Tuesday, September 11, 2012

beginnings...

I was recently asked to do something I don't recall doing before at any point in my life. I friend asked me to sit down and write my autobiography. Specifically my spiritual autobiography. So to you unsuspecting passers-by who were as of yet unaware, yes. I am one of those people. A Christian to be more specific. Having been set to task I initially did what I most often do and have thus far procrastinated. And to be clear, this specific entry is not said biography. Rather, this entry is more or less an introduction to the purpose of this blog. I only mention the part about the biography for this reason: beginning to take stock of my spiritual life (which constitutes the last 25 of my almost 30 years) feels a bit like writing a biography about my life in general.

In doing so my mind wanders and begins to consider what it has all been about. What have I learned? What wisdom have i gleaned? What bridges have been burned, relationships forged, amends made, promises broken, and victories won?

My wife, Nicole, and I are licensed foster parents, however we have never been biological parents. All that will change in just a few short weeks as we welcome our first biological child, Jos, into this world. And, as I take stock of the scope of my life up to this point, it is becoming increasingly important for me to be able to effectively find the words and wisdom and encouragement within my story in order to pass some kind of legacy on to my son.

I wonder what I am leaving him. For some reason i feel compelled beyond control to put together some sort of notes or memoir, though it will be some years before he can read much less comprehend any of it, so that in the event that I am not here when he comes of significant age he has some token by which to know me. not merely to know my face, or the stories that would be handed down to him in such a case, but...to know me. To know in the sense of deep affection and familiarity this man whose name he will carry his whole life, whose legacy he will inherit.

I don't yet have that answer. However, maybe this is a start...this collection of writings and posts that will one day hold the sum of years of thoughts, inclinations, notions, and yearnings. With any luck, and the accountability of a few who know me best, I'll manage to keep this page warm with fresh words, new insights, and hopefully, with the help and conviction of the Holy Spirit, truths to live by. And hidden somewhere within maybe, just maybe, the image of the man behind the words will be evident to the son who is yet to hear his father's voice.

And to that end...one brief bit of encouragement that I would leave to Jos would be that two of the many overwhelming truths in life are as follows: 1) Following and trusting in Jesus, devoting your whole life to Him alone, is the most important, vital, and rewarding thing you could ever do with your life. And 2) The life to which He will call you is anything but ordinary. Therefore, do your best at all time to revel in whatever place in life God places you. You were created with a purpose. And in being fully alive in Christ, your life will be a testament to God's glory.

That being said, my greatest desire for this and future postings would be that in these words those who read them would find encouragement, conviction, and the Lord whose image and name is graven on my heart. That those who happen upon these pages would forgive the imperfection through which God intends to speak his love. May it be His image, that of the One who spoke all existence into being, that you find most evident here. And my these feeble words hold power to speak love into the lives of those who read them. For it is "in Him we live and move and have our being." - Acts 17:28