2nd chances

Happy 87th birthday, Dad. As always, you are my hero, and the person I strive the most to be like. God's continued grace be with you.





“Second Chances”

The very phrase makes me weep.

I am so glad to serve a God of second chances. And, it is amazing, how when as a person you least feel like you deserve one…He is there.

I have been watching the Justice League DVDs lately. A 6-season tv show, running I think from 2003 to 2009. I never saw it on tv, but I have the first four seasons on DVD. You know, the Justice League – Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, and many other DC Comics heroes.

At the end of season two of Justice League, there is a heart-stopping moment; the Thanagarians have just invaded the earth and been beaten off. Hawkgirl, a member of the Justice League, was revealed to be a commander in the Thanagarian army, and a spy sent to earth to learn its weaknesses. Despite the fact that she helped free the Justice League and save the earth from doom against the wishes of her own people, the Justice League does not know if they can trust her and are voting as to whether to allow her to remain one of them. Before they tell her the verdict, she quits and walks away in tears. Alone on a planet not her own, without a friend, without family, having betrayed the people of her birth planet and of earth, she is left broken-hearted and alone. Near the end of season three, she returns, a changed person, but still searching for meaning in her life. Not expecting any acceptance, she nevertheless finds it, as the League tells her that despite the feelings of most humans because of her betrayal, that they still believe in her, and that the vote they took ended up being to keep her in the league. And they welcome her back. Strangely enough, she doesn’t feel welcome, or trusted, or like she deserves to be forgiven…

After getting over the ‘weepies’ at this development in the show, I pondered…isn’t this exactly how we are when we mess up in our lives?



I know people who know me (not that there are that many of you who do) are concerned for me, because I do not have a woman in my life at this time. (Although, my parents keep reminding me that I am the same age now as my dad was when my mom met and married him)

Of more concern for me, is that I have not had a true, close friend in a very, very long time. By my calculation, about 12 years. That is a long time to have nobody to trust, to share deeply with, to care about, and who reciprocates that in kind.

Too long. It is a wonder that even I have survived that long without one. Only by the grace of God…





What seems like a long time ago now, but isn’t really that long ago, I met a girl. It was a time when my heart was just beginning to tenderize after taking a frightful pounding for a few years. This girl wasn’t special to anybody else. Just an ordinary girl. Nothing much to look at. Full of problems.

I fell in love with her soul. Her immortal soul, that spark that God places in all of us. I couldn’t help it. Nor, if I could go back and change it, would I, in spite of all that has happened to me since.

No, I did not get a crush on her. I did not rebound and fall for her. This isn’t about that, not at the beginning, anyways. It was her soul; it called to me. It was crushed, bruised, beaten, despised. She was in hopeless straits in her life. She reminded me so much of my Saviour, of what He went through to save us from the same.

I didn’t fall FOR her; I fell, because somebody had to, somebody needed to, and I was willing. She needed somebody to believe in her, somebody to tell her she was worthwhile, somebody to show her that God loved her. I wasn’t the perfect person to do it, and I think I proved that point through what went down. But I may have been the only one. I don’t know, I cannot answer that question.

In spite of the hurt that I took out of this, and still bear with me on many days, I do not regret being the one to stand forth for her. It had to be done, because, to God, she was worth it. I tried to be God’s humble servant; I failed. His strength, became my own strength. His love that I felt for her, got twisted up and became my own love for her as well. I was not strong enough, though perhaps the point that I needed to learn (and am still learning, obviously) was that I was never meant to be strong enough – just obedient. I wasn’t meant to be the be-all, end-all for her, merely a vessel-in-play along her path.

I think back to Moses, who I am reading about in the Bible now. He was called. Called to bring freedom to God’s people. To show them the love of the Saviour who was coming, through his actions. Moses felt weak, too. He asked God to not let him be the one. He asked to bring Aaron along to speak for him. All God wanted, was for him to be willing and obedient. It was God who was going to do it, not him. Moses tried to solve the problems facing God’s people on his own; he saw something he did not like, and took up the sword and tried to change things himself. In my own story, I did the same too many times; trying on my own to get her saved, God’s way seemed to slow. I wanted to SEE her get saved, I wanted to BE there. I didn’t want to water the seed, I wanted to harvest it. And, like Moses, my plans came crashing down around me.

Maybe, just maybe, like Moses, far down the road, I will get to see the end result. I am not holding my breath. But I would dearly love to see that redemption moment for her. Maybe God still has a way that He can use me in her life. After all, Moses was not involved with his people for like 60 years or so, until God called him from the bush to go back and finish what God was starting. Maybe, just maybe, one day God will place me in her path.

I can only pray that if that happens, that I fall to my knees and worship Him, and tell my God that I am willing to do things His way, not my way.

I think that I am STILL in love with her soul. But now, I know it is not MY soul to have, it is HIS. He can use me, or He cannot. I just pray that He remembers the work that He started in her, and completes it.

Melanie Joy Young, welcome to a life changed, a life re-arranged, a life worth living. Whether you know it or not, it is waiting there for you. Waiting with outstretched arms, arms nailed to a wooden cross for you. He died with your name on His lips. I believe that He will see you home.


Second Chances. Not just for me, but for everyone that God calls by name. Melanie included.



As for me, mine are coming as well. Can’t see them yet, but they are coming. “God will provide all my needs; according to His riches in glory.” Amen.


By the way, anybody interested in Hawkgirl and the Justice League, here are two short videos, one showing how Hawkgirl leaves the league and her lover, Green Lantern, behind, and the other a montage of Hawkgirl scenes set to some love song. (Something new for me - embedding the video right onto my blog!)




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Enjoy. I know I did. Sometimes, even the simplest things, like Saturday morning cartoon shows, can speak more to the heart, and the soul, than the best-meant words of those closest to you. Funny what God uses to help restore hope to a shattered life, isn't it?

Looking forward to being completely able to look forward to what my story has on the next page. I'm getting there, just slowly.