a mile in her shoes.

I was reminded today that my perception of someone else's reality doesn't necessarily equate reality. Think about it... how quick are you to judge someone just by their appearance? What about the tattooed guy eating lunch in the park? What about the mom with more kids than she can possibly provide for (14 total and 8 at one time)? Even in church, when someone walks past you what do most of us automatically do? We make an assumption.

I was reminded today that I don't know what it is like at someone else's house. I mean, it could be picture perfect. Everything is all together. No problems that are visibly evident. But what really happens when they all get home? Is there distance between them? Is there hurt between them? Its like the old saying, "Don't judge the book by its cover." I am unbelievably grateful that God looks at my heart instead of my actions or even my outward appearance... the frown, the look of despair, the image that we too often read in to.

You never know all of the circumstances unless they are yours. You never truly know until... you walk a mile in her shoes.

seize the day

One of the rules that I so desperately attempt to live by is really simple. make the most of every moment. Seize the day for what it has to offer. Now I'm not overboard getting up at 4:00 in the morning like one man I know but I do attempt to use every waking hour to my advantage. I am a night person (not to be confused with a person of the night) and I stay up piddling around because I don't want to miss out on anything. I've always been that way. I feel the need to squeeze every opportunity out of every hour.

In my prior job I really thought I'd retire there. That's really crazy since I'm only 36... but I thought Randy, Phillip, Kevin, Tom, Derrick, CJ, Tony, Chris T, Wade, Chris, Garmon, Twan, and even Floyd... we'd always work together. In fact I lived almost every day with the pattern of not taking any of it all for granted because I just wanted to live it all up. I have this burning inside me that just wants to live each day like it may be my last.

So, whatever it is... your wife/husband, your kids, your church, your job, your friends, where you VOLUNTEER, or whatever it (LIFE) looks like for you... seize it all. Don't live timid. Don't look back. Dream. Run wide open. Don't say I'll do it tomorrow... Tomorrow begins Today.

troubled and saved for there.

I have been troubled lately. About ten days ago I was walking through my local grocery store and noticed a man standing near the baby diapers. I noticed him because he was looking at the different brands quite thoroughly and I remembered the days... Well, I did my shopping and went and stood in line. As I approached the end of the line this same man walked rather quickly right past me, in front of me actually, and right out the front door. He had a a little plastic hand basket full of stuff and diapers on the top. As her left the store I watched him walk across the parking lot faster and faster and then as he approached his van (which was parked right next to my truck) he hit sprint speed and jumped in the van as it was already leaving the station!

I was amazed. I was shocked. I was mad. I was heart-broken. I was troubled. I don't know if I was more troubled that I witnessed this and did nothing or if I was more troubled that he stole baby diapers. This really bothered me. It happened so fast all I could do was watch and then... he was gone. troubled.

And for some weird reason I have been checking the obituaries in the paper every other day for the last two or three weeks. I don't know why. But as I turn to the columns of words written about the recently deceased, my eye always looks to see how old they were when they passed. I see death with completely un-spiritual eyes way too much. I know when we die (as believers) we will meet our ultimate reward but it takes me a while to get there. I think about death and tragedy and my heart hurts because someone is stripped away from those who love them. Anyway, we had a fatal traffic accident by my house about two or three weeks ago and I was about six minutes ahead of the accident. That has troubled me.

Then I find myself becoming restless with me. And then... I have one of those quiet "me and God" moments. I sense Him speak to me in a moment of stillness and quietness. The reason you are troubled is because you are seeking to fit into a place you were not designed to fit. It's like I'm trying to make my place in this world when ultimately I wasn't made for this world. So can I find peace? Yes, but peace in Him. So do I fit? No... maybe for a time and at a certain place. But the bottom line is I can not find that Utopian comfort because it is not to be found here. It is saved for there.

2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal."