Hi.  My name is Ann Maree and I am a Glory Grabber.  “Hi Ann Maree…..”

Hence the meeting commences.

There is a circle of chairs, quite comfortable chairs as a matter of fact.  They’re richly upholstered in the finest fabrics from my favorite vendors and I’m sure they cost an arm and a leg –no pun intended.  Around the circle I see familiar faces.  For years I have looked upon these faces with disdain, with indignation, with outright criticism.  But tonight, as I ponder why I am here, it seems that I am actually one of THEM.

A chair creaks; one of the participants makes a nervous sound from their throat and then quietly begins to speak. “It started out so innocently. I am pretty fantastic at blank and, ever since I was a child, I have wanted to share my gift with others.  I simply thought that, if God chose to allow me the opportunity of fame, I would use that platform to speak about Him.”

The crowd nods silently.

“I mean,” his shaky voice continues, “as Reformed thinkers we believe ALL work is redemptive…isn’t that what Calvin said?”  Briefly, I drift away.  In my mind a memory of a favorite song starts to play….

“Is this one for the people? Is this one for the Lord?

Or do I simply serenade for things I must afford?

You can jumble them together, my conflict still remains

Holiness is calling, in the midst of courting fame…”

I think back to why I am here.  It was that stupid blog!  Shoulda never started it in the first place let alone think it would be FUN to blog about my own counseling experience.

Another member of our providential gathering joins the conversation; it’s our Grabber Guide… “While that is a true statement, Calvin also said, ‘All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors.’  I think it is safe to assume that the reason we are all here today is that we have in fact been using our gifts for something quite different…..our glory”

The song in my head resumes…

“Compromise is calling…”

I sigh.  I suppose this is why I have been so unmotivated…. my motives were based on the false hope of my own glory.  Wayne Mack states that hope that “rests on an unbiblical foundation will inevitably crumble.”  And crumble it did…

“What if I stumble, what if I fall?

What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?”

Grabber Guide continues, “We meet back here tomorrow.  I’d like ya’ll to think about the ways in which Grabbing God’s Glory has affected your life