I want to have coffee with so many of you. Thank you is not enough for reading my drivel dear ones. Amy got me 5 copies of The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly, and I would love to sit at table with 4 of you to discuss this book. I know geography keeps us from doing this, so pray that God will raise up 4 like minded people here in Nashville who will be interested in doing that.

I was going to give a copy to future Clean Houses employees, but I’ve returned to the boutique concept of my business. My vision is very specific, and it includes finding the right partner to help me achieve it. There’s no way I can do it by myself, and I think whoever the person is who joins me will find the financial compensation is really good. We scrub toilets, scrub shower walls and doors, but I really am trying to build a lifestyle brand. It’s hard to build a brand through a service, but my logo is a start. As you can see it has a broom in it, and the logo itself has my website address within it. I was a Bible major in college, so obviously business semantics is not my forté. Hence the reason I’m an entrepreneur. Those four years in college are not wasted. I continue to pastor those in my circle of influence. Pastoring is a calling not a degree. Logos and ethos are honed in college and seminary, but pathos goes beyond religion. Desire and drive are deeply entwined with calling, so when you wake up before the alarm goes off with inspiration to accomplish something great know that the Holy Spirit is waking you beyond the book knowledge you have. That’s power.

I think I’m touching on identity. Identity is a respectful way of getting centered on why you are here. It doesn’t negate what others think about you, but it knows how to ignore it when it inhibits you from fulfilling your calling. Whether you are dusting a bedroom, or performing a complex surgery in an operating room doesn’t matter. Being available to dust and operate is what business as mission is all about. The pastor studying Greek for Sunday’s sermon is as vitally needed as the woman who writes a check for 5k to give to a friend on Monday morning.

We’ve created this pecking order in society that resembles the caste system in India. What we ultimately do with our products and services is empower people to encounter God. There is no greater aim. Cleaners and surgeons are held accountable for the art they ship. Oh that every woman and man would come to know the Father of love who wants us all to work for Him. The hate is overwhelming here in the buckle of the Bible Belt. I type that from being in dead center of it. I start counseling in about a week because of that hate, and I am ashamed to admit it. I thought I was over this anger and hate, but it’s insidious tentacles wrap around every morsel of thought I spare for kindness.

What if we got serious about making others more important than ourselves?

So many of you reading these words are doing one hell of a job bringing light into darkness, and I am singing in that choir with you. We long for goodness. We long for safety. We long for a love that seems escapable every time we latch on. We’re hurting, but we want the hurt to stop, but then we realize it’s so wonderful because of the pain. I’m still going to pray for complete healing, and that He take the pain away. I’ll never cease praying that prayer.

Creation for people like us is never ending because God is never ending. If we could physically write blog post after blog post we would, but there are cross country meets to go to, basketball games to attend, football games to watch and indoor tennis matches to play. I didn’t even mention amazing television shows, movies and plays that captivate our fascination with story.

You might see your existential questions as paltry or insignificant, but they aren’t. Every question, inspiration, dream and intention is known by the heavenly hosts who look into the eyes of Abba. If that doesn’t stir your blood then check for a pulse, or you might be a vampire.

Be patient precious one, and you are precious. All of us are. Stop with a glass of wine. Stop with a cup of coffee. Write that blog post you’ve been thinking about all week. Put one foot in front of the other and do the next thing.

If that’s go do the dishes or a load of laundry then go wash the dishes and go fold those towels.