The Space Between Us Two

Today I told my bestfriend a lie.
I did it even though I don't know the reason why.

There used to be a spot between us that sheltered the truth.
We would talk and I would always know what to do.

Today I told my bestfriend a lie.
I listened to him speak to keep from crying.

The reasons why seem vast though they're few.
Lingering in the space between us two.

Today I told my bestfriend a lie.
I can't believe it, but I'm trying.

He holds my darkest secrets in a safe.
He never makes me feel out of place.

But the moment when I told him that one lie
I knew a part of me was saying goodbye

To the way things used to be
When it was just my bestfriend and me.


Adayinthelife :-)

Pressure Is Building

Pressure is building
I wish it would stop
Pressure is rising
But my feelings are not

The sounds that I hear
A pop then a bang
Should cause me to live in fear
but it's been 10 years in the gang

The sounds of the night
those meant to scatter and to scare
Cause others to live in fright
but rarely cause me to care

Pressure is building 
I wish it would stop
Body counts are rising
But my feelings are not


Adayinthelife :-)

The Power of Pain

The nights that I struggled
Head hung down and bowed
Endured more in those moments
Pain was everywhere to be found

Opened my heart and they hurt me
Whispered lies and untruths
Each time they thought they stopped me
Reached the peak of despair, but the pain I pushed through

Of course it was difficult
Forced to go through on my own
God never left me
But, had some friends that moved on

Pain pushed me to my purpose
A place that I never thought I could be
I stand renewed and empowered
Nothing but strength flowing from me


Adayinthelife:-)

The Letter of The Law

We have all been taught to obey the laws. When we are very young, we are taught the importance of obeying our parent's laws. As we get older, we are taught to obey their laws and those that are taught to us at church or school. By the time we reach adulthood, we have learned a set of laws to help us navigate almost every aspect of life. The importance of learning the law was not for the law's sake. It was to keep us out of harm's way or teach us to respect or honor a certain person or thing. The thing about laws that puzzles me is how few we are taught that teach us to respect or honor God.

You are no doubt already thinking of a way to challenge what I just said. A prime example is the ten commandments. I know we were all taught the ten commandments. I know you think you were taught them to honor God, but that's not true if you really think about it. We learned the 10 commandments and acknowledge them as laws given by God. However, we do not learn them or live by them with the purpose being to honor Him.

Take for example "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." We know it. We quote it. And then we live by it when it is convenient. We understand that the letter of the law commands us to show honor to our parents. But the spirit of the law seeks that we honor God.

Another example is "Thou shalt not kill." This is a law that we confound by letter and spirit. We believe that taking a life is wrong until we have a personal situation that we feel requires an exception. We consider every possible scenario except will disobeying this law bring dishonor to God?

The letter of the law requires that we keep the law according to what is written without regard to the spirit in which the law was given. I challenge each one of us to go beyond the letter of the law. We must get to the point where we obey the laws to bring honor to God. Doing so brings us in line with what He intended.


The Letter of the Law
The strict and exact force of the language used in a statute, as distinguished from the spirit, general purpose, and policy of the statute.

Isaiah 29:13
The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Adayinthelife :-)

Quitting Is Not An Option

I have had a great deal of challenges in my life. I think about the things that have happened and I am amazed that I am where I am. today I have wanted to throw in the towel so many times, but I couldn't. I couldn't give up. I couldn't quit because through everything I always had hope.

Now I don't want anyone to think that I haven't had my throw in the towel moments. I remember when I dropped out of college. The months preceding were filled with two losses that I hadn't been able to move past. I hurt in such a way that I wanted everything to quit. I wanted to press pause on my life and just sit inside of my room and cry. For a while that's what I did. I sat there crying my eyes out because I couldn't see past the moment. Then, as I was crying, I asked God why He allowed this to happen to me. I told Him I couldn't go forward and there was no reason to because everything in my life was a mess. Even as I talked and prayed to Him, doing all that I could to express why I was quitting, He was saying to me there's hope. He was assuring me that as long as I came back to Him, as long as I trusted Him, as long as I allowed Him to heal me, quitting was not an option.

Truth is I didn't officially quit college. I went through every motion that signaled I was quitting. I even went through a period where I just stopped going to class. However, I always knew deep down that quitting was not an option. College was not just for me. It was for my family. Quitting was not an option for me because if I did, they could quit too. God gave me hope so that I could be hope for someone else.

Isn't it amazing how God works? He puts hope inside of us so that we can deposit it in others. He puts hope in us so that we can move forward even when things are falling apart. He puts hope in us so that we will always remember that in the midst of it all, He's there.

Adayinthelife :-)

I Love You, But I Can't Say I Do

Do you ever think about what happens the moment when you tell someone that you love them? I am not talking about the physical reactions that we have. Think for a moment beyond the butterflies in your stomach, the instant smile on your face, and the increased pace of your heart. What happens when you say I love you? Well, I'll tell you. When you say I love you, every expectation that the other person has changes. When you say I love you, you are also saying I do. Let me explain.

I love you is a phrase that carries with it the expectation of action. I love you so I will stand by you. I love you so I will be faithful to you. I love you so I will fight for you. I love you so no matter what happens I'm going to be here with you. We say I love you and those three words start the countdown to the day when we will say I do. If we are honest, that is the expectation. Right?

What happens when I say I love you, but I can't say I do? Does that mean that your expectations of me change? No. Does that mean that I will no longer stand by you? No. Does that mean that I will not be faithful to you? No. It does mean that I never understood what saying I love you carried. It means that I am capable of saying the right things "I love you". It means I am also capable of doing the right things "being there for you". However, if I can say I love you, but I can't say I do, it is because I don't understand that to God "I love you" and "I do" are one and they same.

You see when we say I love You to God, the I do is implied. I love You and I do what You say. I love You and I do understand that means keeping Your commands. I love You and I do commit myself to You wholeheartedly. I love You and I do Your will. I love You and I do accept that my life belongs to You. Basically, if our I love you was directed by God, it would be impossible to not say I do.

Adayinthelife :-)

The Truth About Fasting

The very first time that I can remember going on a fast was in high school. There was a senior skip day coming up and I went out and bought the cutest banana yellow bikini. I was about 110 pounds, but my mind said you need to lose five more. So I went on a fast. I committed myself to only eating apples and saltine crackers for a week. I even asked God to help me to reach my goal. At the end of the week, I had lost the extra five pounds. My first fast was a success.

As I got older, I fasted from time to time. Fasting was usually tied to an outfit that I wanted to wear. Each time I decided to fast, I set a goal and prayed to God that I would meet it. I made sure to re-consult God if began to waver. I cannot remember one time that I fasted and was unsuccessful. The funny thing is not one of those fast was honorable because all of them were self serving in nature. Sure, I abstained from eating for a time. I even prayed to God for assistance with the fast. But never, not once did I fast with the intention of gaining anything except praise for myself.

The truth about fasting is that it has nothing to do with loosing weight and looking good. Fasting is all about deepening your relationship with God. And here's another truth, that's what fasting is about even during those times when being close to Him is the furthest thing from your mind. You see I knew about God when I was fasting. I knew intimately what the four walls of the church looked like and I had a deep understanding of the Christian do's and don'ts. What I didn't have and didn't want was a relationship with God. Wasn't it enough that I wanted to fast?

Actually, it wasn't. All that matters is that I took something that was meant as an honor to God and used it for myself. I could have been fasting and praying for God to guide me through so that my triumphs wouldn't have been colored by so many failures. I could've been fasting to stand in the gap for someone else. I could've been fasting to build the one relationship that would fill the lonely place that was in my heart. Unfortunately, the truth about my fasting is that it was all about me.


"Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

Zechariah 7:5

Adayinthelife :-)