11.16.19 - week 29
on reid’s 9th birthday
during a few of the darkest moments i have had in the last year, i started to give up. not on life, but on the idea that many of the things i was hoping would happen in my life vocationally and experientially would ever happen. a sort of emotional punt i guess.
in those moments, i would start to think something like, ‘well lord, if you withholding the things i want drives my attention towards being a more focused dad and that allows one of my boys to do something great, i can figure out how to accept that.’
whenever that concept was in my mind, the kid i was thinking of, was reid.
my reider is so passionate it almost can’t be comprehended absent its observance. he cried non-stop his first two years of life. he had a shriek more excruciating than one of those videos you see on instagram where a band is playing in 3 different keys simultaneously. his body is slender but he wrenches it when frustrated with incredible ferocity. he has a soft heart and compliant spirit, but there’s a fire in his belly that is a perpetual challenge to harness. he has keen spiritual insight and the most wonderful laugh. he gets this look in his eyes and smirk on his face when someone swears on a podcast we are listening to (thanks bill simmons) that is a perfect combination of glee and moral outrage. he loves seeing people on the sidelines and help them find their way into the game.
he’s the middle brother, which means anytime there a problem, he’s involved. and it’s usually his fault.he’s the very best player on a very bad park district football team right now and watching him try to help his friends line up correctly while not spewing his frustration is such a vivid glimpse into his future. he has been blessed with loads of athletic and leadership gifts, and i pray every day that god allows me to live to see a day where his astonishing capability is harnessed into building god’s kingdom.
happy 9th birthday to reid. we are halfway to 18. i can’t wait to see what happens next.
this verse is on my mind for you:
proverbs 23:22-24
buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
the father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
Hebrews 12:1-4
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”
The boys and I came across this passage for our Bible discussion yesterday morning and it got me thinking about endurance and some of my early running days. We learn quickly in life that endurance isn’t something we can purchase at the store or gain without trying, but it is worth every ounce you gain through the process of staying when you want to throw in the towel.
I’m not minimizing anything that you have been through, in fact, I am really sorry for the hard road that you have had to experience. Whether you have had to endure through family trials, work trials, injustice, heartache, health crisis or something else I am sorry. Trials are usually hard lonely roads and even when we know all the biblical answers it almost always helps when someone looks at you and says I’m really sorry that you are hurting. But as I read and thought through this text it actually says to consider that none of ‘our hurt lists’ could compare to Jesus’. He knows your story, He sees you and knows how to help you endure if you just ask.
It got me thinking about my jr. high cross country coach. I don’t remember him very fondly but I have always remembered his advice because it’s just plain true. He would always say, “the shortest distance between two points is a straight line!” The point being don’t zigzag or take big loops when you turn because every step counts. You see, our course had a big sledding hill on it and so if we practiced on the hill and endured it in heat or cold when our opponents who had trained on flat land came, they wouldn’t have the endurance that we had built on the hill. And that would be the point in the race that we could excel and pass them, it wasn’t guaranteed but it was possible. How did we excel on that hill? By putting one foot in front of the other, by keeping our breathing measured, and by not wasting all of our energy at the front of the race.
The last thing that my coach would say was, “the hill is your friend.” In those initial practices I could think of a lot of words for the hill and none of them were synonymous with friend. And yet the very thing that seemed like it was our demise at practice was the very thing that made us stronger and better against our competitors.
We are in a race called life, let’s try and make everyday and every step count, putting one foot in front of the other, with our eyes on the prize, and our heart on our eternal destination. We have a perfect example, he’s with you in your ‘keeping on’ every step of the way. And he has plans ahead of you that will put to good use the endurance you are building right now.
Cup of Leadership
allow people to grow into not needing your mentorship.
allow people to grow into not requiring your influence.
treat people as who they have become not who you they stumbled into being.
treat people as they are trying to be, not what they used to be.
this is a parenting thing. a marriage thing.
an employment thing. and a church thing.
a lot of times its easier for us to treat them how we used to, but its most loving to them to affirm their development + progress
Book Review
god does more in you that’s hidden than what is easily seen. so rather than focus on the surface stuff, put your energy into what’s happening down below. that’s the core of my friend banning lieberscher’s book, rooted. he has been a good friend to me this year, so i found it easy to read his work open heartedly. this is a fantastic read for someone just starting out in faith or someone at a pit stop along the journey.
Podcasts This Week
the listenership is slowly but surely growing. would love for you to rate/review to help us along
my newly 9 year old son, reid, asked me 3 times if he could be on the podcast as a birthday present .. so we did it. its short and VERY sweet.
part 1 of my series through the book of 1 thessalonians, i think you will find these messages challenging and encouraging. this sermon is also on youtube.
Things I Liked This Week
to be honest, i was at a conference and writing a research paper and a sermon so i wasn’t on the internet and didn’t see anything interesting ☺