STABLEization

Stability is reliability & strength; strength to stand or endure.
By definition, if something stabilizes, it becomes fixed or stops changing; not likely to change or fail. In other words, firmly established. 

A stable [however] is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. 

What am I getting at? More than just wordplay, I promise -- though it wouldn't be too shocking to some if I just left it there. ;)

Naturally, with the wrap-up of yet another calendar year comes the all-too-expected summary. Of thoughts, of moments, of triumphs & tears. In more ways than one - practically, professionally, & personally, 2016 = stabilization. 

Without the nitty gritty behind why said word holds such meaning [I like coffee -- put a cup in my hand and I'll likely share with a smile], reminiscent flashbacks brought me to an experience I held first hand just months ago while in Israel. I remember the momentary transition from such a comfortable, air-conditioned bus [emphasis on the "air-conditioned"], to a less-than-comfortable 120degree desert. A brief hike into a rocky field where twenty-nine of us crammed into a pitch-black hole in the ground. It wasn't a cave, and it wasn't home to wildlife. We sat & we received the reality of which said hole in the ground was a stable. Very likely, an image of where baby Jesus was born. Absolutely nothing like a nice, spacious, organized barn that existed in my Westernized mindset. Dirt everywhere. Bugs & critter-crawlers. 

I think of what such humble beginnings looked like for the foundation of my life, my faith, my hope. On earth, in the flesh, in a stable. 

My stability began in a stable. 

And again, by the truest meaning of stability - firm establishment -- He does not change. I am grounded & fixed in His goodness, His great love for me, His truth & what He has to say. 

Colossians 2:6-7
Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Ephesians 3:17-19
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

2 Peter 1:5-9 The Message
[talks about being firmly established in truth]
So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

And if you've made it this far, I leave you with this -- seemed fitting ;)