I Am Second

Mr. Wonderful and I had a great double date this past weekend with our friends Jon and Sarah. They were in town from Austin, and we were blessed by our evening together. Sarah is my longest friend. She was my first friend when I moved to Texas in 1990. And she has had a huge impact on my faith journey. She was one of my first examples of what it means to walk daily with Christ.

Friday night Jon shared with us a website that someone in their church helped put together. "I Am Second" is a site full of short testimonies from several Believers. Some are faces you and I readily recognize and others are new. But each shares the powerful story of Christ's impact on their life. I encourage you to take a minute and go watch a few.

I haven't had the chance to see them all yet, but so far my favorite is from a guy named Nate Larkin. His story is one of real transparency. And I admire that. I respect that. And I guess it resonated with me so deeply because God taught me about transparency in 2008.

I learned of the great freedom that comes from walking in the truth. The liberty that comes from bringing your "real self" to the table. How God can take something terrible in your life and use it for good. That the hardships in our lives are blessings because, as Nate points out, they help us realize that God is the center of everything. As Nate puts it, "I don't think I ever really met Jesus until I stepped out of my 'church persona' and became another broken, desperate man." The Lord used Nate's testimony to encourage me because I can't relate to the details of Nate's struggle. I don't personally know his vice. But yet I still understand. I can relate to his hurt, to his desperation, to his Hope. And with that God gave me reason to continue to share.

There is risk in transparency.

Some will misunderstand.

Some will jump to wrong conclusions.

Some will judge.

Not everyone that hears your story, or my story, will be able to relate to the details.

But God can still use us.

He will use you.

All we have to do is speak up.