All In A Days Grace

  I grew up on Long Island, so going to the beach was a big part of our summer fun. We would barely get our feet in the sand before we were dashing off to jump into the waves. Some days the water was more inviting than others. Some days the waves were gentle and rhythmic, while other days brought them crashing in faster and faster. Swimming in the ocean is very different than taking a swim in the pool. You are not just dealing with wave height and their rhythm; the ground beneath your feet can change in one step. Before you know it you can go from easily keeping your head above water, to struggling to keep your head above the waves. There were several times growing up when the water was choppy and the waves large and relentless. I remember a few times becoming overcome by the waves in an instant. One minute I was riding the waves into the shore and the next moment my foot would step off a sand bar bringing the water up over my head. In an attempt to regain my footing I panick...

      Awkward (adj)      1.    causing difficulty; hard to do or deal with.      2.  causing or feeling embarrassment or inconvenience. We don’t value awkwardness. In fact, it’s something we try to avoid at all costs. We don’t like awkward situations or feelings. The reality is that sometimes awkward situations make us behave… awkwardly. It’s a horribly uncomfortable feeling that most of us try to avoid in whatever way we can. We can see by the words in the definition that this is not a way in which we like to feel, be or behave. We don’t want to be difficult, hard to deal with, embarrassing, or inconvenienced, and we certainly don’t want to be in situations that are described in such a way either. It just gets…well…awkward. What’s really interesting though is that if you’ve ever spent any amount of time in scripture, you’ll notice that there are many situations and people who are awkward. We have Gideon who we fi...

  If we could somehow turn the volume on to the thoughts of those around us, we would probably hear a similar expression of concern coming from different people. “What’s happening to the world?” “How are things going to be a year from now?” “Are we heading into a recession?” “Should I find a new job?” “Should I retire?” “Will my children be safe?” “Are things going to keep getting worse?” “Will I be able to afford groceries?” Although those are all different in many ways, they are all linked in one similar expression of concern. What will “tomorrow” bring? We often become transfixed on the scary “what if’s” of tomorrow and as we do, we slowly squeeze out the presence of hope and joy in our lives today. Our minds race from short term to long term worries in an instant. We start to hold ourselves and our lives in a posture of preparation and anticipation; not for anything good…but for those worst-case scenarios swimming through our minds. “One day at about three in the aftern...