God only works through sinners.

It's time you accept that.

I have a prayer I write in my journal most mornings about my wife, my kids, and myself. It’s eight words:

Heal Brett. Heal Jack. Protect Annie. Soften me.

God answered the last part of that prayer this weekend. Just not in the way I would have wanted. And boy, was that a toughy.

I won’t get into all the details, but a softening has happened to me over the last three days. But like a tough steak, that softening—that tenderizing—has been the result of some hammering. I’ve been put on the cutting board and God has gone to work with the tenderizer. Blow, after blow, after blow. Each one loosening the tough sinews and tight soul muscles that have been bound up for God knows how long.

And that process is painful. Have you ever experienced that?

That softening has come through a variety of ways. One of them has come via others. People who have pointed things out in my life. Especially recently. That’s been tough. Not just because it’s not fun to hear how you’re falling short, but because there…