spinning.

It freaks me out, but happens so often, it's impossible to ignore.

Dr. Kickass and Pastor Tim were reading from the same manual this week.

Dealing with my junk. Thinking I can handle everything on my own.

KA called it "sitting and spinning."
PT called it the "spin cycle."

Either way, the cycle of spinning on something that is not healthy for you, or not right in the eyes of God detracts from the life that was truly meant for you.

I spin a lot. About all sorts of things, none of which make me particularly proud or content. I argued this week that slowing down the spin was progress. The good doctor begged to differ.

PT said that when you regularly and systematically engage in anything that goes against God and runs your life... any addiction at all... it sucks your time, your energy and your spirit dry.

So this week, as I find myself with extra time to slow down, relax and contemplate, I am taking their words to heart, and turning to the one place that can and will respond.

Help.

this is the year.

I feel a huge wave of change ahead.

I am not even sure of what all will happen. But I am certain it's going to be big.

The year is off to a great start. I've reconnected with old friends and met some new ones. There's the occasional running, which clears my head and strengthens my body. I finally can breathe outward about many challenges that consumed way too much time and energy in my life. I have new challenges that all fall in the W column, regardless of the outcome.

I haven't felt this positive in a very long time.

And the weirdest thing about all this is I am actually seeing opportunities as they arrive. They are numerous and crystal clear.

I'm not looking at them, fuzzy and out of focus, in a rear-view mirror. I'm not spending time second-guessing and worrying about which path to take.

I am doing.

Really, really wonderful things happen when you are able to open you eyes, your ears, your mind and your heart. When you ask God to make the path clear so that you know where you are headed.

I don't expect that this year will be free of roadblocks both small and large.

But I finally feel free to know that it will be all good. In good time.

the love project.

1 Corinthians 13

"1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails."

Visit www.1C13.org for a project that takes 14 weeks to complete.

The project's creator, a friend of PT's daughter, is a new believer who is absorbing the Bible for the first time. He decided to put faith into action by concentrating on one aspect of love from Corinthians 1:13 each week for 14 weeks. Parkview is encouraging us to do the same: making God the center of your world and experience His immense love for each of us.

I think this is a wonderful project. It takes a concept and breaks it down into pieces that are relative and do-able. It's a tangible way to experience the intangible.

It's patience week this week. If you are anything like me, opportunities to practice patience are abound.

But most importantly, I have to have patience with God. Part of living a full life is surrendering the control you think you have over your life (you really have none) and passing it on to the guy who has the roadmap. His travel plans may be different than mine.

I want to accept that.

Patience.