Pmkyker’s Weblog

My daughter Addyson is getting close to turning one in a couple of weeks. Addyson hasn’t really started to walk yet, but she is in her “exploration” stage and has started to take a few steps by herself. Each one of the family has had their turn holding Addy’s hand and walking her up and down the hallway…all the while she just giggles.

So, the other day she stands up and, behold, takes her first few steps. She laughs…I laugh…then she tries it again…only this time while trying to take a picture of it she falls flat on her face. The next thing I see is this unbelievable amount of blood, and the “ok, I’m really hurt” cry.

Moms and Dads you know that cry!

I mean blood is everywhere! On me…on the floor…on her…and now on the towel that I am trying to use to clean up the situation! In one moment, before I could even drop the camera and stick out my hand to catch her…our little joyous moment of triumph goes from excitement to fear.

If, you are like me then you have had those moments in life that it seemed like everything just turned in an instant!

Everything is going great and you get a phone call from your doctor and he needs to talk to you…or your job pulls you in and lets you know they are “cutting back.” Maybe, your just cruising along in your marriage thinking that everything is fine, and then boom, you realize that everything isn’t fine and there is some stuff under the surface that needs to be addressed…it might be…our kids…that have seem to go out of their minds. It could be our finances are so tight it is stressing us out and everyone around us. It could be something internal like depression, fear, or anxiety.

Here is my point. We all fall. We all make mistakes. We all mess it up big time….and most of the time it hurts, and if we don’t do the damage to ourselves then life is right there to help us.

The Bible says this about falling…Proverbs 24:16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

I know that God has called you for big things. How do I know? It is His character. So, you have taken a fall. Don’t stay down. Wipe off the blood, attend to your wounds, and start taking some baby steps back towards your destiny.

The bleeding stopped and what at first seemed like a huge wound really only turned out to be a small scratch. After, a little bit of popsicle and some lap time with Dad…she has made many more attempts at walking again. I have a feeling- and I am certainly not ready for a fourth that can do this in the house- she will be running.

I wanted to unpack some of Craigs thoughts on his post here and here, but when it was time to get into them…I realized something…for the most part they were already unpacked.

What did you think?

We were supposed to get into the Series “Questions” on Sunday, but due to overwhelming response, we are going to do the series when we have more time to fully unpack everything. Be on the lookout the first of April. But, in the meantime, we are doing a two week series entitled “The Ripple Effect.” Needless to say, I am pretty pumped at taking a look at what happens when we make ripples in the pond of our lives.

Tomorrow, I will share my thoughts on the past two days…but for now I wanted to give you some insight from someone else who has the same role to fill. I want to thank Craig Groeschel for being real and open.

Becoming Friends With Your Pastor

PART B

8. We love talking to the real you. Many people show us a spiritual front. Truthfully, we’d rather see your dark side than a fake spiritual one. Thank you for being yourself!

9. We are slow to open up. It is not because of you. We’ve been hurt many times by people who say the same things you are saying to us. Give us time.

10. If we can’t be close to you, it doesn’t mean we don’t truly love you. We only have room for a handful of very close friends. We simply don’t have the time or energy to be close to tons of people. Please don’t take it personally.

11. Please don’t try to use our kids to get to us. We love our kids and don’t want anyone to use them. Our kids also can’t go to every kid’s birthday party from the church.

12. If we ever say “no” to you, please understand that it is very hard for us. We want to serve you. We want to minister to you. We want you to like us. Sometimes, we simply can’t do everything. We hope you understand.

13. More than anything, we want to represent Christ to you. When we let you down (and we will), we pray you will show us grace.

14. We want you to know that we value your prayers more than you will ever know.

15. When you do become our close friend, you are an answer to prayer and a gift from God!