Casandra Martin

It is a Spring Break extravaganza. Our house is filled with boys, and the laughter is infectious and noisy. There is an in-the-dark basketball game being played on the driveway. There is a soccer game being played in the house. Movies, sleeping bags, video games, smelly socks, and snack bowls are all evidence that silliness is on the agenda and being together is the most fun of all.

The youngest of the boys is delighted by the crowd. Pride and excitement fill his face as he joins in the games and challenges another boy to a wrestling match. Seeing me observing the moment, he notes that I am the only girl in the house. With a look of determination, he makes an announcement to the other boys. “She may be the only girl, but she can handle us. She can take us all down with just one ninja kick.”

He made me smile. I appreciate his confidence in my abilities and hidden super powers. He also got me thinking. Strength and the ability to influence others aren’t grounded in bulked-up muscles or ninja kicks. The strongest strength that we can bring into any moment is the power of love. A ninja kick has the power to knock someone off their feet. Loving someone has the power to go straight through to their soul.

My Jesus Resolution today is to unleash the power of love. The world wants to hold up all kinds of pictures of strength – brains, beauty, brawn, wealth, power, and influence. By those measures, I am nothing special, weak and powerless to impact my world. Jesus, however, shows me a different way. Using a cross, He displayed the power of love in a way that still radically shakes the world. Walking in that love, overflowing with that love, being drenched in that love, sharing that love unleashes His power in ways that ignite transformation and have the potential to change the world. My ninja kick may need some work, but loving someone – that is a real super power.