Personal Responsibility...

This morning I woke up, shaved and showered, then I brewed a cup of coffee in that Keurig coffee maker I found outside the condo I was living in, in Boyton Beach, Florida a few years back. I want to tell you about the coffeemaker. Someone had apparently left it in the hallway outside. There it was, right there all alone, when I found it. My fiancé, at the time, told me, "That's junk, throw it away." I cleaned it up, and it's right here in Denver, Colorado, with me today, still brewing great coffee, one cup at a time. Every time I use that coffeemaker I am reminded of several things. One man's garbage can be another man's gold and many things that appear to be broken can often be fixed.

I have had this extreme difficulty going on in my life. There is nothing fair or just about it. I generally start my day on my knees in God's word, His truth, and I ask for help. I always ask our God to help me when I write anything. I looked in my Gideon bible and there it was under "Relief in time of suffering."

I was directed to 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I am so very happy to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and to have a very strong relationship with our Savior. I was thinking about personal responsibility, mine, nobody else's. Sometimes, I just want to quit at life, at everything. That thought doesn't last long and maybe each of us has those days, those moments, at least. This world we live in can be troublesome occasionally. Then I remember, I'm not a victim, I'm a volunteer in my life. People count on me. I count on me. Nobody is coming to save me, I have to save myself. This adulting sometimes isn't all it's cracked up to be. Then I drink my coffee and remember this world needs a couple of principled leaders.

So here's what I'm going to set out to do today. I'm going to remember that if I want my life to get better, I need to do better. I need to take stock of the fact that I have two hands and two feet, a strong and quick mind, and I'm healthy through no fault of my own. I'm going to hit the gym later and work these muscles and keep moving forward. Adversity is an opportunity to work my spiritual muscles. I will remember I don't need to be responsible for everything. I gave my life to Christ. I need to surrender, ask for help, and understand we each have a huge God, who can always do the heavy lifting. I'll get to the other side of whatever is going on and it's really none of my business. My own life generally runs better when I'm not in it. As to this world, that's another place I need to be in and not of. I read the last chapter. It ends well for those who are saved by the blood of Christ.

So I want to share something with my connections. We need to be personally responsible, even when we don't want to. We need to sometimes, grow up and show up. Sometimes the best way to forget about our own trouble is to help someone else with their's. Let's each do our small part today to make the world a better place because we are called to. Look around at all the destruction, the hopelessness, the dishonesty so very prevalent everywhere. Bring something new into that situation. Bring some truth. Bring some personal responsibility. Find your own coffeemaker and understand our God doesn't make junk. To my law enforcement connections, oh no! Not for a minute should you be even considering taking your own lives, you are needed here. In this fallen world we need warriors just like you. If you don't feel you have the strength to fight another day, ask our God to fight with you and for you, For my first responder friends, there are fires to put out everywhere. Walk in when the world has walked out. To my social worker friends, yes, it's a broken world, help put it back together, one soul at a time. And finally, to my friends in ministry, you have the answer, His name is Jesus. He is still The truth, The Light, and The Way.....