Hey Joshua! So glad you are here. I’m saying a prayer right now that God redeems those difficult life experiences. That’s the way God always writes his story… Taking what the enemy meant for bad and turning it into what God calls good. Thanks for joining that story with all of us! We will learn from you in the weeks ahead, I’m sure of it!

Christmas was a slow down for me that was painful. I went from fifth gear down to a parked car. My adrenaline was still pumping after a big project at work. I looked around the house and all I saw was unstructured chaos and a retired wife and restless kids. I wanted to run and hide. I like what you said about exposure. That’s what it felt like. And it was not comfortable. It’s way easier to bang out a punchlist than it is just to be present and engaged with no agenda except unconditional love and acceptance and undivided attention. Thanks Joe.

Psalm 63 “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. My beloved God, you are the only God in my life. there’s nothing else I desire. everything around me turns to dust. It will all go away one day. You are the only thing that endures. you are what gives my life definition. You alone are the source of my life, my hope, my confidence, and my joy. I cherish you like a scuba diver needs a regulator…like a climber depends on his rope. You are everything to me. You alone are my God. And I love you.

Joe, I love what you say here: meekness isn't about becoming less strong. it's about becoming strong enough to be trusted. In his book, Humilitas, John Dickson tells the story about three young men that jumped onto a bus in Detroit in the 1930s and tried to pick a fight with one lone man sitting in the back. Rather than respond to their taunts, the man simply rose from his seat at the next stop, showing himself to be much bigger after standing up, reached into his pocket to withdrew a business card, handed it to the group, stepped off the bus and walked away. The card read, Joe Louis. Boxer. Little did those fortunate young men know they had just tried to pick a fight with who would go on to become the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World from 1937 to 1949. It was said of Joe Louis that he could knock out a horse with just one punch. He could easily have devastated those men’s lives with his immense power and skill, and he would have been justified in doing so. Nevertheless, he chose to forgo his stature and hold his power for the benefit of others. Dickson uses this particular anecdote about the humble and generous life of Joe Louis to illustrate the essence of what true humility is all about. I really like his definition. It’s worth reading verbatim from his book. Here it is: Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself. [Humility] is marked by a willingness to hold power in service of others. I can’t help but be reminded of Jesus’ words in his Sermon on the Mount when he says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” That word “meek” comes from the original Greek word "praus." Paul also uses that word to describe Jesus as “meek” and “gentle.” Taken at face value, listening through the lens of our contemporary understanding of this word, “meek” becomes soft and almost unappealing. But there’s more to that Greek word praus. It was originally used as a Greek military term about war horses. When the Greeks captured a wild horse and brought it down from the mountain, it was broken and trained. When these powerful and majestic animals were broken and their power was harnessed toward a specific task, the horse was said to have been “meeked.” They were not weak or frightened creatures. They fearless and magnificent tools of war. This word originally demonstrated power that was under control, and directed toward a beneficial cause. Jesus was anything but weak. He possessed all the power of the heaven and hell. With one word he could have called down angels of fire on his tormentors. But he instead channeled his power toward submissive obedience to his heavenly father and marched into the gates of hell so we wouldn’t have to. That’s power under control. That’s meekness. That’s praus. That’s what humility is all about. Jesus, thank you for being “meek” for me. Thank you for your humility that has lifted me out of my humiliation and given me dignity in you. Please help me be humble for the benefit of those around me this week. Amen