Yesterday was Easter.

In the scope of human history, obviously, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a big deal, but I never really thought much about the forty days after the resurrection. Frankly, I thought it might be a bit of divine hide-and-seek before the ascension. 1

What’s Next?

Last year I read Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola’s book, “Jesus: The Theography“. Their take on those forty days was refreshing and enlightening:

I work at TreeHouse, and at TreeHouse we have four outcomes we track and are proud to explain.

Graduate High School

We are excited that TreeHouse teens are 24% more likely to graduate than their peers. That’s great news, but we want more for them.

Plan for After High School

93% of TreeHouse youth in grades 10-12 report they’ve begun making plans for after high school

Today is the TreeHouse Opportunity Fair.

Opportunity Fair is a night to get serious about the future. Tonight we will meet representatives from colleges, trade schools, the Armed Services, and future employers.

I’m thinking through what this means for me today, tomorrow, and my tomorrows.

What does the Lord your God require of you?
He requires only that you
fear the Lord your God,
and live in a way that pleases him,
and love him
and serve him with all your heart and soul.
- Deuteronomy 10:12, NLT

My friend Jimmy Cooper has one of those experiences that you want, and don’t want to have. I’ll let him explain. 1

 On January 19th, 2012 -  I was with my wife Christiane in our apartment in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. We had been out on a date and we had just gotten home. Actually, I guess we had been home for an hour or so and it was pretty late at night, about 1:30am. I started having an overwhelming feeling that I needed to lie down. It was out of the blue and I couldn’t fight it, so I lay down in bed and closed my eyes. I wasn’t feeling well and it came on so quickly, I just had to close my eyes.

Last week I wrote about shame.  You can resume that series on shame we had some fun with it, defined it, and practically explained how culturally bound and complicated shame-filled groups can become.

We choose to use shame because it seems to work.

Sadly, shame is insidious, it destroys its loyal supporters. Fortunately, shame but does not have the final word.

Shame can be defeated.  This week I will offer some solutions which may help you and your loved one overcome shame.

Awareness of Needs

Addressing legitimate needs with genuine solutions is one key solution.

I told someone this week how special it is to be married to my best friend, have two great kids, have a life-transforming job, and be healthy nearing fifty.

On the other hand, it’s so special to be like the young woman on this picture wondering what the future holds.  Wondering who she will become.

Embrace Your As-Yet Unseen Future

Paul’s getting married.

Krista and Robert are having a baby; Abby & Zach and Sharna & Nate are too!

Tonight I met with some imminent graduates including Angela, Ashtin, Brittany, Caronda and Vincent.