Reflections from A Sleepless Night - Tyson's Debut Appearance on MTMB's

Hey there!  I'm not really excited that my husband has had a case of the chicken pox lately, but I am really excited that he has written a post for our blog.  He has such an awesome heart, and he's a contemplator for sure.  He's all in with Jesus,  willing to wrestle through the hard stuff, and willing to walk with others also wrestling through the hard stuff.   Be encouraged!

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I have the Chicken Pox right now, so my sleep ended at 2 am last night for the itching.  Let me tell you it's no fun as an adult.  I'm sure it's not fun to have as a kid either :-). Symptoms have included fever, chills, headache, stiff neck, bumps with pointy blisters on top and itching as bad as if you laid in a bed of chiggers.  So at 2 am, I got up, put on salve, made a pot of coffee and looked for something good on Netflix. I watched the story about Rich Mullens, the singer/songwriter who wrote "Our God is an Awesome God". I was unaware before last night that his life was full of brokenness, loneliness, and sadness. Yet if you think about the lyrics of most of his songs, it makes sense.  They were birthed out of adversity, out of longing for his true home.   I believe Rich's authenticity helped many come out of hiding and find freedom in the love of Jesus.  In reflecting about my bout with pox, Rich Mullen's life, and our life this past year, the more I realize that what we learn is rooted much deeper, and less likely to be forgotten if it comes by experience rather than just reading about it.  His word helps us shape that experience with good perspective. 

These last few months have been especially difficult for our family, but some of the lasting fruit that has come through the adversity is that Gina and I have developed a list of  "resolves" for our marriage, and for our family that we add to and review periodically.  One of our resolves is that self-pity is not permitted - not in our kids and not in us. Self-pity is the opposite of thankfulness and leads down a destructive path.  We endeavor to model thankfulness daily, and invite Samuel and Luke in to pray with us, giving thanks to God for His goodness in our lives while bringing very real needs before him.  Of course we fail when we lose perspective, but our failures serve to help us remember that our dependence and trust lie in Him, and our resolves remind us of who He's called us to be and who we want to be.  He takes our failures, and our brokenness and He gives us Himself. He gives beauty for ashes and uses our specific brokenness to His advantage and to the benefit and encouragement of others around us.  He is God!