worth the fight

I bought the new Switchfoot album Fading West. It's every bit of awesome that I hoped it would be. Yes. That's a shameless plug. #sorry #notsorry

The first song is "Love Alone Is Worth the Fight" which is crazy, because at my church we've been talking about war. And if you want peace - in your home, at work, with the people you love - you have to be prepared for war.

As I thought through my high school students who face the peer pressure every day of drugs, sex, and alcohol (and rock and roll! <just kidding about that one. I don't know any high schoolers who like rock and roll) and their longing to have someone to walk alongside them - a friend, a leader, anyone - through all of that, I realized they need someone - or a bunch of someones - fighting for them. Telling them they are loved. Valued. And that someone knows them and cares what happens in their life. And point them to a God that can take care of them.

Middle school students - the ones whose brains are still developing and are so full of life until something or someone tells them they don't matter or can't accomplish anything - ran through my head. They need people fighting for them. Telling them they really can accomplish things. That they are smart. And valued. And someone cares what happens during their day. And point them to a God who loves them, so much more than a parent who tells them they were a mistake.

I'm learning a lot about love lately. How much the word itself means to me. How difficult it is to live out. And what it really means when you tell someone, "I love you." It's interesting that "Love is patient" starts off the famous Corinthians love chapter - it's the one I'm the worst at.

But I'm learning that love - on so many levels - is worth the fight.

every day.

That obnoxious song that is my alarm tone on my phone. First noise of the day. Followed by my lazy reach to snooze said obnoxious song. Ten more minutes of peace.

Ugh. That song. Again. I wish this was the time that I got up. It's not usually. It's usually the time that I think, if I get up now, I can go for a run... Or I can stay here. Because, I mean, the cat is laying here and I can't bother him so I'll just go back to sleep.

That's it. This time I'm really getting up. It makes me feel less lazy if I read instead of just hitting snooze. I pick up a book by Oswald Chambers, have to look up a few words so I know what he's talking about and then flip to the Bible app on my phone. Remember - this is all just a ruse to cover that I still haven't gotten out of bed and definitely did not go for a run.

Kitty most definitely does not like to be bothered.

Head for the bathroom. Bother the cat who is now awake and hungry. Spend some time looking at Web sites for anything interesting that I might be able to talk about on the radio, post on Facebook, then head for the car. Forgetting that I'm hungry and need to bring lunch today.

Back inside. Can of soup. Cookie - it's oatmeal so it totally counts as breakfast. Back outside.

Every day is a little different - meetings, people, reading, writing, more meetings. And coffee. Always coffee.

Always. Always coffee.

When I was a kid, I figured being an adult would be like television or the movies - excitement, romance, adventure, plot twists and resolutions by the end. And there are flashes of brilliance. Moments that stand out in my mind. But most days are filled with computer screens, text messages, and work.

Today I talked with a friend who is looking at a new adventure - a risky one - and it made me take a second to take stock of where I am. My job. My relationships. And the incredible nature of what I get to do. As I talked with him about the ways that God has provided for me and given me above and beyond what I could have ever asked for or imagined possible, I realize how little I stop to appreciate and thank God for the place He has so clearly put me.

All of the times I've ever tried to do what I want on my time with whom I wanted, I've messed everything up. But really. Everything.

And somehow God has still put me here - with people I love in a job that I want to get up and do every morning. I don't deserve it. And I should be need to be more grateful for the grace and the God that's brought me here.