SecondIron's Blog

Sharpening Iron to Live Second

Finding Christ-like Humility

I was raised in a family in which appearances mattered. Not the tummy-tuck, plastic-face type, but the status and what “people might think” kind. More vanity and less humility.   Granted this was not how I was born, but it was how I was raised. Unknowingly I became blindly judgemental, arrogant, and condescending. I spent much of my young adult life trying to not be like I was raised. Yet turned out just as was planned. Over last few years I have been searching for my true north. Was it my identity I sought? Did I even know who I really was? A couple of years ago, my crown came crashing down. I met Jesus face to face in a hospital in Port au Prince, Haiti. It was there that I felt His pain, a pain I caused him, by the life I had been living. I had been angry for so long because of what others had done to me. Never taking the time or caring enough to see what I did to others in return. It was not until I came to grips with who I am in Christ, that I began to recognize my true calling. Humbled onto my knees the weight of my past crumbled off my shoulders. Jesus was there with me wiping away the pieces, comforting my tears. A sinner undeserving of His love or forgiveness, He ignored my transgressions as only He could. My past became a message, my journey was not in vain, as one day He would […]

When Do You Finally Tell Your Story?

Everywhere you look lately, you read or hear about people telling their story. The question is when do you finally tell your story? Whether it is a story of success, recovery, or disastrous brokenness. Everyone has one to share. Until recently even I hid behind the pages of my story. Burying the pain, awkwardness and sin behind the curtains so that no one could see. It was not that I was any better or any different from anyone else. My story was my story, or so that is what I had been conditioned to believe. It was not until I was able to face my past head on that I could finally breathe, at last, give my story to Him to read.   Although He was the author all along, scripting my every step. I spent most of my life trying to edit the ink with a pencil and eraser. Not until on bended brokenness, was I was able to kneel down amidst my filth and give Him credit. It was not until I faced my mortality in a third world country, years later that I finally was able to give Him the glory, and truly humble myself into serving others. For years, I occupied a pew in one church or another. I went through the motions year in and year out. Attending mass because I felt it was the only way I could make it through the week. It became more of an obligation than a source of repentance. I felt unforgiveness within the […]

We Are All Running Like a Prodigal

It is not often that a topic keeps showing up no matter how often I ignore it. Lately however I have been hounded by the story of the prodigal. Anyone that knows a little bit about scripture has surely heard the parable. Unknowingly I had heard it but never fully understood it until recently. Growing up I was like many kids my age, a bit rebellious and all kinds of a know it all. After spending years having religion shoved down my throat, I began to stray. I got involved with what some would say (my mother especially ) were the rif raff or troublemakers. More than once I was called a prodigal or heard comments like “the prodigal son returns” after a late night or rowdy weekend. I thought it as an annoying term that my mom liked to throw around, never realizing we all are prodigals. We get so wrapped up in worldly things we begin to separate ourselves from our Father. Just as in the Bible we get so busy chasing our dreams, our jobs, our lives, we run from our Father. He patiently waits for our return, praying, hoping, longing for us to run back to Him. We feel we have gone so far astray that we no longer deserve His love, therefore we can never return. All the while if we just turn around he is waiting for us with arms wide open. Don’t buy the lie “it’s as good as it gets” Click To Tweet Wherever you are, no […]