Something old, someone new...

On Thursday, May 1, 2014, we received two deliveries.

The first was a package generously provided by my sister; filled with carefully prepared and lovingly packed treasures from the life I've lived--and was lived before me.  A tapestry of  dreams, tenderness, ambition, hard work, disappointment and triumph woven through photos, cards, letters and other memorabilia.  It contained a narrative of my past.

The second was a person, fearfully and wonderfully made, named "Gabriella Grace" and delivered by our lovely daughter-in-law, Miranda, coached by our son Joseph.  "G" arrived at 11.10pm, weighed 7'10 and was just over 20" long.  She, along with our children and our grandsons and God willing, our greats...are my future.

Legacies are brittle.  Soak that in for a few moments...
I am grateful that I can look back, look around and dream about the future.
I am grateful that I have a sense of where I'm from, where I've been and who I've become. 

I am grateful that in this moment I can continue to shape character and destiny.

My story was shaped--altered, when at age 15, I made a choice to embrace Christ and believe His story.  He took my brokenness, yes even at age 15, and built me into a man whose heart's desire is to be like my savior, Jesus.  Laura, our children, know all too well the difficulty we've faced as a family and my shortcomings as a man, a husband and a father.

Here's my point: it's these challenges, these failures that add strength and color to legacies--that will give my grands and great-grands the "roots" to make choices which will empower them to continue to shape character and destiny; to build bridges from their past to a solid Christ-centered future.

Indeed..."All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful out of my life..." 41 years with Laura; our children Erin and Joseph; their spouses Matthew and Miranda; our grandchildren, Braden, Kellen and now Gabriella.

Something old, someone new.  Legacies are brittle.  Lean into Christ.

Grace wins.

I need to periodically remind myself about my mission in life--perhaps you need that too.  So, I repost this from just a few years ago...

"Huffington Post..."WASHINGTON -- The Defense of Marriage Act, the law barring the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by the states, is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday by a 5-4 vote.

'The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity,' Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. 'By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment.'"


An urgent letter to my friends who identify themselves as followers of Jesus...

'Yesterday (June 26, 2013) The Supreme Court published its opinion on United States v. Windsor.  The sun came up this morning, as it always has.  A new day.  Here's the reality: nothing has changed.  As believers we are called to love the world as Christ loved the world, unconditionally, and be instruments of grace and healing.  

If history teaches us anything, it's that culture, people, tend to go the way they're going. The Court's opinion simply affirms what history so clearly demonstrates.  As a believer my mission has not changed one bit.  This ruling serves to underscore the urgency (NOT to fall back and counterattack) of what God has called me to do personally, within my spheres of influence, and corporately, through my community of faith; seek to demonstrate the love of God in tangible ways that will move people closer to personal faith in Christ. This means I must do everything I can to make hard lives easier--regardless of the spiritual outcome.

My church (the community of believers regardless of religious tradition) must understand that it is not about us; about making the world bend to what makes us comfortable and secure.  It's about the world.  We should expect that people who have not embraced the reality of God's love, will choose to live in ways that do not reflect that reality.  This fact should not repel us, it should compel us to resolve to love those not like us in the same way that God loves them--generously, redemptively, graciously. This is faithfulness to God's vision for His church, and His world.'"

Grace wins.

bN tGit