Ok, so I’m still working on getting a better title, but this will do for now. It’s been a good weekend so far. I’m in a good spot for the move to the new house. It’s finally becoming more of a reality in my mind’s eye. So come this time next week, you’ll be getting blogs from another part of Gresham, OR. lol
For now, it’s time to work on Fantasy Basketball. I really enjoy it, which if you know me at all, no surprise there. It’s a good distraction from a busy work schedule and it’s a good way for me to stay in touch with friends who have moved to other state’s. It should be a friendly competition this year. I’m not sure how it will turn out but I ended up in second last year. Looking to improve that this time around.
Something I’m not looking forward to is everyone around me getting sick. It happens every year, but with the Swine Flu making a visit to Oregon, I’m more nervous about any colds at all this year. I was helping someone last week who had it. I felt bad for her because she looked to be in horrible shape. At the same time, I was surprised anyone would try to get out and about when they know they are infectious. I’ve been able to avoid it so far, but that doesn’t mean anything yet. For those of you who have been sick. Stay indoors and I’m praying you heal soon. Too many cases about paralysis and death for my tastes regarding our “piggy” friend.
Anyways, I promised to be more involved writing to the few of you reading my blogs. I wish you all well. Hit me back sometime.
I’ve got a few minutes to spend with you, my readers. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I like most about this time of year. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite. Truthfully, this is probably the first year I’ve really taken the time to see the beauty around me. Take for example this morning, I’m driving to work along Marine Dr. probably the greatest road to drive in the morning. Anyways, it’s crisp air and sharp contrasts made for a rare time to worship my creator. The sky was grey and a faint mist, almost like a fog. As I’m driving I’m seeing the bright yellows and reds and dancing in between them is their friend orange. You remember those paintings with the woman in a red dress but the picture is black and white? It’s like that almost but was real. I enjoy the smell of the rain contrasted with the leaves and wood during certain parts of the drive. I might be crazy driving with my window cracked but it’s hard not to sometimes when I have a motorcycle and enjoy all senses being involved as I travel.
I also like the artistic inspirations I get from this time of year as well. I’m not about to paint the Mona Lisa, but I feel there’s more to draw from when I feel the time comes to paint or draw, or even write.
It’s just a great reminder that God loves us, and shows it in so many ways. It’s a great way to start a morning. Looking forward to tomorrow’s drive as well.
I’m struggling right now. I know there are major decision needing to be made everyday of our lives. In the world we live in though, we are led to weigh certain decisions heavier than others. For instance cereal choices for breakfast drastically pail in comparison to who is going to lead our next generation of Americans into a successful and once again respected nation. Now I made my decision and I stand by it. Am I convinced though of my own reasoning? That’s the question at hand. How can I feel so conflicted? I don’t need to come across as blindly making a big choice by the flip of a coin or bad logic. I weighed out my choice carefully. I put a lot of time into this election.
I put so much effort in it’s got me wondering if I might even pursue something political or government related in the future. Why? Because this year more than any other year have I felt the impact change can have on a hurting nation. I see that there can be hope again. How we get there is the biggest question I have. I feel strongly that each person running for each position cares about the people they are trying to represent and act on their behalf for. Does power hunger get in the way? Sure. Do I feel like we have a presidential race where that’s the case? I’m going to go ahead and say no. I think all candidates feel strongly about wanting to be a change agent for a better America. So what’s the struggle? I don’t know. I’ll be honest. I can describe the feeling of hope and change on one side but question and doubt on the other. At the same time you turn around and it’s true for each side.
If I were running for President I would value people and stewardship of our land as top priorities. Not to sound New Age or Hippy-like, I wonder what a nation based on justice and love would look like. I wonder what it would look like if there was hope for the abused and I wonder what it would be like if we took care of the earth we reside on. I wonder what hope looks like for a family that just lost their house because of bad practices.
I wonder what it would look like if the church got off it’s ass and actually cared about the hurting and unjustly wronged. I wonder what the role of government has if the needs of it’s people were met outside of regulation and “programs”. What if we had the church provide for those needs of the hungry and sick? Can that ever exist? I don’t know. Does it matter? Well we’ll see by how proactive people are in reaching out and standing up for justice and love. Can you picture a country where our natural resources are beautifully kept and we can breathe fresh air even in the city? Can you picture every neighborhood characterized for it’s respect for each other and support for each member of that community. Can you imagine a bigger picture where we live in a society that reaches out to everyone when they are in need? Or imagine a culture where it’s safe to express those needs? Or where it’s safe to be real with each other without implication of abuse or judgement? I have no idea if this is possible in the world we live in today. How can a world like that be in touch with the reality that faces the actual world we live in today? The church. The lazy beast we call a church that God has given up so much for. I heard it said yesterday that God’s only plan for redemption rests on the shoulder of the church. He has no other plan. Imagine meeting someone in the their darkest nightmare and rescuing them out of it. Why? Because there’s beauty in the restoration of God’s creation…restoration back to it’s Creator and loving Father.
What happens when our bodies takes on a cold or an illness? It shuts down things that it doesn’t “need” to put the energy it can into healing the ailment. I have been doing a good job of staying healthy this year…..until now. I just got hit. My throat is sore. My head will be exploding in a few hours. I can’t breath. I’m talking like Steve Urkel right now. “Did I do that?” lol Anyways, it got me thinking. What happens when we are spiritually sick? What happens when we go on with life and not treat that sickness? If our physical body shuts down specific things but do we have spiritual areas of our life that shuts down? If we were healthy what would we be able to do? Think about it. Would we think about ourselves anymore? Or would we feel the freedom to look past ourselves with confidence and look at the hurting world around us with compassion and experience. Would we be able to use our talents and actually be excited about seeing the results afterwards, not for our sake, but because we are so excited we want to run to our Father and say “Look, see what I found” or maybe “Look Dad, I made this for you” I remember growing up, as a kid, playing sports. Whenever there was a play I made, or I played good defense, I turned to my dad for that recognition that I was valuable and treasured by him. Did he need me to do that for him? No, probably not. But something happens when we invest ourselves into something and look back and find that our dad is smiling upon us. No matter what background you are from, what do we look for as we grow up and even as adults? We look for his admiration especially if he wasn’t involved that much.
So let’s go back to talking about being sick. It is true that our body heals most cases on it’s own. But it’s an internal thing that reflects on our skin. We aren’t taking our own hands and scooping anything out or performing surgery on ourselves. Same thing spiritually, we can’t physically make ourselves truly healthy. Something is at work within us. It takes a long time sometimes and sometimes it’s a minor cut or bruise. I believe the same happens within us spiritually. Something is at work within us that changes us and heals us.
Going back to playing on the field, I may have made a great play or something to that affect but if you were to look on my clothes they were dirty, sometimes body, always had a smell to them. My mom sometimes calls it “You smell like outside” In other words, that event was at the cost of torn clothes and bloody socks, but it was worth it.
Do we need to be healthy? Absolutely. Is it us that makes ourselves healthy? Yes and no. We make the decision to see a doctor. We go to someone that knows our body and knows what it needs to heal. This is the only real churchy sounding thing I’m going to say. but I believe it’s the truth. God loves us. He made our bodies. He made them so they can persevere through pain and abrasions. He will complete a good work in us. In other words He’s not done refining us to be made in His Image. He is the one that heals physically and spiritually. However, even with the torn clothes and holes in our shins from falling down we still have the awesome privilege of his admiration. We can do things to try and please them, but deep down he loves us no matter what.
So why not take the time and hang out with Him? Why not take the time to soak up his love? Why not get other people excited that they to can find healing? Imagine Heaven where people are healed and together are in community with God. Imagine Him smiling with full acceptance and admiration of you. Imagine he loves you for you. Imagine that all he desires is that you love Him. Truly. Deeply. Love Him.
I was challenged earlier today by something. I heard a convincing argument about people and their “default setting”. What I’m talking about is the fact that if we see something awesome or inspiring we have the need to express that and share it with others. So what’s the point? Why am I taking the time to write about this? Simply put, we need to be reminded of what we share and what we value. As humans, we need each other. If you watch a spectacular game or see a beautiful girl, what is one of the first things you want to do? You want to go to your buddy and talk about what you saw and what you liked about what you saw. There’s an emotional connection made. If you didn’t have anyone to share what you are excited about, you almost feel empty. So let’s get more specific, what is it that we are excited about? And I’m not trying to say you couldn’t get excited about everything. I’m just trying to think about our priorities. In my life, I love the Blazers. I grew up a fan. I have season tickets. I get up about anything the Blazers. If they win I tell everyone at work. If they loose or get injured, I get upset and have to share how I feel they are going to do or what they should do differently. I also get up about music. If I hear a solid band or a sick bass line, I immediately call up a buddy or several and have them download it. It’s how we roll as people. Also why do we have blogs in the first place? We have blogs because we want to share what we are thinking through or passionate about. Let’s take this a step further….I want to challenge myself and anyone who wants to take this challenge with me. I want to value human life and this “playground” we call earth more than a just a side observation. I want to place more value in the things God values. Why? Because I love him. What? Seriously? Did I just say that? Yes! I love my Father. Ok, so without sounding churchy, I mean this. My priorities should be expressed vocally. And after observing what I talk about with friends, I realize I don’t always place value in the things I should. So here’s the challenge….ready? I am at a point where I understand I can’t change what I’m doing for the sake of doing something. But I am realigning myself by allowing Christ to change me. My challenge is to listen to what I talk about and confess it to God if it isn’t honoring him. I simply want to value and place worth where worth should be given. On a side note, I want to share a small experience that happened yesterday. I’m driving to eat lunch with my friends Nick and Jared. I was pulling off the freeway at Mall 205. As I know most people have seen and driven past, there are the “homeless” people on the corner. I’m broken for these people and it’s taken me literally years to humble myself to acknowledge them as humans who equally have needs just the same as I do. So here it is. I’m at the light. I see this guy. He’s looking pretty sad. He’s probably early 30’s. I didn’t feel like money was the answer but I did have something I consider a luxury. I had breath mints. Yup, I said it….mints, it’s small, goes in your month, tastes amazing. I rolled down the window and I offered a new pack of mints to him. He looked confused but was happy to accept the offer. As I pulled away, I won’t forget for a while the smile he had on his face. It was a smile of worth and dignity. It finally hit me. Everyone, no matter what their circumstances, wants to have their dignity. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back for such a small gesture but to simply express the value of that situation. I was happy to be apart of that. I pulled away from that light and had to share that with God and thank him for using me to at least for a second bring a smile to this guys face. His countenance changed that moment. I also had to share it with you because I would love to hear stories about helping people. I want to give worth the the creation God has made because ultimately we will be before him and He’s going to ask what we did with what he was given to us. Are we stewards of this earth? The church has the awesome honor of making an impact in the world. Let’s be the church…and not just sit in our comfy building and drink our coffee. Let’s bring about change and value to what should be valued.
This is my attempt to enter into the blogging world. I have avoided it thus far because I truthfully didn’t have the patience to read everyones crap. This was until earlier this week when I saw value in a friends blog. I saw potential to change or at least challenge peoples worldview. Jeremy thank you for being bold and real and loving all at the same time. I hope I don’t imitate exactly what’s been done but rather expand upon and spread to you the reader the things that impact me. I don’t claim to speak truth on everything, but I know who he is. I don’t claim to speak and act in love in everything, that’s the goal, and I hope to imitate who love is. I hope to bring a bit of humor to things. I don’t like being too serious all the time. With that being said, I don’t want to be ignorant about what’s happening in my life and around it. I hope to address real practical issues and yet maintain a heathy balance. There’s a lot to be distraught over, but I think there’s more to be encouraged by. I look for the good of things because I know someone who uses all things to be made good for his sake. I claim to follow Christ but I hesitate to use the word Christian. It’s meaning now in everyday life has become bastardized. How can someone claim to be a Christian and not make even an attempt to know who he really is? Therefore, I hope you read this and understand my heart. I want to address life as it happens from the perspective of the biggest influence in my life. That is Christ. I don’t want to be labeled as just another one of those crazy religious people. I want my actions to speak before my words. I want love and compassion to be what I’m known by rather than someone who doesn’t do anything but point fingers at the world yet sits by and does nothing while it implodes. Thank you to my friends and may this be the beginning of hopefully an encouraging and challenging time together in this world we call a blog.
