04.27.19 - week 1
when samuel told jesse (1 Sam 16), ‘i’m not here for tallest or best looking, god isn’t looking for that, god’s looking for what’s inside,’ he was giving us the key to all of it, this thing called life.
i almost imagine it like the stereotypical mid-30 something in church. often they started with a long list of ‘must-haves’ in their search for a partner. a decade goes by and now they simply want to be loved and love back. the list has gotten shorter + shorter. does that mean they would be upset if a model/doctor/trust fund appeared on the horizon? of course not, it just means they have set what matters most at the top of the list.
i am in a season of transition in my life. lots of time to ponder and review and assess where i have been and where i’m hoping to go. without a fast pace and incessant demands available to mask my true self, i have had to dig deep. when your measurable accomplishments and progress slow to a halt, you are forced into the blessed pain of measuring your immeasurable. see my true motives + patterns weren’t broken. that’s much too binary. but they were occasionally misaligned. a little too focused on the external at the expense of internal, too much poured out, and not enough taken in at times.
and so i have been re-centering on something simple + delightful.
god loves the work of our hands
he delights in the strength of wills
god adores the soaring thoughts of our minds
but those aren’t what he wants most.
he wants our hearts.
by that, i mean our trust. our affection. our feelings.
david didn’t find god’s heart when he was made king,
he was made king because he found god’s heart.
everyone wants to be king, almost no one wants to be a faithful shepherd boy.
as simple it seems, the path from where you are today to where you hope to get can only start in god’s presence, giving him your heart, again. cultivate that space and you will be amazed what happens. that's what i'm doing.
Cup of Leadership
pain is not evidence that you are weak or bad or sinning. pain is a message from you, to you, about how you are doing. so often we view pain the same way a bleary eyed parent sees their toddlers late nite crying: that is, something to make stop not something to understand. some of us dull pain through substance or project pain through anger towards others, which is often temporarily easier than dealing with it.
it hurts because something happened. in the same way that physical pain like a black eye or sprained ankle requires certain treatment to heal properly, so does emotional pain. if our only strategy is to stuff it down and wait it out, the pain often just gets worse. so if you are in pain, ask ‘why’ before ‘how to stop,’ it sends us down a healthier path.
Book Review
i haven’t connected with many christian parenting books (too law oriented - too guilt inducing - why is someone with toddlers certain he’s knows anything about parenting etc), this book is my favorite yet. the over-arching theme is to trade managing behavior for meaningful relationship. i loved the style of father + mother trading chapters, gave helpful perspective. i was challenged + encouraged to prayerfully take my game w my boys up a notch. thx mark + jan foreman
3 Things I Really Liked This Week
1. i loved this interview w. bishop jakes + steven furtick .. incredibly encouraging
2. nate bargatze has a new special on netflix i found very funny (and from what i remember, very clean)
3. a friend gave me this book, might be my favorite WW2 read ever.