Full Attention

Jeremy Riddle sings a great song for us on a Friday that fits nicely in our week's theme. It's called "Full Attention." It goes:

May your voice be louder, May your voice be clearer than all the others in my life. May your face be dearer. May your words be sweeter than all the others in my life. Please keep my eyes fixed on You. Please root my heart so deep in You. Keep me abiding that I may bear fruit.

This has been a neat week looking at Biblical moments of delight. Times when men and women found flowers in their sidewalk, and it was a blessing to read your sightings as well. Thank you.

You know, finding flowers in the sidewalk is also tough to see - at least for me - during daily moments of my disobedience; plenty of examples for us in God's Word too. It's Jonah in the belly. It's Peter listening to a rooster. It's David after Bathsheba, and it's Adam after that bite. It's the moment we encounter a bloom the moment we deserve doom. But as much as it hurts and convicts, it's also a reminder of the comfort of grace, amen? Our obedience doesn't merit grace, and our disobedience doesn't mute it. Don't look, but here comes the Son.

So as we end the week, let's do a collective face-plant into the very pavement we've been treading on this week. And as we turn our heads to the side, find that flower rising from that impossible place. (Bloom). The one that shouldn't be there. (Bloom). The one with no soil and no chance. The one representing delight. (Bloom). Let everything else behind it simply blur out of focus. See it? Good. Give it your full attention. And whether you're hugging cement out of delight or despair or both, you have the perfect posture. Stay here as long as you like or as long as it takes. When you're ready, just take a deep breath, and as you exhale, say, "Grace."

Jimmy Peña

UNCOVERED The PrayFit Diet, original cover.

Just came across the raw cover of my latest book, The PrayFit Diet. Overwhelmed by the feedback from around the world. An Amazon and Barnes & Noble Hottest Hit, it's been a refreshing resource of grace, perspective and triumph, as well as a teaching tool for balanced eating (recipes designed by Dana Angelo White, dietitian and culinary expert at The Food Network.)

And don't worry about the word "diet" because a diet is simply the food we eat. If we ate food today, we have a diet. I just believe in a balanced plate. Plus, God's grace frees me from being timid or afraid of the word, so it's all good yo!

Friends, this is my 7th book project, but I admit, it's my favorite. It's available everywhere books are sold - thanks to my amazing publisher, Simon & Schuster - so I hope you pick one up for yourself or someone you love.