Monday, August 16, 2010

I Am Second.

I am Second.

I'm usually thinking, "I deserve to be first."  It sounds so arrogant, I know.  But if we're being honest, most of us are thinking it.  Most of us put ourselves in positions to be first.

"I have the right to be first."  "I've deserved to be put first."  "The best way I can achieve success is being first."  "To be anything but first is a failure."  These are tracks that play on repeat everyday in my mind.

This website convinces me of something different.  These stories convince me that life is found is being second.

Check it out.  What do you think?  Can true life be experienced when we're second?

Friday, August 6, 2010

VBSP '10

VBSP '10
Virginia Beach Summer Project 2010.

It needs unpacked.  I don't tend to gravitate toward full sentences when I unpack, however; scattered words are my preference.

So, here goes:
     freedom      unique        pick...up...the...bat         life         experience, embrace, engage        play! explore! gather!            putting to death the fear of man           be you, LeBron!                 delight           gospel                 love      "love God and do whatever you want"            feel deeply              friends        "turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace"      laughter

A good summer.  That it was.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

How do I smell?

What has the largest kitchen in the world, the smallest family room in the world, black carpet, no couches, no pots and pans, no internet, and no cable?

If you guessed my new house...you're exactly right!

Summer, post-project, has been hilarious.  Hilariously weird?

I've spent much of my time, following Summer Project, in the ghost town of Bowling Green.  Moving into a new house alone, while waiting on 2 roommates, has been surprisingly refreshing.  I've been able to sing and dance as loud or ridiculously as I want to (not that having roommates usually ever stops that...sorry, Kaleigh and Alyssa), I've been able to wake up super early and spend my morning with the rising sun and my Bible, I've been able to eat as much ice cream as I want, I've been able to pray out loud without feeling silly, I've been able to watch as much Dawson's Creek as I want without being judged, etc.  It's been fun.

It could have been incredibly lonely.  But I am convinced that it was God who was sweet to make Himself known to me and to make Himself feel near in my heart.

I've started studying 2 Corinthians the last few weeks and I am simply blown away at how the Bible continues to speak into my life after hundreds (thousands) of years being written.  The Bible really is alive as it claims.

I want to share one thing with you sweet blog-readers.  One thing that encouraged my heart and one thing that has begun shaping much of my thinking.

2 Corinthians 2:14 says this: But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. 


This verse is on the heels of God opening a door for Paul to preach the gospel in the land of Troas, however, Paul did not stay there to do so.  Was Paul being disobedient?

I don't think so.

I texted this exact thing as an encouragement to my friend a few days ago and it's begun shaping much of my own thinking:
   God may open different doors in our lives, and whatever one we take, He is more concerned with our fragrance of Him rather than the route. 

This breeds a feeling of freedom in my soul.  It seems like a daily battle where I wrestle with God asking, "this door," "that door?"  "This door?"  "That door?"  Repeat.

I think He cares more that I simply love Him dearly and give others a taste of His love wherever I am than He does about what stinkin' door I walk through.

That is good news, my friends.  The God I serve is obsessed with giving His people freedom.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Pick...Up...The...Bat...

Defense wins championships.  It's true.

But offense isn't just an option.  It's a necessity.

I spend my days playing defense.  All day, everyday.

I stand in the outfield -- grounding balls, catching pop-flies, throwing out runners, etc.  And I can play defense well.

The moment, however, that I'm asked to pick up the bat and take a swing...I become paralyzed.  My eyes drift from the game to the bleachers -- to the massive crowd that surrounds.  I become overwhelmed and, in defeat, surrender my at-bat.

I'm resolving myself to fight.  To fight to pick up the bat.  To fight to keep my eyes on the game, not on the bleachers.  To fight to take a swing.  To fight to be okay with mere grounders, with foul balls, with pop-flies.

I want to be so distracted with the choir of angels who cheer me on.  I want to be so lost in the love and glory of my Savior.  I want to be so focused on the One who calls me to bat that I pay no attention to the surrounding crowd.

I am going to pick up the bat.
And it won't be a grand slam.
And that's okay.

I need cheerleaders.  I need people who will root me on.  I need friends who will beckon me up to home-plate.  I need cheerleaders who hoot and holler ridiculously for a pathetic grounder.

I will pick...up...the...bat...