Dancing.

Dancing. Shutting the door, playing the music, and letting go. Caught in this intellectual trap, in order to survive I must remember to open the cage I so often lock myself in and experience the sacredness of life. Of dancing. Of sitting in a field. Of eating ice cream in the back of a pick up truck. I cannot live in this cage I’ve built for myself. I will suffocate and the life will soon be choked out of me by the thing’s I’ve brought into this den with me. So I must remember to break free and see the beauty of both the intellect and the freedom of just living. Living life. Thank you Travis for teaching me what it means to dance, and Elizabeth for dancing with me. Biking to the market or just drinking tea. Thank you Janelle for pulling me out of the pit and reminding me of what it means to have fun. Thank you Jordy for bathing me in the beauty of art and music, of paint and photography, of real beauty and honesty. Thank you Kait for restoring the joy of hospitality, the depth of love. Thank you Ren for truly showing me what it means to love selflessly, for adventuring into the unknown with me. Thank you Stefan for exemplifying what it means to lead humbly, to listen and love real-ly. Thank you Lizzy for the refreshing reality of the sweetness of your spirit. Thank you Sarah for your deep gentleness and strength to ask what most won’t. Thank you Erin for humbling me by the vastness of your humility. Thank you Kaley for your childlike faith to do and love that so encourages me when I overthink and overanalyze everything. Thank you Natalie for your quiet yet ever so strong conviction to that which is True. Thank you Tyler for your sheer depth and desire for genuinity, for listening with patience, gentleness and grace. Thank you Preston for being a man of integrity, one who challenges me on what I think and responds ever increasingly graciously. Thank you Marie for the magnitude of your faith and the way you define beauty. Thank you Aden for speaking life over and over and allowing me to ask. Thank you Paul for allowing me to watch you grow, for how you know not a stranger. Thank you Justin for teaching me what it means to accept everyone as they are, without crushing them with the pressure of expectation, what it means to love in a different way. Thank you Kimberly for teaching me how one who thinks differently can still lead so strongly, for the reality of loyalty. Also for the inspiration of your sheer smartness.  Thank you Austin for loving nature, for being redeeming what a man is. Kyle for music, for honesty, for thinking differently and not settling for what someone may tell you is reality. Thank you Chandler for the way you love people, purely and deeply, wanting Life for them yet not confusing fancy words with the hope of reality. Thank you Zack for struggling with me, for not giving up, for the Truth you inspire me to keep seeking. Thank you Maggie for purity, for a heart captivated by God and a soul that belongs to him. Thank you Kara for your dedication and realness. Thank you Drew for your humble inquiry and ears that hear. Thank you Lamar for an “unchristianized” life that pours forth rawness. Thank you mother for giving up so much for me, for wanting so deeply to love us well and giving so much of yourself. Thank you dad for the beauty of watching you grow in humility and courage as you lead our family.

There are so many more who I’m thankful for, and with time, I will put those thanks into words, but for now, I say thank you.