In spite of my honest intentions of writing more often, I have fallen short yet again.

Now here I am, it's April of 2011, and Dean is already 17 months old, walking, babbling, and constantly testing the limits of his freedom. He understands quite a lot, but he listens only a little... Actually, sounds kinda like me. By the grace of God, I've managed to learn so much truth and yet, in this whirlwind of life, I live that truth so little.

I've often referred to a follower of Jesus' lack of living in Him as mindlessness. It functionally feels like we simply got busy with the cares of life and forgot to mindfully live in the Truth we believe. We have the best of intentions, but our actions just don't back our words or ideals. The reality is that when we aren't living mindful of the fact that we're in Christ, we're not just absent minded. Instead we're living in ourselves, in Adam. In Adam, sin and death entered. In Christ, life entered.

Instead of just simply trying to remind ourselves to think and live a certain way, I believe we should place more value on our thoughts and mentality knowing that it's really a choice of life and death. It's not a little thing.

If I allow my emotions to drive, I will be the angry, frustrated, mean, jerk that I'm really good at being. I easily discount these flaws because "its just how I am", which is true. That is exactly how I am when I am not consumed with Christ, proactively living and interacting in Him. Of course, this is only possible because of the grace of God working on our behalf in and through us through faith, which comes from God revealing himself to us through Christ.

So really... I have everything I need to live the way I believe I ought to as one who loves Jesus Christ. I don't lack anything, because of Christ. My little boy can and will grow up in a love and grace driven environment. He can know what it is to live free in Christ. Dean can live free to enjoy life without allowing conditions or emotions to sway his mindset.

So let's begin again the conversation about important things...Life and Death things. All the while I want to take more delight in God's provision, whether it be friends, family, an excellently crafted beer, a job, a vehicle, or our amazing perfect healthy child. Thank God for grace!

Life is happening...I'm in.