Avoiding Catholic Schools and Traffic Laws.

"Is that fair? No. Its better than fair. Its Grace." - Andy Stanley


I grew up in South Florida where there is a large Jewish population. So large, in fact that most Jewish holidays were observed by the school system and this Protestant sun lover had a day off to hit the beach. It was a nice system.

You can imagine my surprise when I was pulled over for going 30 in a 15 mph school zone. 

In the need to defend myself I explained " but officer the sign clearly says 'on school days only", today is Yom Kipper, so I'm told, and there is no school". 

To which the officer curtly responded " Mam that was a Catholic school." and wrote me a rather large ticket. Defensive doesn't begin to describe how I felt. After all, I had a right to defend myself here!

I felt like I was on an episode of "Really?" with Seth Myers and Amy Poehler. REALLY?

As I drove away feeling that the justice system had done everything BUT provide justice, I clearly felt the spirit of the Lord calm me. If I had heard Him audibly it would have sounded something like:

"Jerushah…your defense here is justified I get it, but how many times HAVE you broken a traffic law and NOT been punished. What if that officer could have pulled up a secret camera to your entire driving career? Would you still be defensive?"

dangit. 

How many things in our life can we apply this to?  In ministry we are accused of things we didn't do quite often. Misunderstood, not given the benefit of the doubt, motives are questioned and rumors are spread. In many of these situations we find ourselves with a very valid and clear defense.

"you simply misunderstood me" or "That's actually not what happened at all."

If our every thought and action was played out on a screen for all to see we would be offending A lot more people A lot more often. Why? Because we are all sinners, we are all complicated, selfish, reactive people who are guilty of more that we will ever have to be accountable for by the Grace of Jesus.

So maybe this accusation isn't true or that rumor isn't true or you feel your motives were misinterpreted. How many times HAVE you been guilty? Aside from the work of Jesus Christ in our life we have NO DEFENSE. 

How disarming to our accuser if we simply apologize that our actions or words made a negative impression on them in any way. Seem unfair? Sometimes yes. 

However "Fair" isn't a concept Christians have much room to stand upon. The only blameless person who COULD have yelled "NO FAIR" is the same person who was falsely accused to the point of death on a cross for you and me.

"Its better than Fair. Its Grace"

Let there be light: The inevitability of the steps

We work so hard to get somewhere, to realize a dream, to arrive at some destination, that we often forget that though some satisfaction may be waiting at the end of our endurance and effort, there is great and irreplaceable aliveness in the steps along the way.” 
― Mark Nepo


One of the upsides of working with so many people in their 20s is it seems that so many life changes happen in those years. I'm surrounded by people who are always searching always anticipating and quite frankly often discouraged. 

We had some friends over for new years eve and I had not had the opportunity to warn my husband that one of the dinner guests was coming solo because his plus one was no longer his plus one. 

As my husband excitedly asked where she was I cringed and watched as the individual explained…as best he knew how…that the relationship had ended. 

"I just don't want to hear 'she wasn't the one' anymore". 

I wanted to sit him and every discouraged single down and say but are you walking away asking the Lord to TEACH you. Are you opening your heart to what He is showing you? (I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have wanted to hear that either).

I know I'm married and can't relate to that discouragement but I CAN relate to discouragement in general. I can relate to trying and trying and things simply not panning out. 

Heck I ran what was supposed to be my last marathon a few weeks ago. My training times were the best they had been. Through various circumstances I fell VERY short of my goal the day of the race. I was discouraged. OK fine maybe I still am. OK OK I can't even look at my medal. BUT I also learned what my 35 year old body needs to succeed next time. I learned the tweaks I need to make to my training. 


I was inspired the other day reading about Thomas Edison. Here is a man very familiar with things not materializing the way he had hoped. His outlook however was not that He failed, but that he was learning. 

"Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”  

 Edison tried over 9,000 times to create the light bulb but with each failed attempt he walked away with having LEARNED something. 

"I have not failed. I have simply found 10,000 ways that don't work."

 Edison did not view his many attempts as failure but instead as an inevitable part of his process. Scripture TELLS us we are a work in the making. There is no way of " getting around " the process.


Lets walk away from our discouragements this year without failing to learn from them. 
Each failed relationship is an opportunity to see yourself better. Each argument with your loved ones allows you to walk away seeking a better understanding. 

Lets not look at our unmet desires and goals as failures. 

Lets look at them as steps. 


Maybe this wasn't a failed relationship for my friend.  Maybe this was a simply a step. 
Maybe my run wasn't a failure to meet my time, it was simply another training session, another step.