Love Wins

It really does!  Love will always be more powerful than hate.  Love will always win in the end, because of the ultimate love Jesus  showed us from the cross.  He could have given up, but he didn’t.  He remained on the cross and died for us, so that we might live.

I’ve wanted to get a tattoo for over a year now and I actually went twice to get it and was stood up both times by the tattoo artist.  I’m actually happy that I ended up waiting, because what you see in the picture is my new tattoo and yes it says Love Wins.  I love it, I’m happy with it, and I think the artist I finally chose, did a great job.

So why?  Why “Love Wins?”  Because I often find myself impatient and frustrated with people.  I don’t show them the kind of love that God expects his people to show towards each other.  I even struggle with showing enough love to my family.  You would think love would come naturally, but because of the broken, sinful, and selfish nature we are born with, love is something that takes work and practice and effort.

I really want my scribbled life to be a reflection of Christ’s love to others.  Will a tattoo that says “Love Wins” on my wrist mean that loving others will be easier?  No!  But maybe, just maybe, it will be a small opportunity to testify about my need for Christ’s redeeming love in my life.  Maybe it will pave the way for a future conversation with someone about how I struggle with loving others and the only way I can successfully love people is through the grace of God and because of his love for all of his creation.

Do you wrestle with the ability to love others more than you love yourself?

Organic House

A few Sunday’s ago my wife and I went through our normal routine.  We slept in, got up and fixed breakfast, relaxed for a few minutes, then headed to our friends house where we would enjoy a nice Sabbath day.  We call it Organic Church, but we like to think of it as being the church.

The day started out fairly normal and was going pretty smooth until I went to put something in the car and came back making a statement about how filthy it was on the inside.  Apparently this was the wrong thing for me to say, because what followed was a very heated fight between me and my wife.  All of this happening while we were walking out the door and headed to church.  It wasn’t pretty!

Has this ever happened to you?  Ever feel like just staying home, because you’re way too pissed to go and “fellowship” with a bunch of people who don’t fight with their spouse.

If you do find yourself relating to this scenario, the big question would be, what did you do?  Did the following circumstances include a big smile once you got to your church gathering place, even though you were burning and pissed on the inside?  Did you give the appearance to everyone that things were just fine in your life?

One of the things we agreed to when we started the Organic Church with our friends was agreeing to be real.  No more fake and no more putting on a show for the sake of making ourselves look good.  We agreed that we have to be honest and transparent with each other, otherwise the people we are trying to reach will quickly see that we are no different than any other church.

So, when I walked in and sat down in my usual spot at the table for our morning conversation, I didn’t say a whole lot.  In fact I was so pissed and so angry by what had just happened between me and my wife, I’m sure others could sense the tense situation.  One of my friends even asked if I was awake yet and I think I said “yes, I’m just really pissed off right now.”  So, he asked if I wanted to go talk.

What followed was a “real” opportunity for me to express what was going on and how I really felt inside.  I could have easily put on my “fake” smile when I walked in the door and made everyone feel like things were just fine, but where would the lesson have been in that?  The true lesson came by being honest, talking about and sharing it with my friend, and then praying that God would help and see me through this tense moment.

I honestly felt so much better after we talked and had the opportunity to enjoy the rest of my Sabbath day, instead of stewing and steaming the whole time I was there, missing out on the opportunity to experience God.

Church can be real, and honest, and transparent.  I’ve experienced it and would encourage more people to give it a shot.  If you try it and the person on the receiving end doesn’t respond in a way that would help you work through your problem, then maybe you should seek a church that is real and willing to stop the fake pretending and self indulging all for the sake of making ourselves look good.  It’s time to show we aren’t perfect and we’re all carrying around a little garbage we’re ready to unload.  And trust me, you may not smell any better when you get rid of the garbage, but you’ll definitely feel better from getting rid of that heavy load!

Chosen by God

My wife and I were in the car on Saturday and had a great conversation about our special needs child.  We’ve both had recent conversations with people about the special situations surrounding their child, or grandchild, so it had both of us thinking about how blessed we really are.

Sure we are parents of a special needs boy, but we are so blessed.  God has been with us every step even when we often feel all alone.  Our son has his physical difficulties, but over all we have it pretty easy with him and he has a really sharp mind, so it makes it very easy for us to have conversations and discussions with him.

We have friends and know others who are not so fortunate and life is often difficult.  Some are constantly in the hospital, having surgeries, and for others maintaining a correct sugar level becomes a minute by minute chore.  It’s friends and acquaintances like this that makes me question the whole comment that people often make, “God chose you-special parents-for your special child.”

Give me a break!  This is where I’ve really struggled this weekend.  What you’re trying to tell me is, God has this shelf of embryonic souls and all of a sudden, one day, he decides to grab one off the shelf and say, “this ones special, so I’m going to give this one to Kyle & Joanna.” 

I think there are a few fatal flaws in this kind of thinking.  First, if that were true, then Heaven isn’t perfect, because this child, this soul, this spirit that gets sent to earth to become your child, in some way, has a flaw before it even arrives.  Not true!  Secondly, why would God chose a broken, chaotic, and dis-functional family to raise a special needs child, which happens all the time?  Christian people aren’t the only ones who have special needs children.  Special needs children are born to alcoholics, drug addicts, and child abusers every day.  So, once again, God chooses special people to take care of special children?  I don’t think so!

Here’s what I think.  Because of the sin and brokenness in this world, children are born with special needs, health problems, sickness, and difficulties.  God doesn’t predetermine or choose who these children go to, but he certainly does give those of us who have them the ability, strength, patience, love and grace to take care of them.  Those parents out there who may not know what love and grace is and haven’t had the privilege to experience it, may struggle more with having a special needs child, which often leads to a very high rate of divorce and brokenness, leaving one parent to bear the burden and responsibility of this special situation. 

God loves everyone equally and doesn’t have favorites.  He doesn’t choose special people to take care of special children any more then he chooses some people to be a pastor, a doctor, lawyer, or engineer.  He simply gives all of us a choice.  To live our lives with him no matter the circumstance, situation, or job we find ourselves in.  We simply need to trust him with everything.  Let him lead.  Let him bear the weight of what we are carrying.  And if we do this, life is a little easier to handle, because we aren’t the ones in control.

Censored

I’ve been writing this blog for nine months now, but still consider it just a baby.  I’ve posted 115 times with the longest being just over 1000 words and the shortest just over 100 words.  The most visited post was “Welcome to My U-Verse” where I was frustrated and complained about the trouble we were having with our AT&T U-Verse.  The second most visited was about the movie Speed Racer, which had held the most views the longest and was just recently passed up by the U-Verse post.  And I’ve had a steady and growing number of visits to my sight, but I’m still not getting many comments.

I’m not sure what to do.  I really try hard to be creative, open, and honest.  Most of the time I’m wrestling with a thought and share it, hoping that others might be able to pose a new idea or shed more light on what I’m wrestling with.  Either way it’s fun reading what other people think about certain topics.

My blog is still so new and the comments have been so few, I’ve not even had to worry about censoring any of them.  Maybe someday I’ll get the opportunity to read something and use my rights as the author of this blog and punch the delete button, but until then, I’d just love to hear a few more comments.  Conversation is what I love and I totally love to hear what other people are thinking.  We don’t always have to agree and I’m not trying to convince people to think the way I think and I don’t expect you to try and persuade me to think like you either.  We’re simply just having a conversation via the web, constructed through this blog.

So, if you’re one of the people who visit this blog regularly or if you’ve just stumbled across it for the first time, give me a little shout out in the comments section and let’s try to get the conversation started.  And…Thanks for stopping by!!!