Lay it Down

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. - Matthew 4:18-20

Those few lines of scripture, straight from the lips and heart of Jesus have been thoroughly impactful here at Real Life.  

We draw our definition of a disciple from the instruction of Jesus.  He says, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  We define a disciple in three ways, and it comes straight from this passage.

A disciple is one who is:

                - Following Jesus
                - Being changed by Jesus
                - On mission with Jesus

How did we know the disciples were on mission with Jesus?  Matthew 20 says, “at once they left their nets and followed him.” 

I love how Jesus doesn’t mess around – he gets right to the chase.  Lay down what is interfering in you following me.  Lay down your net. 

So, what does it look like today, to lay down your net and follow Jesus?  In a real life situation (pun intended).  

Well, I’m glad you asked, ‘cause I’ve got a story for you (didn’t see that coming, did ya?) =D

We've got a great couple in our home group.  The wife, June, is completely precious, with her long blonde hair and a sweet southern accent thick as molasses.  Her husband, Jimmy, is equally sweet, the football coach/teddybear-type, and they got connected to our home group because the kids connected on the playing field - and parents connected off the field.

They are great parents - very involved in the lives of their children.  But Jimmy's struggled with his involvement in his son's sports activities.

Jimmy has a soft spot for sports and feels a great connection with his son, so he's attended every game and every practice of every sport his son has ever played.  

That's a pretty serious commitment as his son is now 12.  

Jimmy has revealed the difficulty in releasing the engagement with his son in sports.  He wants his son to know how much he is loved and wants to be a part of his life.  Jimmy's commitment and coaching in sport is part of the way he shows his love.  But, Jimmy is also growing as a follower of Jesus in our home group, and practice schedules were beginning to conflict with home group time.

So, Jimmy had a choice to make and a net to drop.

Last week they came to group like normal.  Jimmy took a spot at the kitchen counter where the group had begun to congregate over the coffee fountain.  We were all chit-chatting, but Jimmy remained quiet.  

Finally, after a few minutes he piped up and said, "Well, I'm here."  

We all looked at him for a half second before he finished, "...and my son is at practice."

Then the room erupted in cheers.

The guys all congratulated him and Jimmy got a big hug from our host home mama, she leaned over close and said, "baby steps Jimmy, it's gonna be okay." Jimmy just gave her a shy smile. (more teddy bear than coach at that moment...)

It might seem like a small step for some, but for Jimmy it was a tough choice.  He was wrestling with making sure his son still understood how much he is loved and doing the right thing for himself, remaining committed to relationship and taking intentional steps to mature in Jesus.    

He had a moment to choose what he would lay down in order to follow the way Jesus was leading him, and he dropped the net.  He is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus and on mission with Jesus...sounds like a disciple to me.

It's an intriguing question I've been wrestling with this week...what net do I need to drop in order to follow Jesus?    

I challenge you to do the same and feel free to let us know, we love to hear how you're doing out there in bloggerland.

H =D

The Purpose of Patience...Bloggin' Ain't Easy.

Check out the picture.  

Does anyone else despise that little bar? Once that line is full, the download will be complete.  Until then, you wait, ever so patiently for the information to get to you.

That's how I have felt this past week...waiting for the download to be complete.

I gotta say it.  Bloggin' ain't easy.

I'm a communicator, it's what I do...and quite a bit of who I am and who God made be to be.  Writing is a passion for me and one of the many ways I write is through this blog.

But the past two weeks...bloggin' has been, well...near impossible.

I pray constantly.  I pray for the words I write, for the story God wants me to tell, for Him to work and move and shape and form the right pieces and parts of my day to day life.  I desire for all I do to glorify God.  If I don't, I'm not using the gifts, abilities and passion He gave me for the right purpose.

That said, I've been in prayer putting together a blog posting.  

Has God been at work?  Yes.

Can I write any of it down?  No.

Has life been difficult?  Yes.

Have I struggled in relationships?  Yes.

Am I learning lessons as a wife, mom, home group leader, women's leader?  Yes.

Is God stretching me?  Yes.

Can I write any of it down?  NO!

Why not?  

There is simply too much.  

Too much depth, too much reality, too much mess, too much heart, too much life, too much Jesus and way too much of the Holy Spirit to toss it down in a blog post...in short, I'm still downloading.

Normally, I can strain it.  Filter through what I'm observing and processing in life sorting through the excess water and mud and sand to get to the valuable golden nugget.  Apparently I'm also as much miner as I am writer.  But, this week was a bloggin' no-go.

So, finally at the end of a pile of creative attempts to capture how God was at work I had to be honest and say, "I don't know what God is doing...but I'm going to rejoice and be confident in the fact that he's doing something."

That's when I came upon this verse:

"Rejoice in our confident hope.  Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying."
                                              - Romans 12:12 (NLT)

When we are in relationship with other believers, in the thick of real life drama and love and patience and complications and children and marriages and broken hearts...life is a wonderful messy disaster.  And it's okay for it to be that way. 

Because God is smack in the middle of it all with us, found in the moments that are both sweet and bitter.

So, that's where Jesus is working within me this week.  He is in the pile of rejected posts and in this one too, where I'll reluctantly hit "publish" praying He is glorified.  These are the times I wish I could paint words by numbers, just trying to plug them into the right space and order.  

But that isn't what God would have for me this week.  Instead he has me wait in my frustration, filling me with patience and understanding and confident in the hope He'll have something for me soon.  And I'll keep on praying, waiting for that download to complete and the miner in me to get my nugget.  

Yeah...bloggin' ain't easy.

H =)

P.S.  I'd love to hear how Jesus is working in you, through you, around you...or all of the above.