Life Between the Exits

Life is a journey. A journey traveled in many directions, but with only one true guide. In the midst of a crossroad we tend to pause or hesitate, unsure of which path to choose. It is at the crossroad that we are given the opportunity to take a peek in the direction from which we came, to gather the life lessons we have learned, to reflect on the life we lived, and to remember all those precious moments/times you had with people who have impacted you, filled you with godly advice, and became great friends. For those will now become a piece of knowledge for the road to come, advice to give others from your experience, and memories that you will cherish and that will last a lifetime. Perhaps when you look behind you, you see things you would have done differently, take those with you also for those too can be lessons learned. However, don't get stuck on the road traveled, but rather embrace the road to come with open arms. For you and I both know that relationships created from before will always be with you as you travel, just in a different way. Cherish your journey. Enjoy the moments you have with those who are with you at those times. Find the joy in the road blocks and traffic jams. (It may be God keeping you from other harm) For we never know when God will call us to exit the current flow and challenge us with a new one. 

We live life between the exit signs. We need a break from the current flow of life sometimes, or we need to be rejuvenated. Either way if you are still cruising down the path at a steady pace or were called to exit make the most of every minute of your life. I don't often regret decisions or choices I have made in my life, doesn't make the journey easier, but it's because I know that it's all driven with purpose. The only thing I tend to regret, maybe better stated as something I would change about the road previously traveled, is the impact for the Kingdom I've made. I know there is always more I could have done with the time I was given at the exit.  Time is a real thing, not something grasped or understood, but rather to keep us in constant motion. Too many times I've wished to have more of it. There just are not enough hours in the day! John Wesley said, "Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all they ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as you ever can." 

"Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us." Colossians 1: 9-12

2 Sides To Every Coin

Like a coin, decisions have two sides. Usually before a football game a coin is tossed and the teams get to choose head or tails. They have a 50% chance to gain some control, but it's control that could change the outcome of the game. One side of the coin represents silence. The other side represents voice. But there is a part of the coin that people don't pay attention to. The ridges. Believe it or not the ridges on certain coins today have a meaning behind it, and you might already know the purpose. Back in the day when coins were made of real gold and silver, dishonest people would sand down the edges (without ridges) of a coin to make it worth less. With the created edges, the government could tell more easily if the coin had been tampered with because of the ridges they created on the coin. The ridges exposed any type of damage that had been caused and the worth that had been shaved away. 


I was taught from a very early age that words are the voice of your heart. You can change your thoughts once they have been thought, but you can't take back your words once they've been given a voice. Perhaps this validates my introversion and formed my love of listening. One way or the other, I began to value words, the meaning behind them, and the certain voices that were given to them. Certain words strung together to create a strand of thoughts could draft even the simplest soft-spoken voice. Yet, on the other side of the coin can be used for manipulation and selfish reasons. One side demonstrates love while the other demonstrates hate. There is no in between. There is no "like". 


But what about the ridges? Does that give us an out? Does it allow us to go along riding the outside never to venture to the "heads or the tails"? No. The ridges simply represent the outcome of our decisions. We choose silence or spoken words, and either way we go...we get ridges. We still face the regret of our silence or the hurt we've caused with our words. It's the bumps in life that try to throw us to one side or the other. It's the result of the choice we just made. Take the ridges as they come. Don't anticipate their presence thinking you can swiftly lunge over or dodge under them. The ridges help us grow. They challenge us to see the decision we just made and how to make a better one the next time. They demonstrate the struggle we have on a day to day basis as we decide to swing to one side or the other. Sometimes they keep us humble, other times they make us arrogant. 


So before you speak, value your listener. Will a voice behind your thoughts add to their value? Would silence be better than words? Could it diminish your value by speaking or by keeping silent? Don’t let anyone steal your voice, but speak with care and concern. Listen when given the chance, speak the words of your heart and know that the decision you made may (will) come with ridges. Don’t let anyone shave away your ridges, or take away your value. Although sometimes we can’t see past our own insecurities, the ridges serve as a purpose of growth and not of harm.

Which side of the coin are you on and what have your ridges taught you?  

James 1:19

“Let everyone be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger because the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

 Ephesians 4:29

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  

The World has Stopped Spinning....

Have you ever had those moments in your life, when the world stops spinning? I'm sure many people would say when they had a tragedy happen, when they were going through a divorce or lost a loved one is when their world lost momentum. In moments of tragedy and pain the world seems to actually spin faster for me, like I can't get a grasp on the daily hum of life while dealing with grief in a healthily way. Usually I either feel like the world is spinning at its normal go-with-the-flow pace or it is as if the world is a basketball being spun on top of the finger of a Harlem Globetrotter. And if the world seemed like either one of these ways to me now, I think I could rest easy knowing it's the normal everyday spin cycle, but I can't quite figure it out. Maybe the world is just frozen from the single digit weather we've been experiencing, but whatever it is I'm not sure I like it so much.

I guess if I had to put a name to a less familiar face I would call this stagnant world, fear. I've travelled this road before. It's all too similar to past expeditions, yet with different road blocks. However, there doesn't seem to be a simple fix with different turns to take for a different outcome. I know the outcome, just not the process in which to get there. I can't just hurdle over the median, I seem to have to fight my own inner battle through learning, observation, and a little stumbling! A confident heart can lose interest at the first sight of stumbling. So do you continue without the world spinning with you, or do you wait for the world to spin again? 

I guess it doesn't matter if it's spinning or never again to budge, but rather whose hands your world is in! A piano at my figure tips is simply just a song, but at the figure tips of Mozart it's a beautiful symphony. A word spoken from my lips is just a breath, but from the lips of Christ a life saving message. A paint brush in my hand is a stick figure, but in the hands of Picasso, a masterpiece. A staff in my hands could assist me through some tough terrain, but in the hands of Moses could part a raging sea! Five loaves of bread and two fish in my hands is only a sandwich that I probably wouldn't even eat, but in the hands of Christ is food for a generation. Nails in my hand would probably be put back in the toolbox, but nails in the hands of Christ is eternal life, the greatest gift you could ever be given.

So even in my unknown world in its unknown state, I place my world in His hands. For only he can make it spin again! 

Psalm 37:5-6 "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."