4.20.2013

My first 5k and other ideas...

So I just ran my first 5k today. It was quite the spectacle. So many people showed up that the parking down by Monument Valley park could have been sold to the highest bidder.

This run was to help out some friends of ours. Holly Aldridge lost her husband on Dec 21, 2012 as he was jogging to work. This man who was a lover of Jesus and friend to everyone he met was simply promoted from this world to the next in a blink of an eye, doing what he loved to do.

He left a wife and 3 kids. He left a workplace that loved him. He left a whole cadre of friends that, quite frankly, are pissed that he's gone.

But I digress. Today we participated in this 5k in his honor, all proceeds going to Holly for her support. I heard that they raised over $10k to help with costs of living etc. and I could not be more pleased. I think Dave would be happy, too.

As I was walking/running with my son, I realized again how precious and short this life is. Sometimes it passes by far too quickly. Other times it drags along at a snails pace. But whether or not we have a short time on this chosen planet or a full and long life, I've concluded that with Jesus is the only true fulfillment once can receive.

Piles of money will not make you happy. A grande house will not make you happy. A bottomless checking account won't either. But time with Jesus and his love is a new thing. In Him is fullness of joy and peace. In him is the hope that only he provides.

And that is something my friend lived for. I hope to do the same!



4.17.2013

Follow the Master

So there I was last night, sitting down after a particularly grueling day. Keeping in mind there are souls at work for the kingdom right now that would chuckle at that description of office work, I was still bushed from the work I've been doing at the office.

It was just before bedtime and I was talking with my bride. I say talking, but it was more of a complaining session.

She asked a very compelling question. Do I think God's next step for me was to change the work I was doing where I am or to send me to a new place to do something completely new? I pondered my response and stared blankly when I clearly heard this phrase in my soul, "Follow the Master."

Simple, right?


There was a time, early in my walk with Jesus, when I wanted to follow Him everywhere. My life was full of direction and, dare I say, adventure. The tasks I took on were simple, full of meaning and purpose. Not because the tasks were so great but because the Master infused every element of the task.

Then I grew old. Not only physically, but in my faith. I put my ship on autopilot and began to coast. The vigor began to dry up and the work became tedious and more complicated.

Fast forward to my conversation with my bride last evening. Once she had spoken and I had sensed the voice of the Master in my heart, I felt young again. I recalled the early days of a simple faith, those times of adventure and of fear--of not knowing the exact outcome. To borrow from the vernacular of chess, every move had been planned and endgame was reached.

So this morning I was reading in Matthew and came across this passage:

""Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace." click to read 
And I thought deeply about my response. If my life is not my own and I am truly to follow the master, the purest and best method is to be tuned into Jesus, simply allowing Hime to visit His grace on me.

Let's see where this leads...

4.10.2013

I'm hungry

So I've recently been reading a couple of blog posts, pondering a few deep thoughts, following some very gifted thinkers in the ever expanding twitterverse and I'm beginning to see a pattern. I'm hungry.

Yeah, I know--but this is not just another post about about my daily caloric intake. It's occurred to me that I am genuinely hungry for the things of God. Golden clouds, dreams, or visions not withstanding, I am mostly seeking a deep and abiding experience with God Most High. These things I'm reading, following, or discussing are reminding me of something far too important to miss.

I recall times when I have feasted on the Lord...really focused intentionally on the Wine of the Word and drinking to the last dregs the truth of He who is the Word. I would scrape every last crumb of the Bread of Life off of the table and then, like Oliver Twist, ask for more.

My days consisted of sweet communion with the Lord and waking and spending much time with Jesus. I would go out with a song in my heart from that place of mystical union and dwell with Him the whole day long. Each moment was filled with the potential of knowing Him and His character in my life. I was full.

Then something happened. I became sleek. I think the old English word means to grow fat. I no longer sought Him as I once did. Other things began to take my attention off of Jesus--the real food and drink--and I began to consume things that were not good for me.

It has been a slow drift, and I'm keenly aware of my smallness in all this.

I compromised on the “best foods” and began to fill myself with junk. Though beautiful to see and sweet to to eat, this food holds no nutritional value. And yet, I consume so much of this I've seemingly forgotten what real food truly is.

And I've become lazy--unwilling to change my diet or do anything that would put me back on the track for spiritual health. Slowly, I've lost my appetite for things of the Spirit.

How have I so quickly moved away from that which provides such great benefits? Why have I moved so rapidly from that which promises wholeness and health? How deceived and prideful must I be before I realize the “weight” I carry around is not required?

So for the last week or so, I've consciously been “eating in.” I'm doing what I must so I can be what He desires. I'm trying to not fill my shopping cart with junk but I am genuinely soaking in the truth He has placed in His word, that He has displayed in His creation, and shared in amazing conversations with friends and colleagues.

Sometimes I begin to believe that eating-in is boring...sometimes I sneak a sweet treat and feel sick after. But always the Feast is prepared before me in the presence of my enemies.

I Guess I still have a ways to go. But I'm not discouraged. Wanna know why?

I think I'm getting hungry again.