"They are who we thought they were"

If you are a sports fan and specifically a Chicago Bears fan then you might remember Denny Green's tirade following their unfathomable loss to the Bears a few years back.  I'm pretty sure this his famous quote from that tirade pretty much sums up the way I usually think and feel about God.  I assume God is who I think he is.  Honestly, does it get any more self-centered than that?  The truth is God allows us to know a little bit about him, but in the end I'm sure this is not even close to a full picture of God.  This all comes in to play because I usually think of God as out to get me.  Not in the sense that He really enjoys seeing me go through pain, but that because I'm such a screw up He reprimands more than He encourages; curses more than He blesses.  That's not true at all, but that's how I think and definitely how it feels at times.

One of the most encouraging things to come from my trip to Mexico at the beginning of the year (to build a house for a family in Juarez) was posed as a question to our whole group?  What if God doesn't want to punish you or anything like that?  What if God wants to bless you?  What if God is blessing you?  It's some serious food for thought.  Try it out.  Everything that comes your way good or bad in your eyes take it as a blessing from God.  Living out of a van has made this small practice I've tried to incorporate into my life quite nice.  It helps me to see more blessing in life...or maybe I'm just looking for it more.  I'm not sure which of those is true, but either way I feel and know I'm incredibly blessed.