A River of Purpose.

"Are you sure we're going the right way? Aren't we supposed to be following the creek?" He turned around to face me. "This is the creek; there's just no water flowing right now. See how these rocks are smooth, but the ones on either side are jagged? It's from the flow of water."We’d gone camping. My boyfriend and I had picked the coldest weekend of the month to brave the outdoors and hopefully find the waterfall we’d gone searching for. No maps, no directions. Just trails left behind from those who’d managed to uncover the secrets before us.Later that night, I sat by the creek near our campsite and just watched the water in this one creek flow. It was so different than the creek on the trail. This one was full of fast, powerful water rushing downstream. I watched the small rapid right in front of me pour gallons upon gallons of water every second over the rock formation and on down the stream. The water paid no mind to how it was shaping the rocks. The water's purpose was to flow from one end to the other, and it did. The rocks just happened to go from jagged and broken to smooth and shiny in the process.I think that when judgment is pushed to the side and confidence is blossomed at the center, we take life with full force. Comparison of how we measure to the people and Christians around us comes to a quick halt and nothing matters but getting from point A to purpose. When we know who we are, what we're after, and we go about getting it in the graceful and humble way the water flows powerfully in the direction it knows it should go, the people we meet along the way become better because of our presence.There is encouragement for their growth but not pressure to change, inspiration but not manipulation. My God is not a God of ultimatums, and He only withholds from me the things I’m not ready to have because I have more of me to let go of. This is the gospel. When you have the confidence to move forward but the humility to let the people be as important as the prize, jagged becomes smooth. The contagious presence of happy people effortlessly creates an atmosphere of change. When you simply know who you are, people will walk away better for having shared your space.So let us find and chase our purpose, but not devalue the impact we have on the mundane day. Let us not let the journey to big dreams become less important than the dreams themselves. Let us not care to be interrupted because Jesus didn’t care to be interrupted.And oh yeah, by the way, we followed the creek for three miles and at the end, found the waterfall right where the creek said it would be.And it was better than I imagined.words by Lauren McLemore and photo by Shelby Bauer