You know that I’m hungry and feeling sorry for myself when I post about food twice in the same week.

I love Thai food; and my dairy-free and gluten-free wife and I can both enjoy Thai food.

Amy and I may disagree on which Thai restaurant has the best Thai food, but we don’t often complain if one or the other suggests we get take-out, especially after a long day of gardening.

Mercy

One evening after a long day of conquering weeds I called Reuan Thai in Osseo, MN and placed our order.

On June 13th, 1987 I married the girl of my dreams.

My dreams have not always been my reality.

For instance, we didn’t always agree. In fact, she once called me “wishy-washy” because I didn’t 100% agree with her political statement. I responded with a self-defensive snarky-pout, “I’m just open-minded!” We didn’t always agree the, nor do we always agree now.

And yet, my wife Amy continues to be someone I admire. She hungers for God, and hungers and thirsts for righteousness. Amy does so with grace and humility, in fact, if she reads this post she’ll be annoyed that I bragged about her and she’ll hate that she might not live up to someone’s expectations.

Hunger?

I have been on a carb-limiting diet for the past two weeks. I am quite aware of the self-pity, whiny attitude that I can have when i don’t get to have what I want, when I want it and as much as I want.

Jesus told his listeners, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” 1

I wish that I cared as much about my spiritual well-being as I do filling my belly.

1 – Matthew 5:6, NIV

Note image from Wikipedia

Blessed be Barack Obama. the President of the United States.
Blessed be Angela Merckel, the Chancellor of Germany.
Blessed be Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.
Blessed be Bill Gates, billionaire co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Blessed be Pope Benedict XVI, the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

And, blessed be Gloria C. Mackenzie, lottery winner.

Blessed

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 2

Blessed are the meek – the humble, gentle and lowly – for the whole earth will belong to them. 3

Blessed be 84-year-old Gloria C. Mackenzie who purchase a Powerball lottery ticket, the same ticket that would win her $590 million, the largest undivided lottery jackpot in history. 1

Blessed by Gloria, and against all odds, blessed be the poor, hungry, grief-stricken and terrorized. Those were the people surrounding Jesus.

Throughout history the poor, hungry and grieving have been esteemed as noble; that because of their circumstances they are blessed from God. 2

Oddly, there are also many who – like in the book of Job – look on the poor, hungry and grieving and assume their circumstances are because of their own misdeeds. “They have sinned and deserve it.”

Two teens on two Tuesdays.
They made opposite decisions.
They experienced different outcomes.

One

A feared gang leader sauntered into the room.
He looked nervous, but none of the teens in the room saw it.
They saw “him.”
They froze.

TreeHouse is an incredibly safe place.
Suddenly, for them, it felt unsafe.

I knew the reaction.
I didn’t know him.

He was required to be there.
He stayed ten minutes and left.
I followed, hoping we could have a conversation another day.
He didn’t stop.
He didn’t speak.
I never saw him again.
Sadly, he was killed in a gang-related incident within a year.

Here are some coffee beans. I’ll miss them.

“While sitting in a coffee shop” won’t be in my vocabulary for a couple of weeks.

For the next few weeks I’m taking my son Josh’s challenge – and joining a couple family and friends – who are assessing their intact.

Portion-size is by-far my biggest problem, but foregoing caffeine is part of the challenge.

Is grace happening to you?
Is grace happening in you?
Is grace happening through you?

I’ve been stuck emotionally and spiritually more than I’d like to admit. Raise your hand if you can relate? Okay, we’re all “not alone.” But, let’s not stay stuck!

Looking to take a step forward in your life?

Want your actions to more closely match your intentions?

Me too!

Each of the themes below links to a previous mysilentscream post that has been helpful to readers looking to make a change. 1

Love – Tired of empty expressions of “love”?

God transforms. God heals. God restores. God does so in my life and can do so in yours.

Max Lucado wrote, let grace, let God, “so seep into the crusty cracks of your life that everything softens. Then let it, let him, bubble to the surface, like a spring in the Sahara, in words of kindness and deeds of generosity.”

God will change you, my friend.

“Jesus’ death is the means to new life for others…suffering is an avenue for God’s life to transform situations.” 1

I meet many people in my work. The vast majority of the people I meet are generally normal people. Children are children. Teens are teens. Adults are adults.

I live in a community in which the high school is populated by about seventy-percent “people of color.” Generally speaking I like people different than me.

Across from me is the other kind of person.
I have really tried to like that person, but woah!

Background

I’ve known her family for about twenty years. I’ve been in their house. I’ve pet their dog, talked to their cat, spent time with her parents, and gotten to know her siblings. I have tried to like her, but woah.