People of the Second Chance

These lovely people sent me a free sticker in the mail!  I wanted to put it somewhere I could see it and serve as a reminder of God’s grace…so, I put it right there on my computer!  Why? Because I am a person who has received and wants to extend radical grace.

Here’s a little about them:

“People of the Second Chance gives voice to a scandalous movement of radical grace in life and leadership. We challenge the common misconceptions about failure and success and stand with those who have hit rock bottom in their personal and professional lives. We are a community that is committed to stretch ourselves in the areas of relational forgiveness, personal transparency, and advocate for mercy over judgment.

We are not ashamed of our scars, wounds, or failures and leverage them as a source of strength and character development.

People of the Second Chance have experienced a second chance so we  actively support social justice organizations and advocate for the vulnerable, forgotten, and left behind.

We are People of the Second Chance.”

What do you think? Have you experienced God’s mercy and love through second chances? Have others extended that radical grace? Have you used your second chances to grow?

Proverbs 24:16 “For a righteous man falls seven times, and RISES AGAIN.”

I Cried…

“So You Think You Can Dance” gripped my heart tonight.  My eyes fixated on the screen.  I crumpled inside.  I ached with each debilitating, overwhelming act that pushed her to the ground. I re-lived the echo: you’re everything I think I need, you touched me for a little while and all my fragile strength is gone.  The chains came crushing down. Biting into my skin.  Reverberating lies instead of truth.  Yet, here I stand.  On the other side.  Set free. Not going back. I won’t back down. Throwing myself on my beloved.  Wrapping myself in Him.  Living here on my knees for Him.  He touches me for a little while, then I am strong.  He frees me from my chains.  And here I am, and I stand, so tall, just the way I’m supposed to be.  Standing with Him, falling into His gravity.

ht: watch this: Addicted

Lyrics on Repeat

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by Glory
And I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me

Oh how he loves us, so
Oh How he loves us, how he loves us so

If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking
So, heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

He loves us

~

We have all we need in You
And all we need is You
All we need is You

You can have all my hands can hold
My heart, mind, strength and soul
Be my all, all consuming fire

~

And I’m madly in love with You

Re-created My World

“I love you more than my clothes (dress, socks, shoes).  I love you as a teacher and as a friend.” -Sylvia

“To someone who thinks not only for herself but thinks for everyone.  And that person is you.  You have re-created my world and made me a believer.  My life is a more Holy and loving place than before.  You have been my pillow of strength throughout this course.  I appreciate you and I don’t know how life would’ve been possible without you.  You have taught me a lot and I hope you’re gonna keep on changing many other lives as you changed my life.” -Malefu

Loved the cards that I got from my LaunchPad students today.  They caused my heart to overflow with love and served as a reminder of how I want to live:

To let everyone know of the abundant life in Christ by living to glorify God through following Him, speaking words of life, and coming alive in order to do everything with love that overwhelms, empowers, and transforms.

Meetings

Meetings.  Some people absolutely loathe going to another meeting.  I tend to actually look forward to them.  I see the opportunity they give for the larger group to get together, recapture vision, share passion and information, and live life together in a “work” setting.  I find this to be especially true of our Staff Meetings at Thrive.  I love that we start off with sharing testimonies of how “God is Big” and what He is doing in each of our lives.  I am so blessed and encouraged through hearing these.  We also spend time on “development.”  We value continuing to learn more, being transformed by Christ, and “developing” ourselves in Him.  Today’s message hit home and I even had a chance tonight to live out my own reactions to confrontation and to my commitment to continue to change and experience life in Christ.  Here are some bullet point thoughts to chew on from the message “Keys to Confrontation” by Danny Silk:

• We need to strategically apply pressure to expose areas that need strength and grace
• Confrontation is an invitation to strengthen a relational bond with someone (so true! through confrontation tonight, I’m excited to further develop relationships)
• Confrontation is not about punishment, but about setting each other up to win and to put us back on the track that we left
• Relationships are where we manifest everything we get from heaven
• Confrontation is about helping people find the need and find the remedy to the need–when you’ve fallen in a hole, you need something–you lost control of you to the thing that put you in the hole!
• Questions to ask: What are you going to do? How’s that working out for you? Do you want help with this problem? I am wondering if…?  …didn’t it?
• Godly sorrow leads to repentance
• Find out what the problem actually has to do with
• Live a life that no matter what external pressure comes, you get to be YOU.