Words Flow Free

If every journey begins with a single step, then this journey has indeed begun (again). There is a burden on my heart to let these words out, and so I write. (written 5 July 07)

Why do we do what we do? More specifically, why do I do what I do? If I had the answer to this question, life might quite possibly flow more smoothly! There are things in my past that I look back upon and shake my head, wondering what in the world I was thinking at that moment. I'll be the first to admit that living my life as God would wish me to has not always been a top priority for me. I don't even have the words to explain why. The deep-seated sense of morality, the firm base of right and wrong came from my parents and grandparents. For lack of a better explanation, it's simply the way I was raised. Let me digress a bit and tell you a story (brief, I promise!).

My maternal grandparents were, to me, two of the most wonderful individuals to ever bless the planet. Although granddaddy had a few different jobs when he was younger, I don't remember him being anything but a farmer. Most of all, he was just granddaddy. He was a rock, a companion, a teacher, a father - he was indeed the epitome of "a good man." I remember very distinctly the only time I ever, in my whole life (and granddaddy only recently passed away, in September 2000) heard granddaddy say a cuss word. I thought the world was going to stop turning or something! That just was N O T done. Respectful to females, to his fellow man, Woodrow Hall was not the kind of man that had to fly into a temper or even raise his voice to make people take notice. He spoke rather quietly, but with the authority that comes from years of experience, and an overall faith in human nature. One thing that always comes to mind when thinking about granddaddy is the ability that he had to see the good in almost everything. He simply was not a negative person! If it rained, well, we needed it and the good Lord saw fit to send it to us.

When I reflect on the man that played such a huge part in my childhood and upbringing, I see a man that was the living embodiment of the serenity prayer. He didn't "sweat the small stuff" ... and did not spend hours agonizing over things that he could not change. He lived his life by his own code of honor. To him the Golden Rule was not just a string of words, but a way of life. The things I learned from my grandparents cannot be taught in a classroom -- but have to come from the heart. They led by example, not by "rules." They did the right thing, and taught it to their children and grandchildren, because that was just the way you were supposed to live.

I know that there have been many wrong turns, misdirections, and sidelines in my life that have drawn me into a maelstrom of confusion ... have made me depart from what I know to be right. Living as I should, to please God, has not been always at the forefront of my existence. Am I ashamed? I am. But I am also forgiven. God tells us that there is no sin that he cannot erase, no stain that cannot be removed. God is our oxyclean and Tide with bleach all in one! Thank God for God! For believing in me ... even when I do not.

... "to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." ~Luke 1:77-79 NIV