Well, it’s been a while since I just journaled straight from the heart.
I have really enjoyed the time in Colossians and will be getting back to that soon, but for now, for today, I just feel the need to speak from the heart.
I must say that for the last few years life has been pretty normal. No real highs or lows, nothing too extreme.
Yes there have been difficulties as well as times of excitement, etc… but for the most part, life has been pretty much on an even keel.
My family life has been pretty good.
I do wish that my wifes work schedule were more well suited to our liking, but for now, we have to do what we have to do to pay off some debt.
Nothing major, but we really are aiming to truly live within our means and not have to use credit for stuff anymore.
Our personal relationship with one another is really very good.
We have completely different personalities and tastes, which although at times can make it a little difficult to relate, it mostly makes life pretty interesting.
She is a wonderful woman with such a pure childlike (and I mean that in a very good way!) faith in the Lord Jesus.
She’s not all that interested in having this big head full of bible knowledge so much as she is just very aware of the Lords love for her.
That is what makes her who she is, and she is beautiful.
I have two step children, Samantha and Chad, who are both great kids.
They are growing up so quickly and doing very well in school.
Samantha is very well mannered, very patient and even tempered.
Like her mom, she likes to go rollerskating, which they do together every now and then.
She told me the other day that she is the fastest girl in her ‘road runners’ track group that meets once a week after school.
She is growing up to be a very sweet young lady who, I’m sure, has a very promising future ahead of her.
Chad is also doing well in school and very athletic.
I think I see him walking on his hands more than I see him walking on his feet!
I teach him and a couple other young boys martial arts one day a week, which he enjoys.
He also loves riding his bike, jumping on the trampoline, and…well, anything physical.Of course he likes his playstation II and is always trading little games and gadgets with his buddies at school.
He’s a fireball and good boy.
And then there is Becky, whom some of you have been ‘virtually’ introduced to here before.
This one is ‘daddy’s little girl’.
She is just a real character and a genuine sweetheart. She loves doing just about anything, but I think some of her favorites are playing with bugs and lately, building with legos.
She is also very artistic and likes to draw, color, and paint.
Praise God that her symptoms are going away!!!!!
I thank you all, so much, for your prayers, and I ask that you continue to lift her (and our family) up to the Lord.
(I plan to post a more detailed update on her condition soon, so check back!!!)
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Of course none of us are without our flaws and weakness’ but, that pretty much goes without saying, amen?
I was chatting with my friend Jeremy last night, and we have both recognized that just about everyone we know seems to be going through some kind of hard time right now.
The more I thought about that, the more I realized that, at least in my own life, that is just the way it has always been.
As far back as I can remember, there have always been hard times. It is just part of living.
No, that doesn’t make it any easier, but it is true.
(Did I tell you that I busted my two front teeth at work yesterday? OUCH!!)
Look all the way back through the history books, and even the scriptures themselves will testify that this idea of the ‘perfect family’ or the ‘perfect life’ is only just that…,
an idea.
(Well yes, there was ONE perfect life. 
)
Honestly it is refreshing and even enlightening to come to this realization.
It relieves the pressure of trying to be something that we are just not.
It helps us to live more honestly before God and one another and causes us to grow in His grace and to gain our strength from Him.
No, it doesn’t mean that we ‘just don’t care’ about our conditions or situations.
Instead, in the midst of this truth we discover just how much we really do care about the Lord and one another.
I’ve come to realize that it is just impossible to accurately talk about or explain certain things.
Words just do not cut it.
But I’m going to give it a shot.
Living the Christian life isn’t about trying harder.
It’s not about lining yourself up with a holy standard.
That, my friends, is called Legalism.
Now I know some will read this and start pointing out scriptures about this or that, but I guarantee for every time you do that, I can point to just as many scriptures that will prove you wrong.
The bible is not a rule book.
The bible IS NOT:
Basic
Instruction
Before
Leaving
Earth
The bible is not a how to manual. Not unless you wanna get into Torah and taking that route (no thanks, I’ve already died once).
The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
It is a collection of Inspired writings.
I tell you the truth….
If the scriptures do not point you to a living encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, then they will only lead you down the road of religion.
Before you know it YOU and your ‘christian life’ will be the center of everything.
Believe me, saints.
This happens so subtley.
Everything in our culture already has our mind bent around in that direction, and so when we take that mind and filter the bible (or anything else) through it, we will end up with the same thing.
Now that I’ve made such an extreme statement from that end of things, I am going to completely contradict myself and say to you that the bible agrees with what I am saying here.
Discover the Lord Jesus Christ.
Re-discover Him.
May we learn what it means to lose our own lives (even our ‘Christian life’) so that we might find them.
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