Normally this blog gets written over a cup of coffee. After all, it is called Minister of Mocha, right? Well today, we are looking at tea. Every now and then people spend time to let me know that I am not their cup of tea. I get it, my past has not always been something to be proud of. If you fall into the group of folks who are on the “not so much” side of things, that is entirely your right. I don’t begrudge you or your feelings. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. We all are.

In my 20’s and 30’s I did some truly despicable things. I hurt some people. Three people in specific were victims of my crimes. I will never be able to undo that hurt. It’s just not possible. What I can do, and what I try to do is make the best of things moving forward. I can try to sow love and encouragement wherever I am. I can live in a way that makes sure that I help people instead of hurting them. It’s not easy, but it is rewarding.

So every Monday finds me sitting with a cuppa and a keyboard. I’ve been down, and some people would prefer to see me stay there. I’ve thought about tossing my toys out of the pram and giving up. I’ve thought about it a lot. The thing I always come back to is from whom my call came. No person told me to start this blog ten years ago. No person told me to stay in recovery ministry. No person told me that I should work with inmates and their families in order to make tax payers out of tax burdens. No person told me to do any of those things. It was God. Because my call came from God, I have no real choice other than to persevere. It won’t always be easy, but that’s the deal. And God is still on the line. So rather than hang up my phone and my keyboard, I will continue to press onward toward the goals that God has set for me.

If you like the blog, I’m glad that you do. If you don’t like the blog, I’m sorry about that. I just did a Google search and found out that there are over 600 million blogs in existence. That’s just over one for every 13.3 people on the planet. Hopefully there’s something out there that’s more to your taste.

It’s been a long journey. I have been tired. But God still has reasons for me to…

–Rise Up!!