Blue Like Jazz thought

I'm reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz (painfully slowly...) and ran across an interesting concept. Miller was talking with a friend who admitted cheating on his wife. The friend said when he would lie down next to his wife at night he could sense concrete walls between their hearts. He had fallen prey to lust and envy. He was living with secrets. His wife loved him, but he knew he did not deserve it. He had trouble accepting her affection because she was loving a man that did not exist. He said he was like an actor in his own home.... just playing a role

Since we've been talking about seven deadly sins at LifePoint, I have a clearer picture of Satan's goal... he tries to get us to minimize our NEED for God. He would love for us to ignore potential consequences for our unGodly actions and thoughts. The truth is, when you plant a seed, that is exactly what grows. When our words and actions "plant seeds" that are sinful, sin and it's consequence are what we will reap.... concrete walls between hearts, the ability to relate affectionately is bruised, our soul is dented.

We just talked about laziness at LifePoint and how one of the ideas behind laziness is being consumed by stuff of lesser importance that keeps us from focusing on what is important. This hit home for me last night with my kids...... I found myself consumed in a project, all good stuff by the way, but it kept me from ENGAGING my children. One daughter needed help on a homework assignment, the other challenged me to a game of ping pong, and my boys wanted me to lay down with them for a few minutes and pray with them. What did I do? Kept working on the project because it was time sensitive and important to me. I AM A DORK! What would have happened if I would have taken the extra 30 minutes to play ping pong and lay down with the boys? (I did help a bit with my daughter's homework assignment and install a new computer game for the boys... I was not a total wiener....) I probably would have realized a great joy from building those relationships. Laziness steals our blessing.... I heard a wise man say that Sunday... I do not want concrete walls between my heart and any of my family's hearts so I must be diligent to pursue relationship with God and with my family!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!