Before we get to today’s entry, I’d love to briefly address what’s happened since the last post entitled UPDATE!.
As many of you are aware, in my last entry I announced that my first book entitled Daddy Set the Church on Fire: A Journey Toward Restoration is set to be published through Bridge Logos in February of next year along with the release of a collection of new singer/songwriter songs called Songs of Restoration which will work in tandem with the book. Since that announcement on August 14th, the audio version of that entry has been accessed by well over 40,000 people and that number is still climbing. This is amazing! It's also very humorous due to the fact that I have been mostly absent from the world of social media for years…like, a lot of them. It’s also humorous because the post was shared in a fairly long form format. Yet, it took root in a climate largely dominated by quick edit, click bate media. I love that this is the case. I love that it resonated with you. In fact, many of you listening right now are probably new subscribers as a result…to you I say WELCOME. Hopefully this a place where you can slow down, think, and hear from God.
If you’ll recall, the main thrust of what I shared regarding the book centered around the theme of forgiveness. The main ask was to “stay tuned” if you are someone, or know someone, who is in a wrestling match in that particular area of their life…be it with a family member, or close friend. My guess is that one of the reasons why that post was shared so widely is that many of us find ourselves in that very wrestling match. In my opinion, and using the analogy of warfare, it’s the front lines of what God is accomplishing in us in making us more like his son, Jesus. I’m prayerfully excited for how what is being shaped in the book, and the music might be used on the front lines of the war you and the ones you love find yourselves fighting. The fact is, we need healing, and we need it from the Healer.
Which is a perfect segue to today’s content entitled Just Beneath the Boot.
My oldest son, Brody, is a runner. Like, a real one. Last year, as a fifteen-year-old, he ran a mile in 4:29. I’ll pause to let that sink in…for me. That’s just shy of a full 2 minutes faster than I’ve ever run a mile in my life which was 30 years ago. I’m confident I won’t get any closer. That puts Brody well within the possibility of competing as a Division 1 athlete on the collegiate level, which is especially poignant as he just started his junior year of high school. Things are getting serious.
I watched him train all summer. Ashley and I took turns getting up before the sun six days a week to get him to practice so that he and his team could finish their workout before the midday Florida heat and humidity set in. I was amazed at his dedication. He’s got a gear that I don’t have. He truly loves it.
A few weeks ago, he mentioned some pain he was experiencing on the top of his foot. At first, he shrugged it off and trained through it. He modified his stride abit, avoiding pushing off the ball of his left foot. It affected his speed. It escalated to a point where we opted to have some X-rays done, which came up clean. We breathed a sigh of relief and assumed we were dealing with soft tissue damage. But after a bit more time with no change in his symptoms, we made the decision to move ahead with an MRI. Last week, Brody and I found ourselves sitting shoulder to shoulder in our friend Dr. VonThron’s office at Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute as he paired the results of the radiologist’s report with Brody’s pain.
“Point to where it hurts,” he said.
Brody moved his index finger to the center of the top of his left foot. The doc reluctantly nodded his head. Brody had put his finger directly on the place where the MRI indicated a there was a stress fracture. It was imperceptible on the x-ray, but it was very real. The air in the room shifted. Dr. VonThron’s bedside manner kicked in as he hit us with the news. Six weeks in a boot. Maybe a bone stimulator, depending on insurance. “It’s just gonna take time to heal,” he said.
After he left the room, I swung my head to look at my son. His eyes were fixed on the upper left-hand corner of the room and tears were welling up in them. Brody and I are alike in many, many ways, but he does not share my tendency to emotionally process first. This hit him where it hurt, and it showed in his face. In that moment he would have given anything for a shortcut, but there was none to be had. There would be no substitute for rest and space to heal. Now it was all out in the open and he was left to deal with it. A few days later I had a phone conversation with my friend Robbie Seay. He asked how I was doing, and I told him about it. He told me his son went through something similar as a recruitable high school basketball player. He said, “Here’s the thing, man. Kids’ that age bones heal a lot quicker than ours do.”
I started chewing on what Robbie said. Here’s where it led: In the moment when the news of the stress fracture hit Brody, he was convinced that he was moving backwards--losing ground. But in actuality, the opposite was true. Now don’t get me wrong, he was dealt a blow. But that blow actually set him on the right trajectory. In fact, as I sit and type this post he is most likely sitting in his Probability and Statistics class with his left foot nestled in a giant grey boot. And just under the surface something miraculous is happening…like right now. The bone in Brody’s left foot is healing. His body is pouring energy and resources into the fracture. It’s natural, but it smacks of supernatural. It sounds like resurrection. When it’s all said and done, medical professionals agree that the bone in Brody’s foot will be stronger than it was before the break.
A few weeks ago, I started writing a lyric to a song called Better Than Before that I believe will be included on Songs of Restoration. After the events of the last week, I shaped it up further. Here they are in their current form:
I broke a bone once
Sixteen years old, it showed me what real pain was
My childhood dream was playing in the majors
I thought it’d keep that childhood dream from coming true
Then magic happened
Grace and time wrapped around the fracture
Six weeks, some tenderness, and then soon after
I was swingin’ for the fences, tried and true.
At the time, if you’d have asked me, it was over
But now that bone is stronger than it was
Verse 2:
Life’s full of hard things
At times it feels like stumblin’ in the darkness
Painful memories jump out and haunt us
They whisper all that’s good is done and through
We start to question
If there is a God than what are his intentions?
But maybe after death comes resurrection,
Maybe He’s still making all things new
Chorus:
Oh my Lord, how was I supposed to know
Everything the father had in store
Yes, Yes, Yes,
I never would have guessed
It could be better than it was before
Maybe you’ve got some stress fractures from the life you’ve been living. Maybe it feels like you’re sitting in a doctor’s office getting news that makes it appear that you’re moving in the wrong direction. You’re heart is broken. You know you were born to run, but there’s something keeping you from it…maybe it’s unforgiveness.
I’d love to invite you to open your heart and mind to the reality that because Jesus is alive, and you’ve been forgiven by and because of Him, healing and restoration is possible. It could be that it’s already starting to happen just beneath the surface.
Brody has been aqua jogging in the pool in our backyard. As it turns out, it’s an amazing way to stay in shape while his bone heals up. His head bobs just above the water line while his heart and lungs pump and his legs build muscle underneath. Things are looking up. It’s amazing for me to watch him tackle the challenge as a dad. It’s makes me smile. I’m prouder than ever. What if your heavenly father wants nothing more than to bless you with a healed heart? What if there’s a world of possibility and freedom right around the corner? I believe that should you decide to join him on that journey, he’d look at you and smile in a bigger way than I ever could.
As I shared last week, this is my prayer for how the book and accompanying music might be used in your life. Again, if know somebody, or are somebody, who is on this journey I’d invite you to stay tuned. Share this post. Let’s see what God does.
