in Nashville.
It was wonderful to say the least… and I was on the edge of my seat, hanging on to every word, every nuance of sound… every heavily aspirated H that Shane Barnard released… every resounding, powerhouse belt from Shane Everett. I am simply taken aback by their music… by the intensity of their passionate harmonies that seem to come from the tip of their toes and the bottom of their hearts.

You probably have those artists in your life that always seem to speak directly to you… well the Shane’s are definitely on my top 5 list of “Revelators”. I can always count on them to bring a fresh perspective to an old concept, or a brand new stream of thought that causes me to ponder for days, weeks and well even years…

I was pleasantly surprised to find a video of one of my favorite songs called “Holiday”. Smiling.
Last night as I heard this song… it made me think of a sweet friend from my past… We would write back and forth to one another allll day long every day. One of the sweetest parts of our relationships was the constant love notes from a friend that we would exchange each day. They were so encouraging and inspiring.
I’ll never forget the day that I wrote a little poem telling my sweet friend how fortunate I felt to have them in my life in this way.
My little words went something like this:

“You’re like a vacation in the middle of my work day…
an oasis of joy in a desert of demands.
You’re like flowers by surprise… and impromptu lunch plans…
my sweet friend… i love having you by my side… no matter where I am.”

something like that….

Gosh… the memories.

Well, this song reminded me of those thoughts… and that season of friendship.
It was a type and shadow of an even greater relationship.

I’m so greatful for that friend… and those times… and I’m even more in awe of this beautiful affair that I’ve had with Jesus for so many years.

He truly is all of those things to me and even more…. now and forever.

Take a look at the video… and enjoy this awesome song!

I hope you find yourself feeling this way about Him too!

Bless you,
tray

Sweet, sweet Jesus. I am just so overwhelmed by Who You are. You never cease to amaze me with Your love… and the way that you allow Your children to express what we’re feeling about you.

Thank you so much for my brothers, Shane and Shane… and for the way they are so willing to put their love for you on display for all the world to see. You are so worth it!

Thank you for all of the revelations that I received last night in that concert… I could share for a week about the passion for you that was stirred… but tonight…. I just want to stop and think about how you have been my “Favorite Part Of Me” for so long… What a wonderful thing to think on. You truly ARE my Holiday! I love you sooooo much, Jesus.
You are the best friend I could ever have… and I’m absolutely smitten by You!
Tonight… I just wanna celebrate You.
in Jesus Name… amen.

G’night,
Tray

>Tempered Glass

>
A nice glass of wine 

It is during the tough times, that we grow.
From the challenges, we learn compassion.Right?
While we were in prayer tonight at a Youth Gathering that I helped out with, I saw a vision.
There were several wine glasses on a belt in a factory. They were being “made”. There was not anything fancy about them, rather they were your typical clear, goblet styled drinking glasses that you would normally drink water or iced tea from at a reception or banquet.I could see the wine fade in and out (so that I would know that these particular glasses werets were made for the purpose of holding wine). All in lines, the glasses were traveling down the conveyor belt and heading toward a tunnel. I heard the word “tempered”… and had a “knowing” that I should study the process of tempering glass.This research proved to be so rich… and the message therein was quite powerful.

We are alot like those wine glasses… meant to hold something that is costly and of great value… and our lives are much like that of the process that glass goes through to be tempered.
In short, part of the tempering process is to apply great heat to ordinary glass… which gives it a strength far greater than a plain, untreated piece of glass. Because it has gone throughthe fire, it can now withstand more adverse conditions, like heat and pressure.
Aren’t we the same?
Though it doesn’t feel good to go through the “heat” of life…. once we have made it through, we are able to deal with more difficult times without breaking.

Another characteristic of tempered glass is that when it does shatter, it breaks into smaller, less jagged fragments… instead of the long, sharp slithers that it would become had it not been tempered.
And such is our life. When we have not been tempered… or gone through heat and pressure, we are more prone to hurt one another. In our brokenness, we are sharp and cutting… whether we want to be or not.

Maybe you feel the heat and pressure of life right now. Be encouraged… your adversity has not come to break you… but to make you stronger! Allow the tempering to take place.
You too, shall be a stronger, less hurtful, more beautiful vessel because of it.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Tracye

>Endless Journey

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Driving in D.C.

At this time last year, I was living in the Washington D.C. area. Actually my residence was in Owings Mills, Maryland which was about 74 miles from the city. That 74 miles, my friend, was my daily drive to work! What a wonderful time (I must admit that there are shades of sarcasm and disgust here applied…haha).

Never in my life could I have ever imagined what those 2 months of driving an average of 160 miles per day would be like. For me, it was one of the most difficult challenges of my life.
Not only did each new day bring what seemed like miles and miles of endless road… it also brought thoughts and longings for my family and friends who were now all thousands of miles away (with the exception of two very special friends Renee Tassone and Tiffany Blunt), questions of whether the opportunity that brought me there would be the best one for me, concerns that the present provision would actually last and a deep sense of loss for the land that I love, Nashville.

There were so many things going through my head and heart at that time. So much that those highway miles became both a friend and foe.

It was on those long drives that my soul became exposed. There was no wrong or right way to feel when my heart needed healing and the miles seemed endless. I remember a time when it felt as though the Lord said….”Ahhhh, now I’ve finally got you all to myself”. Many days tears streamed down my face… and at night, I was often too stunned to cry.

In retrospect, this stretch of my life’s road was one of the most profound experiences that I will ever have. I wish I could say that I was happy there.
I wish I could say that I really miss it. Though there are moments from that season which I will cherish… and daily disciplines that I would like to be able to continue now that I am back home… I do not want to return to that lifestyle.
There, I was challenged.
There, I was provoked….
And there, I learned more about owning my life than ever before.

As Christians, we ARE on an Endless Journey. Sometimes the particular stretch of road we’re on seems lonely and deserted. At other times, it’s far too congested… and becomes gridlocked with no place to run from all of the pressure, responsibilites and needs.

Have you ever been in eight lanes of traffic going no where?
Now I can laugh, but at the time… all I could do is cry after the clock hit the 20 minute mark and my Ford had only “explored” a little over a mile of roadway.
That day, because of the rain, my normal hour and a half drive home turned into a three hour ordeal. It was then, that I had my introduction to what road rage is all about. Tears streaming down and cars everywhere you look… a sea of people, all stuck on the same journey… and then there’s that one obnoxious person who decides that he wants to cross 6 lanes of traffic. It was then that I felt a sharp desire to violently react… to scream… honk wildly and possibly even gesture. Lord, help me!

Have you ever felt that way? Had road rage on this life’s journey?
I have.

But just like that day in the car, I have to take a deep breath… call on the Lord for help…. sing a little louder and keep on going.

No matter what speedbumps, detours, rain or other obstacles present themselves…. we are on that Endless Journey… and with each new day, we learned another way to enjoy the ride.