I got it, I got it...oops, I don't got it!

*Careful, long entry*

Verse for the day:
"But what about you?" He asked. "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." -Mark 8:29
(After Jesus told his disciples that He must die and be resurrected)...Peter took him (Jesus) aside and began to rebuke Him. But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." -Mark 8:32-33(Italics mine).

So, here's a thought. How could Peter totally get it one moment and then completely miss it the next? I don't think it's as hard as it seems when you read the story and put yourself in Peter's situation. Think about it like this. You're following Christ. He's performing all kinds of miracles, casting out demons, calming raging storms, walking on water, and feeding thousands of people with a few loaves of bread, twice! If that wasn't enough, you're on the inside! You're in the "inner circle of trust." You're daily seeing your wildest dreams come true. Is there anyone reading this right now that wouldn't give anything to change places with Peter? I would love to be there! But, I'm not so sure I would handle myself any differently than Peter.

Think about this. You are in Peter's place. Knowing what you know and seeing what you've seen, how would you feel when Jesus tells you He has to die and rise again and ascend to Heaven. Basically, He tells you He's leaving you. Talk about a shock. Imagine being hit with that bolt of lightening! You've got all of these plans and you know you've been imagining your life 5, 10, 20 years from now and how much better it's going to be because Jesus is going to be King of Israel and rule the land and you've got a direct line with Him. Now, you see all of those dreams and plans going up in smoke. All those plans depend on Jesus being there. Now He tells you His time has come? Say what?

I can just imagine what Peter said to Jesus as he "rebuked" Him. You want to know how I know? Because I too have been guilty many times of rebuking Jesus in my life. I'm sure I'm not alone either. Think about it. What do we do when we see our plans crumble? We question God. We ask, "How can this be happening to me?" Heck, I usually pout for a few days...sometimes months if we're being honest here. In some form or fashion, we all voice to God our lack of understanding in what's going on. Just like Peter did. But why? How can we know that He is the Christ and that when we trust Him as our savior, we are now in His capable hands, yet still question whether or not He knows what He's doing? Or, how can we dare to question whether or not He's forgotten about us. Those very actions contradict what we know, don't they? So, why do we still do it?

The reason lies in Jesus' answer to Peter. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." We aren't thinking of the bigger picture. We aren't thinking about bring glory to the Father. We are worried about our plans and the sudden absence of the safety net that we've created for ourselves. We depend on our understanding of the situation as opposed to trusting God to fulfill His promises to us.

But be encouraged! Jesus doesn't hold grudges! Yeah! He not only forgives our unbelief, He helps to increase our faith by giving us understanding. He wants us to know and to trust Him; He continually shows up in our lives to prove it. We just have to make sure our minds are on Him and not on this world. The world doesn't dictate what we need, thankfully. Otherwise, we'd never have enough. Only God knows what we truly need and where we truly need to be! And He only wants the best for us! So, again, be encouraged! If nothing else, rest assured that you are loved today!

I hope this helps someone today. It helped me just by writing it. Have a blessed day.

Depth...5'

Well, here it is, my first attempt at the blog world. I figure with so many stay-at-home moms and scrap bookers out there managing to keep up-to-date blogs amidst their hectic schedules of feed, wash, nap, repeat (he, he), then surely I can master this pastime. :) After all, I'm on salary! No punch card for me!

Seriously, please don't hate me. I'm just poking a little fun at my wife whom I adore and am in total awe of every time she leaves me alone with our kids for a few hours. I don't know how she does it! She runs a tight ship and still manages to have time for me at the end of the day. I hope she knows I'm her biggest fan. If not, maybe she will now!

I've entitled this blog "Get your floaties..." (or at least I think I did) because for those who don't know me, that is my little saying for when the conversations go from the shallow, superficial "cubical" talk, to the thought provoking, assumption challenging conversations that only true friends can have. So, in this blog, I am going to record my deep thoughts (sort of a tribute to the late Jack Handy--did I just date myself...hmm...) as God lays them on me and share them with whoever is interested in reading them. I think this is a lot better mechanism than bogging up numerous email accounts my "thoughts for the day" .

I've called this first entry "Depth...5'" because, in keeping with the floaties theme, the 5' depth usually marks the start of the infamous "deep end" that as kids, most of us stand at as we muster up the courage to leave the safety of the shallow end to explore new and exciting areas of the pool. Then again, some of us just jumped right in the deep end, preferring only the areas in which our feet couldn't touch. We longed to exist somewhere between fear and exhilaration as we dove down to see if we could touch the bottom and how long we could stay there before coming up for air. That was me and my brothers! The shallow end is for babies!

That is how I feel about our walk with God. Staying in the shallow end of the "pool" is for baby Christians. We were meant for the deep end! We are meant to swim where we know we can't touch and where we are forced to allow God to show us the way and teach us knew life-saving (or giving) strokes that get us through life. Let's face it, you'll never learn how to swim if you're content to tread only where your feet can touch. This is because you'll never have to learn.

That might be ok for some people, but not for me! Look at all the fun stuff you miss out on. Did you ever notice that the diving board was always at the deep end? It doesn't get any better than leaping off the diving board and free-falling into that big expanse of blue! Awesome!! But, if you're too afraid or lazy to explore beyond that 5' line, you'll never know, right? The same is true with following Christ. If you're too afraid to let go of your life and trust him as he leads you to where your feet can't touch, you'll never know the utter joy that comes with the assurance that you're in His capable hands and that you're going to places far better than that shallow end. Plus, you'll discover parts of yourself and capabilities that you never knew existed. Swimming where you're feet can't touch will do that for you.

Anyway, this is my first attempt at stepping past that 5' line. I'm putting my thoughts and insights out on the open web, exploring my writing style to find one that fits. I know I'll probably get some criticism (if anyone other than my family actually reads it, that is), and I know that will hurt. But, hopefully, at least one person might be helped by what is typed on here. If that happens, then I know it was worth it. After all, if I'm not willing to step out of my comfort zone on the chance of bringing God glory, then why even get in the pool? Right?

Here's the verse for the day:
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." Mark 8:34-35

May you be blessed and may the Holy Spirit reveal truths you never knew existed. Let's take a swim.