More than beauty sleep

It seems that every dude has (or had) ADD. As a ten year old I remember thinking of nothing worse than sittling in a desk all day at school or getting grounded. I kind of wish someone would ground me once in a while so I would just chill out in my room for a day or two. I would always start to squirm once it seemed like the southern baptist preacher had been going for at least ten hours- it was time to play outside! Anyone who is a teacher can tell you the same thing- the most normal boys have problems paying attention. I am beginning to see the habits I have formed while going through life as a "normal" boy. The most prevailent one is that of that of constant activity. When I call a friend I often skip the old "How are you doing?" and go staight for the "What's going on?" I seem to be more fixated on what I am doing than who I am becoming. It has only been in the past two years that I have come to a realization about this frenzy of constant activity that fills my brain, and in these last few years I have learned to deeply value one of God's greatest gifts. REST. I'm not just talking about sleep, but about a blessing God promises his people. The Old Testament is full of curses breathed out on wicked nations that they will never enter God's rest. Rest is not valued in our culture, in fact, it's often looked misconstrued as laziness. SO WHAT IS REST? While it might be hard to explain, it's easy to know when you've had it... a clearing of your head, a long sunset, a relaxing nap in a lounge chair, a time when you and friend sat silent next to one another for an hour, a walk in the mountains, a paddle in the canoe, a walk to a friend's house, a long chat over sweet tea on a neighbor's porch, a dinner that lasted three hours, or sharing a tall cup of coffee with your favorite book. THAT is rest. A time to just be, to relax and let life soak in and not think about a list of things to get done. Psalm 46 encourages us to be still and know that God is God, that He's big, and that He has everything under control. I love that Psalm because it suggests that when activity stops a clear realization of God's presence can begin. Does it seem weird to anyone that we work ourselves to death so we can get more vacation? Isn't there a happy every-day medium? I truly believe there is, but it takes intentional thought as we fight a counter-cultural battle to lessen the activity and increase the time that we feel like something more than robot. Rest makes us realize that we're human again, catch our breath, and smile at the little things. Those things all sound good, but why do so few people take intentional time to do them? Here is a list of things that might help you enter God's rest in the midst of the craziness of life. Feel free to leave comments if you have more ideas. - Turn on your favorite worship song and dream about what heaven will be like - Skip the TV show you watch every week and take a walk instead - Recline the seat in your car during lunch and turn on some sweet tunes - Have a cookout - Sit in silence - Have a friend over for a sleep over (no one is ever too old for a sleep over) - Chase a sunset - Go camping for the weekend - Stoke up a campfire - Eat dinner on your deck - Get up extra early on a week day - Get up extra late on a Saturday - Invite a good friend over for a long dinner - Drink lots of sweet tea!!! - Wait thirty minutes before ordering your meal at a restaurant - Read your Bible instead of the sports page - Go find a friend's hot tub - Take a Sunday drive with the windows down - Grab a friend and walk to the store to get ice cream - Paddle into the middle of a lake with a friend...or by yourself - Sit on the rocking chairs on the front porch of Cracker Barrel - Plan a picnic - Curl up and read a good book - Pack a sack lunch instead of eating fast food - Drive to a lookout point at night and sit in a camping chair - Pray...a lot - Postpone dirty laundry or dishes for a day to get outside - Plan a night to do nothing - Take an easy bike ride after work - Go to bed early - Brush the dust off an old instrument and play your favorite song - Move to the south (just kidding...only partially) - Turn off the cell phone for a few hours - Re-read Psalm 46 - Remind yourself that life is a marathon, not a sprint

To Frame a Sunset

As most of you know, I am back home in Colorado after six months of travel. What an amazing experience it was to see something each and every day that blew me away. So much so that I have a hard time desribing exactly what I saw. Some of you reading this came over last night to see pictures of my trip and hear about what I learned. Thanks for coming, by the way, it was amazing to see all of you and a reminder why we all need a place to call home. I tried to pack half a year of awe into a fifteen minute slideshow, and I enjoyed seeing your faces most of all as you were fixated on the screen. There is somthing about pictures that captures us. I absolutely love pictures, especially pictures of the great outdoors. I have many framed 8x10's on my wall reminding me of adventures that have taken me deep into places that most will never lay eyes on. I'm fascinated by the things that I have seen and try very hard to capture that on a memory card so others can get a look and maybe feel for a second what it was like to glimpse so closely at the works of God's fingers. It's hard for me to believe that the most beautiful things I've ever seen are only the smallest bit of what we can look forward to in heaven. The thought blows me away when I see huge mountain, crystal clear oceans, glaciers, and the speckles on a brook trout. One of my favorite songs reminds me of this each time I hear it. Chris Tomlin writes, "We have only heard the faintest whispers of how great you are." How true that is, and how excited that gets me to glimpse at my creator some day and to be wooed for all eternity by the works of his fingers. It makes me wonder... Maybe a sunset is just a time-out from life to remember that we are not home yet.

To Wear a Blazer

Me and a few buddies sporting our best "La Tigra" look for cameras in Paris. For more pics check out www.fashionfool.com Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I know nothing about fashion. My sister-in-law, Megan, and my Mom seem to get good laughs out of moments when I claim to be "dressed up." I'm just fine in my comfy Carhartts and Tshirt. I will admit that I like dressing up and feeling a little spiffy once a year, but it feels like I'm a middle school boy dressing up like a rock star or a little girl walking around in her Mom's high heels. I'm blatently aware that I'm not quite me when I'm trying to be a little smooth by dressing up. Last year a good friend, a pastor in fact, let me in on a huge discovery that has changed his life....the blazer. As a few of us waited for him we were a bit surprised when he walked in with jeans, New Balance shoes, a nice Tshirt, and a blazer on. He seemed relaxed, yet dressy. He was more excited to tell me about his blazer than a seventeen year-old girl is to show you her prom dress. He took me aside, thinking that I would really value this as much as he did, and shared with me the joy of a blazer. "You can wear jeans and tennis shoes, yet you look completely permissable, even respectable." His conclusion; he had beated the system of fashion as we knew it. Since that day I've been fascinated by the theology of the blazer. I'm still quite infatuated with the idea of relaxed and respectable dress, in fact, I'm still looking for a sweet khaki blazer if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye out. Everything in me says, "You can't be dressed up with jeans on; it's too comfortable." The blazer principle seems like a pretty ridiculous idea to entertain, but it has come to take on so much more meaning to me. I am living life in a blazer on a daily basis, and it's seems wrong. I am strangely me- relaxed, normal, ordinary, usual- yet I am strangely more than that too- extraordinary, unusual, and inhabilited by somthing that makes me feel so... respectable. The reality is that I am quite ordinary, but my best friend and my biggest influence is an extraordinary God. At times I've tried to play dress up, forgetting my sin and my smallness, but at times I've also felt so grubby as I look down at my jeans and forget that a mighty God has chosen to wrap his arms around me. It feels so wrong, yet it's so right. Although I'd be pretty surprised to be in the next J Crew catalog, I shouldn't be surprised when God chooses to blow me away by the things He can do through me- the regular, ordinary, relaxed dude wearing denim.

A Hollywood Easter

I hope you all had a relaxing Easter and were able to slow down and enjoy a time of rest. I have always loved Easter, except for the passion play we used to go to at a local church that scared me half to death as a kid. Kids have been on my mind a lot over this last week. There is something about the way that a child sees a story that I absolutely love. They put all the emotion into it and they jump into the characters skin and the scenes come alive. They feel scared, valiant, excited, and courageous as they watch or hear a story unfold in front of them. I will never forget Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ", and am grateful to him for using film to shock me and help me feel the love of my father in heaven, but I did not watch it again this Easter. Instead I watched the "Chronicles of Narnia." I have always loved the book (C.S. Lewis was a stud in all respects), but the movie affected me deeply. Just like a little kid I found myself inside Narnia feeling the chill of a place that is always winter, never Christmas... sounds strangely like a place I just spent a few months. As I watched I felt the sting of winter, the expectation of springtime, and the hope that "Aslan is on the move". What an unbelievable picture of a Lion giving himself up to be humiliated, shaved, and murdered to save the life of a rotten little boy named Edmund. As much as I hate Edmund's character I realize that my desire for Turkish Delight sent Christ to the cross. What an amazing depiction of the Easter story on a screen told with animals, a deceiving witch, and a fierce lion that is GOOD above all else. I hope we never lose our love for story, the wonder of what is and the hope of what could be. Take a moment to think about your story and how God has written it. Through doing so I have begun to find that it is not my story at all, but that I am walking through God's bigger story.

Who turned the light out?

A friend of mine just sent me this pic from Antarctica. This is about as light as it gets down there right now, and it will soon be dark 24/7. Dang, it's good to see all your smiling faces instead of just a cold, dark world. Just a reminder for you guys that life is good. Get outside and enjoy the sunshine!

Colorado Contact Info

Hello all, just wanted to leave my contact info for you guys. Call, write, or visit. I miss you all. AlanBriggsis@gmail.com 719.271.5866 1921 Bristlecone Drive Colorado Springs, CO, 80919

Amidst Changing Seasons

Wow, what a crazy and unexpected adventure life can be. I am back in the states now, and it is amazing to be around people that I love. I realize that most people that were keeping up with the blog won't be reading this anymore, and that's fine, but I intend the keep writing my thoughts and life lessons of the adventure of living life in Christ. While it might not sound as crazy as living on ice, climbing big peaks, sea kayaking, or picking fruit off wild trees please don't be fooled- it certainly is. The adventure of living life side by side with God is a race of sweat and tears but one that brings unimaginable joy. It's so much easier to go see the world for a time on a wild vacation or work trip intending to return home and "see what's next", but the adventure lies in being found amidst the story of a God that has wilder (and often tougher) things for us than we could ever imagine. About eight months ago I met a man in a coffee shop who calmly asked me if I might be interested in working in Antarctica. From there the adventure took off clearly as something from God, not from me. I have discovered a few huge things during this time away that have changed my life. Number one. Take the wildest dream you can think of... God can think of much bigger. For some people that is marriage, for some missionary work, for others that is working in a business around amazing people. Don't limit God. Number two. Community is the glue that life is made of. Some of the lonliest people I've ever met are travelling the world, running from something, and "living the dream" that we might all like to get a piece of. They're not happy because they are not pouring into people and taking on the adventure of doing life together. All the beauty I have seen in the world cannot compare to the relationships I have with my God, my family, and my very best friends. Loving people is ALWAYS worth is. Number three. You might never get a chance to see God's greatest gifts if you don't risk anything. For example, while hitch hiking and backpacking across New Zealand I often had NO IDEA where I was going, no idea what the towns ahead would look like, where I would buy food next, or how I would get to the next place after getting dropped off... but it all worked out. My travel buddy and I even lost our map with two weeks to to go. So often I doubt God, "What is next?", I wonder. Or, "Now I'm really at a dead end!", but each time I am able to trust a little bit more that it will work out. One of these days I'm actually going to believe deep in my soul that God is big enough to handle my predicaments. As some of you know I was dating a girl when I left on this adventure. Well, we just broke up a few days ago after six hard, but good, months away. Many of you also know I'm pursuing a youth ministry position right now. Two of my best friends in the world (my brother and sister-in-law) are moving from just down the street all the way across the US. Oh yeah, my housemates and I were informed that our townhome has been purchased, and we will be moving. Life is not easy or comfortable right now. Nothing is set before me, nothing is falling into place, but is God any less good than he was when I was travelling around the world? Is life any less adventurous than it was as I stepped off a plane onto the sea ice on the most remote continent on the earth? NO WAY! The adventure continues and my best friend, my creator, is still next to my side. I like to think of life in chunks, or seasons. Each section of life is a new season that is undoubetdly new, yet strangely familiar. I thank God for an amazing season of life-perhaps it was a winter season full of beautiful snowy days and plenty of stormy and windy ones also. I also wait in expectation for a fall, summer, or spring season of my life that is to come; one that in time might be full of orange/red trees, fireflies in the night air, or the feeling of new life springing up from the dead ground again. I don't know what is next, and that's exactly why it is called an adventure.