I kinda like these last few posts on growing up. I hope you get more of a view of the person I am and maybe how I got here. Some people live lives without too many mistakes along the way. I know people who never did any of the things we pound the pulpit about on Sundays. To be honest, I hope my daughter is one of those people. There is a certain quality about these people that I can't quite describe. I should be open and tell you that just is not the story of my life. I made some real dumb decisions in my life. Some of those choices I can laugh about now. Some of those actions remain in the closet with the rest of my skeletons.

Growing up in the 70s was a terrific time for me. I still love the music of the time. I am daily grateful that the fashion of that time remains primarily in the movies of the day. My usual comment is to tell people that they really don't want to know about my world back then. Not only do I know where the bodies are buried, I helped put some in the ground! Don't worry, that is not a literal comment. However, I did live the normal adolescent male life with the required hormones of that age. I could tell you about some of the parties I attended where some local laws were bent if not broken. There was a weekend I spent in Dallas with one of my best friends to attend a concert that is still a highlight of my life. Let me be candid and tell you that some of it I remember and some I don't. Another of my good friends rode with me in my dad's 280Z one night. He watched the speedometer for me as we hit 140 mph. Like I said, I have a closet full of skeletons.

Time really doesn't heal all wounds or rid us of the past. We need more than chronology to get us into the good places of life. I believe so strongly in the grace of God because I need it so much in life. The words of I John where he writes of our having an advocate with the Father take on new meaning if the skeletons begin to rattle. Perhaps there are times I wish my past wouldn't be quite so...dangerous. I just know that God's grace in the present tense far outweighs any failure. Is that an excuse for the past? I think it is taking responsibility for it to bring the past along with the skeletons to God. His grace isn't amazing because it is a pretty song. Grace is amazing because it brings God in His fullness to overcome any emptiness we may have.

Bro. Trey