seasons: if i stand

i'm thrilled to be guest posting over in Mary Hess's corner of the interweb today, as part of her ongoing series on seasons.  i originally set out to do a hard-hitting expose on autumn, but, as is so often the case, things did not go as planned.

not really.  enjoy...

if i stand

the thing is, nothing has turned out like i thought it would. it took me the better part of two decades to finish my college degree, i spent ten years in ministry and when i left i had exactly nothing to show for it, and after leaving the ministry the best job i could get (at first, anyway) was setting appointments for dishwasher repairs across the southeast. i had given God a third of my life and what he gave me in return was a two bedroom apartment next to some college kids and a frequent wheeler and dealer card at the local pawn shop.

and so i began to think that God was testing me, purifying me, disciplining me, maybe even flat out punishing me.  over the past four years my views on some things have begun to evolve, and it occurred to me one day that maybe i was becoming a heretic, and maybe God was allowing me to experience hell on earth to help me avoid experiencing hell in, well, hell. and so i prayed.

click here to finish the post over at Mary's...