Just a Reminder

My last post from just a few days ago was all about being content with this time of transition.  Well, the logic of contentment that I know in my head hasn't quite made it to my heart.  Today was a tough day, to say the least.

But, once again, God has a great way of showing up.  Tonight, He did it in this:

The Lord your God is with you,
He is might to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

The same God who was powerful enough to change these people's circumstances is the same God who lives in me and is working daily for my good.

I don't know yet what the back of my cardboard will say, but I know there will be something worth writing.

When you walk to the edge of all the light...

Happy 4th of July!! This is the time of year to celebrate the freedom that we have been granted, but, as the slideshow at church this morning reminded me, that freedom can only truly be found one way - in the shadow of Christ on the cross.

John 8:36 - So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Acts 13:39 - Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin

Romans 6:6-7 - For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Romans 6:18 - You have been set free from sin

Romans 8:1 - Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free

Romans 8:20-21 - For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 

2 Corinthians 3:17 - Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Galatians 5:13 - You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.

Hebrews 9:15 - For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

1 Peter 2:16 - Live as free people.

Revelation 1:5 - To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.

Praise God for freedom, but it is not this that I am celebrating today.  There is something else that is saturating my life right now, finding its way into every nook and cranny, spilling into every crevice, consuming every waking moment, steering every thought, guiding every conversation, setting the course of every day...

Faith.  

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1 ESV), our handle on what we can't see (Heb 11:1 The Message), a firm belief in something for which there is no proof, complete trust (Merriam-Webster).  Lebenese American writer, Khalil Gibran, says it this way: "Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.” Oswald Chambers, who wrote My Utmost for His Highest, states that faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.  The picture of faith that rings truest to me is this one by Patrick Overton:  

When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen: 

There will be something solid for you to stand  upon, 

or you will be taught how to fly.

In this time of transition, I currently have no job, which means no source of income, little independence, and constant searching.  No house, no mailing address.  For the first time ever, my mail is collecting in a PO Box.  Most of my belongings are packed in boxes sitting in a 10'x10' cube at the nearest Public Storage.   I have no space that is just mine, nowhere to relax without worrying about being an inconvenience  I am relying on the goodness of a friend for somewhere to sleep and somewhere to spend some of the plethora of free time I have found.  

But the biggest absence in my life right now is the knowledge of where I am headed, where I'll land, what's in store for me as soon as tomorrow.  My immediate future is incredibly unclear.  Not just unclear, it's like a solid veil I can't see through.  Darkness...

However, in the midst of all the unknown, the greatest part is that I know that there will be something to stand on.  I will learn how to fly.  This is the first time in my life where I've had absolutely nothing to depend on but my belief that God will come through.  And I am totally content in that.  I am not scared, not worried, not wondering because I know that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, from now to eternity that my God is faithful 100% of the time.  I don't know where I'm going or how to get there, but I know wherever it is and whatever path I take it is what God has always planned for me.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:6

And it will be exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Praise God for the family and church I grew up in and all my experiences to this point that added to my foundation, instilled and inspired my faith and prepared me for this moment, praise Him for His grace in allowing me to place my faith in Him, and praise God for being forever true to every facet of His character.

Somewhere there is an explosion of light at the end of this tunnel!

I Will Wait for You

A great poem...

from a great website: www.p4cm.com

Waiting...

It's amazing how when I take the time to really dive into the Word God is faithful to show me that He always has something new to teach me that is just what I need at that moment.

Tuesday, I had the privilege to do a phone interview for a position as an assistant athletic trainer for the football team at a yet undisclosed SEC university.  Now, throughout this whole job search process, I have been reminding myself that God has this all under control.  He did not bring me this far to leave me here. 

But...somehow I forgot all about this when I was contacted about this interview.  So for the few days in between scheduling the interview and actually completing it, I was nervous.  Continually thinking about what a great gig this would be. How it could set me up for everything I want to do professionally.  That it would ease my mind to have a job in place.  Being able to say I was a 25-yr-old assistant athletic trainer in the SEC (Humility is one of my strong points. Can't you tell?)  However, God had something to say about this on Sunday, when He reminded me through some song at church that He is still sovereign and as long as I do my best, He'll do the rest.  It might not be this job, but it will be what I need.

Fast forward to Tuesday.  The interview went perfectly fine, and they told me that they would discuss the candidates (there are only seven of us) and bring people on campus for another interview over the next 1-2 weeks.

So now...I just wait.  While waiting, I am continually trying to figure out their process -  guessing when and how they are going to proceed -  figuring that if I don't get a call my Monday I'm definitely not their first choice and may never get a call.  I have never been a patient person, and this especially is not easy to wait for.

But, once again, God shows up. Gosh, He's so good at that.  It's like He planned this whole thing or something. 

My Bible reading this morning is Exodus 36-40.  It is about preparing the items for the first tabernacle.  All of these things were made by one man...Bezalel.  Because of this, it must have taken FOREVER!  There were a lot of things to make and, I mean, this was where God was gonna dwell so you know they had to be perfect.  I can imagine the Israelites jut sitting there twiddling their thumbs waiting for all this to be finished.  That's when it occurred to me that this isn't the first time, nor would it be the last time, that the Israelites had to wait.

God has been teaching His people to wait from the beginning of time!  He said wait for me to save you from slavery; wait for me to part the Red Sea; wait for me to give you food and water; wait for the building of my tabernacle; wait in the desert for 40 years until I reveal the Promised Land to you; wait for your Messiah; and WAIT three days and it will all make sense!  Even now, He says believe in Me, serve Me and wait and one day you will see My face.

I know I'm hard headed, but when confronted with this many examples, I have no choice but to settle in and prepare for the waiting.  He has proven too many times that in the end, He knows best, His timing is perfect and His plan will ALWAYS be fulfilled just the way He planned it.

So still...I just wait.

My First Trip to the Ship

As I'm sitting in my three hour class, I realized that I have yet to share the most exciting happening in my work life this year!  Saturday March 5, I spent practically the entire day at Colonial Life Arena helping both my boys and girls basketball teams prepare to play in the state championship.  We were one of only a few schools from which both teams made it to the finals.

The girls played first, and they played great.  We took the Timberland Wolves to overtime but were bested in the extra period and lost 55-48.  It was a very intense game.  The girls were obviously upset, and I with them, but they had a fantastic season!  Entering the playoffs as a three seed, we beat two number one seeds on our way to being the only three seed to play for the state championship.

 

I had to add this picture because it was my contribution to The State newspaper on Sunday, March 6. Flattering, I know.

Read the article from the game here.

Thankfully, after the girl's game, there was a still a chance to leave the arena with a win.  My boys were playing for their second consecutive state championship, fourth under Coach Norris and sixth in program history. Coach Norris had these shirts made just to remind everybody:

 Well, win we did.  My boys held the lead the whole game until 44 seconds left in the third quarter, but then went on a 19-4 run to finish with a 56-50 victory over Mullins and prove that their number one season long ranking was well deserved!  This was the banner picture on the front page of The State newpaper on Sunday:

Read the article here.

So, finally, I'm a state champion. Last week, I tried on sample rings to find the best fit for the huge gold ring coming my way in the next few months.  And, apparently, the Celtics' Ray Allen is buying us state championship jackets.  I don't know what they are gonna look like, but hey, if an NBA player is buying them, they can't be that bad...

Lent...

Today starts the season of Lent.  I never really understood Lent. Then, all of a sudden a few years ago people close to me, friends, family, etc. started giving up things until Easter.  I wasn't really into this but didn't want to feel like I was just ignoring God if He really wanted me to give something up so last year I did a little research and this year I read a little more. 

This is what I've decided - Lent is a time of remembrance. A time of reflection of the path our Savior took to the cross. People often give things up as a concrete reminder of the sacrifice He paid for us.  A time to reconnect with God. To remember His pain.

So for me, I'm going to do what I did last year.  I'm going to spend Lent reflecting on and reminding myself of the Easter story - the story of Jesus' choice and His crucifixion, the story of my redemption and the world's salvation.

I'm going to read again John Piper's Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. One reason per day (with a few days of two so I can make 50 reasons equal 40 days).

And then Easter weekend, I will watch The Passion of the Christ.

 Not because I enjoy watching a dramatization of the Father's wrath raging against His Son, the only One who never did anything to deserve it, but so I am reminded of the whole story - not simply the joy of Easter morning, but the devastation of Calvary and the heartache of waiting in between.

Because this is who I am, this is where I come from, this is my story.  To lose the knowledge and reality of these days and these moments is to lose myself.



Great blog post about Lent: http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2011/03/lent-for-the-newcomer-learning-from-my-father.html

Best thing I've heard in awhile...

Many of you might not know this about me, but I love rap music!  I think it has something to do with the environment in which I work.  Sixty-something guys all working out in the weight room with out the speakers blaring with ear-splitting beats, hooks and rhymes just doesn't seem right.  So rap reminds of a job that I love to do, an environment I love to work in, and kids I love to hang out with and you have to admit the beats are catchy and get you up and going.

Even with all that said, there is a major downfall of rap music...the lyrics.  Some songs I can handle.  Others are awful and downright nasty, laced with profanity and dripping with references to drugs and sex, especially sex.  That is not exactly want I want running through my head the rest of the day.

This is where Lecrae comes in.  I am constantly amazed at the way God works.  Lecrae is a rapper but all of his lyrics reflect his relationship with Jesus Christ. He has been around for awhile but I continuously wrote him off assuming his lyrics would be cheesy and the music wouldn't be quality rap.  His name came up again this January when I saw a video of him performing live at Passion 2011 in Atlanta.  A few days later my brother-in-law tweeted about Lecrae's new album being the #1 downloaded hip hop album on Itunes, above Kanye West's new album.

All of this was occurring at the same time that life was sending me down a road I wasn't sure I liked.  I attributed alot of my struggling to the environment I was in, partly by necessity due to my job partly by my own choice. Rap music was definitely one of the parts of this environment.

After reading my bro-in-law's tweet, I decided it was time to find out what this guy was all about.  I downloaded Lecrae's last three albums:

2008

"Rebel is a redefinition. Not only of the word rebel, but of how many of us view the christian life. Rebel rejects the notion that being a Christian means a passive approach to our theology and an undedicated lifestyle. The definitions of what we believe and value affect how we live in our short time on this earth."

2010

"Anger, depression, addiction, and discontentment: just a few of the ills that plaque many a man.  The solutions: join a group, read a book, basically, YOU can win this battle!  

But what about the war?  In solely attacking the behaviors or the external problems in our lives the origin of our issues is overlooked.  Essentially, we try to alter effects, instead of exploring and tackling the cause. Some don’t realize the root of their problems is internal, in fact spiritual. Others recognize, but underestimate how serious their problems are. And even still, as believers, we trust in ourselves to overcome by our own strength."

2011

"Around every corner is the lure to consume--a desire to be satisfied.  We lose ourselves in money, status, power and whatever else we can get our hands on.  But no human being has found anything under the sun that brings lasting satisfaction. So, we consume more and more and more.  Eventually, we overdose and death seems imminent.  But there is hope!  If Christianity is our rehab, in Jesus, satisfaction can be found. Grace, love, peace and hope can be found and there is always more."

This guy is legit!!  God has the BEST answer for all your problems, even when it comes to something as small as your affinity for rap music.

A couple songs that are making major impact on my life right now:

A few more words of truth:

Lust, pride, hate, death running through our blood

Need a blood donor, need a transfusion

He’s over hanging on the cross for your substitution

     - Divine Intervention, Rehab

You said you came for the lame,

I’m the lamest

I made a mess you say you’ll erase it,

I’ll take it

You said you came for the lame,

I’m the lamest

I broke my life, but you say you’ll replace it,

I’ll take it. - Just Like You, Rehab

You know I need you like aqua,

Day without ya got me so nauseous...

...But I’m so insecure I can’t believe that you want me

But then I heard you went on your way to adopt me

     - Gotta Know, Rehab

I, without the cross there’s only condemnation.

If Jesus wasn’t executed there’s no celebration.

So in times that are good, in times that are bad

For any times that I’ve had it all I will be glad.

and I will boast in the cross. I boast in my pains.

I will boast in the sonshine, boast in his reign.

What’s my life if it’s not praising you. - Boasting, Rehab

See he remembers the first day that he made you

Mouldin’ your lungs full of breath that he gave you

Not too mention the day he saved you

Or when he opened your eyes by the Spirit Christ was raised through

Did I mention that he forgave you

And had his flesh ripped off for the sin you was enslaved to

     - New Reality, Rehab

And when I said I do, I meant that

Its trip that, you let me lead you

Cause I’m a mess and sometimes I need you

     - I Love You, Rehab

matter fact better than I know I got Christ

if you don’t’ see His ways in my days and nights

you can hit my brakes you can stop my lights

man I lost my rights

lost my life - Don't Waste Your Life, Rebel

If U didn’t know Christ would ya life look the same

Can they tell you value Jesus by the way you rep his name?

man what’s the point of living if Im living for myself

Lord empty out my life before I put you on the shelf

     - Go Hard, Rebel

But then he got saved, he wanna preach Christ

They make him change his culture his whole way of life

He gotta get him a bachelor’s wear him a suit and tie

Go to seminary or all his boys will die

Jesus came to invade culture outta Nazareth and he used a couple fisherman that people saw as hazardous

The feet are beautiful if only they’d go

Ain’t nobody in the hood preachin how will they know?

See Eric is better usin the truths in the context

Somebody please plant a church in his projects

     - Beautiful Feet, Rebel

For another look at Jesus and rap music, check out 'Lil Wayne and Regeneration' on benterry.com.

Thanks to Simply Blog It Backgrounds for the new background!!