Protect Your Belongings

Normally I ramble on about topics that interest me and hopefully speak the feelings of my heart. Hopefully the content of this blog touches lives for good.

There is a danger in sharing what I think or feel on this or any website. Sadly, there are people in the world that would rather spread poison than the fruits of peace and would attack me and my views, rather than ponder them. Because I have made my fair share of rude remarks on posts, texts, tweets, and blogs, I subject myself to the same sad commentary and scrutiny, and sorrowfully admit and apologize for my own jerkfullness.

Posion doesn't always come in the form of words. Recently I went out to my Honda, parked in a hotel parking lot, and found that my passenger window had been smashed and my laptops, scanner, and printer had been stolen. It was a Sunday morning. I called the police. They came and i quielty filled out a report, brushed the broken glass of my drivers seat, and drove to church.

Human beings are good at wrecking lives. But I want to be a part of the minority that tries to forge friendships, extends peace offerings, and simply loves and smiles a lot.

We sang Scatter Sunshine in church that Sunday morning. Although I had lost prize possessions, including hundreds of manuscript pages on my hard drives, I was determined to scatter some sunshine, and not to let the theives break into my heart and steal my love of life, others, and Jesus Christ.

Our own neglect is perhaps the worst poison. Hindsight demands that i recognize that I really shouldn't have left my valuables in the car in the first place. Eventually my computer equipment will be replaced. But what about the damage caused by neglecting close relationships?

To my family, friends, especially my wife and daughters, the broken window is instructive. Many years of neglect have left the broken pieces of my shattered glass all over the place. My own smash and grab mentality, over the years, cost me my closest and sweetest relationship. And that is something I will live with and remember all the rest of my life.

Still there is sunshine in my soul. I have sincere hope and faith in Jesus Christ that someday He will forgive me, and all those whose lives I have destroyed will forgive me as well. Mending hearts won't happen overnight, but with Christ's amazing grace, hearts can heal and lives can move forward.

Protect your belongings. They are everything.