standard shift

I think I inadvertently set a standard that I am having a hard time keeping up, so I am changing the standard.

I am not always supremely interested in spiritual things. This is unfortunate and probably to my detriment, but it is true. I am more interested in spiritual things than a lot of people seem to be, but I do think about many other things that have no relevance in eternity.

Now that I have that information off my chest, I feel like I can write more freely about some other things I care too much about. Football is one!

The NFL draft is over and, as an Atlanta Falcon fan, I am excited about what the boys in the front office are doing. They seem to be going after high-character, talented guys; great idea in Mr. Goodell's football league.

They are also opening mini camp to the public, which I am, so I am thinking about going.

update

i think when you commit to doing something publicly, it becomes that much more difficult to follow through. i think it should be the other way around. maybe its just me, maybe i am the only one who has problems following through when i make a commitment, but somehow i doubt it. this post is going to have no substance, i am just writing it because it has been so long since i wrote anything. it is time to update. not much is new. i am much closer to meeting my new daughter. that's cool. i have been challenged afresh to focus on more important things. not video games and football stuff. i think i have been more prideful lately than usual and am genuinely sorry about that. i have been forgiven for it. i do think it is time to do some new things and some old things more consistently. that's all for today.
nick

change

I am surrounded by people and things that are not just the way I want them. I have friends who aren't perfect, family that isn't perfect, I work with imperfect people, and I go to an imperfect church. There is room for improvement everywhere around me, but the Bible says that before I look at the speck in my brothers eye, I ought to remove the log from my own eye.

The problem is not that I am surrounded by imperfection. That cannot be the problem, because that is not going to change on this side of heaven. I can look forward to a lifetime surrounded by imperfection. That is my lot, and yous. everything, except God, is always going to need change. Everything, except God, is always going to be imperfect...until Heaven.

The bigger issue is the log in my own eye. The fact that I cannot see clearly, even if I want to. As long as I am on earth, with everyone else that is imperfect, I will be imperfect as well. That means that as long as I am alive to complain about everyone else's imperfections, I will have my own to deal with. Not only that, but I am supposed to deal with mine before I look at anyone else's. ouch.

What is the good news? How is this accomplished? What am I supposed to do now? I think one word sums it up. This word could have days of dialogue and never fully be explained. It could be taught for years and never experienced, but rest assured, this one word is our only escape from the criticism and questions that surround our imperfect world: contentment.

I used to know a girl whose middle name was Content. That is a far cry from me wanting to name my daughter Mara, which means bitter. Either way, that is the word, content. To be content is what we need to overcome the imperfections all around us.

I just biblegateway.com-ed "content" in the NIV. wow! Philippians 4:11-2; 1 Timothy 6:6,8; Hebrews 13:5. Take a minute and see what God has to say about being content! Then do it!