Tag Archives: ATTIC

He loves them all the same.

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Three very different images.  Three very different stories.

But He loves them all the same.

1) My eleven-month-old.  Innocent.  Harmless.  Completely dependent on someone else for everything he needs.

2) My friend’s fourteen-year-old.  The story of how she got here is messy and beautiful.  Her testimony is wonderful.  Her heart is sweet and tender.  She is talented and beautiful, much like her Momma.

3) I don’t know the last woman.  But she reminded me of the woman I passed on the road this morning on my way to work.  She was an elderly black lady, walking.  She had dirt down the front of her blue dress (it might have been a gown).  Her arms were crossed, like she was cold.  She was walking on the side of a country road, beside a corn field.  I don’t know her.  I don’t know her story, her struggles, her blessings, her fears, or anything else about her.  I don’t even know her name.  But Abba does.

He loves them all the same.

ATTIC,

Steve

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. (1 John 4:7-9)

Dear Teenage Me

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As school is drawing to an end, I was thinking about my high school days. If I could write a letter to my high school self, here are some things I would say:

Love yourself.  Allow yourself grace.

Look to God for today and tomorrow.  Let him lead you in today and be open to where He wants you to go.  Do not miss the opportunities He has for you as a teenager while waiting and hoping for what he has planned for your future.

Serve him today. Right where you are. Let others see Jesus through you in unashamed ways.

Make memories with those you love.  One day that will be all you have of them.

Work hard on what is placed before you. Give it your very best. Even the things you think will not matter, will more than likely help you fulfill the plan God has for you that only He can see.

Love others. Even when it’s difficult, even when it’s unpopular.

Know you are worthy. Do not put yourself in positions of unworth. If you find yourself there, move.

Make God a priority in your relationships.  If you find yourself in a relationship where He is not a priority, re-prioritize.

If you need help, ask.

Be good to your family.  Find good friends and love them.

Dream big.  Laugh loud.

Enjoy the journey God has planned for you.  He doesn’t promise it’s easy, but He promises it is better than anything you can imagine.

ATTIC,

the no-longer-a-teenager gigi

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I Don’t Like Messy

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We have been taught to avoid messes. “Wash your hands.”

We have been taught that tidy is preferred. “Clean your room.”

We have machines that wash our clothes, clean our floors, and sanitize our dishes. Who doesn’t know the slogan for Bounty paper towels? I know in your brain you are saying “The Quicker Picker Up-er!”

Why shouldn’t God’s grace be neat and tidy too?

Here is how dictionary.com lists messy:

mess·y

1. characterized by a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition: a messy room.
2. causing a mess: a messy recipe; messy work.
3. embarrassing, difficult, or unpleasant: a messy political situation.
4. characterized by moral or psychological confusion.
Disordered! Messy work! Embarrassing! Confusing! Does this sound anything like the Grace of God to you?
It does to me. And it makes me smile.
Untidy, disordered- means EVERYWHERE, and not caring where that everywhere is. Under stuff, on top of stuff, around stuff- even if it’s yucky stuff. Grace has been shown to me at my lowest moments. At times when I could have and maybe should have been rejected. God’s grace wasn’t afraid of getting everywhere and surrounding my disordered condition. NOT tidying it up. NOT waiting until I was tidy before it came in. This Grace that gets everywhere is extended to everyone. On the cross, Jesus prayed “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.” Luke 23:24
Causing a mess? Dirty work? Jesus caused a mess many places he went when he showed grace to others. I read today about the healing of the blind man, that required spit and dirt, touching a blind man’s eyes with muddy hands, upsetting a down, and causing the man and his parents to be interrogated, intimidated and insulted by the church leaders! Then the leaders threw the man OUT in the street! That’s a mess for sure! John 9
Embarrassing? Difficult? What about the looks Jesus must have gotten when he was found talking to the woman at the well? The Message says “No one said what they were they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.” John 4 And not just Jesus- but the Samaritan woman herself? Having to admit she has had five husbands and currently the man she was living with was not her husband? That must have been quite difficult and humiliating to admit. But then GRACE! And out of that grace she witnessed to the town. Can you think of some of the many other examples like this?
God’s grace is certainly characterized by moral and psychological confusion. It tends to go against what we have been taught. It goes against the rules created by man to keep order. I think that is one of the reasons we find it difficult to accept. Rocks were in the hands of those ready to follow the law and stone the woman caught in adultery when Jesus said “The sinless one among you, go first. Throw the stone.” They all walked away- I imagine with a lot of confusion to sort through. John 8
God’s grace is messy. I don’t like messy. I love it.
ATTIC,
gigi

Maybe your favorite messy grace story is in the bible, maybe it’s a story you lived. Will you share it?

The grace of a teenager…

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We really hit the ground running at Centreville Baptist Church, as we launched “The ATTIC” on Wednesday, March 21st. We’ve had five Wednesday nights since being officially hired and God is moving and growing this ministry in great ways! I have felt such an expectancy among the youth and parents who are already involved–expecting great things–but also expecting excellence.

HOWEVER, I am a perfectionist, and when I am passionate about a project, I tend to throw all caution to the wind and move full-steam-ahead to get something off the ground. That’s been the case here. We’re a few days shy of 6 weeks and already we’ve had a couple of movie nights, a game night at the Ghost House, a concert, an all-night lock-in, a huge all-day fundraiser, and more! My typical work week is supposed to average 27 hours a week, but I’ve been hitting somewhere between 42 to 44. You might call that a “workaholic”. I call it passion. I am falling in love with these teenagers and I want to give it my all. But sometimes…I have to slow down.

So you’ll understand how torn I felt when Baby Ben kept Lindsey and I up all night last night with an ear ache and a fever. I held out until the last-minute this morning, as sleep-deprived as I am…but finally called Brother Ken and then sent out a message to let everyone know that we wouldn’t make it to church this morning. I left this afternoon’s worship/drama practice open and said I would update everyone later.

I got back several typical “praying for you!” texts and some “take care of BT!” texts. Sweet folks who love us already.

But the one I got from a big-hearted eighth grade boy is the one that got me: Hey bud! Hope BT gets to feeling better. We will miss y’all today. You don’t have to rush here for practice! Just help Baby Ben get better!

The grace of a teenager.

Expecting great things…but understanding the Father’s heart.

Already grasping the importance of family.

Realizing that there are times when church will play second fiddle.

I’m thankful that even though my own expectations of my self are unrealistically high at times, that I’m surrounded by folks who love my family and I.

They “get it”.

And they give us grace.

ATTIC,

Steve

Just a reminder…

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God is not intimidated by your sins,

Impressed by your dress,

Invited by your fancy building,

Or inhabited by a song and dance routine.

On the contrary…

God is able to conquer every struggle,

Concerned about matters of the heart,

Clothes us in grace,

And invites us into eternal fellowship with Him.

Ps. 40:1b-3

He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn’t slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to God.

ATTIC,
Steve