{"id":169,"date":"2008-10-17T15:46:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-17T15:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brianmashburn.net\/?p=169"},"modified":"2008-10-17T15:46:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-17T15:46:00","slug":"giving-away-the-best-possible-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/?p=169","title":{"rendered":"Giving Away the Best Possible Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat would you like me to do for you, son?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/i> \u2013 The question God asked me this weekend.<\/span>
<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMake me a powerful multiplier of groups who live Christ\u2019s life together.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/i> \u2013 What I want God to do for me.<\/span>
<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I have a life that I want others to have.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean that I think I have \u201carrived\u201d at some pinnacle of perfection.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean that I want others to do what I am externally doing with my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean that my life is easy. Or without temptation. Or absent of difficulty.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

But I have a life that I want others to have.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

It is deep in my heart, and I long for others to experience it. It can (inadequately) be described as a peacefully intense love for God and an intensely peaceful love for people. It is so much more<\/span><\/i> than that, but words escape me.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an ironic life, too. Because it allows for my imperfections, for me to be an unfinished man, without my using them as an excuse to do nothing, or feel hopeless, unworthy or unqualified. Since it is primarily inward, it provides an experience of joy no matter what I choose to do externally with my life. And best of all, it provides a peace (that passes understanding, maybe?) no matter what temptations or difficulties come my way.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

It is a life of love.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

And I love this life.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

And I want it for every other human being on the planet.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

And I labor to give it away daily. It costs me everything, and it pays me back in everything that matters.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

It gives me a deeply personal relationship with God that, even when I exert all the energy of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, its riches are not depleted. What\u2019s more, it gives me deeply personal relationships with people around me who I would die for and who would die for me (Jesus says there is no love greater than this\u2026no wonder it is so satisfying). Better yet, I have people that I would live for and who would live for me (which is really what Paul means by \u201cdying daily\u201d).
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

I can safely say that know people, and I am fully known.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The freedom and security in such depth of relationship, both with God and with people, is staggering.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

And I want it for everyone.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

I live for<\/span><\/i> God and with<\/span><\/i> God. And I live for<\/span><\/i> people and with<\/span><\/i> people.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

I am daily being<\/span><\/i> impacted for good and daily making<\/span><\/i> an impact for good.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

It is quite simply, in my humble opinion, the best possible life.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

It is the life of Christ.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

And I shamelessly want to be a powerful multiplier of fellowships who live it, are learning to live it better, and giving it away to others.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

For a long time I\u2019ve asked God \u201chow?\u201d How do I best pass this way of life on to the multitudes that need it?
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

But when Jesus asked me this what I wanted from him, I didn\u2019t ask how. I just asked him to do it.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

So I\u2019m listening and working for this, and full of faith that it will happen…and excited to see what happens.
<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

When I came home Sunday night, my kids were sleeping soundly, and my wife was in the living room with her intimate sisterhood\u2026girls who are becoming more like Christ together. She greeted me sweetly and with a very knowing look told me a brief story about how my oldest son (8 years old) decided to pick up a piece of paper and write down a bunch of his favorite things. She handed this too me\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, my face beamed at the whole thing, but my <\/span>heart gently leapt inside my chest when I read the bottom about his hero. It was a mixture of deep satisfaction and hope, but also of sobering responsibility and fear. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

My wife then said, \u201cAfter he wrote that and was going to bed, he said, \u2018I want to write one more thing, then I\u2019ll go to bed, I promise.\u2019 You have to go check it out\u2026he left it on the desk next to his bed.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Excited, I made my way to his dimly lit bedroom where he was peacefully sleeping, and I grabbed the little slip of paper he left under his pencil on his little desk. I choked up as I read\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe life,\u201d he said. Not life\u2026but \u201cthe life\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Now I know he\u2019s 8. There will be a season, if not longer, where he won\u2019t feel this way. Not looking forward to it, but eager to persevere through it and learn from it. But for now, in the quiet of my son-turning-young-man, I fall on my knees in gratitude and hope that Carrie and I live \u201cthe life\u201d in a way that this note captures my kids\u2019 hearts now and when they are old\u2026come what may.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

I prayed\u2026 \u201cPlease, Father, let this be so\u2026in my wife and kids first, and then through our family to the world\u2026show me how to stay in, teach, and multiply \u201cthe life.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat would you like me to do for you, son?\u201d \u2013 The question God asked me this weekend. \u201cMake me a powerful multiplier of groups who live Christ\u2019s life together.\u201d \u2013 What I want God to do for me. I have a life that I want others to have. I don\u2019t mean that I think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pO6nf-2J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}