People of the Second Chance

I BELIEVE THIS IS TRUE WITH ALL MY HEART....

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PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE IS A SCANDALOUS AWAKENING OF RADICAL GRACE IN LIFE AND LEADERSHIP. WE EXIST TO OVERTHROW JUDGMENT, LIBERATE LOVE AND LIVE A LIFE THAT REBELS WITH GRACE FOR EVERYONE. 

                      -POTSC mission

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Why I Write

In school I hated writing.


It's true. I was the math and science inclined girl who would use as many quotes as possible on a page to increase my word count. If I could create a graph to illustrate, you better believe it was nestled into the sentence fragments that made up my paper.

While I leaned toward the right side of the brain, I have always loved to read. I would fly through biographies, study encyclopedias, read poems, and soak up mysteries.
I loved reading words; but not writing them.
Middle school and high school ended.
And a couple years went by....
Then one day I made a decision: I would write every day for a year.

It began with my terrible memory. I have the worst. I can remember what happened last week, if I'm lucky, maybe two. But ask me about something that happened a month ago and I will be grasping for a calendar. So my decision was to serve as an aid. I would write the highlights of the day, one day at a time. In the beginning, my entries were painful fragments about the monotony of life. I knew they were pitiful. But it would help later, right? A month or two in, and my ramblings were bearable; not good, but bearable. Fast forward a bit and I loved to write. Was I good? No. Not at all, but I was able to put my thoughts and observations down on paper. It was a huge step.
Now I have my own style. Now I write all the time. I'm still not any good, my grammar is atrocious, I still write in fragments...but I love it.
I write a friend every week about what's happening in my life.
I write letters to friends who live out of state.
I write to my sponsor child in India.
I write when something wonderful happens, something that I never want to forget.
I write when something tragic happens, something I want to look back on and find the blessings in.
I write down ideas, plans, encouraging words, song lyrics, verses....

Because I want to remember.

I want to look back over the years and be amazed.

I want to be amazed of how God used my situation, 

my friends, my decisions, my life.

I want to be reminded that all of God's promises have been fulfilled, 

not one of them has failed.

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I Will be Grateful

Gratitude is never INVISIBLE or SILENT.
    Luke 6:45 "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

Gratitude begins where your SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT ends.
    What do you feel entitled to? Sin creeps into our hearts when we fail to see life as a gift.

Grateful people can find a BLESSING or create a BLESSING in almost any situation.
    Gratitude is not based on how good your situation is but on how good you see your situation to be.

-Compiled from Pete Wilson and Steven Furtick's teachings

Gratitude isn't just throwing down a "thanks" to someone. It's recognizing an effort, a commitment, a decision.

We need to take notice. 

When someone genuinely asks how you're doing, when they simply smile at you, it means the world. Yet we become accustomed to these formalities. We accept them as normal, expected acts. As such, we begin to ignore them. They become less beautiful because they are expected. It's no longer real-it's synthetic.

Smiles and general inquiries have lost their passion. They have become ignored-sometimes dropped altogether. 

We've lost it.

Genuine inquiries are seen intrusive to personal life, we are skeptical of their intentions.

We are no longer grateful for other's concern.

We are no longer grateful.

We thank God for the day, for our food, family, blessings. For the things we experience and see. We are appreciative of the physical. We understand he gives us things we can't see. Peace, patience, hope...

But who is he? Are we thankful for his character? His efforts, commitments, and decisions? His decision to love us? Or do we take that for granted? Once again, it becomes a common thing-like a smile. No longer treasured and marveled at.

Yet he does not stop loving us. It stretches farther to him displaying and proving his love. But we all know that.....

We are no longer grateful for things we know and have heard for years-it's nothing new.

We are no longer grateful.

So this year it begins: 

I'm going to notice what others do. I'm going to actively search them out. The little things, the big ones. Their sacrifices, decisions, and I'm going to be grateful for them. I will not be silent. To do so would be to ignore their efforts. And to ignore them as beautifully loved people. 

It begins today. I will not be silent.

I WILL GIVE THANKS AND GRATEFUL BE.

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