Unadulterated Forgiveness.

I am not going to lie to you - the transition back to NYC this fall was the most challenging so far.  I am convinced that hitting the 'easy' button - i.e. returning to the suburbia life in Michigan - for July was part of that difficulty.  It is hard to live a life of comfort and ease and self-serving behaviors in a most luxurious and comfortable environment for nearly a month, and then return to the streets of Brooklyn.  I didn't want to engage with serving others first.  I kind of enjoyed serving myself for a while.  But the more time I spend walking around this place, the more I am reminded of why we are here on earth as followers of Jesus.  To lay down our lives and serve others first.  This is no small task.  As a matter of fact, I don't truly think it is possible to do.  Unless of course, we press into that which Jesus calls us to do - to rely on Him.  To trust that He knows what is best, to trust that His perfect limitless will for us is enough.  That through His death on the cross, our selfish nature and our sin is gone.  Completely.  Unadulterated forgiveness.  And by His resurrection, we are renewed in the life of the Spirit.  And that Spirit will guide us to the truth.  Even when it hurts.  Even when it means sacrificial living.  Even when it means that life is H. A. R. D.  I walk these streets and see that God continues to bless me with wonderful nuggets each day.  A smile from a child.  A thank you.  Encouragement from others engaged in the life of following Jesus.  Laying next to my superstar knowing that I am on mission with the woman I love the most.  What glorious resounding pleasure overwhelms my soul. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Too, Too, Too Much Fun

Alright. So you're sitting in front of your computer right now. And you're saying to yourself at about 8:00 pm: "Huh. It's been dark out for nearly three and a half hours now. What else can we do for fun?" Well, sir, we have the answer. Take a look at this.
Read more

Big Difference.

I heard my superstar say this to the girls this week: "Discipline sounds like something that is bad, right? But really, it isn't. It means to push yourself to doing something. Like journalling, reading your bible, spending time with God. That is a spiritual discipline. See how that isn't a bad thing?" For nearly four years now (you can get the full story if you look back to 2007 postings), I have certainly elevated my game in the area of spiritual disciplines. Reading the bible more than I ever did before, truly engaging with what God's desire is for my life, not just when it is convenient, trying to spend time being still and listening to what God has to say to me, and one thing I never really understood why superstar did it - journalling. I really started engaging in my morning "Java with Jesus" when I began to work for my company in the D. I would get up early to drive down Alter Road to the little park where the lake turns into the D river.
Read more

My Communication Arsenal

Let’s be honest, we all have moments of glory when we are communicating with others, and moments of incredible fall on your face failure.   I for one have always thought I was a relatively good communicator, and my perspective was that I could effectively communicate and engage with a variety of people from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicity, upbringing, or what have you.   I have been a teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, leadership development consultant, school improvement coach/facilitator, and done these things in a variety of areas in suburbia, rural districts, and even in Detroit, Flint, and Brooklyn.   But today, I came across this word arsenal .   I felt as if I was walking down the street of life and a sign with this word was in my path and I walked my face right into it – you know the videos you see online when someone doesn’t see the sign before they run their head into it?   And it was painful.   The pain came from the realization that I have an
Read more