What a Day!

Last weekend was a blast! My family celebrated Labor Day and the always epic 1st day of kindergarten. Really, it was like a taste of heaven!

For as long as I can remember our family has always marked Labor Day as a time for the outdoors. With guns propped against hay bales in the middle of a field we find ourselves drenched with sweat, drinking Mountain Dew, eating Swiss Cake rolls, waiting for birds to fly overhead. With the sound of shotgun blasts we watch as birds fall from the sky like manna from heaven (insert laughter here for those who've been dove hunting before).

As the weekend began to wane into the not-so-distant past, Tuesday came like a jolt of Red Bull to the likes of my son's 1st day of kindergarten. What joy and sadness packaged in that ride across town! The moment we all simultaneously wait for and wish never happened. The story seems so familiar as the outstretched hand of his mother slowly separated from his and he began his journey down the hall as both fought back tears with new found bravery to face the unknown.

Here's the picture we're painting for the world to see; show the best and hide the rest! There are parts of our lives we want to put on display for the rest of the world to see. We Facebook it. We tweet it. We put it on Instagram. But there are parts of our lives we would rather keep hidden in dark spaces. We hide it. We ignore it. We even lie about it.

I'm learning that God wants to expose everything. Really, God? Is that necessary? Showing the best, I'm fine with that. But the ugly parts, let's just forget about that. Let's leave that in the cellar of times gone by.

He wants to expose the satisfaction we find in His creation. He wants to expose the joy we find in the relationships we are building with others. He wants to expose the fear we experience in unfamiliar territory. He wants to expose the insecurities we see peering through the mirror as we try to measure up to others.

He wants to expose our imperfections. Our insufficiencies. Our baggage. Our scars. Because He knows that then and only then can we begin to see Him as perfect. Sufficient. Burden bearer. Healer.

Here's my prayer today. Father, expose the dark spaces of my heart. Remind me that my measuring stick in life is not my neighbor; it's your Son. In the loving way that only you can, point out my shortfalls with your hand gently pressed against mine to remind me that you will not abandon me. Let me live in the satisfying love and forgiveness that only comes through the sacrifice of your Son. Teach me to be grateful for the life that can only be found in You!
 

Stressed Beyond Belief

Stressed. Anxious. Worried. Not enough time. Not enough energy. Not enough...

Just fill in the blank with what you consider to be your maxim of stress.

A laughable phrase that I often share to lighten the mood of the stressed out type-A's in my life is "Why do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow!" A far cry from the age-old, "Why put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today!"

In this microwave world of immediacy, there's this problem; you CAN'T do everything today. Deadlines. Demands. Delusional thinking that it all must be done right now. The pressure builds until the crockpot of our body, mind, and emotions eventually implode.

Why?

Because we live in a world where as one guy said, "Life is like Twitter, we show the best and hide the rest!" In an effort to compete and comply with the world's demands we build our own little castles made of sand only to see them decimated under the weight of such fragile self-efficacy.

So what causes the stress that is ripping apart the fabric of human design? It is ultimately attached to a lack of control. Recognizing our own inabilities. Experiencing the frustrations of unmet expectations by others. Feeling the vulnerability caused by the strain of our own environments.

And where do we find the remedy for dealing with such demands of worry, stress, and anxiety? In short, Jesus. But we all know it's easier said than done when high levels of stress sabotage what we know to be true; when we are stressed beyond belief.

Change what you can; accept what you can't. How well we adapt to the various seasons of life will be the seed bearing the fruit of making us better or bitter.

See the immediate in light of the ultimate. Recognize that our decisions in these seasons of life will reflect foolishness or maturity; a progression of worry or peace.

Remember the Master is always displaying a masterpiece. These moments of stress are really pivotal moments to lean more directly into the Potter's wheel of refining a complexion of faith in us.

Jesus made these principles clear in the Sermon on the Mount as He spoke to the crowd by the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 6:25-33). Not even the wisest and richest in the world can make guarantees and provisions like that of the Lord. Rightly seeking the kingdom of God will put everything else in perspective; helping us to see that worrying only distracts us from seeing the change Christ intends to make in us.