Bryan Parady's Blog, page 55

The Little Things

There are often times when things get hard, when the little things take up all our time, and we feel like we are not getting anywhere.  We feel the ultimate goal we want to hit is coming at a turtle’s pace, and this time around the rabbit is going to kick our butt in the race.

But the small things we have to do that get weary at times, and seem that they hold us back are what actually get us to our dream.  It’s that act of pushing forward through difficulty, through the mundane, and refusing to give up or look back, that actually propels us toward it.

Persistence really does pay off.  So keep up the little hard things, view them like mini engines that one day altogether will allow you to take flight.

Sense of Wonder

I have a 1 and 1/2 year old. To say she is fearless is an extreme understatement.  She runs up to people, tries to run off and explore new places when we go somewhere.  She falls, bonks her head, and doesn’t even care, but just keeps going.  She hates being held, because she feels she is missing out on exploring something.

My own daughter is an inspiration to me to not lose my sense of wonder.  The day to day habits of life, work, college, managing a household, working out your budget, it all can get wearisome at times, or at least becomes mundane and we find ourselves asking if there is something we are missing.

The truth is, yes, there is lots we are missing.  There’s a whole big world out there just waiting for us to explore, there are people to meet, and things to learn.  Every day we should look at life as if it’s filled with new things to find.  Because when we actually open our eyes and look for things, we’ll find there is more to life.

Christians are Afraid

 

I’ve been discovering something lately, and that is, Christians are scared.  I myself am included in this sometimes.  We try to impress others, fit in with others, and ultimately often times we live the same as the secular world, but hide our “sins” so we can look good on the outside.

Now this may sound harsh and I’m not saying across the board this is everyone, but I know it’s happened in my own life, and in others.

I am heavily involved in fighting human trafficking, my wife heads up a ministry that provides support for women in strip clubs and the sex industry.

So many times we run across people who are fearful of this whole arena, rather than jumping in and working, they want to run scared, like there is some black smoke that will ooze out from this sort of ministry and swallow them whole if they venture near it.

So why do Christians shrink back so much from non-traditional forms of outreach?  Why is it a scary thing?  We should be the first ones in, entering in with confidence that we do not go alone.

Sadly I believe our Christianese culture and many of our churches have called certain things taboo, claiming some sins are greater than others.  There’s that “extra deep pit of hell for those who commit such and such a sin”.  This is hogwash.  But because we classify sins, we see certain areas as off limits, but this is simply not true.

Instead of shrinking back we need to be going boldly forth.  No half-hearted, pansy butt approach.

Now this being said we also don’t need Bible thumping people rushing in to places beating people over the head with scripture and telling them they have to be saved and Jesus died for their sins and give them a five point sermon.

We are required to love people.  To love them boldly.  To love them unconditionally, and it’s God’s place to save them.

We shrink in fear and many times (myself included) do a horrible job at just loving someone, and being a shoulder for them to cry on. They don’t need someone pointing out sin or wrongs, again, that’s God’s job, not ours.

Walk confidently, love boldly, and keep the pansy overly religious stuff in the trash can.

Priorities

Have you ever said or heard someone say “I would but I don’t have time”?  If I’ve heard that once I’ve heard it a thousand times.  The truth is you have time for what you want to have time for.  Many people try to find reasons why they don’t have time, “I have a family”, “my kids take up all my time”, “I go to college”.  Whatever the reason, there are many excuses out there.

And they are nothing more than that….excuses.  The truth is we can make time if we truly want to.  We manage to squeeze in time to watch our favorite TV shows, or time to get lunch with our friends, time to golf, time to watch the football game, or time to go shop.  Yet, we say we don’t have time?

In reality we can make time for things that we really want to do. Often times though, we truly don’t want something bad enough to make time for it.

There are no excuses for not doing something other than the fact of not making time for it.  So schedule it in, if you try you will have time.