Welp.

Posted on by fabsharford

Welp.  The water looks cold and frigid, so I guess I’ll jump on in.

True story: when I stepped back from ministry it was a relief.  Don’t get me wrong, it coincided with one of the more painful chapters of my life, but there was also a sense of finally being free from the expectations and anticipation of rejection that inevitably come with standing at the front of a room and talking about your life & Jesus.

It’s been a while now, and every now and then people ask me – when will you teach again? Counsel again?

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The thing I want most in all the world

Posted on by fabsharford

Sometimes God and I play the game where I tell Him what I would want most in all the world. If I could ask for any one thing, and I didn’t think about what was best, and if I was just being a kid, what would I even ask for?  For these past few years, the answer has been fairly consistent.

I want unity.

I want unity with a million people and a handful of very specific people.  I want unity with the people I see and the people I’ll never see again.  I want unity within the Church and I want unity with the Church and those outside the Church.

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Some thoughts for Harvey helpers

Posted on by fabsharford

Twelve years ago, I stood in the Astrodome for the first time and began a long weekend of attempting to care.

I wrote and published my first article after that weekend.  I’m a little embarrassed by the words I wrote then, but I still remember what I felt when I typed those words.  I remember how it felt to walk in, adrenalin pumping, ready and eager to help, so desperate to do something and so sure I could.

I learned a few things that weekend, but I learned a lot more in the years after.

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Houston, my heart.

Posted on by fabsharford

I don’t know where I’m from. 

It’s a Third Culture Kid thing.  When someone asks you “where you’re from?” your brain doesn’t know how to compute, how to answer that question.

My friends tease me – I change my answer based on moods. Am I English? American? Texan?  Who do I cheer for at the Olympics?  I’m the classic turn coat.  And it’s a real thing.  The conflict inside. The not knowing where you’re from.

But today, it is clear to me by the tears I can’t stop crying that at least a large chunk of who I am is from Houston.

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Weary and restless and ready

Posted on by fabsharford

Sometimes, when I can’t pray, I write.  It’s a step that sometimes helps me find the thing that is stuck in my heart, the thorn that is keeping me from Him.  Sometimes it’s sin, sometimes it’s just confusion, sometimes it’s pain.

What I know today is that there is this restlessness inside my soul, that is shifting around more and more each day, making me too uncomfortable to ignore for much longer. Sometimes it feels like an ache, sometimes like rage, mostly like desperation.

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