The other day my son was wandering aimlessly around my room.  He does this on a regular basis.  He’s a lot different than his sisters.  He likes to explore.  He looks for things to play with, destroy, toss around the room.  Anyway, the other day as he wandered around my room he glanced over at me and saw me brushing my teeth.  I look at him, waved, and in a flash he was gone.

One minute later… wandering boy came back in the room.  He approached the bathroom, and when I turned to look at him he was brushing his teeth.  Yes, he was doing exactly what I was doing — except he was dancing a little more than I was. [The boy is constantly dancing.]

This little interaction amazed me.  In that moment I realized he’s watching my every move.  He’s learning how to live by watching me.  It was then I thought, a lot of what I teach him will be taught informally.  It will be taught by how I live.

I think this is true of discipleship as well.  In churches and communities people are taught formally.  This means they are taught in a classroom, small group, or on a Sunday morning.  This is good thing.  But, people are also taught informally.  They learn by watching others.  They see what others do, and put it into practice.

The apostle Paul realized this.  He said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” [1 Cor. 11:1].  He also said, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” [Phil. 4:9].  Paul challenged his followers to copy his lifestyle, to learn from how he lived.

One of my goals in life is to model a life worth living.  Sure, I’m not perfect.  I don’t get it right all the time.  But I want to teach well by how I live.  I want to show others how to brush their teeth, not just tell them how to brush their teeth.

I read this on blainehogan.com and absolutely loved what he had to say. Recently, he and his wife were given the opportunity to consider a job opportunity at another church. As I read the blog entry, I got a sense that Blaine was used to moving around. He left home at age 18 to embark on a sense of adventure. He wanted to live a life of risk, following God. However, as he contemplated this latest move, he realized the riskiest thing was to not leave and pursue this new opportunity, but to stay. Here’s what he had to say…

Leaving is no longer the risky thing for me. The risky thing now is staying. It is submitting to the painfully transforming process of community. It is doing a dumb thing at work and then having to show back up the next day to face those you’ve disappointed. It is telling the truth instead of protecting yourself. It is letting people love you in spite of your ugly and broken bits and then letting them gently guide you into the light. It is showing up to dinners instead of going home and feeling sorry for yourself. It is letting yourself go – in a good way.

The risky thing is now staying. It is telling the truth instead of protecting yourself. It is letting people love you in spite of your ugliness and brokenness. It is staying and allowing yourself to be fully known.

It’s that last line that scars me – allowing yourself to be fully know. I believe that is the greatest risk anyone can take. It’s a risk that I’m not ready to take. I’m afraid of people knowing me completely. I’m afraid that if they know me then they will not like me. It is that fear that prevents me from fully exposing my heart. It is that fear that prevents me from saying some things.

The risk of being known, of allowing yourself to be fully known. It’s a risk that I’m want to take baby steps toward. I want to be more real. I want to put my hopes and dreams out there. I want to say what’s on my heart. But there’s always the fear of what will people do with it.

I like spaces.  I especially like creative spaces, spaces with lots of color and interest.  With four kids it can be hard to have a space just to myself.  A few years back I remember losing the last little bit of space I called my own.  My space became space for the kids to play.  I always knew as a dad I would have to sacrifice for my kids, but I didn’t think they would consume all my space.  I was wrong.

Just the other day I came home to a surprise.  In our new house we have an office, a space for my stuff, a space to create, a space to read, a space to write.  Up until last week this space was pretty boring.  Well, boring according to my taste.  Well, when I was away for school, my wife decorated the space.  She added color.  She painted furniture she found.  She had my mother-in-law reupholster an old chair.  When I came home she had transformed the office space from boring to BAM (my word for amazing).  Here are a few pictures…My wife and mother-in-law truly did an amazing job.  I heard they worked their rear end off, and it shows.

I like spaces, creative spaces.  I hope this website becomes a space, a creative space where I can share thoughts, ideas, pictures, and anything else that comes to my mind.  This is my space, but I totally understand others might stop by once in a while.  I look forward to the interactions.  So, let the journey begin.

Recently, I was struck by Acts 12. In Acts 12:21 it says, “On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “the voice of god, and not of man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.”

Because he did not give God the glory, he was struck down. Because life was all about him, he was struck down, breathed his last, and was eaten by worms. If life is all about me, it will end in destruction. Life must not be about me, it must be about bringing God glory. I’m reminded of Jesus words in John 17:3, “I brought you glory by completing the work you gave me to do.” Jesus lived to bring God glory. How? By doing what God asked him to do.

So, God, what do you want me to do? Show me through your Word how you want me to live for your glory.