I Pledge Allegiance

"I dedicate...I dedicate... I dedicate to you this song." As you are reading those words, imagine me singing in my Brandy voice circa 1994.

1994 was the year that I graduated high school. It was the year I turned 18. 1994 was also the first year that I dedicated myself someone. I swore to protect him. I swore to fight in whatever way it was necessary to defend him. I pledged my allegiance to him. And then, I quit.

I stopped fighting for my friend because it was too hard. I stopped fighting for him because sometimes he wasn't very nice to me. I stopped fighting for him because I was 18 and I didn't have any real idea what fighting for him or pledging my allegiance to him meant. I vowed to stand by him through everything, but I gave up.

This is the cycle that many of us take in life. We become passionate about a person or a cause and we pledge our undying allegiance. We say it is out of love or commitment. We dive headfirst into sustaining a friendship or raising awareness for a cause. We go through rituals designed to prove how strong our allegiance is. Then, we succumb to a change of feelings or the hands of time. We forget how important that person was to us when we first met. We forget how on fire we were to spread the word about breast cancer, recycling, or church. We forget that we pledged our allegiance in the presence of God.

I pledge allegiance means that my feelings will not dictate my faithfulness. I will not exert more energy when I am happy. I will not slack off when I am sad. I pledge allegiance means that I will not turn away when things get hard and I am weary. I pledge allegiance means that I will be rooted in my commitment and not falter. I will stand boldly in the trenches and fight even if it's from dusk til dawn.

I pledge allegiance and I will do any and everything to honor what I say. I will consider my commitment before I make it. I will be sure that for everything I pledge that I've counted the cost. I will recognize that even when I pledge my allegiance to a man, woman, boy, or girl that I am doing so in the presence of God.

It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one's vows.

Proverbs 20:25

Adayinthelife :-)

The Right Place At The Right Time

Regardless of where you are, you're at the right place at the right time to be a blessing.

I am sitting in my living room all alone writing. I am not meditating within the walls of the sanctuary or kneeling before the pulpit crying out to God. I am not out visiting the sick or feeding the homeless. However, I am in the right place at the right time to be a blessing.

From right where I am, I have the world at my fingertips. I can post "Jesus loves you" and lift someone off their sick bed. I can text "I forgive you" and mend a relationship long broken. I can stop typing and immediately go to God in prayer. Everything that I need to be a blessing is at my fingertips even right here in this place.

Regardless of where you are, you're at the right place at the right time to be a blessing.

We often think about being in the right place at the right time to receive a blessing. I completely understand that. We all have moments where our thoughts are only of ourselves, but I want you to think beyond that. Think about how your position can positively impact someone else.

Just today I was asked if I still wanted to be a social worker. I responded yes and no. I want to be a social worker, however I know that I am at the right place at the right time to be a blessing to the children that I serve. I'm at a place where I am challenged to put the needs of others before my own everyday. It is difficult at times. I have had moments where I wanted to give up. However, if I leave and God hasn't told me to leave, someone will miss out on what God had for them. It could be that I am to be used to shine the light for someone who hasn't seen God. It could even be that in the midst of it all God has someone positioned right where I am to shine His light for me.

Regardless of where you are, you're at the right place at the right time to be a blessing.

Adayinthelife :-)

It's By God's Grace

I have never met anyone who didn't seek the approval of loved ones or peers. We exude a great deal of effort to achieve more than our parents imagined we could. Our focus is on being the next best at everything and when we receive titles, promotions, and raises, we bask in the glory of what we have worked so hard to do. There are many things in my own life that I worked for, but the achievement of them was by God's grace.

Conventional wisdom would say that I am responsible for my success. I went to school. I got good grades. I worked hard and secured a job. But, the truth is I went to school because I thought that's what you're supposed to do. I did just enough to have what I thought was a respectable GPA. My efforts at finding a job were minuscule. Everything that I have was given to me most undeservedly by the grace of God.

So what is the grace of God? God's grace is His loving kindness. His grace is His favor. God's grace is seen in how we express sincere thanks. His grace is shown in how we live when we realize we are under His grace. And of course I must add that His grace is sufficient.

Now to tell you what that all really means. There is nothing that I could do to deserve God's love. There is nothing that I can do to deserve His favor. We receive God's grace at His word, His will, and His command. It is not our work or our goodness. It is the work that He does in us and His loving kindness flowing out of us. His grace is sufficient because He is sufficient. God is enough. Grace is enough.

The challenge is to view grace and life in the same vein. They are both remarkable gifts that should humble us and elevate God.


For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Romans 12:3

Adayinthelife :-)

Love Is A Battlefield

My favorite movies are love stories. This has been true for as long as I can remember. I enjoy watching a man and a woman taking those first uncertain steps toward one another. It's the way that the two of them are drawn in. The looks that pass between them or the way one hangs on the other's every word. Love stories are simply the best. 

I must admit that many of my favorite love stories are those that take you through the struggle as well as the triumphs. I love being able to watch them navigate through the struggles that Hollywood tries so hard to make resemble our everyday lives. Even in the movies, there is a sense of who will give up and who will dig in their heels and fight. There is a sense of who believes that love is worth fighting for. Those are the stories that I gravitate to because love is not the sum of stolen kisses and passion filled nights. Love is a battlefield and those who wish to remain in it know that they must fight.

Sadly, most don't understand what it means to fight. We think that fighting involves yelling, name calling, and tears. We believe that the best fights involve withholding affection and at least 24 hours of the silent treatment. If we are in what we believe is a heated battle, we throw accusations that cripple what's left of our trust. Love is a battlefield.

But, when will we learn what it means to fight? When will we understand that the fight is not to wound the one we say we love? The battle that we wage is to reclaim them. The battle that we fight is to restore everything that has been broken. Love is patient. Love is kind. We say these words when it looks like we are fighting on the same team. Few understand how important patience and kindness are when the relationship is under attack. Love is a battlefield.

Are you willing to fight for love? Are you willing to dig in your heels and stand against attacks? Will you forgive without reservations? Will you set aside how you feel to lift the one you love in prayer so that they are restored? Will you run towards them when they hurt you and it seems like nothing will ever be alright? Love is a battlefield.


Then the LORD said to me, "Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the LORD still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them."

Hosea 3:1