A Few Good Men

I'm sure many of you have seen the movie ... Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore ... you know the one I'm talking about ... A Few Good Men. I remember seeing the film in the theater with some friends, and I remember, as I'm sure many of you do as well, the exchange between Cruise and Nicholson that took place near the end of the movie in a courtroom. Two lines from the dialogue between the two men will live on in history as some of the most famous movie lines ever spoken. Cruise plays the young, never-been-in-a-courtroom military attorney who is questioning the arrogant, combat-experienced senior officer Nicholson about his role in the mysterious death of one of the soldiers who served under his command. After a ranting, angry answer to one of Cruise's questions, Nicholson ends his tirade by asking Cruise what it is he wants. Cruise pounds his fist and shouts, "I want the truth!" to which Nicholson retorts, "You can't handle the truth!" I know, right? Famous lines for sure.

I've said many times in this blog that from its inception, I have felt that I should be open, honest, real and transparent in what I write. Sometimes that's easy to do, and other times it's very, very, very difficult. I receive encouraging messages from many of you, telling me that the realness of my posts is what you connect with, and you repeatedly ask me to continue on in the same manner. I also, however, receive messages criticizing me for writing about the grit of life and telling me that I should only pen the happy, funny stories and not discuss pain or illness or disappointment in my posts. And guess what? The encouraging messages are way more fun to read than the critical ones ... go figure, huh? The bottom line, though, is that I write from my heart ... and I hope that at least most of the words I write in these posts are the words that God places within my heart to write, and that He then takes those words and uses them in whatever way He chooses.

This morning, I went for a long talking walk with a friend. We haven't done that for a really long time ... just walked and talked ... and it was good to catch up and talk about a variety of things. Our talking while we walked was what I would call "chatty" ... you know what I mean ... we talked about our children and losing weight and the hot summer and dogs and bike riding and cars and bobcats ... chatty, easy conversation. It was when we got back to my house and sat at my kitchen table that our chatty talking shifted to subjects that were more serious in nature. One of the things I've always appreciated about this particular friend is that from the beginning of our friendship, she has never hesitated to speak the truth to me ... even when that truth is hard for me to hear and equally hard for her to tell me, I'm sure. She also seems to possess a strong spirit of discernment, of knowing when to be silent and when to speak up ... some of the things she said today I would have completely tuned out a few months ago; in fact, I probably would have gotten angry and sulked for a good long while. But as she spoke today, I knew that a good deal of what she was saying was dead on ... not everything ... but a good deal of her words were filled with truth and wisdom. And tonight ... tonight, I hope that's a sign, even if it's a small one ... a little sign that I'm getting better, slowly, slowly, slowly ... I'm getting better.

Something in particular that my friend said today has been rolling around in my head and my heart all day ... "You can read a book from cover to cover, but that doesn't mean you have a close relationship with the author. You need to see that God is walking with you every step of the way ... you need to seek out what He wants to do during this season you're in ... you need to turn it all over to Him, give it all to Him ... trust the Author Himself to write the next pages of your life, and just rest in Him." I'll leave you to think about my friend's words for yourselves ... and I'll leave you with the prayer that's been on my lips and in my heart the rest of the day.

Oh, Father ... I want to do more than read about You ... I want to know You. There is so much I don't understand, so many times I wish I knew the answers, so many mountains still to climb. Help me to want Your truth, God ... help me to handle Your truth with the heart You wish for me to have. Write my story, Lord ... in Your perfect time, by Your perfect will, through Your perfect love ... write my story, Father, write my story.