Accountability Post #9 – Empathy

We cleaned out a large storage closet of youth ministry junk the other day at work, and among some other things, I got to bring home two Fantastic Inflatable Superdudes!  Check it out!

Shiny!

It may seem to you that they are small, but I’ll have you know, they’re taller than my 1 year old son.  And their dimensions may seem improbable, but if you squeeze their heads, they squeak.  Try to imagine how you would feel if you’re dad brought home two, squeaky-headed, oddly proportioned superheroes that were a foot taller than you; what would you do?  You’d probably do what my boy did, grab them by the cape and throw them around for a while. 

One more thing about inflatable superheroes:  they deflate.

I’ve spent a lot of time the last couple days thinking about, praying for, listening to, trying to give council to and hurting over friends/loved ones who are just plain-old-struggling.  The abundance doesn’t depress me because I think empathy is part of what makes being a human being doable, but it does cause my heart to hurt for the human condition.  Ooooo doggy, life is hard sometimes.

It was with the deflated heart of an inflatable superhero that I came to Isaiah 11 & 12.  I promise you that my best attempts at writing would not be able to convey to you the beauty of these Words as I sat hunched over my Bible at the end of a long day – better than a good cup of coffee.  You’ll just have to read them yourself, but before you do… read the World News for a while to achieve the right level of deflated-ness.

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!

p.s. I finished ground tilling/raking today and returned the tiller to our friends who let us borrow it, so combined with the golf club swinging of this week, my arms have had a pretty good workout. 

So long, Ground Tiller, you will not be missed.

This weekend

I didn’t run a step in the last 3 days, BUT since Friday evening, I’ve played an unprecedented 25 hours of video games – mostly a new game, Too Human.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right…

I did get some sweet time with my Family as well, and got a lot of work done around the casa.  Reinstalling the screen door on our kitchen door, helping a friend record one of her songs, and the coup de grace, tilling up a section of my back yard and raking it level where I’ll be installing a patio.  That ended up being the perfect compliment to my sore legs:  imagine doing situps, free weights and lunges all together.  It was a regular trip to Candy Mountain, Charlie!

I also read Isaiah 7.  There were some verses in there that I didn’t remember and totally grabbed me!  Incredible verses of Courage and The Bravery!

vs. 4 (after the king of Judah is told that two armies are going to join and attack him, God says…)  “Say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint’”  It would be good for me to remember that sometimes.

vs. 9 (after a pep talk)  “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

Not to mention that we see the first mention (in Isaiah) of the Messiah in chapter 7.  Good chapter!

God, keep me firm in my faith!  Amen.