Now I don't want to get off on a rant here...

Maryland Exodus

Over the past year I have had to say good bye to at least 10 very dear friends. They have spread themselves out across the country to the north, west and south. I suppose I should be happy that we live on the east coast, so they couldn't run any further away! It's been amazing to see these people who have only come into my life a relatively short time ago, grow to be such close friends. The impact they have made on my life and will continue to make is immeasurable.

The reasons for moving away have all varied and none have said, at least not seriously, that it had anything to do with our present gubernatorial leader. With each exit from Maryland we have tried to supply our friends with one last memory of their time spent with us and of our beloved Chesapeake Bay. We would have a party and then get a matted frame for a picture of the bay that everyone could sign. This seemed to be the best way to make a lasting memory and give them a visible reminder of our friendship and love.

What I have been reminded of again and again through this is the temporal state of affairs in this world. I have seen seasons of life come to end with new ones beginning for my friends and for me. While I am completely uncertain of what the future holds I will walk by faith in the maker and perfector of all things, Christ Jesus. I will remain steadfast in the knowledge of his perfect plan for all of us, and be thankful for the people he has brought into my life...and of course the free places to stay when we visit friends!!

Men Hotly Pursuing Women

A female friend of mine has remarked that she would like to see a new ministry for men in the church and I have offered the above name for this new ministry. I'll try not to think about the new Google hits I'll get from this post and I'm sure you are wondering why on earth this is needed? Anyone who has been to Baja Beach Club or Dead Freddies on ladies night would be surprised to know that men don't always hotly pursue women.

Men are often times struggling to take leadership roles in the church, in relationships and in the world. Is this because of fear? cultural pressures? something else? We fear taking leadership roles because that means responsibility and with responsibility comes the desire to succeed and if we fail to live up to our responsibility than we can't succeed. But, if we don't take the responsibility in the first place then we don't need to worry about success or failure. Our culture puts a lot of pressure on men to not only be successful, but to do so in a way that shows our inferiority to women. As men then, we begin to take on that lazy persona immobilized by our fears and living up to a perceived cultural norm.

Ultimately, we have forgotten how to be Gentle Men. I separate these two words because I think they show the balance of what God intended for his creature - man. Scripture teaches us that we are to be humble, loving and kind or to be gentle. But it also teaches us that we are to be wise, bold and leaders or to be men. So to be gentlemen we must embody the work of Christ as he was both sacrificially loving and the king of kings.

Good Charlotte's new album has a song called Break Her Heart. Part of the chorus says, "Don't tell her she is the reason that you live/Don't give her everything that you got to give/If you want to keep a girl for as long as you live/Just break apart her heart." With the pervasiveness of culture we can be easily confused and distracted from our calling to be Gentle Men.

But searching for happiness and hanging our hopes on answers that distract us from our relationship with Christ are not gender specific issues. Man’s hot pursuit of woman with a biblical focus is simply the fruit of men hotly pursuing Christ. How hotly are you (man or woman) pursuing your relationship with your Lord and Savior?

Iron Horse, Iron Man....

I must admit that I was all set to write a blog about the audacity of Miguel Tejada for what he did in yesterday's game. My high horse was saddled and I was ready to talk about the city of Baltimore, our baseball history and Cal Ripken's amazing accomplishment here. How any other team, any other city could go right ahead do this, but not the team of the Iron Man.

The radio talk shows were buzzing yesterday afternoon with outrage at the Orioles for putting Tejada in the lineup to keep his consecutive game streak alive, despite his injury. I was surprised that none of them were talking about Cal or Lou Gehrig. When Cal was on the path to breaking the streak I remember hearing people talk about the ways that Gehrig kept the streak alive in a similar way as Tejada. But hey....he is a Yankee....clearly they don't respect the game. Cal would never do anything like that!!

Well I might have been wrong and thus I am not charging ahead on any high horse. With a broken wrist that he didn't know about, Tejada attempted to play in yesterday's game. In light of everything else going on with the O's and everyone piling on the hate....I'm glad I took the time to think about this before I wrote about my outrage with the team and more specifically Tejada. Ultimately, I just want to see them getting back to the Oriole Way - hustling, playing hard, amazing defense and great pitching. Is that too much to ask for??

Down the road

George thought he was making pretty good time until he reached Baltimore. Apparently he missed those stories of Baltimore/Washington traffic or just ignored them as he was planning his route. George was focused on where he was going and was excited about all the new possibilities his final destination would bring him. He was filled with such joy and yet there was still a bit of fear in the back of his mind. Moving so far away from everything he knew, everyone he knew wasn't as easy as he thought. And yet it was something that he had to do. There had been an ache in his heart for some time now and George was finally ready to take those steps.

The summers of his youth had always been spent outside and active, and even the office job he had the past several years couldn't erase the sun from his olive skin. George kept his hair short because it made life so much easier in the mornings, so he got one final buzz just days before his journey began. The sleeves of the white t-shirt he wore were rolling with the gentle breeze that came from the open window of the truck which was lurching forward in the traffic.

He kept his arm bent outside to catch the breeze so he wouldn't have to turn on the AC. Gas isn't cheap and especially driving such a long journey he was trying to stay on budget. The rental truck was packed so tightly that he knew nothing would be rolling around in the back as the stop and go traffic shook everything. In fact, he was more worried what was going to happen when he opened the door and all the things he stuffed in there came tumbling out. Fortunately, he was towing his black Corolla and was able to use that space as well.

The car still had Connecticut plates on it reminding George of where he was coming from and the map on the dash showed the path laid out before him. All the time he spent in prayer before the journey began, the discontent he had been feeling with his job and the assurances he was receiving from answered prayers had all put him on that road. He didn't have all the answers, but he did know he needed to obey the call of Jesus Christ and go down the road...

Freedom

Just about a year ago I posted something on my blog that I never expected to have an affect on me outside of the blogosphere. This site was a place for me to share my thoughts, my struggles, my faith and my politics. Sure I've posted things here and there over the last year, but very sporadically. What was once a safe place for me became a thorn in my side. I've had a desire every now and then to share my opinions on various topics, but have refrained. I have gotten involved in other social networking sites and other places to blog over the past year as well.

Am I now gun shy to share my opinions? Will I be able to stand by my convictions and boldly state what I believe to be true? Or have I just found other mediums and different ways to express myself that this blog no longer offers? Whatever the answers to those questions may be, I know that I have taken a step towards freedom recently. And one that I am very excited about!