Webster defines the word application as; 

1. the act of putting to a special use or purpose.

Every day I read the bible. Every day I pray. But not every day I act like a Christian. Why?

With the farm full of four young children, 2 Golden Retrievers, 20 chickens, and 1 guinea pig, there is very little time in the week for yourself. Not complaining, just explaining; life is FULL.

James 3:2: “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”

I am a dad to three amazing yet different kids. Alexis is my oldest. She is a combo of my personality and my wife’s. Gabriel is my middle child and only son. He has my wife’s compassion and love for people. Then finally there is Alanna. She is me in a woman’s body. 

Lamentations 3:40: “Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord.”

I don’t know about you, but I am a pretty good liar when it comes to self-evaluation. It’s kind of like looking in the mirror; I see the 18-year-old body I used to have and not the 44-year-old body I now have.

Doing a spiritual self-evaluation is much the same way.

Recently I was listening to a group of Christian young men who had just completed their first year in college. I heard statements like “eye-opening,” “they don’t teach you this in High School,” “I wish I could do the first semester over again,” “I did not know what I did not know.” What they were talking about had nothing to do with the academic side of being in college, but rather the assimilation into “college life.” Overall, the sentiment was “unprepared” to address the challenges of being a Christian man in this new environment.

The strange thing was that I know all these boys’ fathers well. I have heard the stories they tell, and the lessons they learned while they were in college (many moons ago). The wisdom they gained through first-hand experience lets call it. They all speak of the challenges they faced and how they learned over time to overcome these obstacles.

I’m tired, but who isn’t? I am, after all, a soccer dad. I own a man-van that is full of grass from various fields across North Carolina. My weekends are not my weekends. They were before my kids. Now I spend an inordinate amount of time on an uncomfortable lawn chair from the local sporting goods store. I feel like soccer has become my side hustle, only I don’t get paid. Actually, it costs me time, money, and sanity. Did I mention I’m tired?