Following A Cloud
My baby sister graduated high school last weekend. Previous to
her graduation ceremony in the living room, and the badly sung Pomp and Circumstance,
and open-house party, she decided her future path. She survived the
long stressful process of school and scholarship applications and school
tours. She only wanted the best so in the end, top art schools in the
nation sent her acceptance and award letters.
So now my 18-year-old sister, whom I still see as an 8-year-old growling and screaming at her family, will begin to follow a cloud.
Two of my brothers are musicians. Good ones, but that does not mean it is easy. The “musician” practices harder than anyone I know and then practices more. He is intense and scary in his passion for his profession. He is following a cloud, making his passion his life. The “producer-to-be” is in California and I honestly cannot comprehend his life or the career as he now lives in a dog-eat-dog music world, working to be the best in a city of bests. He and his girlfriend are following clouds.
My sister is a writer. The fame of Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling are the the enviable dreams of all writers-in-process. She writes daily and works a “real” job to pay the bills, but dreams do not die easily and she writes, following a cloud.
I moved to pursue a second bachelor's degree in fine arts – furthering my artsy-fartsy qualities. I moved to a random state, school, city for the purpose of a certain program a website and random visit made appealing. I now live alone, working, making art, music and trying to grow closer to Jesus. All of these things rotate as to what is my stress factor, but I am following a cloud.
An estimated 1/3 of college freshman are “undecided” and most colleges now have a page on their websites to answer questions and encourage these directionless students. They are looking for a dream, for a path, for a passion, looking for a cloud to follow.
A cloud is a “visible collection of particles of water or ice suspended in the air, usually at an elevation above the earth's surface”. Or any similar mass, especially of smoke or dust. Sometimes it is a “dim or obscure area in something otherwise clear or transparent”.
A cloud is not substantial or solid. A cloud is like an idea or dream. It is mentally attached to other flimsy objects, such as pillows, cotton balls, cupids and things like the Easter Bunny. Clouds are not very reliable. They can be blown away by wind, removed after the rain, be friendly or malicious, pleasant or heavy laden.
So when you tell your parents, family and friends, you are following a cloud – they do not really rejoice. When children go off chasing dreams to be a rock star or the norm in my family, an artist of some visual, musical or literary sort, it is by faith they let go and worry about the children following a cloud.
“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” Exodus 13:21-22
“When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites' obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.” Number 9:19-23
The children of Israel were following a cloud through desert after desert. For 40 years they wandered around following a cloud. They were going to the “promise land” wherever and whatever that meant. A dream someone had, someone was given and they were following. God's spirit moved them by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. He led their dreams day and night.
People like to doubt those that follow less than solid dreams. For some reason, a dream to be an engineer is more real than to be an artist or a musician, or the people still realizing their dreams.
People like to ask me,
“What are you going to do with two degrees?”
“What will you do with your photography?”
“Will you ever use your journalism degree then?”
“Do you regret your first degree?”
No, and please take this answer and apply it to all those people you know following clouds or in search of a cloud to lead them.
I am following a cloud. Right now my cloud is encamped in Eau Claire. What will happen next is still uncertain. The purpose right now is set, the future is in God's hands. My cloud is the Spirit of God and it will lead me to the next thing. My God does not make mistakes, even though I do, so as long as I go where the cloud leads, I am following Jesus and am where I need to be. The Israelites did not know or anticipated the clouds movements and neither can I. Moses and Joshua led without knowing where they were going or when they would rest. Abraham moved his family to another country without know where he was going to land. Enoch walked with God til he went to heaven without dying. They followed.
I may never know my landing place or destination or my “purpose” until it is before/behind me. I will never see the final canvas of my life. I do not get to preview the screenplay of my life. As a musician you take auditions and hope you do not fall on your face, but hope for success. Life happens as I follow the cloud. God controls the world. He has a plan I will one day, partially know.
Sometimes there is no answer to the question, “What are you doing with your life?” It is nice to have an answer so people think we have it together and so we have a response and they let us be. But in reality, we are following a cloud and are frightened as much as we are excited. The change, the drama, the adventure, the challenges are all wonderful, but they come with fear, uncertainty, red-tape, problems and roadblocks.
To be an Abraham, picking it all up without a destination or knowledge of what will happen and following God blindly is terrifying to any human being. To watch a cloud daily, because if it stops it means you stop, and a pillar of fire every night because if it moves at 2am, so do you, is not for the weak or faint of heart. Just getting out of the car and meeting a perfect stranger to take their picture can be intimidating. Following a cloud is not easy. Dreams are not easily achieved. Writing novels, winning auditions, making ends meet while following clouds and trusting the promise of rainbows is not easy or done lightly.
So I ask you to pray for all those individuals in your life who are following clouds. Even those with "practical" degrees will struggle with finding jobs, success in their careers and being the best they can be. We are all seeking, searching, following, dreaming, working, struggling, trusting, believing, diving off the edge, or whatever. Do not judge or nay-say their dreams, but pray they will recognize their cloud and follow it faithfully. That they would follow it further up and further in. Pray that the experiences will come and teach them and that God will be their closest companion. That they will impact their fellow cloud chasers and reach their Promise Land.
5/2012
So now my 18-year-old sister, whom I still see as an 8-year-old growling and screaming at her family, will begin to follow a cloud.
Two of my brothers are musicians. Good ones, but that does not mean it is easy. The “musician” practices harder than anyone I know and then practices more. He is intense and scary in his passion for his profession. He is following a cloud, making his passion his life. The “producer-to-be” is in California and I honestly cannot comprehend his life or the career as he now lives in a dog-eat-dog music world, working to be the best in a city of bests. He and his girlfriend are following clouds.
My sister is a writer. The fame of Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling are the the enviable dreams of all writers-in-process. She writes daily and works a “real” job to pay the bills, but dreams do not die easily and she writes, following a cloud.
I moved to pursue a second bachelor's degree in fine arts – furthering my artsy-fartsy qualities. I moved to a random state, school, city for the purpose of a certain program a website and random visit made appealing. I now live alone, working, making art, music and trying to grow closer to Jesus. All of these things rotate as to what is my stress factor, but I am following a cloud.
An estimated 1/3 of college freshman are “undecided” and most colleges now have a page on their websites to answer questions and encourage these directionless students. They are looking for a dream, for a path, for a passion, looking for a cloud to follow.
A cloud is a “visible collection of particles of water or ice suspended in the air, usually at an elevation above the earth's surface”. Or any similar mass, especially of smoke or dust. Sometimes it is a “dim or obscure area in something otherwise clear or transparent”.
A cloud is not substantial or solid. A cloud is like an idea or dream. It is mentally attached to other flimsy objects, such as pillows, cotton balls, cupids and things like the Easter Bunny. Clouds are not very reliable. They can be blown away by wind, removed after the rain, be friendly or malicious, pleasant or heavy laden.
So when you tell your parents, family and friends, you are following a cloud – they do not really rejoice. When children go off chasing dreams to be a rock star or the norm in my family, an artist of some visual, musical or literary sort, it is by faith they let go and worry about the children following a cloud.
“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” Exodus 13:21-22
“When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites' obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.” Number 9:19-23
The children of Israel were following a cloud through desert after desert. For 40 years they wandered around following a cloud. They were going to the “promise land” wherever and whatever that meant. A dream someone had, someone was given and they were following. God's spirit moved them by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. He led their dreams day and night.
People like to doubt those that follow less than solid dreams. For some reason, a dream to be an engineer is more real than to be an artist or a musician, or the people still realizing their dreams.
People like to ask me,
“What are you going to do with two degrees?”
“What will you do with your photography?”
“Will you ever use your journalism degree then?”
“Do you regret your first degree?”
No, and please take this answer and apply it to all those people you know following clouds or in search of a cloud to lead them.
I am following a cloud. Right now my cloud is encamped in Eau Claire. What will happen next is still uncertain. The purpose right now is set, the future is in God's hands. My cloud is the Spirit of God and it will lead me to the next thing. My God does not make mistakes, even though I do, so as long as I go where the cloud leads, I am following Jesus and am where I need to be. The Israelites did not know or anticipated the clouds movements and neither can I. Moses and Joshua led without knowing where they were going or when they would rest. Abraham moved his family to another country without know where he was going to land. Enoch walked with God til he went to heaven without dying. They followed.
I may never know my landing place or destination or my “purpose” until it is before/behind me. I will never see the final canvas of my life. I do not get to preview the screenplay of my life. As a musician you take auditions and hope you do not fall on your face, but hope for success. Life happens as I follow the cloud. God controls the world. He has a plan I will one day, partially know.
Sometimes there is no answer to the question, “What are you doing with your life?” It is nice to have an answer so people think we have it together and so we have a response and they let us be. But in reality, we are following a cloud and are frightened as much as we are excited. The change, the drama, the adventure, the challenges are all wonderful, but they come with fear, uncertainty, red-tape, problems and roadblocks.
To be an Abraham, picking it all up without a destination or knowledge of what will happen and following God blindly is terrifying to any human being. To watch a cloud daily, because if it stops it means you stop, and a pillar of fire every night because if it moves at 2am, so do you, is not for the weak or faint of heart. Just getting out of the car and meeting a perfect stranger to take their picture can be intimidating. Following a cloud is not easy. Dreams are not easily achieved. Writing novels, winning auditions, making ends meet while following clouds and trusting the promise of rainbows is not easy or done lightly.
So I ask you to pray for all those individuals in your life who are following clouds. Even those with "practical" degrees will struggle with finding jobs, success in their careers and being the best they can be. We are all seeking, searching, following, dreaming, working, struggling, trusting, believing, diving off the edge, or whatever. Do not judge or nay-say their dreams, but pray they will recognize their cloud and follow it faithfully. That they would follow it further up and further in. Pray that the experiences will come and teach them and that God will be their closest companion. That they will impact their fellow cloud chasers and reach their Promise Land.
5/2012
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