Month: January 2019

Back in September I wrote about the stressful tasks on the horizon.

The biggest monster that was looming has come and gone.

It was interesting to hang out with a dragon…

It was a day that was full and stressful, rewarding and draining and energizing. It was sad and thrilling, scary and fun. It had ups and downs and there’ll never be another like it. I was glad for it and I’ll probably never forget it, but I hope there’s never one even close to being like it.

There was a lot going on. And when I think back through all the things that led to that day, I think of Romans 8:28.

God has made us creatures with free will and the power of choice. And that means we mess up. We do stupid things. We make mistakes. We miss obvious warnings along our journey. But through it all, with the missteps, mistakes, and outright wrong choices that led to that day and that specific collection of events, I turned around and saw something beautiful.

When we find ourselves on a path littered by the detritus of our mistakes, when we turn around we see the Redeemer stands there, ready to turn to good the mess we have made.

Don’t forget to turn around.

It’ll be different…

It’s a new year. The bustle of holidays and family gatherings is over. Work is settling down after the Christmas rush. So all the over-extension will change.

I’ve spent years feeling like I’m on a tight, rough path, but there’s going to be a meadow just a little bit farther ahead, so just stretching a little thinner, and living with “less than ideal” in important things, like time with family, time invested in my wife, time to rest, all of that, well, that can be lived with for a little bit, because there is a meadow is just ahead and everything will normalize, and I can probably even make up some losses in those important things that are currently under-served for the sake of other (also important) things.

But the meadow is a lie. There has never been a meadow, every time I thought I saw one ahead, it wasn’t there when I got there. There has never been one. There will never be one. Which means I need to adapt to the trail.

If you are finding yourself stretched thin and you are rationalizing that “soon it’ll  be different,” stop. It will only be different if you make it different.

Evaluate your goals. Look honestly at your life, and start pruning.

This year will be different for me. Not because I’m going to suddenly appear in that oasis opening, where the trail of life is wide and smooth and flat, but because I’m going to be intentional about dumping some of this load, and taking a machete to the path around me.

I’ve tortured the metaphor enough. Here’s the bottom line:I’m going to stop living life like a change is going to come, and make changes happen.

Care to join me?