Takeaway Thursday: #BlogPod1-Bryan Stevenson
I would like to begin this post with a plea to share with as many prayer warriors as you can!
Read on and you will know why!
PRAYER PRICKS THE HEART OF GOD AND MOVES PEOPLE TO MOVE!
We need a miracle Lord!
Hello sweet readers!!!
This is the first TAKEAWAY THURSDAY for #BlogPod.
Above, I included the link to Monday’s post with our first #BlogPod conversation catalyst:
https://www.google.com/?client=safari#q=bryan+stevenson+ted+talk
I literally have listened to this TEDtalk 5 times this week and each time I gleaned more gold!
I will get to that gold in a minute but I must begin with a series of “extraordinary” events that confirms to me this whole #blogpod idea was not of me, it was divine assignment!
Talk about DIVINE ASSIGNMENTS:
HOLD ONTO YOUR HAT
I could not have come up with this if I tried!
The Godwinks are undeniable.
Let me try to explain, while I type with Holy Goosies on my arms:
I am giving you the condensed version so you can track with me:
HERE WE GO:
So,
Monday I post the first #BlogPod conversation catalyst, Bryan Stevenson’s TEDtalk, asking my blogging/twitter/Facebook friends to listen to the talk sometime this week, give feedback and get ready for TAKEAWAY THURSDAY.
Today is THURSDAY!
Early this morning I get a prayer request text from a dear friend. She is letting me know today is the day her 17-year-old son goes to court to decide if he will be tried as an adult or youthful offender.
She then proceeds to send me this link:
http://www.supersoul.tv/supersoul-sunday/full-episode-just-mercy-with-bryan-stevenson/
and tells me, “Hey, I was looking at this yesterday. It’s about mercy…”
When I receive that text, I am listening to this song:
(it is the song “Mercy”)
How are we doing?
Are you tracking with me?
Hours later:
She texts with the heartbreaking news that her son was denied youthful offender status and would be tried as an adult in August.
Her faith is ROCK SOLID but hearts still break when the pain comes!
Jesus wept with Mary and Martha and HE knew HE was about to show them a resurrection!
I wept too but I’m still believing Jesus for that “resurrection!”
My sweet friend had no idea I posted the TEDtalk Monday and yet sends me another Bryan Stevenson link.
She had no idea I showed the TEDtalk to my 8th grade small group yesterday, asking them to watch it through the lens of Christ and tell me what stood out!
I had no idea her son’s trial would be today when I posted the TEDtalk Monday!
God knew this day was coming before the foundation of the earth.
God started preparing our hearts for this week without us really even knowing why. HE made it very personal; God gave me a face to represent every little boy who has or ever will go to prison and HE called me, HE called us :
to intercede for justice,
to allow our heart’s to break on behalf of the marginalized
and
to embrace suffering, in order to offer hope in a world that is hurting.
I don’t know what all these GODWINKS mean right now but I am finding comfort in the mere fact that I know:
GOD IS HERE AND SEES EVERY DETAIL;
GOD IS STILL IN TOTAL CONTROL IN A WORLD OUT OF CONTROL;
GOD IS 100% GOOD ALL THE TIME
AND
WHATEVER BRINGS GOD GLORY IS WHAT IS BEST FOR US IN THE LONG RUN.
Do you see now why I am pleading with you to share this prayer request with the world?
Please storm Heaven alongside me and a desperate momma on behalf of her 17-year-old son. I have known this young man since he was a little boy and I can say, with no hesitation, that he has the heart of an angel. He is a good son and he is growing up to be a good man!
I have no doubt God will be greatly glorified through this young mans life, but in the meantime, and it most certainly can be a “mean” time down here in this broken world,
I am praying for MERCY!
Will you please join me in this prayer?
In conclusion,
I would like to share some of the gold I, and others, gleaned from Bryan’s TEDtalk:
(Looking at the notes my 8th grade girls left yesterday makes my heart burst with joy over their empathy and burst with grief over the young who are behind bars or unjustly accused. It is the double helix dance of joy and sorrow that makes us humans who are moved by compassion!)
GOLD SIFTED:
The power of Identity:
When we believe we have worth, we care how we are spent. When we do not see our worth, we tend to act like throw aways and we throw ourselves away.
Bryan’s grandmother believed in him, told him and he believed her! Those who love us see things in us that we may not even see ourselves.
Speaking words of life over someone just might save their life. Our words hold weight!
Bryan’s grandmother would hug him tightly and later ask if he could still feel her hugging him.
Who have we left a lingering hug with?
If no one come to mind, may we make up our minds to leave one today!
Always do the right thing, even when it is hard! Words to live by!
Do people deserve to die for a crime they have committed? That is a valid question and one we need to ponder in our hearts.
Do we deserve to kill people for a crime they have committed? This too is a valid question we need to answer in our hearts.
Based on the staggering statistics Bryan Stevenson has seen for himself, he sees wealth shaping trial outcomes over culpability and he is starting to believe that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; it is justice.
We must not insulate ourselves from issues. Regardless of what we might think, it is our problem!
Insulating from hard injustices is just as bad as reacting poorly to them! Turning a blind eye is like a slap in the face, as we turn and walk away from a door we were too cowardly or cruel to walk through.
May we open our eyes, hearts and hands and respond with love, grace and mercy.
Identity is at risk when we do not care about the difficult stuff. The mind-heart connection compels us to bright and dazzly but it also draws us, on bended knee, to the hard and painful.
We are called to be a witness in hopeless places!
What hopeless places have we willingly walked into to offer the hope we have?
(If we do not know, then may we bravely pray for an open door to the hopeless today!)
Bryan was blessed to sit in on a conversation between matriarchs,
one of them being Rosa Parks.
She asked him what he was doing and he answered something like this:
*speaking up for the equal justice initiative
*challenging injustice in our prison system
*confronting discrimination…
and the matriarchs responded:
“You’re gonna be TIRED, TIRED, TIRED;
that’s why you must be
BRAVE BRAVE BRAVE!”
Each of us is more than the worst thing we have ever done.
The character of a society is judged by how they treat the poor, condemned, and marginalized!
How are we doing?
Regardless of what we think, EVERYONE can contribute to the HOPEFULNESS of society! We are not fully alive until we care about human rights and dignity!
Keep your eye on the prize
HOLD ON!
You Don’t Want to Miss this:
I would like to introduce you to my dear friend, Rosemary.
My daughter’s “Light up the sky” 13th bday glow-stick party! “Glowsticks must be cracked to shine!)
Rosemary is my precious sister who I told you about today.
Her 17-year-old son is the beautiful face on the left below, followed by her stunning daughter and her first born!
Rosemary recently submitted her testimony to our community blog, http://ourcityonahill.net !
Prepare to blessed by her story!
About Katie Wilson
Where my faith and creativity collide! A freedom freelancer, prayerful painter and clarion for Christ. #amwriting #Compel Forgiven and Free Living a life that says: COME AND SEE!
I thank the body of Christ in advance for any time you take to pray and intercede on behalf of my son and my family.
Amazing! To God be the glory!!! ❤️ >
All glory to Him- Romans 8:28