A Portrait of a Real Man

Miles below the surface others dare not go.
But you go.
Many see the danger and shy away. 
You don't
You have counted the cost and deemed it a worthy cause.
A risk you want to take.
You dig where others dare not dig and get your hands dirty, callosed even.
You see the value of what you seek and you don't stop until you unearth it.  Not just for you, but for the ones who dare not tread where you go.  Even for those who have no idea of the task that lay before you and the risks you take.  The cost you pay is great.
Sometimes soot coats your entire being and it's hard to separate you from the trail you bring with you.
Still, in spite of the dust that coats your skin, you radiate light and love.
You, are a portrait of a real man and I am forever grateful I am your girl.

20/20 Vision

As a new decade roars into the history books, many tweets and posts accompany it playing off the numbers 2020.   Emma from Friends turns 18 this year, Maddog 20/20 claims it is their year, and Barbara Walters utters her famous words, "This is 2020."   One can't help but think of 2020 without vision coming to mind regardless of how cliche it is! 

Most of us have vision of some sort, but is it 20/20?  Too often mine can be fuzzy and I can barely make out the images.  Like the blind man who Jesus healed in Mark 8.  "I see people, but they look like trees walking around."  Anxiety and fear create shadows and I am certain I am going to plumet to my death if I take the next step.   My vision can be more 20/100. 

Jesus doesn't want me, or you, to stay there though.  He wants to give us 20/20 vision.  Clarity.   He did it for the man in Mark 8.  When the man saw the trees, Jesus put his loving hands on the eyes of the man and restored his vision and the man saw things clearly.  Like Jesus healed the man's vision in stages, God doesn't always make everything perfectly clear all at once because He does want us to walk in faith.  The closer we get to the image the clearer it becomes.   

Dr. King said, "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."  This year, may you keep taking the next step regardless of how much of the staircase you see because you see clearly the One who is holding our hand the entire path and it is a path He created and if He created it then it is good.

Daddy,

For so many of us things are murky.  Anxiety and fear robs us of clarity.   Hurt and anger steal the vision you have for us.  This year, God, I beg you to give clarity to your children.  I ask for clear hearts and clear minds and clear visions.  Let us trust in you the author and perfector of our faith and trust in the vision you reveal to us- not just for what you are doing, but in who you are are, and the plans you have for our lives.  Let us draw nearer to you to see you clearer and rest in your kindness, goodness, love, joy, peace, patience, and holiness.  Let us see your mission for us clearly and see you clearly as you walk with us.  Let us see clearly the lies of the evil one and the warfare that surrounds us and see clearly the legion of angels you have towering over the lies and fighting on our behalf.   Show us Lord your way! 

In Jesus Name,
Amen