The first half of June has been filled with experiences of grace…adjusting from school to summer family schedule (swim meets!), concerts to wonderful audiences in Sacramento and Seattle, Donald Miller’s Storyline Conference in Portland about living out a better story (more to come on this), and a 24-hour trip to Toronto to tape an interview and piano performance for July. Grace is the only way to describe this most recent trip. I was going to check in online and realized I had left my passport in a safety deposit box that was closed for the weekend. Everything online says you need your passport to travel in and out of Canada from the U.S., but my contact there said there was a chance it was possible with a photocopy of my passport and a few other document copies I had. There were seven security checkpoints I counted between getting through Atlanta into Toronto and back, and each got progressively more intense, but in the end the journey was completed. I would not recommend it, but I will never forget this experience. There were signs of grace everywhere, as I shared my embarrassment to security people and was forgiven, as my glasses were knocked off and went flying on an airport subway – and didn’t break. This is part of the story we are living out, to notice grace and to offer it to others too.

It was a boy’s dream climbing tree – a 100-foot tall sweetgum right across the street from my childhood home in North Carolina. By the time I was nine or ten I was able to climb all the way to the top and look out over the neighborhood. There was an element of risk and recklessness in getting that high above the ground, but the trunk and branches made you feel safe. I can still remember swaying in the breeze and taking in the wonder of the birds, blue sky and sun shining through the leaves. This prompted a question in my mind this morning – what risks do I need to take, how should I be more reckless . . . in pursuing moments of wonder? The rewards can be noticing more beauty, experiencing more adventure, or enriching a relationship. What was one of your “sweetgum tree” moments in life that can lift your spirit today?

This week I have been meditating on this story I came across in The Message (From Water to Wine – John Chapter 2). There is a great wedding banquet taking place and Jesus’ mom tells him “They’re just about out of wine.” Jesus responds “Is that any of our business . . . Don’t push me.” Then she tells the servants “Whatever he tells you; do it.” There were six 20 to 30 gallon pots and Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” Then the story says And they filled them to the brim. My meditation has been Is my life full to the brim with faith? When it is 100% full to the brim, this is when mysterious, amazing, unexplainable things happen, that are impossible a part from God’s hand. So, my focus on joy for the month of May has now become Full to the Brim with joy (and faith)!