Value

I have an apology to make! The last few blog entries written are rather lame, and not at all interesting.  When I started this blog, I made a commitment to myself never to write for the sake of writing.  Your time is important, and I am honored you would spend it reading what I have to say.  Today, ironically, the idea of value stands out to me in Luke 15.

I want to share with you one of my favorite speeches from one of my favorite movies.  Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain gives this speech in the movie 'Gettysburg:'

"This is a different kind of army.  If you look back through history, you'll see men fighting for pay..for women, for some other kind of loot.  They fight for land, power, or because a king leads them, or just because they like killing.  We are here for something new.  This has not happened much in the history of the world.  We are an army out to set other men free.  America should be free ground.  All of it.  Not divided by a line between slave state and free.  All the way, from here to the Pacific Ocean.  No man has to bow.  No man born to royalty.  Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was.  Here you can be something.  Here is the place to build a home.  But it's not the land.  There's always more land.  It's the idea that we all have value.  You and me.  What we're fighting for, in the end, we're fighting for each other."

We all have value.  This nation was formed on this premise.  Each of us is intrinsically valuable.  Luke 15 speaks to this idea of value too!  But in a different way.  Everything lost in this chapter has some value; the sheep, coin, and the son.  What is interesting to me is the value of two of those three items can be lessened.  For instance, the sheep could die, become damaged, contaminated, or sick.  The son can also lose value; in the eyes of the father, the older son, and/or the community.  The coin is the only item which does not lose its value.  This means it does not matter what the situation is, or where I end up finding myself; I will always be worth someone looking for me.  I am a valuable person!  I have worth!  I have value!

Some of you know this, but I have struggled with my own self-worth quite a bit in my life.  There have been many days when I have woken up and not wanted to do anything!  This morning was one of those days!  I place a lot of my worth on the jobs I do, and how well I perform them.  I have been receiving news from churches who I thought were committed to coming to Winter Retreats that states they will no longer be able to make it.  It is only one or two churches, but it is devastating to me.  I take this almost as a personal attack and that these groups do not find what I am trying to do for them as worth it.  In my eyes, this does reflect upon my worth and my ability to plan a retreat.  It is in these times though when I must remember my worth is in God and what He thinks of me; not what others think about me.  My goal for today is to remember I have value in God's eyes.  He will bring the students to the retreats.  All I can do is be faithful!

I am also committing to write entries with more value from here on out!  Thanks for reading!

In His service, CrazyPete