Come Alive!

The impact of a person doing what God created them specifically to do is a powerful thing. I got to be on the receiving end of that recently, so I thought I would share it with you. This past weekend I had a great little road trip/getaway with 2 good friends, Alison and Blackwell. One of Blackwell’s old roommates is a chef who now owns 2 restaurants in the mountains of Georgia, and he invited Blackwell to bring a couple of friends up to visit. So Saturday we took him up on the offer and made the 3 1/2 hour drive to Clarkesville. We arrived at lunchtime and met Jeremy at the first of the restaurants, Hawg Wild BBQ. Jeremy welcomed us, sat us down, and proceeded to have us brought out what must have been almost every item on the menu! Ribs, pulled pork, catfish, slaw, beans, sweet potato casserole, hushpuppies, and more. He was like a kid showing off a new toy… telling us about each item and how they make it, including the 5 sauces they make from scratch. We ate till we were more than full, and it was all great! And to top it all off when it was time to go, Jeremy wouldn’t accept a dime from us for any of it. Too generous.

After lunch we rode up to Lake Burton where the 2nd restaurant, a fine dining establishment called Water’s Edge is located. Jeremy went in to prep for dinner and we got a pontoon tour of the lake from Shanna his wife. The lake and the houses on it are beautiful, and we even had the laugh of getting caught in a little rain. After taking our stuff up to the cabin we were sleeping in, showering and changing into nice clothes, we headed down to Water’s Edge for another amazing meal.

To get an idea of what it was like, imagine the best tasting food that you have ever put into your mouth and imagine that every single item at the table tasted that good. Shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, spinach and chicken flatbread, gumbo, salads, filet mignon, grilled trout, shrimp fettucini, butterfinger cheesecake, crepes, and key lime pie. Everything was literally perfect. Alison became the plate envy of everyone at the table with the Filet, which was the best I have ever tasted. Jeremy was busy in the kitchen, but Shanna and the servers took awesome care of us the whole time. I could hardly even imagine a better meal. After the restaurant slowed down, Jeremy got to come out and sit down with us while we drowned him in compliments. And again… he wouldnt let us pay for a thing.

I know this has been a long story and it might even be starting to sound like a commercial for Jeremy’s restaurants. But its not. The point of all this is, this weekend I got to experience the results of someone who is passionate about what they do. Jeremy has been to culinary school, and is obviously a great chef. But what takes the experience to a whole new level is the passion and gusto that he puts into it. You can see in his eyes the enjoyment he gets from wowing people with his amazing food creations. John Eldridge says in “Wild at Heart” to find the thing that makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who are alive. People like Jeremy inspire me, and I look forward to the day when I discover what makes me “come alive” like that.

Tragic Hero

As you may remember, I am in the middle of reading through the Bible this year. (in fact, some of you are doing the same) I am currently in Judges and just got to the well-known account of the life of Samson. There are lots of crazy details to his story, but what struck me this time was the big picture – the tragedy of his life. Even knowing the end of the story I was saddened when I read the part where Delilah shaved his head and he lost his strength. 

In the end of course, God’s power became famous through Samson. But how sad is it that it was through him continually chasing women that were not Godly and ultimately through his imprisonment, torture, and humiliation? Although my life may not be characterized by the flamboyant style (or muscles) of Samson’s, my heart is often the same. And when I get to the end I do not want my story to be “how tragic, but look how God was faithful.” I want God to be revealed through my following him with everything I am.

God – as the song says, “bind my wandering heart to thee.”

An Historic Day

On the day of our new president’s inauguration, many people will celebrate and cheer. Many will complain and even be depressed. I think the following words from a fellow blogger captured my thoughts well.

_______________

…..regardless of your political view, today is a momentous day in the history of our country.
A black man will lead the free world…..

….Racism will not be solved.
The economy will be no better.
Wars will not suddenly end.

After all, [he] is just a man, a sinful, broken man, who will place his hand on God’s Word and promise us a bunch of stuff.

The history making moment will take place when you decide whether to piss and moan about policies, decide to place all your hope in just a man, or decide to fall on your knees and pray for the leadership of our country.

______________

Who is my faith really in? Myself? A Political candidate? Or the One who is greater than us all?

Goodbye, and Good Riddance

2008 is the first year of my life that quite honestly I would erase if given a chance. It seems like I have taken 2 steps (or sometimes 20) back in almost every area possible. In the words of John Mayer, “I am not the man I used to be lately. You have caught me at an interesting time.” I could go into a long discussion about the testing of my faith or learning to trust the goodness of God, but I have have written about those things before. Instead, as I begin this new year, I hope to run forward with the heart of these verses from Philippians:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Wanna Join Me?

In my previous post I promised that I would share with you one of my goals for the upcoming year. So here it is…. I am going to read through the Bible in 2009. To some of you I am sure that sounds cheesy and “religious,” but hear me out. I have read through the Bible in a year once before, and it was one of the best things I have ever done for a couple of reasons. First, the “structure” of it helped me to spend more time focusing on the spiritual elements of my life and God than I ever would have otherwise. Like most Americans, the spiritual part of my life is one that often gets pushed aside by the demands of daily life; family, friends, social activities, even church itself. The problem is, this eventually catches up with me as eventually I run into questions and issues that only spirituality can address. 

Second, and more importantly, during that year I felt God speaking to my heart more than at any other time in my life. It sounds hokey and I can’t even begin to put it into words, but I cannot count the times when I was reading the Bible that something in the passage (or sometimes a seemingly disconnected thought) would flash through my mind and resonate so strongly in my heart that I knew God was speaking to me. Now if you know me well, you know that I do not use that kind of language very often. I am a very logical person and do not over-spiritualize every little event or decision. In fact, I am always skeptical when other people say things like that. But I cannot describe it in any other way.

So all that to say.. I am going to do it again in 2009. And I would like to invite you to join me. Seriously – think about it. Whether you have done it before or not.

Here’s the cool part if you decide to give it a shot: I have created a Facebook group with a message board to discuss the passages read each week. Instead of trying to do it by ourselves, we can read though it together at the same pace and discuss what we are reading as we go. Please check out the group here, and send me a message if you want to join. I sincerely hope that you will consider it – I am sure that your 2009 will be better if you do.

Resolutions

Here in the middle of the Christmas season, the realization hit me the other day that the new year is almost here. And with it comes the yearly ritual making of new year’s resolutions. Now I know that some people out there really use new year’s resolutions to make some changes in their lives, but I think that most people are either jaded, cynical, or just apathetic about them.

The thing about resolutions though, whether we verbalize them at the new year or ever, is that we all have them. We all know what things we would like to change in our lives. We want to get in shape, find a better job, be a better husband/wife/parent, learn a new skill, quit a habit, or grow closer to God. But more often than not, we just don’t follow through. The goal may be a difficult one or we may just get distracted by the daily routine of our lives. So another day, month, or year goes by and we end up no closer to becoming the person we really want to be. Another problem is, we almost always tackle these things on our own. We don’t share our desires or resolutions with anyone. So when the going gets tough, no one knows but us. And when we slip a little, no one is looking or is there to help us up.

For me, the secret to making changes and accomplishing things has been twofold. First, I have to put in place some structure or system to help me take small tangible steps towards the goal. For example, if I want to “get in shape,” I can’t rely on my willpower to exercise regularly. I have to actually schedule time each week to do it. Second, I have to let other people in the loop. I have to share my desires and goals with them and actually ask them to check up on me every once in a while.

Right now I am still thinking through some things that I might want to accomplish next year. One of them in particular I will share with you in a couple of days. Maybe you will want to think through yours and we can help each other out on them.

Prayer

Heal my heart and make it clean.
Open up my eyes to things unseen.
Show me how to love like you have loved me.

Break my heart for what breaks yours.
Everything I am for your kingdom’s cause.
As I walk from earth to eternity.

- Hosanna, Hillsong

What Should I Do With My Life?

I just finished reading a very cool book this week. I randomly picked it up off the sale rack in a bookstore in Victoria a few weeks ago for the 2 1/2 hour ferry ride back to Seattle, and loved it. The title makes it sound like a cheesy self-help book, but its not. The author was intrigued by the question of how people find and settle into their “callings” and began asking people about just that. After interviewing over 900 people, (crazy, huh?) he of course was able to notice some trends. This book is a collection of over 50 people’s stories, grouped into several categories. 

As a person who has struggled with this question seemingly more than most people do, the book really resonated with me. Not that it provided any earth-shattering insight or answers, but just seeing the wide variety of paths that people’s lives take and how long some of them take to develop was encouraging to me. There were people who fell into their callings almost accidentally, some who took huge leaps of faith (or risks) to get there, and others who bounced around for long periods of time before settling into a groove. 

Through it all, one thing is clear to me. Our career paths are as unique as we are. As much as we think we would like for them to fit into neat little checkboxes, categories, and timelines, they don’t. As cliche as it sounds, it really is much more about the journey than the destination. And for me, I think I would be much happier if I could learn to enjoy the scenery along the way instead of always being preoccupied by where the path is headed.

Real Faith

Hello again, blog! It has been so long since I posted I had a hard time remembering my password. (yikes!) I have thought about posting many times over the past couple of months, but haven’t because I have felt like all my thoughts and emotions were stuck on repeat. Anything I might have written or talked about would just have been a recycled version of things I have written before.

Having said that, God has recently been revealing some things to me. Sometimes by his silence as much as by his speaking. His silence (previous post) and my reaction to it has brought out how self-centered my relationship with him is. As long as I am feeling ok about my life and what I can see him doing, my “faith” is fine. But when things begin to get tough or not make sense I fall apart. I have come to realize that what I call “faith” is not really faith at all. It is just a series of ideas about God and the world and how they operate. Faith might be a component of that series of ideas, but until those ideas are challenged that faith is only theoretical.

Real faith comes into play when God is not visible, when our series of ideas don’t make sense or can’t explain what is going on in life. Real faith is the person who still believes in his goodness even when terribly bad things happen to them; they lose their job, lose a loved one, or are abused by another person. Real faith is the pastor who keeps leading the church that God has called him to when it doesn’t grow and people never seem to “get it,” when lots of other pastors’ churches are vibrant and growing. Real faith is sometimes making decisions based on what God is saying that don’t make financial or logical sense. (Abraham actually raising his arm to kill his ONLY son, when God has promised him a long line of descendants through that son)

For me, faith has been trusting that God has a plan for me. And that it is for good. (Jeremiah 29) Even when it seems like my life is sometimes just a series of disconnected random events. Multiple career paths that all seem to fizzle out in dead ends. Seemingly “wise” decisions that end up disastrous. Passions and desires that I believe are from him that never seem to be fulfilled. 

The sad part about all of this is that I have realized how weak my faith really is. Instead of trusting him and living in the confidence and security of that, I have become self-centered and whiny, grasping at straws trying to fix and control the course of my life. How futile is that? What ability to I have to control anything? Instead of trusting and bringing glory to him I have made it all about me. God, please forgive me for thinking that this life is all about me. Help my weak faith to grow strong.

Silence

Ever feel like God is working in people’s lives all around you, but not in your own? That is how I have felt for most of the past 3 years since I moved to Columbia. I am continually (even today) amazed by all of the lives that I have seen changed by God in and around our church. I sincerely consider it a tremendous privilege to witness and be a part of it all. But there is down side. The more God moves in the lives of those around me the more aware I am that he does not seem to be in my life.

How many times have you heard or read the verse that talks about God’s thoughts and actions being higher than ours? If you are like me, you know the truth of those words but they are often just salt in the wound. They make us feel like God is a judge sentencing us to community service or jail time for our “own good,” which we know hardly ever does any real good.

But thats not how it really is. God is so much more like the loving dad who disappears after dinner every night for weeks, seemingly neglecting his children, all the while building that dollhouse in the garage for his daughter or treehouse in the back yard for his son. In fact the more I look in the Bible, the times when it doesn’t seem like God is working are often the ones that he is up to something big. How did Abraham and Sarah feel when waiting for years to have children? How about the Israelites in slavery in Egypt? What were Jesus’ followers thinking while they watched the man they had put their faith in die? God sure seemed to be absent. But in fact he was the complete opposite of absent. He was putting things together on a whole different level. More than the people (or we) could ask or imagine.

So after 3 years of struggling, I am still waiting and listening. For anything. And desperately trying to trust that he really is up to something. And sometimes I even allow myself to be excited that it might be something big.