#forgiveness – Journey-For-Life

Blessings and Bikes

Blessings and Bikes – 2016

This post was originally from 2016, but tomorrow morning is the 2018 Blessing of the Bikes – and my son just called to say he and a friend are driving all night from Minnesota to be present for the blessing – so say a prayer for their safety, will ya?

Last Sunday, our church hosted the 20^th annual Blessing of the Bikes. It’s an event that started when 4 bikers from the church approached the pastor with an idea to bring their friends to church. The first year, there were 162 bikes, and the town of Murrysville wondered what in the world was going on as they all rolled through. Over the years, that event has blossomed, and is very well-known in the area. The town of Murrysville actually sends the Mayor and emergency workers now, and even shuts down traffic for a while, to allow the event to be held. It’s a completely free event, because, in the words of Pastor Dan, “so is gift of salvation”. This year, on the 20^th anniversary, we estimated approximately 15,000 bikes piled in – to our parking lot, and the adjacent streets, and the parking lots along Rt 22. Figuring many bikes had 2 riders, we’d say there were A LOT of people who turned out for the event. For the past 13 years, I have had the privilege of participating in the music for the service. This year, our good friend Dave Smith, sang a song called “Jack Daniels & Jesus”. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t another church in the country that sang that song on Sunday.

(By the way, I think there’s a message in here somewhere about starting a “movement” – it doesn’t take something BIG to make something BIG – it just requires someone to dream it and make it reality).

“Jack Daniels & Jesus”

Lately I’ve been trading
A good sermon and some praying
For a stranger in my bed
And a night that needs explaining
I’ve opened more bottles than I ever have my bible
This dirt road communion sure won’t lead me to revival

Between the black label and the letters in red
I felt what livin’ is
And what it’s like to live dead

I’ve taken a ride in the devil’s Cadillac
I’ve been so high I thought I wasn’t coming back
And just when I think I’m too far gone
Ringin’ in my head’s the 23rd psalm
I’ve seen the light
I’ve seen the darkness
Only God knows where my heart is
I’ve got my strength
And Lord knows, I’ve got my weakness
Oh, I’m lost somewhere between
Jack Daniels and Jesus

It’s my fault that I ain’t called
My momma in a month of Sundays
She’ll smell the whiskey through that phone
I can’t stand to hear her heartbreak
Next week, I see my brother Casey for the first time
Since it all went down
And I blacked his eye the night after our daddy died

I ain’t afraid to admit I’ve hit rock bottom
You wanna see a lifetime full of sins
Just look at me
I’ve got ’em

This is what 25,000 bikes looks like from the Medic One Helicopter.

Wall to wall people

(can’t see the killer boots from here, but they were awesome.. lol)

I am watching life unfold for several young adults – some of them are making some very good life decisions, and some of them are making some incredibly bad life decisions, some of them very, very public, and some of them very private. And my heart breaks. In almost all of the cases, I say to myself, (and I’ve heard their parents say), “but they were raised differently than that” and then I remember the words, “somewhere between Jack Daniels and Jesus” and remember that we’re really ALL somewhere on that journey. I haven’t had Jack Daniels in over 30 years – one REALLY BAD experience with it all those years ago, and I can’t even smell the stuff to this day…. And I was raised differently than that…. And still, I made some poor life choices along the way – hopefully ones that I have learned from, and that have made me stronger. By the grace of God alone, He brought me through those poor choices and gave me a second chance, or maybe a third and fourth. And, by the grace of God, He will bring those folks through their choices as well, allowing U-turns to correct their course. Pray for them, will ya?

Thinly Veiled

Where to begin….

Yesterday, when I got home from work, a package for me was sitting on the ottoman in my family room. When I opened it, real-live paperback version of the book that was published was sitting in my hands. As I mentioned, I’ve seen the cover 1,000 times, but to touch it and flip through the pages was a righteous moment for me… and then I thought, “what if my mom see’s it?” LOL (40-something years old and afraid of what my mother will think – can anyone relate?) I mean, really, she doesn’t yet know anything about it… in the book, through fictional characters, I have laid out some of the most painful memories of my life… what if she reads it and judges me? what if she’s angry that I’ve publicly admitted my weaknesses? Could I hide it from her forever? Probably not. I was reminded of the conversation I had with the publisher when I told him my husband didn’t know about the book – he said, “well you better tell him before he sees you on the news”.

It had been terrifying for me to tell my husband, but I asked those encouraging me to pray for me.. and one night, I worked up enough courage to tell him. His response (“what was your purpose?”) caused me to deep-think how I would like to see God use this book. What seemed daunting to me ended up being a catalyst for me to change the “note from the author” (funny how life works that way sometimes).

At any rate, I decided that when my mom got home, I would simply ask her to read a book, and not tell her I was the author, since, of course, I have a pen name. She reads quickly – in fact, I believe she taught Evelyn Wood how to read back in the day! I went to a different room because I didn’t want to feel her judgement as she poured through the pages of my open heart. At one point, my daughter told me she was looking for me – but I was hiding.

After she finished the book, she came into the room where I was – I could swear there was a tear on her cheek. She said, “well, that was – WOW” I wasn’t sure if she meant WOW in a good way or a bad, so I asked her, and she said, “Good”, which I will take at face value. We talked about how my prayer is that it would reach people who are hurting and need to know God’s love.

I asked her if she was angry. She said, “Why would I be angry?” She said she knew I was the author in the first chapter – my identity is “thinly veiled”, as she put it. I asked her to keep it secret from the rest of my family. I told her they would not understand me. She agreed on both counts.

I really don’t know why I was so afraid, except to say that the pain that I experienced in my life is also pain that she experienced. I have seen how she’s handled it (well, I might add – she’s a fighter), and perhaps was afraid that dredging up old memories of pain would be difficult for her. She loves Jesus as much as I do – probably more. I believe that she will honor my prayer that God will use the message to let people know that, no matter what they’re going through in life, God is there with them and will help them through.

Many of you have already reached out to let me know your ordered your copy – thank you, thank you, thank you.

If you haven’t, and want to, please click the link below.

Order Masquerade here!

If you haven’t followed my journey, please do. I have a feeling it’s about to get real.

Have a blessed day, everyone!

Blessings, SB

Between Jack Daniels and Jesus

Every year in April, our church hosts the annual Blessing of the Bikes. It’s an event that started when 4 bikers from the church approached the pastor with an idea to bring their friends to church. The first year, there were 162 bikes, and our town wondered what in the world was going on as they all rolled through. Over the years, that event has blossomed and is very well-known in the area. Our town actually sends the Mayor and emergency workers now, and even shuts down traffic for a while, to allow the event to be held. It’s a completely free event, because, in the words of our pastor, “so is a gift of salvation”. This year, on the 20^th anniversary, we estimated approximately 15,000 bikes piled in – to our parking lot, and the adjacent streets, and the parking lots along the highway. Figuring many bikes had 2 riders, we’d say there were A LOT of people who turned out for the event. For the past 13 years, I have had the privilege of participating in the music for the service. This year, our good friend Dave Smith, sang a song called “Jack Daniels & Jesus”. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t another church in the country that sang that song on Sunday.

I am watching life unfold for several young adults – some of them are making some very good life decisions, and some of them are making some incredibly bad life decisions, some of them very, very public, and some of them very private. My heart breaks. In almost all of the cases, I say to myself, (and I’ve heard their parents say), “but they were raised differently than that” and then I remember the words, “somewhere between Jack Daniels and Jesus” and remembered that we’re really ALL somewhere on that journey. I haven’t had Jack Daniels in over 30 years. One REALLY BAD experience with it all those years ago, and I can’t even smell the stuff to this day…. And I was raised differently than that…. Still, I made some poor life choices along the way – hopefully, ones that I have learned from, and that have made me stronger. By the grace of God alone, He brought me through those poor choices and gave me a second chance, or maybe a third and fourth. And, by the grace of God, He will bring those folks through their choices as well, allowing U-turns to correct their course. Pray for them, will ya?

Bent Nails

Theology in Nails?

There are many theological references one can make about nails – the obvious one relating to the nails that pierced Jesus’ hands. However, during my basement remodel project, I thought about a different theological application of nails… the bent ones. Been there? (This picture is actually from google images, but it COULD have been taken in my basement – except that I’ve already gotten rid of the evidence… except one, which is my favorite. I will save that for another time. hahah)

bent nails

I’m probably the only one that does this, but when you’re pounding a nail in, and you can feel it starting to go south on you…. do you a) stop hitting it, pull it out, (mumbling curse words under your breath – or straight out loud) and get a different nail b) hit the nail from a slightly different direction, hoping to correct it and get it “back on track” or c) continue hitting, hoping for the best? I’ve done all of the above. And honestly, when I’m doing item b above, I am thinking to myself (Every time), “this is probably what God is doing right now…. Hitting me upside the head from a different direction, hoping I will ‘get it’ this time” and then I’m sad when it goes completely south. Every once in a while, I’ve been able to correct a south-bound nail – and I am ecstatic! And I think, “VICTORY!!!” and I wonder if God gets just as ecstatic when someone “gets it” – the Bible tells us there is rejoicing in heaven when a sinner comes home – I believe that is true.. You see, the cool thing about God is that, no matter how crooked the path, He always allows U-turns. There are times when it takes us getting “hit with a hammer” to really get what God is saying to us. No matter how bent the nail, Jesus can restore us for His original purpose.