Conditions of Discipleship

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:37-39

Chris, Matt, and I reflected on this scripture last week Thursday. I think we all got different senses from it.

This passage reminded me of a sermon given a couple weeks ago a mass. Holding our hands out to God, but with the palms open not with a clenched fist. Looking at everything there is, and seeing it as God's to take and give as he pleases puts the whole verse together. When we give our lives over to God to control we "lose our life for his sake", which involves taking up the cross he gives us. I know being able to keep my hand open and not clenching down to hold on to certain things is a HUGE cross for me. I will not give up the fight.

Sledding, pizza, beer... life can't get any better

The guys and I went out to Sandpark to go sledding last night. Aaron and his son Josh went as well. None of us had sleds so we went over to Walmart to pick a few up. Matt, Chris, and I also picked up a can of spray-on Canola oil for the sleds so we would go faster. It ended up being a short-lived fun time. We ignored the weatherman's warning of -30 wind chill, drifts, and snow. Going down the hill meant sledding into the wind, which made things even worse. We ended up staying out for only 30 minutes, then going home. We passed Pino's on the way home and ordered a large pep. with extra sauce, and picked up a case of beer. It was a nice night of just hanging out with the boys. I am hoping the weather will be better on Monday, so that we can go sledding again.