Jesus in the Spaghetti

Yesterday, while completely unique, was absolutely typical.

The lion’s share of my day was spent hanging out with students, parents, and the staff at Battle Ground Academy from 7:30 AM until 8:00 PM. And by hanging out I suppose I mean that I talked all day with 5 classes of 7th graders, a 5-minute talk during the high school chapel, and capped it off by spending 2 hours leading a parenting workshop.

In an ideal world that would’ve been plenty. My plate was full.

But not in the spaghetti of life. Of course, I was keeping up with Kristen and the kids via text message throughout the day. And we have the Middle School Ministry Campference in just a few days, so there’s lots of conversation going on about that. And over the weekend we launched a project we’ve been working on for World Vision called, Childhood Lost, so there are still some tasks to work on there. And we have new releases on our publishing line so we’re seeing lots of books come in from the printer, books get sold in bulk & individually and going out, managing inventory, and dealing with a couple of issues that have popped up.

Of course, that’s not everything. We’re finalizing contract for a new project so my team can keep moving, the business has an increasing amount of bookkeeping/accounting work to stay on top of, my kids are at the age where I should be checking in with them when I’m on the road so I’m feeling guilty about not doing that well, and there are four more events that we’re right in the middle of marketing and doing set-up for.

I share all of that not to impress or depress you. The simple reality that most adults are equally busy. We are each dealing with the practical realities of our own day-to-day lives while trying to somehow figure out how to parent with excellence, be the best spouse we can… and oh yeah, “maintain a relationship with the Lord.”

Jesus in the Spaghetti

Amidst the spaghetti of every day we are left to figure out what it means to walk with Jesus. And, if you are like me, you’ve forever been reminded that in order to walk with Jesus you need to maintain things like daily bible study, having a devotional time, and having an active prayer life.

But each of those involve retreating away. All of those involve adding an appetizer or desert to a day full of spaghetti. To play with the metaphor of walking with Jesus we’re really being asked to sit down and take a break with Jesus.

And while a break with Jesus sounds awesome: It’s not happening.

Just know that Jesus is in the spaghetti with you. Sometimes walking with Jesus is quite literally walking with Jesus. It’s running through your daily stuff and having moments where you glimpse his work while you are doing your work. It’s that little whisper prayer when your voice is about to give out or you don’t think you have the energy to push through that final commitment or the 7th grader who bravely raises his hand to testify what Jesus has done in front of his classmates.

Jesus is with you on that busy phone call you have sitting in the parking lot between appointments. Jesus is in the warehouse. Even in your busiest, craziest moments, Jesus is there with you.

Often times in my daily crazy spaghetti of life I connect with Jesus the most. It’s not there aren’t times for pulling aside or that having a devotional time is in any way bad. For me, it’s that sometimes I need to be reminded that plugging in is the way to connect with what Jesus is doing instead of needing to unplug to see him.