Cut the Crap.

So, as always, the wheels in my head have been turning. Every now and then God gives me a little glimpse of what my mind is indeed in search of.

People are so full of excuses. Instead of walking humbly, and owning up to the things God says need to change in your life you spoon feed people your never-ending cup of bitter joe. I've brewed a cup of joe and I've also been on the receiving end by gulping it down.

Now, being the one who has been full of the tomfoolery, I look back and wonder why it was so difficult for me to recognize the lack of humility in my life. Afterall, I'm a giver not a taker, and I'm very spendy when it comes to my time and love for people... less of me, right? What was I missing ?

When people don't want to change the habits and mindsets that bring them so much contentment, yet are not favorable in God's sight; Houston, we have a problem. I've seen how people simply just get out of situations that require them to change the way that they live. The consequences are anything but simple. It is quite the calamity; as God has called us to lose control and allow Him to perfect us at the deepest levels. He never said it would be a comfy ride. He said quite the opposite...yet well worth it in every aspect.

This eludes me to see how dangerous it is to feel complacent. That, along with being prideful and unable to keep it real with the One who created you in His image... is just a pitiful situation that breaks Gods heart, and others involved.

Pride. is. gross.

I've heard from many ministers that pride is the root of sin. I get it. I've seen it in action and it's a painful sight. Pride nearly blinds people. I feel like pride has it's own secret agenda while you give way to it. Some people don't even understand the pride in their lives.

Pride isn't a respecter of persons. We all have struggled with it and will continually need God's healing and powerful hand to guide us back on track. Yet... after knowing certain things... and being exposed to the truth...when it has been spoken over you and woven into your heart... when you have attained God given wisdom ... comes a responsibility in response to it.

Happy Birthday Uncle Sam.

I am intrigued by many, many things that have gone on in our countries past. I have been encouraged by a man named, Fredrick Douglas, whom I am hoping we all have heard of at some point during our american education. He escaped slavery to become a renowned american abolitionist, minister and reformer. He stood firm for equality among all people.

A popular quote from Douglas ::

" I would unite with anybody to do right, and with nobody to do wrong. "

Douglas gave a speech in 1852 in Rochester, New York about the fugitive slave laws that were passed. The fugitive slave laws, in short, enabled officers and watchmen the entitlement to capture slaves who escaped to freedom. They were required to turn them in so they could be returned to their "masters". I find the boldness in Douglas something that is profoundly necessary now a days in modern america.

"Let it be thundered around the world that in tyrant-killing, king-hating, people-loving, democratic, Christian America the seats of justice are filled with judges who hold their offices under an open and palpable bribe, and are bound, in deciding the case of a man's liberty, to hear only his accusers!

In glaring violation of justice, in shameless disregard of the forms of administering law, in cunning arrangement to entrap the defenceless, and in diabolical intent this Fugitive Slave Law stands alone in the annals of tyrannical legislation. I doubt if there be another nation on the globe having the brass and the baseness to put such a law on the statute-book. If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select.

I take this law to be one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty, and, if the churches and ministers of our country were nor stupidly blind, or most wickedly indifferent, they, too, would so regard it.

At the very moment that they are thanking God for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, and for the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance and makes it utterly worthless to a world lying in wickedness."

Douglas, I could not have said it better myself.

Thank you for your relentless pursuit of truth.

Proverbs 31:8 " Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and needy. "

This world is still indeed a wicked place that lacks the presence of God in many ways.

Yet, I am hopeful in the church and the God we serve.

Proverbs 29:16-18 " When the wicked thrive, so does sin. But the righteous will see their downfall. Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. "

Continuously Peeling Away.

I'd like to start out by saying that God is a God that restores whatever you lay before Him.

Not only does He restore His people individually, but He has the capabilities unlike any other to restore the relationships between His people. In my opinion, a restorative act needs to happen in each individual prior to a restored relationship between them.

There are 2 relationships in my life in which my heart is postured to while writing this. They are both relationships that have caused both turmoil and bliss in my life. I do not doubt the healing work of my Father though in both.

Looking at both of these relationships, I see how God needs to restore me before any post relationship healing.

How is it that I have so many things that I need to work on ? Because I am honest with my pursuit of God I cannot help but see all the brokenness inside of me. I am continuously convicted to peel back that mask that says everything is dandy. And my soul praises Him for it.

Me, along with millions of other people out there struggle with something called control. Surprisingly, I do not have a problem giving up control in many, many venues in my life... like my life altogether. I am not worried about where my life is going or even how I will get there. From the bottom of my heart, I have given up all my dreams solely to the Saviour of my soul. His dreams have become my dreams.

Now, it's the smaller things that I feel the need to control. I choose where we go to dinner, what time we will go and what we are doing afterwards. You can't do it, because I can do it better. EW!

Surely, God is showing me where all of this is stemming from and I am indeed becoming a new Caydin. He is proud of me when I let my siblings cook for me as I stand back. He says, " Well Done" when I go to the movie that he wanted to go to.

A restored Caydin doesn't involve a mighty, significant and in control Caydin.

It all boils down to less of Caydin.

And I'm down with that.

Monies.

As many of my close friends know, I am here in Minnesota working my bum off to get out of debt. I've been learning much while traveling on this busy road...

I've thought for the longest time that my financial life was just doomed. I've been in countless situations in which I have failed miserably with my finances. I've been given opportunity after opportunity to get out of debt while my other bills were being paid for and I still did not hop on board.

So, now the time has come in which I pay for everything ... and yet i still have my credit card to be paid off. I'm actually seeing for the first time how being in debt can hinder so much in your life. I had no reason to be in debt in the first place either which is such a shame.

I'm surely doing it though. I'm halfway out of debt and still going strong. I've had no choice but to learn how to balance my budget. God is showing me much favor in this because I see His fingerprints all over new thoughts and the new mindset I have towards where and how my money is being used.

Mike Erre once asked all of us to look at our bank accounts... and look at where our money was being spent. It is indeed a direct reflection of where our hearts are at. I look at where most of my money is going now... and it is indeed exactly where God wants it to go. God doesn't want this debt hanging over my head as I finish my last year of college. He wants me to be financially free. I am well on my way.

On a deeper note, I have felt Gods hands shaping my heart while going through this time of financial learning. I don't need much. Nearly everything I have isn't anything I actually need. Holy crap.

Proverbs 23:4

"Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone. They will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. "

Matthew 6:19

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "