Learning my ABC's

I sat across from a friend at lunch today and we began discussing life. She talked about how both Paul and Jesus came to demonstrate love by example. We focus a lot on how Paul went after the lost but we forget how he sought to unite believers.

This reminded me of one of my first years of teaching. I had everything prepared, it was our first lesson and the letter was A. I wrote some words that started with A matching them with pictures, taught my students a quick song about apples, then finally put an apple on each of their 5 tables for them to draw.

Well, this is where it flopped. I looked around and only saw green and red scribbles. Then it dawned on me. They didn't know how to draw a circle. I had unintentionally set the bar to high.

I told my friend there will be times when I don't know what my co-workers know and maybe they're either too embarrassed to say they don't know how to do something or they think they are doing it correctly. I'm sure I'll need correction too, but as I step into this new role I'm reminded of the importance of asking questions.

My job is not to come in and say "Oh man, you didn't this correctly." It's walk alongside them and say "Hey, this is great, but let me show you what I'm looking for. " I must model how to do things so that they can then do them well. A person can only work to the best of their knowledge. If I haven't given them adequate resources I can't expect them to succeed.

My friend took it a step further. That is how God sees us. We start off as a scribble. The scribble is our sin but we don't know it. We're doing the best we can. He walks besides us and teaches us how to turn those scribbles into circles. It's a constant process of being perfected. Once we can draw those circles if we choose to go back to scribbles he holds us accountable because we know better. However, he only holds us accountable for what we know. 

A tale of two cities in the time of Covid

I have been thinking quite often of the classic I read in high school, A Tale of Two cities. Our world today often feels that way. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
People are lonely and forced wrestle with things they've pushed away

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
some people are growing stronger in this pandemic, some people are going crazy. 

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
more people are longing for the father and his glory but at the same time there's a level of caring for one another and a level of self righteousness.

 it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
He is light and is with us wherever we are,there is a real darkness trying to win over 

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
while friendships and hearts are blooming, we're all being robbed of something.


we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
people are beginning to realize that consumerism is readily before us, but how much of it do we really need. 

 we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way 
he came to bring a little bit of heaven to earth and into our hearts, yet it is our choice the devil still roams this earth till he returns again.

– in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

good and evil have become relative and while the virus cares little who it targets the fact that humans still do not have equal rights with one another and put themselves at war with one another.

There's nothing new under the sun. The Father knows this and he grieves with us and for us. But what if this is what it takes to see a world transformed. A virus that we couldn't stop, only He can. May his power be known and seen in this. May we realize that we are mere man and that there is a God who loves us much among our difficulties. 

Peace be with you my friends.