My God

"i am continually with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.
whom have i in heaven but You? and there is nothing on earth that i desire besides You.
my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength (Rock) of my heart and my portion forever."

                                                              Psalm 73:23-26

Sometimes,
...actually most times things are tough. This world knocks us down, and there seems to be nobody to help us up. As we sit on the pavement the whole world walking by us, we reach out, we look to friends, family, and eventually to anybody for a helping hand.

What unspeakable peace I have in knowing that my God is here. He is here with me, no matter what I am going through or how utterly alone I feel, I take comfort in knowing that the creator of the universe is my Strong Tower, my Rock!

If today you feel like you are in a canyon with steep walls and no escape...here's me reminding you of what I have been reminded of today!

"My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty! There is nothing my God can not do!"

A new direction...the same path.

It has been a long while since my last post.
It has been a short while since my last life change...or last three life changes.

At the start of May I took a new position with SWOSU (Assistant Director of an adjudicated facility), that took me to a different part of the state, and on to my next season of life, or at least the next chapter of this book.
This window of opportunity was quickly presented and as quick as it was presented it required an equally quick response. The decision that was before me was difficult. I was plagued with the urgency of this offer, plagued by the weight that was carried by my decision.

To stay, to go?
The decision was most difficult.

The pros of staying were largely relationship in nature. People flooded my mind. Faces. Person after person; individuals I had invested time with, friends I had grown closer with, relationships that I had hoped to continue to pour effort, time, and love into, they all were there...heavy on my thoughts.
RAs
Chad and Amy
Residents
Church Members
Co-workers

Would the move injure my ability to continue to build these people up? Might I still be able to make a difference in their lives just as great from a distance as I could in the same town?

The pro to taking this job was very similar to the pros of staying in Weatherford. People. Granted not people in the community...250 tops, but rather the Residents of the facility. See, this program houses sixteen criminally active young men, who are given a chance to change the course of their lives.
These are mostly men that have never seen anything but what they came from, all they have are gangs for support and hardly a one has had a positive male figure in their life.

Through out the 24-hour period that I had to make a decision, a verse kept on the forefront of my mind.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

That verse consoled me. It helped me be confident in the decision that I would ultimately make.
Clearly I took the job. Now, I am looking for a house to buy...trying to take these next steps in as much faith as I took the first. I am still living in three locations it seems...here at the facility, back in Weatherford, and back in Arnett...all at the same time. I guess if you count the nights I have slept in my truck then you can add those locations too. :)

Things have turned rough this past week. I often feel all alone. I run much, and think more. My thoughts drive me to wonder about this decision to leave what I know as home for this location that is barren for friendship. I do not question my coming up here, but I do find myself less confident in being here next month...next year...and on.

Through this rough week, a verse has found itself consistently on my mind.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust. Trust the Lord with everything. My understanding is less than His. His understanding is greater than mine. Pray to Him in all things. Consider Him first in all things. Look at His will (to bring Him glory), first making that my priority and He will make my paths straight.


Today, left to my own thoughts...I am fearful. My road seems uncertain, with many bends.
Today, with this verse I look to my past. My. Path. Has. Been. Straight. He has led me through everything, straight through it all. He has blessed me daily, greatly. I know without any doubt this seemingly perilous path, will be straight, and it will be glorifying to my King.

And that reminds me of the other pro to coming on this journey. I knew that with this move my relationship with my Lord would grow as a result. And it has done exactly that.

In these hard lonely times, I remember:

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you." For I AM with you.
Isaiah 43:2

I am not alone. Nor are you. Thank you to my Lord and thank you for helping remind me: Tara, Lacie, Cole, Ben, Dad, and Heath. You were used greatly.

Usufruct: A lesson from Jefferson on bearing (spiritual) fruit

The term usufruct is so difficult to define, but as I have come to understand it (or at least, as it is in my head), usufruct is the productivity of a parcel of land.

President Jefferson often was found to defend a citizen's use of private property so long as that citizen does not hinder or lessen the usufruct (fruitfulness) of the land. So, the president's belief was that we as 'landowners' have the right to use the land as we desire so long as our use of it does not injure future users/owners of that land. President Jefferson would at times even go further and say that our responsibility as 'landowners' were not only to prevent lessening the fruitfulness of the land (by overgrazing, over-harvesting, striping the land of resources, or toxify-ing the land by dumping or other means), but to actually increase the productivity...fruit bearing, of the land.  

When I first heard the concepts that President Jefferson pressed about usufruct, I immediately processed them in terms of 'spiritual fruit'. And it is these concepts of spiritual usufruct,  and spiritual fruit that I hope to share with you today...along with encouragement to you that you may be highly productive with the opportunities that God has given you.

So first, a definition:

Fruit, is anything being produced or accrued; it is a product, a result, or an effect. Fruit is the return of labor. Fruit serves as the evidence of one's intentions and claims. 

So often when we hear of fruit in a Christian context we think of the 'Fruit of the Spirit' (Gal. 5:22) which refer to specific qualities that are possessed by a believer. Those qualities being: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. 

It seems so easy to instantly jump to this list of qualities anytime we hear any scripture that speaks of fruit...or the product that we as believers yield. 

For instance:

"You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?"

                                 Matthew 7:16

For us to quickly fast-forward to these 'fruits of the spirit' when we hear of the scriptures is not a bad thing at all, however, to stop there and not progress any further would be amiss. Because as we stated earlier, fruit is anything that is being produced or accrued, anything that is a result of our labor. The labor of Christ in us does not only produce works in our character and within ourself, but also produces effects in those around us. 

The labor of Christ in us also produces disciples! Disciples! The labor that we undergo everyday, the fight that we fight everyday, the race that we run everyday, as a Christian, that laboring, fighting, running, living, has a result of fruit, good fruit! Fruit of the Spirit? YES! Fruit of disciples? YES!

Now that we have made sure that we understand the fruits we produce as Christians, let us apply Jefferson's concept of usufruct to our 'spiritual field'. 

And as such we 'children of God', 'heirs', we have the responsibility to build, plow, fertilize, (DISCIPLE) those around us in a way that not only prevents smaller fruit harvests but actually increases those harvests! Our responsibility as believers and disciples is to build other disciples and increase their harvests.

How?

By not overgrazing, over-harvesting, stripping the land, toxify-ing...

in other words: By love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. 

In all these things enter in prayer.

Bountiful harvests await!