Skylar's Blog & Podcast

I asked the question probably hundreds of times growing up. I remember asking it more when I was doing my chores. I would "finish" cleaning the bathroom, and I would ask my mom, "Is this good enough?" Most of the times it wouldn't be because my mom is a clean freak like me. I would ask the question when I would get my report card. I would show it to my parents, and I wouldn't ask it out loud, but I was thinking: "Is this good enough?" I even asked this in High School. After basketball games, band performances (alto saxophone baby!), or speeches. You ask this question, too. We all seek approval in some way or another. We all want to "make it." And so, after we finish something we show it to our family, tell our friends about it, or put it on facebook. And we do this asking, "Is it good enough?" However, we're not just asking if what we did is good enough. We're asking, "Am I good enough?"

Did you know this question sits at the very center of your spiritual life, too? You believe there is a God, you want God to be happy with you, so you do things and afterwards you ask the same question. However, there are so many of us who don't know if we measure up, if we are good enough. We think about when we're alone, or when we're at church on Sunday, or after a something we've done (good or bad). This questions sits on the tip of our tongues and at the center of our hearts. And all we want to know is, "Am I good enough?"

This questions seems really innocent, and it seems like God should humor us and tell us what we want to hear. However, He knows if He did that He would be setting us up for failure and He would be lying. Because, if we even could be good enough, then we would have to continue being good enough... Let that sit for a minute... To be good enough for a Holy God would mean perfection on our part. Do we really want that? We get stressed when we feel pressure from our parents to get a certain GPA. Do we want to really live under the pressure of perfection? Let me answer for you: you don't. And even if you did, you can't do it. You have never and will never be perfect. So, what does God say in response to our question? What does He say to: "Am I good enough?" He says this:

Growing up with brothers was pretty awesome for many reasons: you always had someone to hang out with, if you got in a fight you knew someone for sure had your back, and with brothers there is never a dull moment (at least in our home there wasn't). For a couple years there was definitely a lot of fighting. During my Junior year my younger brother, Jordan, and I would fight almost every day (and I'm not exaggerating, one of the biggest tensions: what we watched on TV).  I remember one day I came home and walked into my room to find that someone had gone through all my clothes and thrown them all over the place, and I knew who it was because Jordan always took my clothes when were younger. So, when he got home he opened the door and I was there to push him right as he walked in. He then asked, "What was that for?"

For a lot of us our lives have been reminiscent of my house growing up: there is never a dull moment. We're never quite sure what's going to happen next, and we're not sure if what's coming next is a good or bad thing. Have you ever had this experience? Have you had a spell of tragic or negative events hit you in the last few weeks, months, or years? Maybe you've had the opposite experience. Maybe you've had a string of positive events in your life. Whether it's one, the other, or both, there are times when things happen and our knee-jerk reaction is to ask: "What was that for?" This is what Paul has to say:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

On Sunday we had another conversation on how God has molded you to serve Him. We spoke on your natural abilities (those things you were born with that you excel at) and I challenged you to begin the journey of seeking out significant ways to use these abilities. I still believe (even though it's only been a day) the church is the most significant place you can invest your natural talents. In my mind, you are in the same place I was when I was on my bike that beautiful May morning. You are drawing near to the end of just knowing your talented, and you are beginning an exciting new chapter. It feels unfamiliar, and you begin to realize: "It starts now!" What "it" is will only be discovered as time wears on. However, you can't go back to where you were. You can't stay on the sidelines because you didn't know what to do. You know now what God wants to do through you, and, hopefully, you're excited about what could happen. So, as you draw near to the end of just sitting on the sidelines, and as you begin to prepare yourself to enter into the awesome things God wants to do through you I want you to reflect on Jesus' last words to His disciples as He sent them out to do His work:

When I was in High School I had several friends who enjoyed shooting guns. I had never shot a gun before, so one of them invited me out into the middle of the desert to shoot things. It took me a whole 3 seconds to respond w/ an emphatic, "THAT SOUNDS AWESOME!"So, we drove about 45 minutes into the desert, and when we got there my friend laid out a buffet of weaponry (ok, he only had one shotgun). He loaded it w/ a slug, and directed me to a computer monitor. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was. I took careful aim, and nervously placed my finger ont the trigger. All I remember after that is a huge "boom" sound and the shotgun nearly taking my arm off from the kick-back. After the pain had temporarily subsided I immediately shot my eyes towards my intended target. It was mass destruction, and I loved it!

Do you think it would have been as much fun just shooting at the air? Would I have enjoyed the whole shooting experience as much if I didn't have anything to aim at? Probably not. It's cool to shoot a weapon; however, it's not a complete experience unless you have something to aim at. We discussed the weapons at your disposal two weeks ago, your spiritual gifts, and the importance of you using them. However, you need to know where to aim these gifts at. Your heart is the key to locking in on a target. Realizing your gifts is exciting, but using your gifts to make a difference for something your passionate about is life changing.

So, what's the next step? First, we must begin listening to our hearts. The two questions I gave you were:

1) If you could do anything for the rest of your life (and money was taken care of), what would you do?
2) Who is it you are passionate about serving?

The second step is to step out in courage and follow the leadings of your heart. It's easy to listen, but it's hard to do something about what you're hearing. Hearing truth is good, doing something with it is life changing. This week let's all trust our gifting and take aim. 

When we're little there are always hundreds of things on our Christmas list. From action figures to doll houses to trading cards. We have a plethora of toys and gadgets we "need." Then, Christmas day comes, and you rip into gift after gift. Each time, a little piece of you is satisfied because one of those things you wanted so badly is inside. THen, after all the dust settles you become conflicted because you don't know what to play with first. Some time you try to include all your toys in a sit down tea party or an all out battle. However, after a while some of those toys, dolls, or whatever are forgotten. Some of them end up in the bottom of a box, or some end up becoming a chew toy for a pet.

This Sunday you were challenged to discover what gift(s) God's Spirit has placed inside of you. However, discovering those gifts is only one part of the process. The next, and equally important part, is putting them into practice. Those toys you got as a gift were awesome to unwrap, but their real worth is found in how they were used.

It is finished! Just a few days ago we finished a good size planter (...it's an area where you grow plants) in our backyard. This was originally Kayla's (my wife's) idea when we first moved in to this house. You may be asking: why? Because Kayla really wants a garden! Every time she sees a picture of a beautiful garden she stops me and shows me what she has found. However, to have a garden you have to grow things (plants in particular), and as we all know we don't live in a very plant friendly environment. We both know to have a garden will require a lot of tender love and care, and the blessing of God to get this whole thing off the ground (or out of the ground...it's a gardening joke). So, what's the first thing you have to do to create a garden? You have to plant seeds.

This last Sunday we talked about Jesus' last command to us, His children:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

There's an iconic spot in Tucson, AZ. As people drive into our beloved city they are greeted, whether they like it or not, by this certain landmark. Now, this spot has no historical value, neither is it a majestic piece of architecture. If you were to see this place you wouldn't think it was impressive or iconic. In fact, it's not a place we would like to go. However, it is something that we cannot avoid as we enter Tucson. This things is: the sewage treatment plant. For any of you who have driven down the I-10 you have endured the striking aroma put off by this building. It's as if Tucson is spreading its arms wide open to place our noses right into its armpit.

Did you know that you have an aroma, too? It's not just that smell you have when you haven't changed your underwear in a week, or the one after you've been hanging out in the locker room for too long. The aroma I am talking about has to do with how you live your life. Think about all of the ways you interacted w/ people over the last week, go ahead think about it... If you had to place an aroma to how you treat people, what would it be? Would it be a sweet aroma? A sour aroma? If it were an aroma, how would people react when they smelled it as you walked down the hall? 

This last week we focused on the second part of Jesus' great command in Matthew 22:39: Love Others. And we saw that how we love other people is a gauge of where we are at with God (1 John 4:20-21). However, our love for others is not just a gauge, it's something even deeper:

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:15)...