I now consider the phrase I don’t know a form of extreme respect for the truth. "my" two cents on Zimmerman.

You will very rarely hear or see me use this platform to take a political or mainstream Pop culture stand. However I have been inundated with thought an opinions through the media about The Zimmerman case. Each time I thought through it I thought. "Lord help us to know how to respond as your children." And then tried to keep my mouth shut because at the end of the day. I wasnt sure HOW or WHAT I felt. I just didnt know.
I was unsure how to process or even communicate how I was feeling about society, about race about gun control and about the media. Then I read an article and I felt like WOW he said it better than I ever COULD.
So in a rare blog for me Im going to take the words directly from an article I read on the topic.
Thank you Don Miller, there is a reason you have best sellers and I do not. (yet)
JUSTICE WILL ALWAYS BE SERVED, just not always this side of heaven.

I’ve become more and more comfortable with this phrase: I don’t know.

I no longer consider this phrase a cop out, either. In fact, I now consider the phrase I don’t know a form of extreme respect for the truth. What’s wrong with admitting we can’t know something we actually can’t know? And why in the world are so many people expressing absolutely certain ideas about what happened between Zimmerman and Martin when they can’t possibly know the truth anyway? 

The problem with the phrase I don’t know is it doesn’t sell. Why not just admit it rather than make confident claims we can’t possibly back up with reasoned arguments. Why not live within the ambiguity God has left us in?

Who is more weak in your opinion, a person who makes things up and sells a false narrative with confidence, or somebody who humbly admits we don’t have all the facts and yet we must go on trusting God all the same? Be careful with that question. Are we choosing false security over the truth, the truth being we can’t possibly know everything? I think many Christians today believe many things they simply can’t prove because those beliefs bring them a sense of control, security and comfort. What if God hasn’t given us all the information, and what if justice and order in the world doesn’t depend on us knowing everything anyway? What if truth lives outside of us whether we understand it or not? What if we are given just enough information to trust God and know Him but not fully understand Him or, for that matter, life itself? What if we are given some information but not all?

Should we still seek truth? Yes. Should we use what we know to seek justice? Yes. Should we make things up when we don’t have all the facts to give people a sense of comfort and security? No. Does this mean we have to live without resolution sometimes? Yes, unfortunately it does. What should we do about that?

I don’t know.

I suppose we do what we can and trust God with the rest. But in respect for truth, I’d offer we shouldn’t backfill gaps with fictional narratives, no matter how comfortable it may make us feel.

What happened between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin?  I don’t know.

Was justice done? It certainly doesn’t feel like it.

Will justice be done? Yes.

This much we know is true. Justice will be done. And not by us.

(storlineblog.com)

Shopping Spree

      How often does Satan convince me midst my annoyance and frustration that I am justified to feel that way.


          Amongst most my friends I have a reputation of being a bargain hunter. I think this comes more out of my love for shopping than my desire to pinch a penny. However some of my friends have translated bargain shopper into personal shopper (fine by me) and then others have MISTAKENLY translated it to mean I'm very wise with my money.

    So I wasn't totally surprised when a dear friend at her wits end says to me , "here take my credit cards and only give them to me in the case of an emergency".
   I knew right away this wasn't a great idea.

"Are you sure?" I asked. She was sure.
I stuck the cards in my ipad case (that I got for a great deal), told her I would do right by her and saved the day.
   
       Fast forward to the next day...yes. the. next. day.

     As per a normal morning I woke up and dropped my kids off at school. I noticed I was low on gas but had enough to get them to school on time and planned to fill up at the station by the school after drop off.
       I pulled away from school fully aware that my first stop had to be gas or I would be stranded. As I coasted into the station relief came over me, momentarily that is,  until I realized I had no wallet.
Dang it.
        I sat there wondering what to do when I remembered something. (you see where this is going)
I had my ipad, therefore I had my girlfriends credit cards. I couldn't. I shouldn't. I'm supposed to be holding them so she doesn't use them - I cant use them!
   
But I did.

       After a call confessing to her the situation she was very understanding.  If only it ended there. It gets worse.
   
      I had enough gas to get me to the gym, no point going home now. And after all ..the grocery store IS right next to the gym.

     As I skipped out of the grocery store with my new purchases and my stolen credit cards I was feeling pretty resourceful.

     Of course I nervously called the cards rightful owner and explained I would pay everything back.  She laughed and said it was fine. I was dealt with very graciously, only for some reason she took her cards back later that week.
   
    I thought about that story as I was recounting it to some mutual friends and thought about how graciously God deals with us. My girlfriend had every right to be angry, but she wasn't because she valued me more than her cards or the money they represented.
   
     How often do I put circumstances before relationships? How often does Satan convince me midst my annoyance and frustration that I am justified to feel that way.
  Are we ever justified in our frustration and annoyances? Why do we condone our behavior when irritated by someone ...the friend who is 15 minutes late to coffee or the spouse who leaves their drawers open or the man who keeps parking in two spots! Do I value my kids more than the mess they make or my spouse more than the milk he forgot to buy?

     My friend had every right to be upset and maybe if you ask her she'll say silently she was but she showed love and I'm challenging myself to love. To stop allowing myself to feel justified in these moments and value the person above it all.

       Jesus has valued me above all and I owe Him everything. Who am I to not deal with others in a similar way? Oh I will still be human and get annoyed, but now I hope to catch myself. I hope to  humbly remember the way I have been graciously dealt with by our Lord and others. I hope to choose love and relationships over situations. It seems appropriate here to remind myself once again ... that LOVE DOES.

                                       Me and my sweet friend holding her own credit cards.