Where am I?

[Once again…due to Atlanta’s crazy weather, we interrupt our regularly scheduled ground redemption posts to pause…to pause and consider. WARNING: This post is a bit deeper than most…but hang in there with me.]

I woke up this morning to see my world covered in a blanket of white.  It almost looked other-worldly…a bit Narnia’esque. Although the outline of everything seemed familiar, but only vaguely familiar.  Not only did everything look different, it sounded different.  There was a host of sounds this Florida boy wasn’t accustomed to hearing…muffled, crunching, crackling, silent sounds. Where was I? What was I going to do with all of this?

I had a choice.  Stay inside…pile on the blankets…go back to sleep…and hope that it all goes away so that when I wake up it’s back to my familiar, regardless of if I liked it or not. Or…or I could embrace it…redeem it.

A few years back, I felt the same…but in a broader sense, personally…muffled, silent, a bit out of sorts.  How did I get there? I wasn’t really where I wanted to be nor where I thought I should be at that point in life. I didn’t know what to do with it.  But I had a choice. I could ignore it, hide in what had become my norm and hope that one day I would miraculously wake up and be where I had once dreamed of being. Or…or I could embrace it, own it, move from it…redeem it.

In both cases…today and a few years back…I chose the latter.

For some of you…this may sound familiar.  For others of you…you probably think I’m a crack pot.  Regardless, at some point in life you may have to embrace where you are…like it or not…reconcile it with where you thought you should be and decide to do something about it and move forward.  Maybe I’m only speaking to those of you who have had an awaking of sorts…or maybe are just now recognizing that you’ve been asleep.  I don’t know. If this resonates with you…keep reading. If not, go enjoy the snow before it’s completely melted away!

If you’re still reading…I’m going to end with just a few questions, while relating it back to the bigger picture of Redeem Your Ground – which is to encourage families to make the most of their ground, their home, their families.

Whose life are you living? Whose family is it? Whose home is it? Whose ground is it?  The answer to all these questions is…yours!  So, what are you going to do about it?  You could ignore all the funk and hope it all goes away and miraculously become something better.  You could put your nose to the grindstone and work, work, work…doing exactly what you’ve been doing that got you here in the first place…and again, hope it all goes away and miraculously changes. Or…or you could embrace it for what it is. Recognize what it’s not. Own it. Decide to do something different. And then…. actually DO something different. Redeem it!

Sure…maybe your life hasn’t turned out the way you had wanted it to.  You don’t have your dream job. Your family may be dysfunctional and life at home may be crazy at times. Your house may not be big enough or nice enough. Your yard may be a pit…a jungle…overwhelming…looks like caca.  But they are all yours to claim and redeem.  So do it…redeem them!

Decide to make a change…and pursue it. Then make another change…and pursue it.  It’ll likely be difficult…and guess what, you probably can’t do it on your own.  Accept that. Lean on others and on your faith. If you don’t have either…maybe a change is required there too.  Regardless…chose to intentionally move forward. Redeem your ground…your life!

Okay, that’s enough deep pontificating for one day.  I hope you enjoy your day…embracing and redeeming as much of it as you can. I’m signing off now to go redeem mine…

Take care,