![\"googbyeglorybaby\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/06\/googbyeglorybaby.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGoodbye, Glory Baby, Goodbye<\/strong><\/p>\n Go:<\/p>\n When I first dreamed of you, I was wringing my hands, \u201ccould this be? Are we dreaming with God?\u201d I asked. As our babies slept in the backseat, we wondered what you\u2019d look like; black hands joined with white, blonde heads bowed next to natural curls wrapped up in printed scarfs, Spanish worship mixed in with Gospel. You would be diverse, Glory baby. So very diverse.<\/p>\n Goodbye, Glory Baby, Goodbye.<\/strong><\/p>\n When we said, \u201cyes, this can be and yes we\u2019re dreaming with God\u201d, we shook some hands. Hands of friends wishing us well, hands of pastors who prayed blessings over us, hands of mentors who helped us strategize, hands of strangers who thought us the strange ones and asked, \u201cAre you sure?\u201d with every good intention and thoughtfulness in their heart. Their words made us question our sanity, but you were so beautiful, Glory Baby. So very beautiful.<\/p>\n Goodbye, Glory Baby, Goodbye.<\/strong><\/p>\n When we started to share our lives with ten brave souls, knitting together your DNA through spreadsheets and pot-lucks, we joined hands and prayed the Lord\u2019s Prayer. We passed the crusty loaf and said, \u201cThis is Christ\u2019s body, broken for you\u201d. We passed the plastic glass that just happened to be in the art center\u2019s kitchen and dipped our piece of Christ\u2019s body into the musky, sour wine\u2014Christ blood shed for us\u2014shed both for our healing and for the community we wanted to serve. Take and eat. You were so special, Glory Baby. So very special.<\/p>\n Goodbye, Glory Baby, Goodbye.<\/strong><\/p>\n The night we decided to go our separate ways, still so much in love with each other and so much in love with you, but aware that you\u2019re not quite ready for this world, I threw up my hands in frustration. I rushed out into the cold, rainy night with tears rushing from my eyes. It didn\u2019t matter that I didn\u2019t have a coat. No, not at all baby. The anger churning in my gut burned within me, warming my prejudices and stoking the fires of my bitterness.\u00a0\u00a0 I prayed broken and raw that night. Pacing and gesturing so vividly someone asked, \u201cAre you ok\u201d. \u201cI\u2019m fine!\u201d I snapped back and they rushed away from my venomous whisper. A lie, Glory Baby. A bold-faced lie. What happened, dear? You were growing, but you stopped. You cocooned back into the dream space of my mind where the Spirit hovers. I think I know what happened. Like the caterpillar, who when she reaches her weight cannot bear the pressure of life without her wings, she makes a cocoon, is reduced to goo, then comes back, transformed and new. A butterfly. She needs more time to become even more beautiful\u2014like you\u2014 but I needed you now, Glory Baby. So very much.<\/p>\n Goodbye, Glory Baby, Goodbye.<\/strong><\/p>\n When I resolved to give you to God. To put you in His sovereign hands. To acknowledge that you should have been there all long, my hands were gripping a steering wheel. Like a father showing his daughter her first snow globe, I saw that through this whole process, God was inviting me to, \u201ccome and see, Daughter!\u00a0 Look how life transforms when I shake it up and let my shalom fall soft and refreshing on the earth!\u201d I thought the scene inside the globe was you, Glory Baby. Diverse, Beautiful, Special, Needed. But now I know I\u2019m the one inside globe and God just wants his shalom to fall soft on my shoulders, cooling the fires of my distrust and breaking down my barriers with an avalanche of love. So maybe I need you to go away for a while, Glory Baby. Go cocoon and let the Spirit whisper hope over you. Go away\u00a0 so that when God invites me back to \u201ccome and see\u201d, I\u2019ll see more than the baby of my dreams\u2014 all diverse worship and beautiful liturgy and special programs and needed vision\u2014I\u2019ll see you for who are and should always be\u2014God\u2019s Glory Baby<\/strong>. Not my glory<\/em> baby. His and for His glory alone.<\/p>\n And on that day, I\u2019ll cup you gingerly in my hands, the very ones I raised in surrender to God\u2019s timing and I\u2019ll whisper, \u201cHello, Glory Baby, Hello. You are God\u2019s and I am His, therefore we are both Glory Babies.<\/strong> So let\u2019s be diverse and beautiful and special and needed in His name and for his Kingdom. Let\u2019s let justice roll down on our community and Shalom to fall fresh, cold, refreshing and pure on both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0Go back into your cocoon; I\u2019ll pray over you while you\u2019re there and one day you\u2019ll come out and together we\u2019ll fly. Because I\u2019m being broken into goo too, cocooning with the Lord as well, listening to his whispers also\u2014making ready for my wings.<\/p>\n But for now\u2014Goodbye, Glory Baby. Goodbye.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0Stop<\/p>\n Come and\u00a0 join us today<\/a> with your best five minutes on, \u201chands\u201d.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s that gorgeous song by Watermark.<\/p>\n[spotify id=\u201dspotify:track:0z4u9rV1yggV1odkMXWs6S\u201d width=\u201d300\u2033 height=\u201d380\u2033 \/]\n Letting His Shalom fall fresh on me,<\/p>\n