01.30.2021 - week 90
‘the thing i hate about writing is how you have to waste time on all those boring words like ‘and’ and ‘the’ and ‘is.’
- graham macdonald, 8 yrs.
james 5.8 - you also, be patient. establish your hearts, for the coming of the lord is at hand.
BUT .... WHY AREN’T WE THERE YET ???
i would love to joke about watching the simpsons and somehow moralizing it, but that isn’t my point today at all. the joke is simple right? some of us are in such a hurry to cross something off or feel like its done that we don’t totally even care if it’s done well. in a world of instant info and high frequency trading and 24 minute news cycles, waiting seems like the weakest position.
one of the great ironies of my life is that although i graduated high school a semester early, finished college a semester early, started working full time in my chosen field at 20, got married at 21, became a dad at 23, i somehow made it to 35 feeling way behind. for 20 years i strived to get ahead and work in the best way i knew how to achieve my goals, yet God has seen fit to have me starting over in many ways now. it isn’t what i wanted, isn’t tremendously enjoyable, but it is what is.
hard work is of course good. but hard work that becomes something to trust in more than god is of course not. by problematically conflating the principle of sewing/reaping with god’s blessing, i thought: if i do the right things as fast as possible then i will of course be blessed even quicker right?
yet, most of the big blessings in my life were from times things happened in the wrong order. kristen + i bought our first house before the market had really settled fully down in ’08 and got buried on it. we bought a house in LA in 2019 and somehow during COVID did really well when we sold it a year later. we wanted a daughter for a couple years, yet she arrived at what in retrospect was the PERFECT time for our family. the loneliest time of my life overlapped with the loneliness time in the history of the world (COVID), but that loneliest led our family to a new season we are excited about.
this feels a touch scattered, but what god has been showing me is this: we see delay as punishment or wasted time, but god uses it.
the only thing worse than waiting on god is wishing you had.
if who we are is more important to God than what we accomplish,
when we are waiting, we are RIGHT where he wants us
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
What are you missing out on? Or what are you not courageously pursuing because the obstacles in front of you seem too difficult or scary?
Meet Felicity, my daughter who is every ounce of three. She is equal parts talkative and inquisitive, filled with opinions and yet lacking knowledge because after all she is three. But, those opinions of hers are alive and well and loud I may add. Bless Felicity’s heart and thinned out blood, she was born a Chicagoan but just before she turned two she was transported to the land of beaches and daily 70 degree weather. She loves the beach where she wasn’t accustomed to coats, snow pants, hats, or gloves. In two short months, she has grown fond of the saying, ‘IT’S SOOOO COLD!’ and although I bought her a warm winter coat she is determined to wear her pink, furry stylish one.
Right after Christmas it began to snow and I told her I would help get her snow gear on to join her brothers and have fun outside. She is not one to miss out on fun but she was so beside herself in having to wear these snow pants and coat that her tantrum superseded her time outside. This week as more snow was on it’s way I knew I had to convince her to like this snow gear. So we ventured to the park with her snow pants gathered at her waist falling down often. She looked ridiculous (where there’s a will, there’s a parent having to choose which battles to fight) but I knew she just had to taste how fun it is to play in the snow. Later that night she told me over and over how much fun she had at the park. Fast forward to the six inch snowfall we just accumulated, she insisted on putting everything on and even when her brothers came in she wanted to stay out and play in the snow! I belabor the point because I think it really comes down to this - I love her so much and I knew she would love playing in the snow, throwing snowballs, making snowmen, pretending she was shoveling. As a loving parent, I had to push her toward something she was holding herself back from knowing she was missing something wonderful.
Lots of Bible characters were called by God to be courageous; to do things that must have frightened them. Often we find the biblical call to (my paraphrase here), “to be strong and courageous, do not fear, because the Lord your God is with you.” You see it from Moses to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6-8, the LORD to Joshua in Joshua 1:6-7 & 9, David to Solomon his son in 1 Chronicles 28:20 and David to his army in 2 Samuel 10:12. These men were humans just like you and I. Their mentor and/or God knew fear could either cripple them because of what they were up against but on the contrary their faith and courage reminded them just how big their God was.
Often we look around us and wish we could be where someone else is career-wise or with relationships or financially and often the people that you are looking at choose courage time after time after time and that’s why they are in the position they are now. Often the goodness God wants for us is just beyond the courage. But, in the balance of our decision hangs whether or not fear would get the best of us/them. May God help you this week as you take a look at your own life and determine where courage is needed in order to continue to benefit from all God wants in front of you. After all he is a loving father who has wonderful plans for you to bless you.
#cupofleadership
i heard this story from a pastor friend the other day and can’t get it out of my head. a guy who had been a candidate to become a church elder marched up to him after service and somewhat angrily said he could no longer support this church or be involved in it … quite bewildered the pastor inquired as to why. the guy said when you were preaching about those stuck in identity and sexual sins this morning you said,
‘you can’t help someone until you can hurt for them.’
my pastor friend said … ‘yes, what is wrong with that?’
the man (who apparently was method acting a mean christian) looked at him dead in the face and said ‘i’m not willing to expend my compassion toward those choosing to live in sin.’
—
if i could try to explain how we got here and try to predict how we get there, this story is quite helpful. it cleanly describes a prevalent way of thinking among many of us that should be re-thought if we want to make things better in the world
i can’t imagine a comment more self-evidently divorced from who jesus showed himself to be. his willingness to extend compassion to us at the cross precisely when NOTHING about us or inherent to our behavior merited it is the core of the gospel. of course sinful people and their choices can bug us or frustrate us or candidly even disgust us, but our choice to treat people like those deep down feelings we might have hurts our ability to help immeasurably.
if we wait til they clean up to try and help, they probably won’t and we will never get the chance.
for god demonstrated his own love toward us in that, WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, christ died for us. romans 5.8
book review
i have no explanation for why i waited to read this book til now. i used to wear a dew rag on my head and practice tennis at pioneer park in arlington heights when i was about 10 and pretend i was andre agassi. also my mom always had a public crush on him that dad graciously allowed to be joked about when i was a kid. also, i personally tend towards the more brilliant, less consistent one, i’m lennon over mccartney and messi over ronaldo and katy over taylor and phil over tiger and crowder over tomlin. so naturally … agassi over sampras.
this book is one of the most vividly candid memoirs i have ever read. genuine introspection throughout and a willingness to be honest about the wonderful privileges and miserable costs of incredible success. i was riveted and couldn’t put it down. if you have a mercurial brilliant person in your life, this book might really help you think through how to understand and love them better.
super christian guy
stuff for you to click on
i am having so much fun with good news weekly video edition … check out episode 3, JGriff goes on a very memorable rant against ‘youth group rap’
a couple summers ago, kristen + jon guerra + i went to hillsong united’s people tour. the combo of nostalgic hits + popping fresh songs made a killer gig, they released the nigh on that tour at MSG in New York, i bet you will love it