Ode To A Heroine Addict

This past week I had an incredible opportunity to join Pastor Marty and Ronda in speaking to a group of students at Anderson Seminary in Indiana.  The classroom experience was fun but what really made the trip for me was getting in touch with my roots.  My grandparents attended this same college in the 1930’s and I found their freshman yearbook pictures (just a side note, my grandmother turned 99 this year).  Anderson is also where I began school.  Lynhurst Elementary School is where I attended Kindergarten and 1rst grade.  I was able to find the old house where we lived and I was flooded with memories from when I was 5 and 6 years old. 

In the early ‘70’s, my dad was traveling a lot speaking at conferences and camp meetings.  He was on TV a number of times and was working in both prisons and corporate offices sharing the testimony of what God had done in his life and assisting others on their road to recovery.  Looking back only about 10 years previous to these days in Indiana, my dad was still on heroine in New York.  He was addicted, violent, angry, and had served 2 jail sentences.  This was before meeting Christ in his mid-twenties in the mid 60’s.   In the early 70’s he had started a rehab center in Miami, Florida (F.Y.I.- there are a few drugs in Miami). We then moved to Anderson. Here he was a dad of three and having a profound impact on this blue-collar city.  Dad wasn’t perfect. He was still working through some of the ghosts of his past. 

We only lived in Anderson for about two years before moving to Blacksburg, Virginia. where my brother, sister, and I spent the rest of our childhood.  We made the move for stability for the family and because he didn’t want to be an absentee dad. What is amazing to me is that in going back to Anderson 35 years later, I still found a number of people who remember dad and the work he did in that short time.  This challenged me to ask two questions:

1-    What am I doing in life that is going to have a long-term effect on people?

2-    What am I doing with the testimony of what God has done in my life? 

Thanks dad for being a role model to me and so many other people.

Keeping life in proper perspective

Keeping life in balance


I truly believe God made us body, soul (mind, will and emotions), and spirit.  I also believe he expects us to steward all three areas of life well.  If we fall in love with any one of these three to the negligence of the others, we get out of whack.  For example...

We can absolutely fall in love with their bodies.  It can become our obsessive idol.  

We also can be run by the soul.  Our emotions or mental capabilities rule everything.  The problem is that our emotions can lead us all over the place based on such things as a lack of sleep, eating something bad, or seeing a dramatic movie.  Our minds need to be sharpened but we don't, and can’t know everything!  Nobody on this planet does or ever will.  We cannot disregard spiritual things because they seem, in the words of Dr. Spock; "rather illogical".

Finally, we can wrap ourselves in nothing but spiritual things.  When this is done at the abandonment of wisdom we can get flighty.  When we ignore our bodies, they begin breaking down. Illness and fatigue can limit what we can attempt for God.

A couple of years ago I began the practice of taking the first 10 to 21 days of each year and some time in August to fast, pray and make sure things are in line.  This is not an attempt to "try and please the gods to get what I want".  The goal is to take an inventory of what's going on in life and see what needs to go, what needs to change, and where am I just plain missing it.  The fast (usually fruit and vegetables, juices and unsweet or honey sweetened tea) is both physically and spiritually beneficial.  It cleans out the toxins from the body and forces me to see what I'm addicted to (I'm jonesing for some ribs and sweet tea right about now...and a donut!)  By pushing back the plate, I practice discipline I usually wouldn't.  It also focuses my prayer life (more on that in a minute).
  I also basically kill social media.  It does very little to build body, soul or spirit.  As a matter of fact, it can add to unneeded drama and distraction in life.  Not to worry, after the fast I will get back on to see who broke up, who is in a new relationship and catch up on all of the "LMS's" that I missed :). 
The free time allows me more time to pray for family, friends, my church, and what I need to be focusing on in the upcoming year.  

A GREAT resource is Elmer Towns book "Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough".  It gives 8 biblical examples of fasts and reasons why these fasts occurred (getting wisdom, finances, breaking a bondage, spiritual insights, etc.  Can anyone else relate to needing any of these?).  I use it as a guide for prayer each day.  I also go into the fast with a reading plan in the Bible (either by topic or specific book or whatever I need or "feel led' to read) and many times another book on an area I feel I need to grow. 

It’s not always easy because work doesn’t stop and I still have all of my regular responsibilities.  I just know I will be better at home and work when I do this.  I also figure out that some of those responsibilities don’t need to be on my priority list right now.

Body. Soul. Spirit. 

How about you?  How do you put life back in priority when you know things are getting off kilter? 

Also, is there anything I can be praying for you about?  I promise I will pray and it will not become a sermon illustration.  :)

Thanks for reading and I welcome feedback!