I Look to You

       St Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the gospel always. When necessary, use words." We do our best teaching by modeling. What you want to leave, your legacy, you need to model for others so that they "see" your life.  I have begun reading another one of Donald Miller's books, Searching For God Knows What. The latest thoughts this book has caused me to ponder are our need for acceptance. Miller speaks about a lifeboat economy, where we, as a society, decide who gets to stay in the lifeboat according to how we view one another, how we "rate" each other's value. He's not saying this is how it SHOULD be; just this is how life is. This is the premise for the groups in which we gather, the cliques that occur, the walls we build. I see this everyday at school. It's heartbreaking. There's a lot of research and literature on Female Relational Aggression, but it 's not only the girls. The young men of our schools vie for position, some being left out to seek company of another cluster. But they only do this because they have seen it modeled - in us.
       Each day we travel to our places of employment, seek out our sections of of society, and we vie for position, evaluating each other by our differences. I'm not trying to be depressing; I've just been thinking about how I have been modeling acceptance lately. Miller writes, "What we commonly think of as love is really the desire to be loved...when I want somebody to like me, I am really wanting them to say that I am redeemed, that I am not a loser, that I can stay in the boat." Imagine what it would be like if we all believed and trusted in God's redemption, if we all believed that we were really loved and accepted. The people who are mega-rich would be generous and help others without expecting anything in return. We would associate with those who are not like us and seek how we could help each other. We would begin to see each other through His eyes, rather than the evaluative scale we so commonly utilize. We would actually model God's love. Miller continues by reminding his readers that even King David danced naked before the Lord in worship. His wife thought he was crazy and so did all the other people who saw, but David had lost his inhibitions and was giving all he had to praise his God. There is a certain feeling, a freeing, in getting our redemption from God and not from other people. "It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows." Galatians 5:13 (The Message)

Coach Burnett and his new baby.

       This past Friday night was an auspicious occasion for me. I had the privilege to be a close part of the Warrior football team, pre-game. Coach Burnett relayed that the coaches and young men had talked and agreed to name me their "Educator of the Week." I was honored. They presented me with a football jersey that I would wear on Friday to the pep rally and that evening to the game. I was invited to come into the locker room before the game and be a part of the coaches' prayer time, then walk into the field house and share in the prayer time and inspiration with the team. As Kevin and I sat with the coaches before speaking to the young men who waited, it was a bit awkward. We sat and did what comes naturally when there is silence - we sparred and made light jokes. I wasn't thinking about the details and had yet to realize the planning that had been purposefully worked to honor the Educator of the Week. That was until Dillon came into the coach's office. Our quarterback had donned his orange Honey Grove Warrior jersey, but it was what he was wearing in addition to his uniform that caught my eye. Pink socks, pink shoestrings and a pink bracelet - "Fight for Mrs. Weaver." My tears came freely. Coach Burnett spoke to the young warriors of faith and believing and being blessed. It was in that moment that there were no groups, no separations; just all of us, respecting, honoring, and loving each other and I felt like I had a huge family of brothers who were making sure I knew how much they cared for me. I was honored, but not in the way you might think. I was honored to be a part of such an intimate time in this family. It wasn't about who I was, but how I was accepted. Our Warriors stole the game that night, 50-0. And among the least of these, I was blessed.
"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him." Romans 10:12

Enjoy another one of my favs in music, Selah, singing "I Look to You," giving testimony to how God supplies our need for acceptance.