Breaking Out

This morning I took a little different route for the walk. It was similar and yet different. I thought this morning that maybe I had gotten into a rut and needed to shake it up a bit. It was nice.

Ever notice that our lives can get stuck in that rut as well. I did. Well I should say He noticed...yeah Him. Actually I think He knew that long ago, that we humans like to think we are all different and independant, and yet we fall into routines and patterns...glorified ruts.
Well I'm not sure who came up with the idea...and I actually don't understand all of the significance...but whoever came up with the idea of Lent, probably found themselves in the middle of a big long rut. In order to get out of that rut, they decided they needed to shake things up...try something different.

Now trust me, I know life with Him is not all about giving things up. It is mostly about doing things that orient our lives towards Him. I find I can do so much more in Him that I never experienced without Him. But I also know there were somethings I had to give up in order to find Him. Lately, my life has been mostly focused on what I get from Him...not so much about what I can give Him. That is a sucky feeling to think I have made this all about me...

So...see ya later rut! I'm breaking out...and to be honest I am a little afraid...a little bit...terrified. But I have to believe my life is going to be better as a result.

So...today...the first day of Lent...I am giving something up. It's something that recently has become a default mode for my life...something so sinister you have no idea how it can suck the very life out of you. It consumes more and more of your soul and more of your time and more of your...well LIFE!!! So for 40 days starting today...I'm giving up TV. That's right...the Boob Tube...the Mind Number...GASP!!!!! I'm coming out of the rut....I feel better already just saying it.

But...you say...what will you do? How will you spend your evenings? I will spend time with my beautiful wife, I'll read books, I'll play my guitar, I'll work in my shop, I'll go for walks with that beautiful wife, I'll t...ta...tal........TALK to my beautiful wife.

Wow...are those the things I have been exchanging for a night of TV? Who decided that the rut was more appealing than life outside the rut...not sure...but it seems pretty awful to me now.
As for me and my beautiful wife...we will follow Him...we're out of the rut baybe...and LOVING IT!!!!!!

Spanish Pipe Dream by John Prine

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke

[Chorus:]
Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

[Chorus]

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "You must know the answer."
"She said, "No but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own