Adrift

Joe Killian • August 26, 2020

It was a difficult feeling to describe.  I'd been unsettled for days and couldn't figure out why. Finally, the word hit me. I was feeling adrift.  It wasn't as though I was lost. No, I was very engaged in my latest DIY project. For years rainstorms had been depositing increasingly bigger pools of water directly in front of our porch and eventually into our basement. We had installed a French drain when we first moved into this house over 20 years ago but it was obviously not working very well. Take a look...

I hired our nephew, Andrew, to help me excavate the old drain.  We discovered that water would still flow through the pipe to the creek. But the gravel and pipe had been covered over with so much soil that the water never made it down into the drain. It was in the middle of all this work that I began to feel adrift. 



I prayerfully thought about why and found my answer in the rainwater.  Just as the eroded soil had blocked the water's ability to get deep enough to soak into the French drain, my spiritual focus had eroded.  I had become fixated on my French drain project along with a number of other issues. You might be familiar with some of some of those issues––a  global pandemic, social unrest and a contentious political climate.  The attention I was paying to these issues along with my drain project had caused me to lose connection with God as my foundation, thus my sense of being adrift.  I found my solution in Luke's Gospel:



That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

Luke 6:48-49



In my last blog I wrote about Sojourn, a temporary stay.  In this case I had allowed other things to cause me to sojourn away from God.  What is distracting you or causing you to feel unsettled or adrift?  Who and what are you "listening" to right now?  How are you "acting" in ways that might be causing you to sojourn away from God?  Focus on your foundation in Christ, your rock.  Go deeper with Him and experience the connection that brings peace in the midst of any storm.



Oh and check out how the "rock" in our front yard solved our water problem!

Authentic Versus False Identity

By Joe Killian • October 16, 2020
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.

Kung Fu Panda

By Joe Killian • October 8, 2020
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.

Playin' in the Dirt

By Joe Killian • October 2, 2020
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
Show More