Wednesdays Word.......More

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite songs and some inspiration from the lead singer Mike Donehey. If you've followed me for a while or paid attention on Twitter or Facebook then you've seen me post video snippets of these guys before. The group is Tenth Avenue North and I could blog about each of their songs because each one of them are powerful and have a deep meaning....we just have to pay attention when we hear the "words" speaking to us. 


The song today is You Are More. We all struggle with self worth because we doubt ourselves at every chance we are given. But why? Part of it is guilt from our past decisions but I think a bigger part of it is that we care too much of what we think others think of us regardless of what they really do think. Being the parent of a teenager and the coach of a team of preteens I see how fragile egos are and how easy it is for confidence to be broken by others let alone by the pressure we put on ourselves. The good news is; we are not defined by the choices we make but by the choice that was made for us. It all boils down to God's perfect love and forgiveness. We just have to forgive ourselves for building such a wall between us and God and accept His grace and mercy. In the video Mike had a great line. "We can't learn to live for God until we learn to live because of God".  And remember....it's not who we are but whose we are.




Here's the official video of the song....enjoy

There's a girl in the corner With tear stains on her eyes 
From the places she's wandered And the shame she can't hide 

She says, "How did I get here? I'm not who I once was. 
And I'm crippled by the fear That I've fallen too far to love" 

But don't you know who you are, What's been done for you? Yeah don't you know who you are? 

You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade. 

Well she tries to believe it That she's been given new life 
But she can't shake the feeling That it's not true tonight 

She knows all the answers And she's rehearsed all the lines 
And so she'll try to do better But then she's too weak to try 

But don't you know who you are? 

You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade. 

'Cause this is not about what you've done, But what's been done for you. 
This is not about where you've been, But where your brokenness brings you to 

This is not about what you feel, But what He felt to forgive you, 
And what He felt to make you loved. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes You are more than the problems you create, You've been remade. 

You've been remade 
You've been remade. 
You've been remade. 
You've been remade.

Wednesdays Word....Time

I've been thinking about "time" a lot lately. Our mens group at church recently finished up reading the book Heaven is For Real. If you are unfamiliar with it; it's about a 4 year old boy who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and goes to Heaven and while he was only gone a few minutes he experienced numerous incomprehensible things and described them so clearly that a 4 year couldn't possibly know what or who they were. Which brought up the discussion of time. As a christian I know time is just a concept of Earth and that Heaven doesn't operate on our time. Do I truly understand it? Probably not but we are limited to what our human mind's can grasp. Does it matter in the grand scheme of things? No not really. But yet it always seems to be hot topic and point of contention with doubters.

I thought back recently after I agreed to go on a mission trip this summer to about 5 years ago when I first thought about going on one when I told our youth pastor I'd be available to help out on any mission trips. I had just gotten promoted to my dream job at Wells Fargo which gave me 6 weeks of vacation and there is only so much fishing one can do.....without getting in trouble. Well about 6 months later I was laid off and all that free time was gone so I hadn't given it a second thought until things started happening and began to fall in to place and lining up which were all undeniably God's doing. God's timing trumps all so sometimes you just have to wait until the time is right and for you to be in the proper place to have things revealed to you so you are properly prepared and ready to follow through with what you need to do.

People ask me; how do you do it all with 4 kids, 2 sometimes 3 jobs, church, coaching, church choir, volunteering, reffing, fishing, church small group, video games and keeping up with this amazingly awesome blog? Now granted these questions usually come from those people who either still take naps, are newer parents or from those people who are constantly talking about TV shows like Hoarders, My Strange Addiction, Toddlers & Tiaras and Swamp People. I could keep going but I think you get the picture. I happen to agree with our state Senator Chuck Grassley that the History Channel either needs to change its name or start showing history again. I won't lie somethings get neglected; like my guitar shredding skills or just take a look at our yard or my body. Working out at the gym for an hour or 2 a day plus driving time is not one my priorities....my family is. Having a full schedule has become the norm especially as the kids have gotten older and during our slower months it almost feels awkward when we don't have something going on. Google calendar on my phone is my friend.

My wife asked me a few weeks ago if I felt old because our oldest son was going to be 14 this summer. I said no but ask me when our daughter is 14 then I probably will. She's 3 right now and I know the time I have left with all them as children is short and precious. So first and foremost I've become intentional with my time and the majority of things we do we do them together as a family or partial family. I coach my kids' soccer teams, I ref with them, we fish together, we lead a church group that is for families and I take an interest in what and how my kids are doing. But we also try to spend 1 on 1 time with each of our children. My daughter still talks about getting all dressed up and going to see Beauty and the Beast with glasses on (in 3D). We also haven't have cable or satellite for years which is finally starting to become a bit more common and people no longer stare at me bewildered when I tell them we don't. Netflix is the best $8 you can spend a month. We have family game night too. Sometimes it's on the Wii but others it's still the old fashioned board game way. Just be aware of how you waste your time. Try to make it productive and be proactive about how you use it....says the procrastinator. I've become better......I think

Just remember time is what we make of it. We all choose what to do with it and how to spend it. Time may be the most precious commodity we have as a human. We seem to never have enough of it or if we happen to come up with some unexpectedly we aren't sure what to do with it.