Adventures In Missing The Point

I admit it, I've missed the point.  Somewhere along the road of life I got this idea planted in my head that life is about me, my desires, my hopes, my dreams.  I've spent most of my life so far trying to make me happy.  Growing up it was by playing hockey, getting my parents to pay for me to play on teams I wanted to be a part of, buying equipment I wanted, spending time with friends who made me feel good about my self, going to the High School I thought would be best for me.  Even in college, I continued to miss the point.  I would go to places I thought would make me look good, join groups I thought I would enjoy or make my resume look better, spend money on video things I enjoyed, even dating girls I thought would make me look good.  Even as I started in ministry I still missed the point, feeling that life and even my Christian faith is about me, what Sunday School class would help me grow, what Bible study I best fit in, if I enjoyed the music Sunday morning, If the programs for my kids were the way I wanted.  

But over the past few years I've begin to realize it's not about me.  Maybe it's due to being married, maybe it's due to having kids, maybe it's due to countless conversations with people like Andrew Filkins and Ron Hutchins and others, maybe its an element of growth of my faith, but I'm starting to discover life is not about me.  Life is about living as an Heir to the Kingdom.  It's about taking up my cross daily the way Jesus did.  It's about me becoming less comfortable so God's Love can shine through me.  Life is about putting down my desires and my dreams, and taking up the attitude of a servant.  Jesus offered something totally different then any other religious or political leader.  If taught to be great we had to leave our comforts, follow him and serve the way he did.  

My wife and I have come to realize that as we start to get the point, our lives are starting to look radically different.  

We've downsized , while we were more comfortable in a big minivan and a second car, we've realized that the way we help our environment, save on gas so we can give more to others, and the time we spend close as a family, is worth it.  

We've changed habits, while sometimes I'm uncomfortable cleaning poop out of a cloth diaper, we've realized that again the way we protect our creation for others to enjoy, and save money so we can give more, is well worth it.  

We've changed the way we spend and save, while we miss some of the comforts of bigger and better things and bigger and better savings, we've come to realize the amount of money we spend on those things can feed others in need for sometimes months.  We've even realized that people could literally live off of what we saved in the past year.

We've changed who we spend time with.  While we miss the comforts of being with people all the time who believe and practice faith the way we do, we've come to realize that the relationships we've formed with people outside the faith, and the opporunities we've had to love on others like Jesus did, has been well worth it.

I still miss the point...almost daily.  But living for others is an adventure, one I hope you'll join with me.

Every time I get on Facebook these days I see people taking part in the 30 or maybe it is 24 days of Thanksgiving. For each day from November 1 to Thanksgiving or the end of November they "share" a blessing. People have been posting things like their spouse, or children. People have been sharing how they are thankful to have Christ in their life or to live in America.

As I read through these posts daily I have been noticing how most of these blessings have been about what makes these people happy, and it got me thinking about the song "Blessings" by Laura Story

What if blessings in life are more then what makes us happy?

What if our greatest Blessing and things we can be grateful for are the times we can take on the attitude of Jesus Christ and Make Less of our self and more of Him? What if our blessings are not what makes us happy but what we do for others?

I am thankful I can feed my kids. It is a blessing that I can go to the grocery store this afternoon and stock up on food and not be hungry. I am thankful I can go out to eat at nice restaurants or even McDonalds, but Last month on a journey downtown when I could get a hotdog for a homeless man and sit on a bench and eat with him and talk with him seemed like a much greater blessing and made my ability to eat out seem not like a blessing, but a selfish desire.

And I am thankful for the comforts of living in this country, for my soft bed, nice house, great church and more, but I felt even more blessed sleeping on a church floor in Juarez Mexico, working in extreme heat all day with no shower. Blessed not because of what I had, but because of what I was doing. Thankful not for the comforts I had left, but for the opportunity to serve.

So what’s the point I miss?

I guess just that my blessings are not only things I have. Oh I am thankful beyond belief for my wife and our marriage, for my kids, for my job and my church and for my comforts of home, but it is more than that.

The Blessings in my life are not just about ME but about HIM and how I can I use what he's given me for his kingdom. Now that's a blessing

Yeah I know it is Tuesday and I am a day behind.  The kiddos were sick yesterday so I didn’t get a chance to post.  My plan is to share each Monday what I am listening to.  I recently started listening to a Tooth and Nail band called Icon For Hire.  This Monday check out their hit “Make a Move”

What I like about “Make a Move” is its strong message of how we are all too scared to make a change, but somebody needs to move!

“‘Cause everybody’s so scared/ We don’t want to go there/ We don’t want to make a move/ We’ve got all our lives to lose/ Screaming in the dark/ While we just play our part/ I’ll play right along/ Like I don’t know what’s going on/ Somebody make a move!”

In wake of the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky scandal, I heard a quote that served as a great reminder for me. Colin Cowherd, on his ESPN radio show, said "Like sports but Love your life" He went on to expand on it saying its ok to like a sports team, but not to put them on the same level as your spouse, or kids, or your god.

As I watched students riot after the firing of a coach I realized we have a habit, especially as men, of loving our sports teams, players, coaches and other figures, But the reality is we miss the point. We are called to Love our God and to Love our neighbors as our self.

It's ok to like sports, but don't love them. It's a trap I easily fall into, but I am going to love my God, my wife, my kids, my family, my friends, my church , etc. I am no longer going to Love my sports team, I'll still cheer like heck for the Buckeyes, I'll still root LSSU hockey, I'll still follow what the Indians are doing this off season, but I will no longer elevate a team or a person to a place where they don't belong.

On a side note, in wake of what happened at Penn State, I want to urge parents to talk to your kids about sexual predators. Talk to them about what to do if someone touches them inappropriately. Talk to them about how they need to tell you if something happens. This weekend we had that talk with our boys, and as much as I hope my kids will be safe, I had to have that talk with them.

Anyone catch Coldplay on SNL last week?  They preformed their new song Paradise.  I have to say the song caught me off guard a little bit.  It was different from the “classic” sounds of Coldplay I am used too.  But as I listen to the song I began to really appreciate it and possibly the new direction for Coldplay.  First of all I love the instrumentation.  So many different instruments and they all sound really good.  Second I love Chris Martins voice in the song, it fits perfect.

I was not so sure about the Paradise repeat throughout the song, but as I listened to it a few times I realized how catchy it was and realized as I sang it, that was the part that was repeated over and over again

Overall its definitely worth a listen.  Check it out