I am pretty pumped for today. As of last night, Kyle will be wrestling in his first match this evening. He is pretty excited about it and according to him last night when I picked him up after practice, he kicked butt! It has been a long year for him, making almost every practice and this being his first year at it, it has been a learning season for sure. He has stuck it out and kept his spirits mostly up and took this year as a conditioning year and working on his 6pack abs as he calls them. Hoping he does get his shot tonight - win or lose - I am proud of him.

There are a couple words that I have been looking deeper into the past day or so and as I examine myself, where I am at and my depth of my faith ... I want to invite you to challenge yourself with me and really answer a few questions about yourself.

As I am parenting in the shadows as I described yesterday, there are a few things that I really want to stand out. No matter how dark that shadow may be, I have it on my heart to do a few things. 1. Say the words God wants me to say. 2. Do what God has asked me to do. 3. Live how God want me to live. - How do we do that?

Living life to be impactful for others in a meaningful way brings us to a place where we really have decide if we are living our life from Preference or by Conviction.

Preference - A preferred choice; a practical advantage given to one over others; favoring

Conviction - A fixed or firm belief; to be convincing; a firm belief, held as proven

As you look a little closer at your life and where you are today, do you live your life as preference or by conviction? If I had someone come and live with you for every single moment for a month - what would they say? Are you living your life primarily for what will truly last or for the things of this world?
Living your life by your preference means you are living according to what is pleasing you. Those things come and go and as you go through life, things change and you move along with them. Preference is a choice and thus your life is in a state of flux according to what ever floats your boat or whatever the crowd is doing.
Conviction is one of those deep burning things that is deep in your heart that God places there. We all know right from wrong, even our teenagers know what is right and wrong but living out of preference for our lives, often leads to bad choices. Convictions that hit us deeply will show us the right things in life and steer us to those good choices. Convictions are tough because often times we have to do something hard. Like make that phone call, talk with that student on a tough subject, say you are sorry first, sit and talk with mom or dad about something big in your life. These convictions change us and change the direction of our lives because they affect us deeply.
Ephesians 2:8-10 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are Gods handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God uses our convictions to show us our preferences in life. He breaks our hearts with those hurt things and reveals the source in them through convictions. Often times living out preferences, we often times choose to sin, choose to make a bad choice - choose to sin, choose to suffer as the old saying goes.
My convictions keep me pushing through the tough relationships in life even though at times my preference is to walk away. There are convictions that keep me pressing forward in seasons of time even when it is hard.

Convictions are unchanging beliefs on the inside that always shows up on the outside.

So, are you living your life by preference or by conviction?

Preference keeps you smoking - Conviction tells you that you must quit
Preference keeps you dating that boy or girl - Conviction tells you that you need to dump them
Preference keeps you from letting anyone else into your circle - Conviction tells you there is room in your life
Preference keeps you going with the crowd - Conviction keeps you coming back to church
Preference is a choice and often times the easy one. Conviction shows you the true meaning behind that choice and it hurts, it burns deep in your heart and keeps you up at night.

Ephesians 4:29 - Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

What is your life showing others?

Convicted even in the shadows......
Lon~