One Year Later

I confess...I've been just a little sentimental for the past few days. You see, it was almost exactly one year ago that I had to let go of my "little boy." Attending this year's graduation exercises at his high school, somewhat surprisingly brought a flood of emotions once again. Though he has just completed his first year of college, in my mind's eye, I could envision him, his mom and me sitting down there on the floor nearly as real as the day it occurred.

Remember being a kid and listening to all the "old people" (anybody your parents' age or older) talk about how fast time flies as you get older? Well, as you probably have experienced, just like me, they knew what they were talking about...again.

To see that fresh crop of graduates excitedly toss their caps in the air, see the gleam in their eyes as they rush towards their futures, and (if you looked closely) catch the occasional moistening of their cheeks as tears escaped from their "I got it together" exteriors, brought a great deal of empathy from me as I watched family and friends cheer them on...every single one of them. It also brought a fresh sense of wondering about things I thought already settled.

Did I do enough to prepare my son for his future? Will he remember the lessons I sought to instill? Is he irrevocably scarred by the mistakes I made? Will he become another "statistic" who will one day appear on Oprah (or whover takes her place), telling the sad story about a dad who never spent enough time with him, or said, "I love you, Son"?

Now, some of you parents are way ahead of me on this...I'm probably still in the "rookie" stage, as I just let go of my firstborn last year. But I have no doubt that you have wondered some of the very same things. Any answers yet?

What I do know is that I serve a God who, while He's never thrilled by my mistakes & inadequacies, specializes in what I'll call, "making up the difference." Not that this gives me license to presume on His grace and live my life solely for me, but it does help me to rest well (okay, better) at night, knowing that He can handle anything that needs handling. I know that He is never limited in His ability or capacity or desire to, as artist Crystal Lewis used to sing, bring "beauty from ashes."

Now, that may sound a little dramatic (I can get that way), but the question is this: Did I make mistakes? Of course. Is God limited by them? Of course not! I have a quote about 3 feet away from me on my wall by noted author, Max Lucado. It goes like this: "It's not everyday you find someone who will give you a second chance, let alone a second chance every day. But in Jesus, you find both."

Whether it's me, my son or someone unknown to me, the promise still stands. With Jesus, we have God incarnate, ready to intervene and help us in our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-16), to "cover our backs," to "make up the difference" when we are lacking. Does that mean there will never be problems to face...that He'll always just fill in the gaps so that life has this "seamless" quality to it? No way!

What it does mean is that we'll never have to face the future alone...be overwhelmed by the present...or plagued by our past...for He is Lord over all. And if we'll continually bring Him each of these (future, present & past), He will be faithful to hear and answer, for one year and for all the years of our lives, granting us opportunity after opportunity to pour into our kids the same grace & wisdom that He showers on us. Don't believe me? Why not try it and find out? Regardless of the age of your kids, it's never too early or too late to start!

Three Needs - Two Ways

Sorry that my Tuesday blog has become my Wednesday blog - hope you don't mind while my life adapts. I'm sitting here typing with a probe down my throat for 24 hours, and let me tell you, I wouldn't wish this on an enemy. It's so attractive that I decided to cloister myself away until I get it out - about 18 hours from now. Hopefully it will tell the doctors something, but you just never know...

Anyhow, I find myself with this week's message done, bulletin printed and storms coming, but none of them on the forefront of my mind. Rather, I've been given an incredible privilege and opportunity to address about 150 colleagues on Friday in Minneapolis. And the topic the Lord has led me to just won't leave my mind (I suppose that's a good thing).

Now, I get an hour in MN, but in just a few bullet points, let me share what's on my heart most in this moment:

• All of life's needs can be boiled down to three Core Needs: Initimacy, Security & Significance. Every need and/or desire we can feel in this life is rooted in these three.
• There are two ways to go about meeting each of these: My Way or God's Way
• My Way fills the three, in order, with: Sex, Accumulation & Achievement. The problem is that each is incomplete. Sex, like any other drug always requires more and unfortunately, in our current culture, almost always more people. Accumulation is plagued by the unanswerable question of "When do I have enough?" (and thus always requires more stuff). And Achievement has it's own worst enemy in it's passing nature (and thus always requires more work).
• God's Way, on the other hand, fills the three, in order, with: Worship, Release & Identity. Worship grants me unlimited capacity for intimacy in the purest way imaginable. Release allows me to stop trusting me, and begin to trust God for my security. And Identity focuses on who God declares me to be, which is requires no work on my part and is permanent.
• My Way always leads to Death (at multiple levels) while God's Way leads to Life (also at multiple levels). If I embrace the former, I get to not only enjoy Life but be a distributor of it. But if I embrace the latter, I not only speed along towards Death, but end up taking many others along for the ride.

As one who takes very seriously my purpose and impact in this life, I am challenged continuously to evaluate not only What I am doing, but Why (sounds a bit like an earlier topic, huh?). My answer to this question, and my commitment to meet my Core Needs God's Way will make all the difference in this life...and the life to come.

I told you a couple months back that we were going to "boldly go...", so I hope you're enjoying the journey. And yes, just in case you're wondering, I did see the new Star Trek and it was GREAT! I just pray that my desire for the next one (which will surely come) will always be eclipsed by my desire to be God's man...and Captain.