Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 16

Welcome back to Second Chance Wednesdays! It is once again time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

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I am sure that there are times when you have thought you needed or wanted a second chance. Have you ever asked for one, though?

In 2011, I asked for a second chance in a situation where I had made some grave mistakes. Considering how much grief the original situation caused me, I was prepared to be devastated if the answer was "no". The other person involved did not give me that second chance, but for some reason it did not bother me very much at all. I was very surprised. I guess it must have been more important for me to ask for the second chance than to receive it.

My old friend Kelly Marshall once talked to me about "wallowing in grace". I always wondered what that looked like but I have never dared try it before. God has been patiently waiting for me to take that dare - to give myself a second chance to "wallow" in His merciful love.

It is looking like 2012 could be a year full of second chances for me if I'm willing to take them. This second half of my life could be a great example of what grace in action looks like. I just have to be willing to step out in faith. I think I just might do that!

How about you? Are you willing to give yourself a second chance?

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 15

Welcome back to Second Chance Wednesdays! It is once again time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

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Look at this face:

Grinch was a mean one, for sure. He also took his second chance before anyone really offered it to him. That takes guts. Could you do that? Could you be atrociously evil and do whatever was possible to ruin someone else's holiday and then turn around and say, "I get it now! Merry Christmas!". Would you be afraid of how that someone would respond to you? Would you let everything fester so that you did not have to apologize or make the first move?

I'm pretty sure that I have been on both sides of this one. I have gotten better at apologizing, forgiving, and reaching out, but there is much more work to do on my shriveled little heart. It might still be at least one size too small.

What about you? Do you need to reach out to someone this Christmas? Do you need to give or get a second chance?

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 14

Welcome back to Second Chance Wednesdays! It is once again time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

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The Occupy Movement, which started garnering publicity with the Occupy Wall Street protests that started in September, has added some new phrases to our lexicon. Ninety-nine percent used to just be a number. Now, 99% represents a group of people. That means that 1% represents a group of people as well. In this context, "1%" represents the top wage-earners and wealthy people in the United States.

(Read the POTSC blog post on 100% here.)

I have heard and read some passionate arguments from those for and against the Occupy Movement. I have been told that I am part of the 99%, the 1%, the 53%, the 47%, and several other numbers that people have come up with. 

Grace To Be Had

Source

There is grace to be had today. Grace to be had. He is just waiting for you to accept it. 

And it is raining in Central Texas. Tiny drops of God's love falling all around us. I'm almost ready to make a boat out of scrap wood and send it sailing down the gutter. Wish the grandkids were here so I would not look so odd doing it. 

Praise Him for all His mighty works!

PS. I wanted to remind you that you still have time to enter the Second Official Ragamuffin Giveaway! I am giving away a copy of Brennan Manning's All is Grace. You can find all of the details here. This is Brennan's last book, so you don't want to miss it!

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 11

Welcome back to Second Chance Wednesdays! It is once again time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

This week's poster is going to be challenging for some people. POTSC decided that we should have a conversation about giving Osama bin Laden a second chance. Obviously, since he is dead, the conversation is more of a metaphor than a reality. But it brings up an interesting question. Many of bin Laden's compatriots are still alive and free. How would we treat any of them?

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 10

Welcome back to Second Chance Wednesdays! It is once again time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

Our villain this week is the dictator Kim Jong Il, the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

According to the POTSC blog, "He has been in power for 13 years, and his time has been marked by nationalized manipulation, repression, isolation, and starvation. North Korea is perhaps the most isolated country on Earth; knowledge of the regime relies heavily on secondhand testimony and clandestine video." 

Kim Jong-Il's government has admitted to developing nuclear weapons and conducting underground nuclear tests. They think they need to do this for their own protection. They like to rattle swords at South Korea and the United States to keep us on our toes. Evidently, we aren't on the friendliest of terms with North Korea.

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Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 9

Welcome back to Second Chance Wednesdays! We have had a couple of weeks off, but it is once again time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

POTSC is keeping us on our toes by coming at the idea of grace from a slightly different angle this week. Instead of giving us a villain, they have given us more of a metaphor. This week's poster is Jaws. Yes, the shark. The POTSC blog says, 

Jaws represents the unprovoked attack. The terrifying unknown, preceded by reputation and worst-case scenarios. 

Common wisdom says to avoid sharks. They’re dangerous. They kill. They are to be avoided. They are to be feared. 

Except, if you seek out the facts, you’ll find that sharks actually kill very few people. DEER kill exponentially more people than sharks. 

Yet the fear persists because of the headlines … the movies … the collective wisdom.

Many of us have met Jaws, even if we’ve never been to the ocean. There’s a Jaws in our past. Our office. Our school. Our home. Our neighborhood.

And as we face the shark – whether in our dreams or in our waking hours – we’re left with a choice.

Do we embrace fear, judgement, hatred, and revenge? Or do we see the human behind the shark? The human … in the shark suit?

Unfortunately,  I am completely caught up in fear and revulsion of the shark right now. Two nights ago, I was hit by an "unprovoked attack"... not by a human wearing a shark suit. It felt like it was more of a shark in a human suit - it came from someone who would be least expected to attack.

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 8

Here we are at another Wednesday. Time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

Our "bad guy" this week is Rod Blagojevich, the former Governor of Illinois who was convicted of federal crimes related to trying to "sell" the Senate seat that was vacated when Barack Obama became President of the United States. He was impeached and removed from office by the Illinois House and Senate. The charges that he was impeached upon were abuse of power and corruption. Blagojevich has been banned from ever again holding any public office in Illinois. It is clear that the Illinois legislature does not intend to give Rod Blagojevich any second chances. 

Second Chance Wednesday on Thursday

So, um...yeah. Second Chance Wednesday got moved to Thursday this week. I got a little caught up in other stuff [READ: making David Dark more famous - he totally should be] and lost track of what day it was. 
In defense of my forgetfulness, People of the Second Chance threw us a little curve ball this week. No bright red Never Beyond poster to burn an image into our mind this week. No, you will have to use your imagination even more this time.
This week POTSC has given us a video to start our conversation about radical grace. Which is all fine and good, but I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to start a discussion about radical grace after I saw it. (I think I have officially become one of those I-don't-know-much-about-art-I-just-know-what-I-like people.) My first thought while watching the video was "Jeremy Cowart sure can draw fast." Not exactly profound, eh? Gotta think a little harder now.
After watching the video again, it occurred to me that I had experienced some of what I think Jeremy is telling us this past weekend. On a much smaller scale, of course. The full human experience...

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 7

Here we are at another Wednesday. Time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

POTSC is definitely holding our feet to the fire as grace-givers this week. The poster is supposed to encourage discussion about pedophile priests and the scandal that ensued when it was discovered that the Roman Catholic Church had protected rather than punished some of these priests. Have a look at this weeks image:

As a disclaimer, I would like to say that POTSC is not trying to criminalize every member of the Catholic clergy, nor am I. I would urge you to go read the original POTSC blog post on this subject and also to read the discussion that has been taking place there since Sunday. This is a subject that has brought up some hard memories for many and it also has shown that when God asks us to forgive, He never said it would be easy.

God's purpose for my blog has been for me to use my stories to further His purpose. I also am not a researcher or someone who has vast amounts of worldly knowledge. So I am going to have to approach this poster, as with the others, from the viewpoint of what I do know.

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 6

Here we are at another Wednesday. Time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

The new poster has presented an interesting challenge for me. This week’s miscreant is Mel Gibson: actor, director, alcoholic, racist-ranter, Catholic divorcee, and girlfriend-beater. There might be roles that I left off that list, but I think we have sufficient discussion material here.

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 5

Here we are at another Wednesday. Time to turn to the People of the Second Chance's poster series, Never Beyond. If you are new to this campaign, you can read more about it and find links to all of my Never Beyond posts here.

What you are about to experience is not my finest hour in the Never Beyond campaign, but it is the complete truth about where I am at in this process. It is all I have to offer here.

In a move that I'm absolutely sure was designed to get on my last ever-lovin', grace-givin' nerve (because it is all about ME, isn't it?) POTSC chose the KKK to be on this week's poster. Yep, you read that right - the Ku Klux Klan, the cross-burning, sheet-wearing, white supremacists. Here is our lovely image of the week:

The picture alone almost makes me want to run in the other direction. Or walk up and snatch the hood off of whoever that might be. I don't usually have mild reactions when I think about the KKK.

I'm sure you are just waiting for me to tell you how I really feel, aren't you? Yep. Thought so.

The State of My Heart

I wrote this in the middle of the night, but I saved it for publishing so that I could link up with the Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood. After you read my post, please go over there and visit. See what the other sisters have to offer!

As I was getting ready for this week, I decided to change purses, which of course means lots of rearranging (for me, anyway). Hubby walked in the room and said that he thought all women should only have one purse. What a disappointment. I thought I trained him better than that!

Anyway... I found something that needed to go in my wallet. I tried shoving it in the slots on the right side, but those had too many credit cards, loyalty cards, insurance cards, etc. So I put it in a one of the slots on the left. I caught a glimpse of my organ donor card while doing that, and evidently that planted a seed for the thoughts occupying my mind during my current bought of insomnia.

I know I've mentioned before that I am not the healthiest person around. That being said, I still have filled out an organ donor card and let my family know my wishes. On the chance that when I die I still possess an organ that could be of benefit to a very sick person, I want to share. Knowing people who have received the amazing gift of transplants inspires me to make sure that my donor information stays updated.

Never Beyond: Is This Working For Me?

"I consider myself to be a deeply flawed person, and I identify with those whose character flaws have led them into grave troubles, whose momentary impulses have caused lasting harm."
- Cary Tennis

I really like that quote, even though Cary Tennis and I don't really share the same politics or ideas about life. He is more liberal than I probably will ever be. I don't recall him saying anything that leads me to believe he is a Christian of any flavor (but I cannot prove that). I do like to read his advice column, Since You Asked, though. Cary and I have shared some of the same life experiences. More important than that, he is very articulate and well-thought-out in his writings. He understands many things about the human condition. If he doesn't know something, he will say so. He understands something about grace and second chances. More than I do, I'm pretty sure.

Some of you know that I have been working on the Never Beyond Poster Series with People of the Second Chance. If you are unfamiliar with the project, you can get more info by clicking here. I really don't know what I expected when I agreed to participate in this project. I'm sure, since I was new to POTSC and still in my "honeymoon phase", that I thought it would be some nice, warm, fuzzy feel-good experience. I did not stop for one second to think how I would be personally challenged by this project. I felt God pushing me towards it and for once I didn't stop to try to negotiate. I'm not saying that following God's leading by jumping out in faith is bad. But stop and think about some of the places He has taken you when you've done that. Those types of growing experiences were not on my current to-do list when this project came along.

I also forgot to do the math when they said 25 posters at 1 per week. Six months. That is six months. I can't even commit myself to a 10-week Beth Moore Bible study (granted, the Bible study requires me to show up somewhere other than home and the POTSC project can be done alone, in the dark of the night, in my bedroom), and yet I jumped in feet-first to a project that will take six months of my effort. Do you know that I am a quitter? Or "non-finisher", if you want to be all touchy-feely about it. Do you know that I turn around when I see a mountain in my way, only to find out MUCH later that it wasn't a mountain at all - it was a speed bump that I had amplified in my mind without investigating it.

Second Chance Wednesdays - Part 1

Have you ever heard God laugh? No. Here’s what you do: tell Him your plans. Then sit back and listen for the chuckle of the Almighty.  It is kind of like my parents chuckling at me when I told them – at the ripe old age of four – that I was going to marry Buck Owens one day and be on Hee Haw with him.  There is no malice in His laughter. Just Him saying, “oh my child, that is lovely… now let Me show you what *I* have planned…”

So... all five of you loyal readers are obviously breathlessly waiting to see what I told God that He laughed at, so I’ll give. (Note: this conversation with God was totally private, so I could probably get away with not telling any of you and you would be none the wiser. But then the rest of the post might not have as much impact. And He is definitely telling me to share that.) Let me lay some ground work for what my plan was.

People of the Second Chance (POTSC) have started a new campaign called “Never Beyond,” meaning never beyond grace. They will be putting out a new poster each week that has a likeness (or partial likeness) to a person - historical or contemporary, real or fictional - who has harmed society in some way. (I’m holding out for one of the posters to have the Cucuy on it!). POTSC has asked bloggers to then write a post about that person and talk about giving second chances. I was asked to participate and I said yes. (ask me in a few weeks how that is working out for me!)

Cool Quote of the Day

I have things I want to say, but no time to say them. There are grandkids at my house! So here is a little thought to ponder:

Living for others, commitment to God's redeeming purposes, is a means of grace. We give because of our faith, and it deepens as we give. If we permit ourselves and our people to give casually, we are really teaching contempt.

-- Richard S. Emrich

I've never heard of Mr. Emrich before. Might have to look him up. But it sounds like he knows a few things.