We live in a broken world, but we don’t have to accept brokenness as the final answer.
We are broken people, but our lives don’t have to be defined by the irreparable messes we’ve made or the grave wounds we carry.
In the hands of a Healer,
And the heart of an Artist,
We are more than a pile of useless pieces.
We are His work of art.
And in a stunning act of clarity and focus,
He chose…
Only…
To work…
With broken pieces.
But He insists that you entrust all the broken pieces of your life to Him.
(This beautiful glass mosaic is the art of Kelly Aloha, of Caloma, California.
Visit her studio on the river the next time you visit the Caloma Valley.)
Leadership is generational
Every great or good leader I have studied or known all had one thing in common: Somebody saw their potential and called them out. They had an authority figure or a prophet, an “evangelist” or a teacher/coach who handed them the reigns one day, or encouraged them to go out and find their own place of influence.
There comes a point at which every leader must see past his or her own headlights. [click to continue…]
Jon Acuff recently shared the story of a coworker named Brian who had witnessed the death of a man in the gym a day before. Apparently he had a heart attack, and nobody could help, except to vainly call 911. Now a day later, the coworker was filled with regret and what-if scenarios.
Twenty years ago, James’ life took a detour through some moral quicksand. And though he can tell you in glowing terms today about the grace of God that lifted him out of the “miry clay” and “set his feet upon a rock,” sometimes the past comes blowing back in his face like a cold rain. Even though he lives today as a forgiven man, at times he still finds himself on the Highway of Regret.
I can certainly relate to both of those scenarios – helpless situations and careless choices. But the regrets that nag me the most have to do with unfinished business. [click to continue…]
News flash! As a culture, we don’t wait well.
That’s why, in the previous post, I mentioned that it’s easy to get into trouble when we’re in those waiting seasons. (In theory, of course… not that I have ever actually gotten so impatient that somebody in a uniform decided it was time to have a little chat… but I’m sure you know somebody like that.)
One of the problems we have with waiting is that we don’t know how. We think of waiting as the kind of thing you do in a bureaucrat’s line or a doctor’s office (now you know why they call them “patients”).
In the Bible, James offers a different idea. And when I read this during a particularly hard waiting season, it really got my attention:
“The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts…” (James 5:7-8).
I happen to live in the middle of the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world. My neighbors know a thing or two about waiting on a harvest. Their livelihood depends on it. And believe me, you won’t find a busier bunch. [click to continue…]
“If you have been waiting longer than ten minutes, press eight. This will not speed up your call, but it will give you something to do while you wait.”(Message on an Airline Reservation Line)
“Waiting on the Lord is like sitting on a concrete bench.” (Source unknown)
I’ve been known to get in trouble in waiting rooms. Especially the examination room, where you sit there for God-only-knows-how-long before the doctor comes in. The other day I was playing with something that looked like a collapsible chin warmer… until my wife informed me it was a barf bag. And I’ve lost count of the number of latex glove turkeys I’ve made, or the number of peeks through those spiffy wall-mounted scopes.
And those doors that say, “Authorized personnel only”? I just authorize myself. I figure it’s just the doctors’ break room, where the really good snacks are.
I did say I’ve gotten in trouble, didn’t I?
There’s a different kind of waiting, however, where the stakes are much higher. But the potential for trouble is just as real. [click to continue…]
One of the dogwood trees my grandmother and I planted about 35 years ago.
The Leader of the Band is tired, and his eyes are growing old,
But his blood runs through my instrument, and his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I’m just a living legacy to the Leader of the Band.
-Dan Fogelberg
Alison had that look in her eye. Half smile, half dead-serious, she walked up and to me and said, “Some of us have been talking. And we’d like to ask you a favor.”
“What’s that?” I asked cautiously – bracing myself for, well, anything.
“We don’t know either of these people, and we don’t think they knew Grandmother all that well. We were wondering if you would say something – you know, more personal – in the service.”
Alison is my cousin, and she’d just asked the unthinkable – to stand up in front of a couple hundred family and friends and eulogize a family legend.
I’d done plenty of funerals before, but this one was different. This was family. And not just any family member. It was Grandmother, for cryin’ out loud. [click to continue…]
Imagine for a minute that you’re five years old. You have taken your crayons and, on your own initiative, made a card for your grandparents. No special occasion… just an “I love you” message of your own design.
Hopefully you are motivated by a simple desire to express love to your grandparents. At the same time, even at age five, you probably also assume that your parents, teacher(s) or somebody will also be proud of you.
Praise you.
Approve of you.
The big word for that: validated. And it feels good.
But what if you got something else in return? [click to continue…]
An interesting op-ed headline appeared in The Chicago Tribune a few days ago. It read, “Govern like a leader, not a politician.” The author, Mike Lawrence, proposed that the current financial mess in Illinois would only be solved by politicians who had the courage to do unpopular things (raise taxes, I presume) rather than trying to please people.
Oh… leadership.
Ooh… politics.
Can they ever really coexist? [click to continue…]
Here are seven more random things I’ve had in my oven lately. Did I mention it’s really random?
Why is it that some people can believe the gospel or trust God simply and quickly, and others require more… either convincing or extended confession? It’s all about what it takes to activate their faith.
+++++++
First sign your wife may not be ready to give a statement at the accident scene: When asked by the EMT if she knew who the president was, she said, “Osama bin Laden… No… Wait… That’s not right… I don’t remember – I just know I don’t like him.” (She’s doing fine now.) [click to continue…]
Raise those tray tables, buckle that seat belt (that you wouldn’t have known how to do without that handy demonstration), and turn off that portable electronic device! Hanukkah Hams is taking off again.
In case you missed any of the previous editions, a Hannukah Ham is an episode of brilliance in the blooper reel of life – leaving us all to ask… “What were they thinking?”
In celebration of the fact that tomorrow I’ll be enjoying that living enema called commercial airline travel (flying to ‘Bama for a week), this edition of Hanukkah Hams takes you past the ticket agents, through security, by the food court, and into the pressurized metal tube.
The problem, friends, is NOT a shortage of material. [click to continue…]
