never too late

Two Thoughts on a Tuesday

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I’m at my laptop, typing away. For the record, I’m still using my old Sony Vaio, so this blog is only 85% as cool as it could have been were I typing on a Mac Book Pro. But seeing as that is neither here nor there, I digress.

Sitting in Kairos tonight, I had a couple of thoughts unrelated to the sermon Mike Glenn was preaching. I do that often. But that’s also another blog for another day.

I had two distinct thoughts:

1) It really is never too late to start over and become who God created and designed you to be. Even if you’re a Grandma Moses at age 70, you can still start over. And there’s no shame in admitting that what you’ve been doing all this time isn’t what God has called you to. It may have been at some point, but now God is calling you to start again.

2) You don’t have to wait until you get where God is calling you to use your job as a mission field. You can start right now with where you are, even if that’s bagging groceries at Publix or sweeping floors in an office. After all, the Bible DOES tell us to do EVERYTHING to the glory of God, even mopping floors and cleaning public toilets.

The more you see your life not as something you’re entitled to but as an adventure you choose each day to participate in, a journey that God leads you through, the more you see that life truly is a gift and a blessing.

Yes, I’m thankful even for this old, slow laptop, even as it hinders my cool factor. I remember older desktops that were much slower (and even had dial-up internet connections!) So it’s all about perspective and being grateful for what you DO have (my Sony Vaio) as opposed to wishing and pining after what you don’t (a Mac Book Pro).

 

Things I Love 3: The Trilogy of Terribly Named Blogs

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island hammock

I continue with my list of things that I love, things that may not seem like such a big deal, but are present and daily reminders of the goodness of God in a thousand small ways. I will pick up where I left off with #57.

57) Not feeling the need to be friends with everyone so you can have deeper friendships that have more meaning.

58) When you hear a sermon that speaks directly to you and feels like it was written specifically for you.

59) All the black and white episodes of The Andy Griffith show.

60) A well-timed pun.

61) Finally being comfortable in my own skin.

62) Being able to laugh at my own goofiness and not be bothered by the fact that I’m a goober 99% of the time.

63) That all the future promises of God are as good as done.

64) GPS that keeps me from getting lost on these hopelessly and gloriously confusing roads in and around Nashville.

65) That  nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever separate me from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

66) Taking all my size 34 jeans to Goodwill because they’re way too big for me now.

67) Scottish, Irish, and British accents.

68) The fact that I’m taller than Tom Cruise.

69) People who get me.

70) That the people who matter don’t mind and the people who mind don’t matter.

71) Reading through The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings every single year.

72) Ditto for The Hobbit.

73) My very,very red New Balance running shoes that are super-duper lightweight.

74) Anything Patty Griffin has ever or will ever record– even if it’s singing through the phone book alphabetically.

75) That no one is beyond the reach of God’s love and that it is never too late to start over.

76) The movie Elizabethtown– and anyone who has actually seen it and appreciates it the way I do.

77) Wearing my red chucks, i.e. my very red vintage-style Chuck Taylor Converse high tops.

78) Any worship song by Hillsong, Kari Jobe, or Chris Tomlin.

79) A good quote from Mother Teresa.

80) That I promise in the future I will try to think of better titles for these blogs.

Finishing Well

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

 

I’ve considered running a marathon once or twice. Not seriously, but I did mull it over in my little noggin. Then I decided to lie down for a while.

I can imagine me in a marathon. I’d do well for 3-4 miles, then I’d slow down to a fast walk. By the end, I’d be crawling and begging for death. My time wouldn’t be measured in hours and minutes. It would be measured in days, ’cause that’s how long it would take me to finish.

In the race of faith, all that matters is that you finish. Even if you come crawling over the finish line, you’re still a victor. The only ones who lose are the ones who don’t finish.

It’s never too late to get started. It’s never too late to start over. Even if you dropped out a long time ago and haven’t run in years, it’s still not too late to get back in the race.

Hebrews 12 talks about how a great host is cheering us on. Imagine all the great biblical heroes of the faith. All the saints down through the ages. All the people you’ve known who inspired you with their faith before they finished their own race. Every one of them is looking down on you, cheering you on, rooting for you.

Most of all, God himself is cheering for you and rooting for you. He wants you to finish, but more than that, he’s given you everything you need to finish well. All you have to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep trusting with that mustard-sized faith that can move mountains.

The prize is not to the fastest or strongest or best-looking. The prize is for those who keep showing up and keep believing. It’s for those who fall down 1,000 times but get up 1,001 times. It’s for those whose race looks more like one of those maze games than a straight line.

It’s for you and for me if we just keep running.