#pray4mark

"What are you doing with your life that will last forever?"

Recently I was listening to a podcast and heard this question being asked. It was a quick question and the speaker quickly moved along with his thoughts. But I couldn't. I thought of this question over and over and over. I paused the podcast. This struck me more than it normally would have.

Your job will not last forever.

Money will not last forever.

Your house will not last forever.

Family will not last forever.

Eternity? Heaven? Hell?

The reason that this question hit me like a boxer in a match that failed to block his opponents jab is because I have a friend . . .

And he was in an accident . . .

And now he's in a coma. He's been unconscious for 13 days.

And while he is sleeping, he is changing the world.

Hundreds and thousands of people around the world are praying for him. Praying for God's hand to move. Praying for a life to be saved. Praying for things that we never thought possible.

We are praying for a miracle.

Mark Webb. Your average college student. But I would challenge my own statement with this . . . He is far from average! Mark always thinks of others before he considers what may be more conducive to his needs. Mark is always the first to volunteer, lend a helping hand and if you don't know him, he will always beat you to "hello."

Mark understands that the small things, are really the big things!

If I'm honest . . . I don't know Mark as well as I would like to. But because of him, I am challenged and I am changed. I stop and think what each day offers. Someone in line at Walmart. The Starbucks barista that looks like they need the espresso more than I do. The servers I work with day in and day out that drowned their pain in alcohol, meth, sex and depressants. The unfamiliar face on a Sunday night at church.

"What am I doing with my life that will last forever?"

My life will forever be different because one friend understands eternity better than I do.

PS . . . and when he wakes up, because he will wake up . . . I will share with him a story of continued restoration and he will tell me a story of angels. #pray4mark

If I have a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the explanation is-I was made for another world-CSLewis

where I came from

Secrets . . . suffocate me.

No one can know my lies.

For in my broken and rotting state, I gasp to stay alive.

I avoid. I run. From every purpose, my Life is meant to be.

I turn my back on every Truth, fully knowing, in these lies I will believe.

These lies, these secrets seem to comfort but only for a time.

These lies and these secrets truly threaten to take my Life.

Surrounded by so many people, but always lonely and alone.

I ache. I hurt. I hate this. My Heart is that of hard and icy stone.

I always keep my distance, can’t and won’t let anyone in,

But if I am honest with myself, “I could really use a Friend.”

My heart is cries for Freedom, it longs for something more.

But I am broken, and I am hurting.

Who would want this ruined and wretched whore?

Yet. . . in my darkest moment, Thou has saved me by Thy Grace,

For it is not my greatest efforts, that will help me end this race.

My heart it melts and softens. He heals and mends every wound.

By no good deed can I earn this, doesn’t matter how hard I strive.

Not by works, boasting, performance, but a free Gift, in which I am Alive.

For Life eternal is a Gift from Him, in Him I find my rest.

These walls have crumbled and are no more, He knows this way is best.

So my life has become a journey, growing in Him day by day by day.

Humbled. Grateful. Speechless. Never thought by life could be this way.

And now that I know this joy, it is one I cannot contain.

I will tell this world of my Savior, I will not, I cannot refrain.

One Year Ago . . . (dated 6.6.10)

One year ago. . . .

One year ago today, my life was turned upside down.
One year ago today, I went to coffee.
One year ago today , I listened to a sister and a friend share their hearts.
I made a phone call. . . . I made a decision . . . . A dream was birthed . . . .
A promise was made.
One year ago . . . .



Today.

Today . . . is a new day.
Today . . . I stand in the midst of that dream.
Today . . . I am living out that promise.
Today . . . I am part of an epic movement of His Kingdom.
Today . . . my life is never where I ever thought it could possibly be.
Today . . . I am alive. . . . I am restored . . . I am free.



Tomorrow.

Tomorrow . . . is not a certainty.
Tomorrow . . . is a possibility.
Tomorrow . . . is Yours.
Tomorrow . . . I will love You.
Tomorrow . . . the dream continues.
Tomorrow . . . I will be faithful.
Tomorrow . . . I will believe . . . I will press on . . . I will finish this race.

I am thankful for one year ago,
I am thankful for today
and I am thankful for the possibility of another tomorrow.

Freedom

Life.

Webster defines "life" as

1. the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body

2. the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual

Epic.

Webster defines "epic" as

1. Extending beyond the usual or ordinary especially in size or scope.

Journey.

Webster defines a "journey" as

1: an act or instance of traveling from one place to another.

2: something suggesting travel or passage from one place to another.

My life has truly become an epic journey.

I am humbled.

I don't deserve this.

That's what makes it so amazing.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. _Gal 5:1