Tag: life

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The Intoxicating Lie Of the Next Step.

When you’re young, it’s sort of programmed into you.  You are told what to do to prepare for school, and then to prepare for middle/high/undergrad/grad school.  Then they start telling you how to prepare for retirement, or for career advancement, or kid’s college.  You have to learn all over again how to prepare your kids for all of the same milestones.  All of life, it seems, is geared toward preparation for the rest of life.

So what a surprise to wind up where I am, at 29, finally realizing that all of life is not preparation.  At some point, boot camp is over, and it’s time to start fighting the war.  I’m not advocating a lack of discipline in planning and preparing for the future.  I’m advocating a mental shift regarding how we view the present.  And I am going to make a sweeping statement that may or may not offend you with it’s simplicity.

God has you where he has you right now for a reason. And how you handle what you are going through right now has a large bearing on where He will take you in the future.

Nothing gets me fired up (in a “you might not want to emulate this” sort of way) more than sitting across the student union table from a Johnny Sophomore and hearing him say “I am just waiting on God to reveal his will for me.”  As though God were behind on his paperwork, scrambling to get marching orders to this student.  But he and I take the same approach, if I’m honest.  We treat God like we would a barber before our big date.  Show up when you have an appointment, sit patiently and wait while he does some stuff to fix you up, and then leave once he’s done preparing you for the real fun.  We assume that we have no role in the preparation beyond small talk and tipping well.

Sure, God is preparing us and slowly revealing his will to us.  But if we aren’t faithfully executing the tasks he’s set before us now, what makes us think that he’s going to entrust us with bigger tasks?  That’s one of the reasons I think Bill Bright (the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ) saw so many people come to Christ after hearing the gospel one time from him.  He led Taxi drivers, bellhops, and people next to him on the plane to Christ all the time!  Why?  Because, I think, he lived every moment as if it were a divine appointment.  And God ended up entrusting quite a movement to Bill Bright.

So, how are we living every moment?  Like a divine appointment, or the preparation for tomorrow’s divine appointment?  I confess that I’ve been living, in large part, in anticipation of some fabled “next step” without any regard for the extraordinary provision that’s gotten me to this step.  And it’s time to start walking by faith now.

How about you?  Am I the only one who trips over this step in my haste to get to the next one?

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We’ve Come a Long Way!

Almost exactly 7 years ago, I loaded far too much stuff for a single guy to own into a Uhaul in Winston-Salem and drove I-40 over the mountains to Murfreesboro, TN.

Almost exactly 4 years ago I loaded far too much stuff for a single guy to own into a Uhaul and drove almost to the edge of Murfreesboro before it broke down and had to be repaired.  After about 8 hours, we unloaded stuff into a storage unit in Asheville.

A couple months, rings, and fun stories for the grandkids later we unloaded that storage unit into an apartment.

18 months later we loaded that apartment into a Penske truck (having sworn off of Uhaul after our experience coming back over the mountain) and moved north to our beloved rental house.  We had to make room for a new life.

Exactly 5 days ago our good friend Elaine wiped down the windowsills and vacuumed out 2 years worth of dust from the carpet beneath where the dresser sat, as we loaded our stuff into the largest truck Penske will give you without necessitating a special driver’s license.

We drove back down I-40 and unloaded that truck into our latest house, having sensed God’s leading to the regional office in Apex.

We’re excited to put down some roots here, and to hopefully not have to load any trucks in the near future. Interestingly, I’ve never lived more than 30 minutes from I-40.

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Now I Lay Him Down to Sleep.

I have a new favorite time of the day.

A friend of mine posted on Twitter recently that he thinks his son runs a 5K every day.  And given that LB is only sitting down when he is eating (and that is by no means a guarantee), I’d agree that my son also puts some serious mileage on those little legs.  I’d wager he runs a quarter-mile per day in bare feet.  That’s not even counting once I can catch him to put on shoes.

Our new back yard has a fairly substantial hill (for this part of the state) with a wooden privacy fence at the bottom of it.  Yesterday LB probably ran up and down the hill (averaging about two falls and one roll–all intentional– per trip) at least 15 times.  I’m thinking of lining the inside of the fence with bubble wrap, spare pillows, and Styrofoam (which, according to spell-check, needs to be capitalized.  Is that a brand name?  This warrants googling.) The little guy loves to run.

But after all the running, the temper tantrums, the frolicking in the yard with the dog, and the unnecessarily long trips up and down the stairs at the new house, there’s my new favorite time of the day.  Though he (literally) kicks and screams at the thought of bed time, once I get him in the room, with the lights off, sitting in the rocking chair, something magical happens.  We’ll sing a song (Amazing Grace is his favorite this week) and pray.

With his little head on my shoulder, I say two prayers.  One from his perspective, and one from mine.  Then, I ask him if he wants to pray.  Most days he says “not yet” and then mumbles something about Elmo.  Where his treasure is, his heart goes.

I love being a dad.

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Ministry Partner Development.

We don’t like to call it fund raising.  Not because we want to trick people or call it something that fools people out of their money, but because at the most foundational level, it’s not fund raising (though funds are a great byproduct).

At the most foundational level, when I call someone to set up an appointment with them to share about how God is at work and how they can join with Him in that work, I am developing partners.  It’s not just corporate-speak or sleight of tongue.  I want your money, but only if it is coming from a heart of partnership.  I’ll say that in reverse and in boldface, for emphasis: I don’t want your money if it is not coming from a heart of partnership. If you think you are paying me off (or worse, paying God off) by giving, keep it.

The word development is key, as well.  I am not “Ministry Partner Fishing” or “Finding.”  We aren’t just looking for a one-time thing, here.  Our desire is to cultivate a real relationship, over time.  I am thrilled to say that, in spite of my spotty efforts, God has raised up some folks on our team that are real partners.  We have people that have been on our team since 2002.  What a testimony to God’s work.  When I started this blog about two years ago, my goal was that it would be another place to really give our ministry partners access to our lives.

Yeah, at times I call them “supporters” and refer to what we do as “support raising,” but make no mistake, when I challenge people to give, I am challenging them to partnership.

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New Home. Just Like the Old Home.

In Scripture, Paul has a brilliant aside on the concept of “home” in 2 Corinthians 5:1-9.  Basically, he makes the point that all of our temporary “homes” are just shadows and signs pointing toward our true home.  The truth of the matter is that even this house (though we love it, and so far the neighborhood has been fantastic as well) is not really home.  Winston-Salem is not home, Greenwood is not home.  Asheville is not home.

Jesus is home.

Home is a place where you are known, and accepted in spite of that knowledge.  Home is a place that is safe from all danger.  Home is a place that is comfortable being yourself, even the nastiest parts of yourself.

We try and build buildings and neighborhoods that are all of those things, but the truth is that we can’t build it.  Bricks and security systems may provide an illusion of safety.  Nice furniture and hardwood floors may indeed give a sense of temporary comfort.  But it can’t last.  We try and build a temporary Jesus.  We’re not so different from the idol-makers we look down our noses at when we read about them in scripture.

Our houses here need to be places of welcome, places designed not for our comfort, but the comfort of others who don’t know Christ. That doesn’t mean hardwood floors and nice furniture are bad things, just that they ought to be tools for the kingdom.  If the neighbor’s kid can’t come over because you are afraid he might stain the carpet, maybe it’s time for new carpet (or a new attitude).

It’s just a house.

Here’s a video I made back in Asheville about a family who had just that perspective, by the grace of God.  Enjoy.

What are some says that we can make our houses more like our true home?  What are some things you have done?  Comment below.

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