Making Amends

Is it just me or do people sometimes hear what they want to hear? I think that when they know (or think rather)that they are right in their own mind it can deafen them to what is being said. Sometimes when someone thinks they are so much smarter than others they tend to fill in the blanks of what was said with thoughts of their own without ever asking the right questions. I believe that when posed a question from someone your answer is sometimes guided by what you believe is the motive behind it or their intended use of the information they are asking for. Or maybe perhaps I have misspoken. Either way, these situations tend to lend to conflicts when the two involved are both hardheaded and inclined to think that they are the one who is usually right. In these heated times it is easy to lose your cool at the onslaught of verbal abuse and find your self on someone else's level. A place that in times past I had no problem being, but now I find that I have this feeling that I let myself down. So, as I am sitting here typing away I realize that I can let this confrontation fester away or I can do something about it. I can be the one to man up, be the one that attempts to remedy the situation and not make something that in all actuality was no big deal become a more than it should be. So, that is what I intend on doing.....guess I'll let you know how this works out in the end......


Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)


Bridge mended.....sometimes just stepping back away from a situation for a moment gives both people time to have a new perspective and allows them to understand each other better. Stepping up and making amends can be a difficult thing at times, but when you can get your pride out of the way it becomes much easier to bring resolution and closure to most conflicts.

What's my name?

I've been thinking lately about the meaning of names. We all have a name that was given to us when we were born. Some of us had nicknames during our childhood or even that continued on with us throughout our lives. There is no doubt that there can be strong meanings behind a name.

My Son
Joseph: He will enlarge
Wyatt: Brave/strong/hardy warrior
(He is no doubt a larger than life embodiment of strength and bravery)

My daughter
Whitley: white field
Faye: Fairy
(She has always  been a little free spirit and as breathtaking as any cotton field lit by an Alabama sunset)

My Wife
Sarah: Princess
Anne: Grace; favor
(I myself have never met anyone more favorable to my heart, blessed with grace, and truly a queen in my eyes)

Me
Joseph: He will enlarge
Adam: Man
(This is yet to be seen....)

But, the truth is a name is but a name. Are we bond by a name, to fulfill only what our given name implies? Are we bound by the names we are mockingly called throughout our lives? Are we made by our names or are we meant to make a name for ourselves?

Many of us wander through life delusionally thinking that we are no more than the names and labels imposed upon us, either by others or ourselves. For some this may be, but not so for those that are in Christ. The bible tells us that for those who follow Christ here in this world that we will be given a new name in the next. Our new names are already carved in a white stone. We will not know our new name until we are truly home. This new name will have a meaning, we will truly know who we are, and at last we will truly know our purpose. God changed the earthly name of many people in the bible, their new name had a new meaning, a new purpose. We don't have to be who we were, God can and will change us that are called to him. We do not have to label ourselves. God already knows our name, and I for one can't wait for him to reveal to me who "I truly am".

So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away--look, what is new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (1 John 3:2)

Rest in Him

So, I haven't made a post quite a few days. Busy time of year for me, as I'm sure it is for everyone else. Between Thanksgiving holiday around the corner; as well as Christmas and its ever looming shopping list, my kids birthdays the week before Christmas; family Christmas party; church small group Christmas party; my work "employee appreciation day"; my wife's work Christmas party; harvest season for "Harrison Farms"; hunting season (Male bonding time with my dad and brother); and I'm sure I missed a few other events that have slipped by mind......Anyway, my point is that with so much going on this time of year I find it very easy to loose sight of what is important and what matters. Don't get me wrong; enjoying my kids birthday, spending time with family and friends, celebrating the birth of Christ and God's love for us, these are all things that I value. I just find the holiday season very draining, almost like in a fog drifting through the season as if in a dream. I become anxious, tired, sad/mad at myself for not being happy at times during this time of year.

I'm sure some of this feeling comes from the burdens we (I) put on ourselves. Such as: Feeling like we have to attend every function. Buying and spending more than we really should on gifts (as if the amount of love we have for others is somehow based on the amount of things we get them for birthdays and Christmas). Not taking the time to enjoy the simple pleasure of the season. Trying not to fall behind on work while knowing in the back of your mind that regardless of how much you struggle to keep up that you will be playing catch up for the next month....ugh. Thinking about how commercialized the holidays have become. Just to name a few.

I feel the need to remind myself to REST in the Lord.

"Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I’m gently and lowly in heart, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30)

I feel the need to remind myself that he WILL give me rest (not may or maybe, He WILL)
God wants us to come to him with our burdens and humbly lay them at his feet. He wants us to draw near to him. To rest in him and be at peace. Walk with him and not with this world. Be in this world but not of the world.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"
(Philippians 4:6-7)

I truly am thankful for God's love, all he has done in my life, and thankful that I know that I can rest in him.

Welcome to the Family

I look around me; at work, at the store, on TV, everywhere I turn; and see so many lost and broken people. The thing is, most of them don't even realize it. They think that they have a handle on their life or that life just is as it is and that they must face it alone. Many of them even think that God is a delusion created only in the minds of others. Many believe in him but think that simply believing is enough and don't truly live for him. Many are scared to give up the way of life they now live, afraid that if they start down that road with him that they will be changed, become like "the hypocrites that go to church". Many believe that they can never be good enough or that they have done too many wrongs to ever be able to look others in the eye and call them brothers and sisters in Christ.

The truth is that I was all of these, and looking back now I almost laugh at myself for not seeing what is so clear to me now. We are all broken, all, but we don't have to be lost and alone. We have a father in heaven who is calling out to us, with arms wide open, waiting for us to run to him. When we do: he will reveal himself to us; he will change us; he will work for us and through us. He says to us, "look here, these are your brothers and sisters who truly love you". So how can we be lost when we walk with our family, the family of God? We may be broken just as we all are but lost is one thing we are not. We have God and we have each other. God will fix our brokenness one day at a time and he will use us as a tool to fix the brokenness of our brothers and sisters.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to them that believe on his name (John 1:12)

I feel truly blessed to have a new family of my own in the form of a small group. It took my wife and I over a year to find a group that fit for us. Either the day of the week didn't work, or the time, or the life stage was a little off for us, or there was no child care. I think God's timing is always perfect as well as his plans for us, because I couldn't think of a better group of people to grow together with. Though its only been a short amount of time since we first meet, I already know that God has put some amazing people in my life. Most seem as jacked up as me at time, and the rest, well I probably just need time to see that they are as well. That being said, they really are good people and want to do good for God, grow stronger in their faith, and reach the lost and broken in this world. Not sure where life's journey's will lead us but I do know that as long as I follow God, it will be amazing.

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all , especially unto them who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10)

Somethings missing something

Have you ever had a time in your life where you were seeking affection from someone or trying to bond with them and it seemed like the more you try the less you got or the more distant you felt? It can knock you down and it will if you let it, but maybe there is more to it than it appears. Maybe I am being selfish? Maybe instead of thinking about what I am missing out on, what I am in need of, maybe I should be thinking about the other person and what they are in need of. What could be going on in them, what should I be doing for them? Maybe by filling their needs, I could in turn initiate the fulfillment of my own.

Does our greatest happiness not come from meeting the needs of others? Shouldn't we (I) be seeking to find our (my) happiness in the Lord? Jesus loves us and when we seek him and his affection it is there and when we wish to bond with him and become closer to him he always gives us that opportunity. I am learning this more and more every day. No one in this world can ever live up to our expectations. There will always be let downs and disappointment in every relationship, sometimes we are let down, other times we are the one falling short. I know that I fall short all the time, so how then can I be upset when I feel like someone is falling short of meeting my needs? The truth is that it is our human condition, us in all our brokenness, to feel disappointment in others yet feel that we are justified in those feelings. We all have a hole inside of us that we continually try to fill with things that don't fit, like a square peg in a round hole. (analogy intended...just for you) We can fill that hole. Jesus fits.


For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

Today and going forward, I will continue to try to not dwell on my own needs but look past them to the needs of others. The key word here is "try", because I know I will fall short at times; but I will do my best to remember this and let God tend to my needs.

Heaven without God?

Yesterday my wife and I were talking about someone very dear to us, particularly about a short conversation where this person mentioned that she does not believe in God but believes that she will go to heaven. This is a strange thought process for me to understand. One who believes in heaven must surly believe in God, right? A part of me thinks that what is missing in her is not a belief in God (believing in heaven surely means that there is some belief in something greater than this world), but rather a misunderstanding about God's love. It can be easy for those with a rough past to question God's love, I may not have all the answers for her but I do know that God definitely loves us. John 3:16 (one of the most quoted verses in the bible) tells us: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. God does love us; he wants our love, he wants our belief and faith in him as well. The book of John also tells us what Jesus thought about faith and belief: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

She also made a comment along the lines of, "...so and so's husband just died, if there was a God he wouldn't let that happen". The word of God does not tell us that we will never suffer, but know that sin, evil, suffering was not God's doing. God made all creation and "it was good". He created man in his image, this included the capacity to love. To have the capacity to "love" we must have "free will", and from "free will" came the fall of man in the garden of Eden. Since the fall, our world and lives have been full of suffering. Even natural disasters and the like can be attributed to the fall of man. In our rejection of God (the we can do it without you attitude) he stepped back and let us see that we do need him. (like the fact that you can tell a child over and over not to touch something because it's hot but if he had touched it once you would never have to tell him again). Though there is suffering in this world there is hope, God sent us a savior that we my once again come to him and be in a perfect place.

".....In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33 (JESUS)

Look, I don't have all the answers, I don't claim to have all the answers. I, like many others, am still learning new things about myself every day. How can I answer all there is to ask of our God, the creator of me? I do on the other hand know one answer....JESUS!....and I am thoroughly content with that answer. I am not saying that I won't continue to diligently seek the answers to life's toughest questions, just that I am fully faithful that God has his reasons. My understanding is limited to my knowledge and my knowledge is limited to what is given, in time I will understand.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

I just hope and pray that the things which I know to be true can find it's way into the hearts of those who are lost, those who have these beliefs that are seated in their own misconceptions of who God truly is. Misconceptions formed from their own minds; built upon a painful past, present, or perceived future; and not from the word of God. I pray that God uses me, as broken as I am, to be an instrument for him.


How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Romans 10:14)

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16)

Feeling Blessed

Feeling blessed these last couple of days. Just yesterday I received good news from my employer in the form of my first ESOP statement (looked way better than I ever would have expected), I received great news from my wife (not sharing that news just yet), I got a chance to talk to my good friend brother whom I haven't spoke to in far too long, and had a great night of just hanging out with family. It's easy to feel blessed when we have days like these, but are we not still blessed in moments of trials and tribulation?

I think we all need to be reminded that we are indeed blessed by those hard times in our past and the ones to come. God tells us through Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." God will use our trials, our tribulations, and our suffering for his glory. Maybe he needed you to go through something to gain the knowledge needed to help someone else. Maybe he needed you to overcome something so that someone else could see that it could be overcome. Maybe he took you through something so he could break you before he remade you.

There are so may reasons God calls us to suffer for him, but know that it is not for nothing. None can truly know why we have to go through our own particular struggles other than God, but we can take heart and rejoice because we know that he is using it. He will not let it go to waste. We should remember that he is working in us and through us in these times and that truly is something to rejoice in.

(Note to self: "Self....., remember what you just wrote, you'll need it in the future")





Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:2-5)