The Jug Landlord (From 29 to 31: Volume 2)

Last week I posted volume 1 of this series about how I found the Lord’s trust in me as He allowed me to go through hardship and, as a result, how I’ve felt inspired to live making the moments, days, and years something worth being spared for.

This is the next in a series telling about how that played out in the year between turning 30 and 31 a couple weeks back.

There have been two areas, among others, that I’ve really wanted to be great marks of my life.

1.  As a disciple/disciple maker 
2.  As a husband/father  

Both have needed some work, but a fortnight after another birthday, how have I advanced?

First, discipleship…

I’ve written about this before, but I’ll spare you a dissertation in this blog on why I think it’s important. Jesus did it, and said to do it. That’s enough. Instead, I’ll spend more time sharing some of what my journey has looked like the last year.

For 7 or 8 years, the Lord has been increasingly giving me a vision that He has for the world and for America. Some of you know about this, and more will come on that, but at another time.

This dream of the Lord’s, that He has let me borrow for my breaths is big, and it’s not just meant to be lived out in Gainesville, GA alone.  

But this is where I’ve planted for now, because this dream will not happen without discipleship, and there’s a pipeline more full of people ready to follow Jesus, or ready to be ready to follow Jesus, that roll through our doors than I’ve experienced elsewhere.

Probably my favorite thing my about my job is the access it gives me into the lives of wonderful men and women, who’ve said that they want to move onward in their walk with the Lord, and not hoard what He’s given them. 

Through the surges of emails, spreadsheets, and tasks that inundate me, I get to spend short spurts with these people 2,3 or 4 times out of 14 the month period between their training camp and post-World Race experience. That’s nice, but I believe discipleship is done best in the context of life lived together.  

Someone can respect you, but to model with only words, free of the context of how you discovered them or how they can discover them, is incomplete.  At best, it only tells them where you have gotten, but not how to get there.  It might plant a small desire to get where you are, but gives them with no map to get there.  

Discipleship with no call, challenge, or path to follow is not discipleship, it’s a post card.

and as such, I believe that we’ll see the Kingdom grow more when we stop trying to live attractive lives that say “Wish You Were Here!” and started following Jesus and say as He said “Follow me.”  

That assumes of course that we’re going somewhere worth following: following the Lord.

It was that line of thinking last February that led me to invite a group of young men I’d been able to work with, to come live with me and be discipled in my home.  Which was great, minus the fact that I didn’t have a home yet. 

It turns out, I wasn’t approved for enough of a loan to get a house nearly big enough to house the number of guys I had invited from that squad alone. 

I was a little discouraged, but piddled around with homes that were in that price range, but none would hold the number of men I was looking for.

I had a decision to make.

I had to decide whether or not I would trust that if I took this big risk that He would send the men to fill it.  I was in a position where I didn’t have promise that men would come to support the risk I needed to take, but if they did come I’d have a place for them to go.

So what was there to do, but risk for what I believe and go big. After all, part of what I like to challenge people with, particularly men, is risk.

I decided to live my life preparing for success rather than prepping for failure.

It doesn’t always work so smoothly, but this time it did. The Lord, through some wonderful people, provided me with a crazy home loan capable of getting me a 4 or 5 bedroom, 2500 square foot house on 1.6 acres that was ready to move in.  

Let’s go!

Now I just needed some men hungry for the Lord to fill it and keep me from defaulting financially on the trust shown in me and the vision the Lord had lent me. 

So how has that turned out? 

Well… to this point He has provided, so much so that it’s possible that I may need a bigger place or to turn people away(I don’t wanna do the latter). Right now, I have a home that currently houses 6 other men, 2 more will find their way here within the next couple of months, and plenty more might be interested return to America in the 5 months that follow.  (So if you have a suggestion to help me get a bigger house… let me know)

The Lord has continued to give me more opportunities to pour into the life of young men and they are in turn doing the same. 

There is much work to do, both in me and in them, but I love the start it’s off to, and I’m so blessed to have felt trusted by the Lord with such an awesome responsibility and blessing as life and difficulty.  

I feel even more blessed to be trusted in spite of my failures and imperfections; with my brokenness and the like, to leverage these breaths and my influence into the best investment I could imagine at this point in my life…

men of God who’ve taken steps to walk more fully as adopted sons of God, men who will spend their lives as I hope to, delivering adoption notices to a world full of orphans. 

So that’s part two of the series, I’ve got my I’ve got the house, I’ve got the men to disciple… what about… “that other thing?” 

Oh you mean my girlfriend? 

You’ll just have to subscribe and read my next blog to find out…

Click here to check out Volume 3: CVS Romance

 

 

---

Did you enjoy this blog? If so, don’t be a hoarder… share it on the interwebs.

You can also subscribe so I can make sure ya get another… Lord willin…if you’re into that sort of thing.