The courts asked me to take a 17 year old kidney transplant recipient who is now a drug addict. Of course I did not.

Kimberly, the other teenager in the accident, had to give a deposition to the Miniserio Publico (the major investigative government agency) and Walter says she did well.

When I look in the mirror I not only see an old man with gray & little hair I also see short, impatient, mistake filled & struggling human being as well.

I do not know what David felt as he was about to face Goliath but he must have felt so ridiculous when he tried on Saul’s armor. The helmet probably could have spun around his head. The breastplate probably was bumping his knees as he died to walk. Everything was oversized, uncomfortable and truly unusable for what God had called him to do at that moment.

Remember how Sarah in her doubt of God offered her slave, Hagar, to Abraham for a sexual partner in order to produce a child? Eventually Hagar was hated by Sarah and sent away by Abraham. As she left their presence Hagar did what I often do or at the very least want to do. She ran away!!! Hagar was looking for a spot on earth where her life would be appreciated and productive.

Many Christians do the same thing. They do not stand fast and continue on in what God has called them to do. They run! I want to be loved!! Yes, there it is, I said it “I, Mike Clark, want to be loved”. I want to have value. I want to have worth.I want to be appreciated. I do not want to feel inferior.

In the desert where Hagar sat down and decided to die she was visited by the angel of God. He knew where she was. He went where she was. She gave Hagar the “other” family of Abraham. She became the mother of a mighty nation. That nation is a great enemy of Christians.

She named her son Ishmael which means “God hears me” and she said in the desert “You are the God Who sees me”.

Maybe my use of Hagar confuses you but the truth of my little message is God does hear and see you. I see a grasshopper in my mirror daily but God sees a son clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

AND THIS IS WHAY I STAND! Warts and all!!