(or, Who IS this guy?)

Now, for the full version (and again, apologies to subscribers for having published the last version prematurely)….

Hopefully, it’s no big secret that I’ve recently put out a new book, Lay It Down: A Journey into Trust. Lord knows I haven’t been trying to keep it a secret. There may be other good news to report about this soon as well, so stay tuned. (But by all means, go ahead now and click that link I just gave you—and don’t stop following/clicking links until you finally hit that button that says “Confirm Purchase.”)

In the meantime, now that I’ve put a little distance between me and the actual writing of the book, I’ve gone back and started working through it myself as a reader—and I have to admit, it’s been kicking my butt. Yeah, the author’s a bit of a jerk, but wow, he’s on the money a lot. 🙂 I’m pretty close to halfway through, and so I thought this’d be a good time to check in, and to share somewhat more personally than I normally do.

So next week I’ll be into the final section/second half of the book, appropriately called “Eternal Life Starts Now.” I’ve felt for awhile that this current season was when God would bring Marion & I into the next phase of our lives, and as such I’ve been trying to prepare myself for that. And the fact is, our circumstances dictate that something needs to change in our lives, soon. It’s no coincidence whatsoever that this is the first devotional in that final section—and while we’re not at 11:59 yet, we can see it from here.

And thus, I’ve spent the last few weeks working through Sections 1 and 2, “Lay Down Your Past” and “Lay Down Your Present.” One thing I’ve been dealing with, naturally, is the disparity between the guy writing this book and the guy reading it, and asking myself “Who is this guy?” And for that matter, how come I don’t see him more often? Again—butt: kicked.

Still, God’s working through me to get to… me. I’ve actually been working through the daily “Lay It Down Today” activities, and some of them are pretty powerful. (Again, I gotta give the jerk some props here. 🙂 ) Take today, for example—which is why I’m just going ahead and finishing this post now….

I did the doorway activity in Week 4 (and again, for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, go fetch). I actually stood in the doorway of my garage for a few minutes and looked out at my future, and all the fears I have about it, which of course have just ramped up that much more as I anticipate those changes coming: I don’t want to leave Loveland/Colorado (if that’s what it requires); I don’t want to be as bitterly disappointed with Christian “examples” of assorted shapes and sizes as I’ve repeatedly been over the past eight years (and for that matter, feel so utterly tossed-aside from the get-go, after arriving in Colorado with the kind of optimism you never see out of me); I don’t want to feel like a failure there, too (wherever the next “there” is); etc. You get the idea, so I’ll stop.

But I just stood there and prayed about all of it—because I need to leave it all behind, in order to be of any use to God or myself. And then, I stepped through the doorway.

Lord, bring it, whatever it is—and bring it soon. Let this not be another false start, but a new beginning. Let’s see where You lead me next on this “journey into trust”….

And so, there you have it. Talk to you soon. New R.T. Kendall book I should have a review on within the week, and maybe even that other update I talked about in the beginning of this post. God will do what God will do—and I’ll keep you posted when He does….