What a week this has been. News, spinning out 24/7, more fault lines than ever before and emotions are churning. Rage and fear, sadness and hopefulness depending on which tribe you are from. Panic is widespread and the white caps threaten to pull some hurting souls under.

The sky does seem to be falling, and people I know and love are beyond upset. Because I cannot wrap my mind around what has others so distraught, it does not erase the angst they are experiencing. Uncertainty is what they are feeling and there is a sense of helplessness in not being able to say or do anything to help them. Does that mean I do nothing, step away emotionally and distance myself? Not exactly.

I cannot do anything. In fact, I’m quite sure (positive?) that I was not asked by them or, most importantly, by God. Not. My. Job. I want to fix things, take care of people and make them feel better.

Loved. Cared for and about.

This is what I can do and what I am called to do. I am a Christ follower and loving others is a role I have been given. This hurting, broken world we inhabit will not see Jesus any other way. Our country is blessed to have the freedom to worship, yet we are a nation of subcultures that have no interest in the formal sense of church. How will those people see the Jesus I love?

You know the answer, right? They will either see Christ in me or as “another one of those people”. Those people? Yes, me when I’m rude and inconsiderate. When I publish button pushing posts that I know will trigger the other side of any issue. Maybe I have a hot head and a short fuse while driving or I allow my dog to do her business on neighboring lawns and don’t clean it up. I’m the customer who is rude with the cashier and rarely smiles.

Those are the behaviors that are glaring and recalled by those who witness it. People are watching and what they see in me can either blanket them with the love of Jesus or shut them down.

We have a decorative flag for Valentine's Day. ‘Love Never Fails’ 1Cor. 13. I recently removed a flag picturing the nativity, stating “In this house we believe”. Both make a statement about us. Back up a paragraph or two. When I am simply doing life, I am accountable to God. What do people see? I have a lot to answer for, yet the blood of Jesus Christ paid for my sin.

Maybe that’s my biggest point. I have been rescued and redeemed. The only license I possess is to love with abandon. I have been given a precious life. I am blessed beyond measure and I have been given the freedom to choose. I can choose to love or choose sides. One or the other, not both.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for rescuing me and allowing me to be your ambassador. God please help me choose wisely and may others step closer to you because they have seen Jesus in me. Help me, this broken vessel, love others with the love you have given me. In Jesus name. Amen