I initially wrote this as an
email to my family, but as I read it I realized that the words I share with the
people I love the most are words that many of us need to hear. Through family we love, grow, challenge and
encourage one another in great kingdom works.
I invite you to be part of my family through this blog and be encouraged.
To my family: Being away from home seems to be unusually
difficult this month. Not only do I find
myself thinking about silly, random things like the soft bath mats that I used
to dig my toes into before jumping into a hot shower or the button I used to
push to pull my car into the garage in order to escape the rain or the mounds
of Laytin’s clothes that I used to walk through to get to my bed, but I also miss
the things that I never noticed much before I left.
The sound of the coffee
maker as it grinds beans every morning, the excitement that rushes into the
house when Ryan gets home from work full of stories, the afternoons of picking
Dan up from school and belting out David Crowder’s
Here is Our King as we drive home, the insanity of songs about
manatees and dancing in the kitchen because business has been left at the
office and home is a place full of joy.
Being away has made me
keenly aware of the things in each of your lives that I’m missing out on. I won’t see Laytin in her prom dress; I won’t
help her pack for college. I will miss
Dan’s first day of high school and an entire season of football games. Tim will take my job for the summer and love it. Ryan will launch into a destiny that will
fulfill the dreams he’s had since we were kids.
My daddy will serve every person that comes into his office and my mom
will keep up with all of them.
Reality is in my face. Reminding me of the life I’m not living at
home. Reminding me of the things I’m not
seeing or being a part of. I could cry
or feel condemned. I could regret the
decision I made to leave 3 months ago and not return for another 8. But that wouldn’t be good enough. I understand the choice I’ve made. I hate that I can’t be everywhere and
everything for everyone. But I can’t
ignore the immensity of the God we serve.
And I can’t hide from the call I know he’s spoken over me. I can’t run from the need of the world. I don’t regret a decision to give everything
to Him and trust only in Him. I can’t be
ashamed of a life that I pray we will all find.
A life of abandon. A life of
surrender. A life fully submitted to the
Lord.
I pray we never slow down or
settle for less, never let up or give in.
I pray that the enemy would see the threat that we are to his kingdom
and tremble in fear. I pray that we
would see the challenge before us and not back down to fear. I pray that we would rise up and come
ALIVE. And through the life that shines
through our crazy family, the world may see the LOVE of Christ and be drawn
more to him.
‘I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God.’
Romans 12:1-2
