When The Credits Role

February 1, 2010Leave a Comment

Unless you missed the news entirely this weekend you know about the enormous storm that blew across the southern half of the United States and finally up the Eastern seaboard. For areas like my home in Tennessee it was a “once a decade” happening. We ended up with 6-10 inches of snow capped with a solid sheet of ice. The Governor called a state of emergency by 12:00 on Friday afternoon and everyone was basically stuck indoors until Sunday afternoon when the ice started to recede. For some folks this induces a state of panic but Betsy and I chose to look at it as an opportunity. We took several looooong walks with the pups, caught up with neighbors we hadn’t seen in quite a while and implemented a “state of emergency movie marathon.” It was awesome!
For quite some time Betsy has been telling me that I just have to watch “Gone With The Wind” especially now that I’m an official southerner (Michigan transplant). Since it’s four hours long and not exactly a movie you can watch on a whim, this weekend was the perfect opportunity. If you’ve never seen it before I highly recommend you put it on your entertainment to-do list. It’s not only a literary classic but it’s also considered historically accurate by scholars for my fellow history buffs.
The twitter version of the plot is that the story follows the life of Scarlett O’Hara, a southern bell from Georgia, throughout the Civil War and the changes that ensue as a result of the choices she makes. Scarlett’s whole life is wrapped up in chasing what she can’t have. I think it incredibly ironic that the title is “Gone With the Wind” when the plot so closely resembles the words of King Solomon when he says the vanities of life are like “chasing after the wind”. This is the sum of the movie; Scarlett’s life is marked by chasing after the wind.
So my question is this, if someone were to make a movie about our lives what would be the overarching theme or plot? When the credits role what would people walk away with, what would they say we spent most of our time chasing? Relationships, money, the approval of others, power, security? What steps can I take to make sure the message I want to communicate with my life is actually the message others are hearing by my actions?

2:28 pmTags: , ,

Let It Snow!

January 29, 2010Leave a Comment

I grew up in Michigan where you had to have blizzard like conditions, 10 feet of snow and wear ice skates to check the mail before they’d close school. Here in Tennessee they are so scared of snow that they close school if snow is even in the forecast! Everyone then immediately panics and cleans out the grocery store of bread and milk. It’s hysterical! Hey, I’m not complaining. I hope you have as much fun this weekend as I will!

Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow!!!

6:44 pmTags: ,

Smile

January 27, 20102 Comments

Do you have a memory, say from camp, school or vacation that when you remember it it acts like a key that unlocks all kinds of other memories? I do. Sometimes they are heavy and serious but most of the time for me they are comical. I was blessed to lead worship this past week in Clifton, TX with an incredible group of young people, the Lord did a great work in all of us. My memory key for this past weekend is going to be getting two of my fingernails painted by the 6th grade girls! They were hysterical! They had a blast but I think I had more fun than they did!

1:26 pmTags: ,

Weaknesses

January 25, 20102 Comments

Change. Some of us like it, most of us try to grin and bear it and yet others despise it. However you feel about change it’s woven into the fabric of God’s design for His creation.

Things are always changing.

As God would have it there is some major remodeling going on for Betsy and I right now. Obviously with our first child due in May that necessitates change on the home front but there are also some changes ahead for our ministry. Some of them we only sense are coming, others we will be making announcements about in the next few days.

I would love to tell you my initial reaction to these changes has always been unwavering faith but lately my first reaction has been fear. Fears of inadequacy, fears of failure (read inadequacy), fear of letting those around me down (read inadequacy) and the list goes on. When I boil it all down I find my greatest fear is my own inadequacy. My lack of faith is not in God strength to accomplish His purpose but rather in His choice to use me to do it.

I believe God, I just have a hard time believing in myself.

Do you ever feel that way? I think we all feel that way a lot more often than we’d like to admit. It’s important to realize that we’re not alone in the way we feel and that it’s normal to feel that way. In fact it’s not only normal to feel that way, it’s critical that we reach that point.

It is only in truly understanding our deepest inadequacy that we can fully rest in Christ’s all-sufficiency.

The apostle Paul said it like this in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am made strong.”

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but if we want to see the power of Christ most prominently displayed in our lives it means moving closer to openly embracing our weaknesses in spite of the fear and shame that want us to hide them so badly. It means the end of fearing I might be inadequate and actually realizing that I am inadequate apart from Christ for the task He’s called me to. It is then we will learn that His strength really is perfect in our weakness.

What are some of the weaknesses you wrestle with? What are the areas of life where you are most needing God to show Himself strong on your behalf? Are there some practical steps you can take towards trusting God with your struggle?

4:41 pmTags: , ,

Control

January 23, 20109 Comments

As many of you know Betsy and I are expecting our first child in May. I am sooooo excited about being a father! I love it when people share with me how “this is gonna change your life” or “you’ll never be the same” or “you will wonder how you could ever love someone so much.” I know they’re right and I can’t wait.

One of the first question people ask us after they find out we’re pregnant is “do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?” When we tell them we’ve decided not find out we always get mixed reactions. Some are so grateful we don’t want to know but others are disappointed or confused at why we wouldn’t. Others are down right angry; it’s kind of alarming.

With that in mind I thought I would try and explain our decision because I think it has much bigger implications for our lives as a whole. Let me say first I don’t think there is anything wrong with finding out the sex of your child before it’ s born. That is for each couple to decide. For us we felt it was important not to find out the gender because we don’t want to buy into the illusion of control.

Let me explain, one of the primary reasons people want to know the sex of their child is so they can buy gender specific clothes, toys, etc. They want to know if the nursery bedding should be pink or blue, should it be bunny rabbits or trains. All of this is done in the name of being “properly prepared.” If there is anything I know it’s that you can never be properly prepared for children. There will always be something else: more diapers, formula, snacks, patience, mercy and kindness, etc.

While we are called to do our best to prepare as stewards of this new life it is sin for us to use the busyness of preparation to medicate our fears of inadequacy. Finding out the sex of the child only allows us to feed our fears by removing some of the variables thereby giving us the illusion of control, removing the need for faith. We will never be in control. It’s important that we swallow that pill early on in our relationship with this child. The responsibility of control is reserved for Christ alone. Only He can truly prepare our hearts and homes for this new child and only He can calm our deepest fears. For Betsy and I it’s more important to forego knowing if it’s a boy or a girl in exchange for an increased dependency in Christ.

3:51 pmTags: , ,