There are 300 children from Haiti coming to Indianapolis right now. They need families to take them in, medical professionals to help them, volunteers and donations. Here is the letter I sent out. The blog link for contact info is at the bottom. If you can help or forward this to someone who can that would be great.
Dear Clients and Friends,
My business manager, Wendi Hull's, daughter works for a group that is planning on taking in 300 haitan children immediately in Indianapolis. They need medical attention before they can go to homes such as screening for ring worms. They need doctors, lots of them. Some will probably need some urgent dental care. If any of my clients, residents or current docs, can assist I would consider it a HUGE personal favor! If you know other docs or residents willing to help, please forward this immediately. We don't have much time. Please read the email below and check out the blog OR contact me directly and I will connect you to be plugged in. If you were wondering what you can do to help, how you can make a difference...its right in front of you now. Let's move!
Sincerely,
Brian
Live a legacy.
Legacy Practice Management
201 N. Illinois St. 16th Floor, South Tower
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317.610.3248 w
317.652.8411 c brian@legacypractice.com
Hello family & friends,
I am going to make this short. As some of you know my daughter Stephanie Hull works for a non-profit organization called Safe Families in Indianapolis. They help place children not in foster care, but similar situations for shorter time periods.
All of us have heard of the devastation in Haiti by the magnitude 7 earthquake last week. Yesterday they suffered a 6.1 magnitude aftershock earthquake. 53 children from a Haitian orphanage arrived in Pittsburgh yesterday and were placed there.
That was some background, now what is requested. Judge Payne from Marion county contacted Krista Davis, director of Safe Families Indy, at 8:30 PM last night asking assistance in placing 300 children from Haiti here, very soon. There are many needs, but mainly prayer. Overnight, several commitments for taking in the children have been met. At this time, I request your prayer for this need to be met and that you direct your attention and comments to this blog. Please read the blog before making calls or sending emails as it is difficult for Safe Families to respond to all feedback right now. http://safefamilieshaiti.blogspot.com
In the deepest parts of us, below the surface, no matter how hard our exterior shell is...those layers of armor and toughness to protect ourselves; we all want to be known and loved. We don’t spend much time, if at all, talking about our deepest fears, our pains, our sorrows, or even our dreams, our desire for love and acceptance. Perhaps we think it shows weakness, more likely we’ve been hurt and we don’t want to risk it again. The people we love failed us, let us down, injured us, jaded our view of life.
Now you’re left empty and afraid; feeling lonely. You may even be surrounded by people, friends, family...but there is a disconnect. They don’t even know how bad it hurts. They don’t know about the internal discontentment with life, the stirring in your soul for something more, something meaningful...they wouldn’t understand if you tried to tell them, at least you think. So you smile and go along for the ride, but you’re slowly dying inside.
The love you seek is not what you think it is. It’s not romance or even friendship; it is intimacy. For your innermost self to be known by another; a deep relationship. To be accepted as you are and loved in spite of yourself; unconditionally. Is there such a thing...does it exist? We desperately want it to, what a relief that would be.
However, the days roll on and the aching continues and grows. It becomes unbearable at times and leaves your numb inside. You’re just going through the motions. There are moments when you just want to feel something, anything. It doesn’t matter. You feel trapped in your circumstances, tied down by the weight of what feels like a meager existence or perhaps the feeling that it will never get any better than what you have now. You are desperate to break out, but from what? You don’t really know. It’s a living nightmare in some ways; empty, empty, empty.
You feel exhausted from just thinking about it. Time to crawl into bed and escape into a dream. Perhaps it’s worse, escape takes the shape of a bottle, a pill, a warm body...anything for some temporary relief. Some short term pleasure, a fleeting moment of happiness, a distraction or even just forgetting about it for a short while - we cope. If only that were enough, but it’s not. Matter of fact, it somehow makes it worse. The void, the emptiness, gets bigger so we cling to our choice for coping even more. We spend more time with it, increase the frequently...but it only intensifies our thirst for relief even further. Our coping mechanism might even be considered healthy by any standard, but it’s purpose and effect are the same. It is a vicious cycle we can’t seem to break. Something has to give.
In the mix of all of this we begin to feel a sense of worthlessness, insecurity...if we weren’t feeling that way already. We become super sensitive to the words others use to define us. Anything that sounds negative cuts like a knife inside of us. We may not show it on the surface, we fight like mad to cover it up, but we hurt desperately. Somehow it almost feels like we are unloved, even if others tell us differently. We may even feel unlovable, flawed somehow...broken, unfixable.
Some days we don’t even think we deserve to be rescued from this mess or that it’s not possible. Others we could practically cry out to be saved, please, at any cost! Who do we cry out to, who can help us? We’re frustrated...it seems hopeless. Pointless to even try perhaps.
Every day our thoughts destroy us a little more, our perception of life as we see it. We value our life, we value our family and our friendships. We have expectations for the way these relationships should be. Either what we have created in our own minds or perhaps what has been created for us on a tv show or movie. There is this ideal picture; if we could only have that! Everything would ok. Instead, they seem hollow or superficial, disjointed, forced, painful...I don’t know. They consume a lot of energy just to maintain and they are full of injury. Over and over you’ve been burned, cast aside, made to feel insignificant, belittled, controlled, abused...and here we are again; worthless.
“Why can’t I find or change the circumstances, the person or people to make it all better? To find relief and comfort” you ask yourself. It feels like your running away, but from what and where to? You don’t know, but the sensation won’t go away. So the question becomes, have you had enough? Are you ready to give up? The hard truth is we’ve tried just about everything haven’t we...nothing is working. Why? Because we are doing life our way and failing miserably at it.
You may have tried religion or spirituality. Maybe you worked hard at being a good person and living an honest life. You could have gone the route of living for the moment and doing whatever makes you happy and brings you pleasure. Perhaps you are a Christian doing all the things Christians do; going to church, participating in Bible study, serving in ministry at the church. Yet, with all these different ways of doing life...these feelings still plague you.
I have wrestled for a couple weeks now with this post sitting unfinished of how to bring the answers. How can I boil down the solutions to one blog post, making it applicable? Oh, believe me there is a way out, I know because I’ve been there too! You don’t have to stay in this place any longer and the alternative is simply beautiful!
Beth Moore describes this sensation as being stuck in a mirky, muddy pit, being unable to escape. That’s one good way of putting it. As a matter of fact, I would like to explore the situation from this viewpoint as Beth writes about it in her book, “Get Out of That Pit.” I propose you join me in an online study of the book over the next 10 weeks. What do you have to loose?
Go buy a copy at a Christian book store or order it online. If you are not a Christian, don’t freak out on me! I’m not asking you to join a religion...we gonna talk about this problem specifically and talk about relationship. If you are a Christian, don’t freak out on me! If you resonated with this entry then you don’t have it all figured out...good news, neither do I! You’re in good company. We’ll work on it together. Also, I realize Beth Moore has been “branded” as women’s studies...get over it! Send me a facebook message, email or blog comment if you might join me. We’ll start in a week, so get to it!
Three weeks ago I wrote this entry and for three weeks it sat. Why? At first I wasn’t sure, but I know why. It hits too close to home. I have written on many subjects, the things God has shared with me through His word and counsel. When I wrote this one, I tried to write it with immunity from its implications, as if it was no longer an issue for me. The truth is, I am not as strong as I think I am. I am still weak. I still fail. I still sin, I struggle. I need Jesus more than ever.
If you ever had the notion through my entries that I have risen above the rest, been enlightened, or “have arrived”...that would be ridiculous. I’m still nothing. I am a mess as a matter of fact and Know also that I am still a selfish man, fighting against myself daily. It looks like this, what Brian wants vs. what God wants. It’s one thing to be shown the truth, it’s another to live it out fully isn’t it? I just pray for the strength, fortitude and faith to willingly choose God’s way over my own. Sometimes it is much harder to do in reality than on paper. I sin with my thoughts, I sin with my choices. My flesh betrays me. Being bluntly honest, some days I don’t even have much desire to put up a fight. Heaven help me on those days!
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The opposite of Love- Love of Self
Last entry we visited the subject of love, the unconditional love of God being shown to others. In this way we love and worship God, we give Him our lives. So what is the opposite of living in this fashion... the love of self. What does that look like? Well, we’d like to believe that it is something that only OTHER people do, but if we search deeper and take an honest look at our lives and our hearts…we may not like what we see. (If you haven’t read the last entry, read it first please)
There is a big difference between struggling with temptation; fighting against the desire of our flesh and just giving in to the temptation and doing whatever it is we desire. When we do life our way, meeting our own selfish desires…we show that we love this world and what Satan has to offer us, not God.
“Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; for all these worldly things, these evil desires--the lust for physical pleasure, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance--these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself.”
(1 John 2:15-16)
The Warning
Are we in danger of becoming one of those people who act religious, but in reality we reject the Spirit in our lives? We reject Jesus. If we don’t evaluate our lives it might be easy to simply think that we are just fine, when in reality we are acting like the very person described in 2nd Timothy 3:2-7. “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.”
The action we should take
So I urge you, as outcasts in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among those who are not Christians that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when He returns. We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. If you don’t believe that, then you are already deceived and defeated.
1Peter 2:11-12
Eph. 6:12-13
We are told in the Bible that our old life is dead, it is a former life. We have a new life in Christ, we should act like it. “And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.” Colossians 3:5-8 (The Message)
When we are weak, He is strong. We must remember that Jesus went before us, showing us the way to live. “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” Hebrews 12:2-3 (The Message)
The result of our poor choice
We have free will and with it comes the responsibility to CHOOSE His way because the troubling part is if we deliberately continue to sin...we trample on the cross. We make light of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.”Hebrews 10:26-29 (New Living Translation)
The Way
“Then He said to all, Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to Me!” (Luke 9:23 TLB) He made it pretty clear what NOT to do. It is also pretty clear what we should do. The final verdict: Put away self and live for Him. In this way we are truly free. In this way we find the abundant life!
Easier said than done, I know. I’ve witnessed some amazing things over the past few months...oh the stories I could tell. Even then, after seeing His greatness and glory, reading the Bible accounts from the eyes of witnesses...I still struggle with self. I think of Peter, who got out of the boat to walk on the water with Jesus. Where were the other disciples...in the boat. Did they not see his miraculous ways too? Watching Jesus heal the blind, feed thousands with a few loaves of bread, raise the dead! Yet they too struggled to have faith; to follow Him. But let us not be complacent to give in to ourselves and to Satan. May we fight with all that is in us to live for Him! To get out of the boat and walk on the water.
Today's song- We are not as strong as we think we are - Rich Mullins (I posted a youtube video of the song below for you.)
Well, it took the hand of God Almighty
To part the waters of the sea
But it only took one little lie
To separate you and me
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are And they say that one day Joshua
Made the sun stand still in the sky
But I can't even keep these thoughts
Of you from passing by
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are CHORUS
We are frail
We are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are And the Master said their faith was
Gonna make them mountains move
But me, I tremble like a hill on a fault line
Just at the thought of how I lost you
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are CHORUS And if you make me laugh well I know
I could make you like me
Cause when I laugh I can be a lot of fun
But we can't do that I know that it is frightening
What I don't know is why we can't hold on
We can't hold on CHORUS When you love you walk on the water
Just don't stumble on the waves
We all want to go there somethin' awful
But to stand there it takes some grace
'Cause oh, we are not as strong
As we think we are
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