Clay in the Hands

I’m back!  Remember me?  I have to admit, I am embarrassed at the amount of time that has passed since my last post here.

The past three months (or 8) have been a blur of events and a roller coaster of emotions.  In my mind, I compare it to water skiing.  I learned to ski when I was young and still love it to this day.  However, when I was ten and weighed 75 pounds, getting up on a slalom ski was not that difficult.  Now that I am older and a tad heavier, the experience is totally different.  Now it takes what seems like 15 to 20 minutes to get my head above water.  The boat takes off and I begin to look like the Loch Ness Monster – gliding through the water just below the surface.

But I do finally get up far enough to grab a breath and then continue to hang on until the boat has reached a speed that will pull me up onto the surface of the water.  I have just described my life for the past several months.  I feel I am far enough out of the water to take a breath but not up on top of the water yet.

My ministry and life have taken a new turn – an exciting turn – a new adventure.  As I drove to the church this morning – up Ocean Drive (yeah – there is really water – crazy right?  West Texas boy ministering on the coast), a Toby Mac song – Beyond Me – came on the radio and a line in the chorus caught my ear: you “call me to waters a little too deep.”  That is what I have been feeling as of late.  Not that I doubt God’s hand in any of it or even that I just shouldn’t be here – but just feeling the overwhelming nature of taking on a new challenge and a sense of not being worthy of what God has called me to.

But then I hear the words of this song and I am reminded that a life lived for God is a life of adventure – a life that stretches us and pushes the boundaries of what we thought we would ever do.  For the past few years, I have preached that God expects us to get out of our comfort zones and trust in him and his plan for us.  I preached it – now I am living it.

And let me just say – it is quite a ride.  While I miss my church family in Littlefield and the eternal relationships that have been formed there and will continue forever (and do I ever miss you!!), I am so blessed by the opportunity of developing new relationships and taking on new challenges.  God is amazing!

This past Sunday, I quoted Aristotle in saying, the unexamined life is not worth living.  While I agree with that statement to an extent, I would add, the life not lived for God is not really life at all.  God calls us to the most fulfilling and meaningful existence we could ever experience.  When we live our lives for him we find ourselves in the midst of a great adventure.

And there is no better place to be!

Be blessed today!