I'm A Hoarder!

Disclaimer: This is NOT our house!!

We recently placed our house on the market. I could probably list a lot of reasons we decided to do it. Among them would be the need to move closer to my family, the desire to move to a more rural area, the love we have for Pike County, AR, the life changes we've gone through over the past two years. 

It is a fact that our goal is to move to Glenwood. We do love it there. It's quieter. I'll be able to work from home. There are five lakes and three rivers within a half-hour drive. Our alma mater (Henderson State) is also a half-hour away (we have fond memories of HSU and our college youth ministry, MBSF).

But the goal of moving to Glenwood is really secondary. Our primary goal was to be able to go where God sent us so we could serve there. It seemed like a very simple goal, right?

We found out different. It took us months to prepare our house for listing. First, there was painting, landscaping and weeding that had to be done on the outside. The same had to happen on the inside as well. We found out quickly that the inside was by far the most difficult part. It seemed the more we dug out of closets and corners and from under beds, the more there was to dig out. We ended up renting storage both in Cabot and in Glenwood. The Glenwood storage would hold things we needed but not in Cabot. The Cabot storage held things we might possibly need quickly. 

But a great deal of what we dug out didn't go to storage. It went into the garbage or to Goodwill. We discovered we had been hoarding a lot of things we would never use. We even found unused checks from the 1990s!! Our shredder was running 24x7 for awhile. We also found a lot of old photos from college or earlier, so we sat around with the girls and laughed and told stories to go with our photos. 

Eventually, the house began to look like it was ready for listing. The clutter in the rooms was gone. Lauren could actually get into her closet again and Lacey's toys all had a place again. In fact, the house actually felt more comfortable. It was as if there was added stress sitting in the house with us in the form of clutter and junk, and when we removed it all the stress just left! It also became much easier to actually put the house on the market.

Another discovery during this endeavor was that there was more clutter we had to get rid of. In order for us to truly be ready for God to lead us, we needed to rid ourselves of everything that was preventing us from picking up and moving. So there was a spiritual element that had to be dealt with. We began to realize we were also engaged in spiritual hoarding. There was a lot of spiritual clutter and junk we needed to clear out. And the things we were hoarding were different for Dana than for me. Nevertheless, there were things that we were refusing to rid ourselves of. Things that were cluttering up our hearts and causing us needless emotional and spiritual stress.

Some may not understand the stress of searching for a church home. Maybe it's easier for some to do than others. But that's just the thing isn't it? Some people struggle spiritually for completely different reasons than others. 

We found this spiritual clutter was also impeding our ability to step out on faith and do what we had been given to do. Just like hoarding can bring about a deep depression and withdrawal from society, spiritual hoarding can overwhelm us, depress us, and cause us to withdraw spiritually, effectively rendering us spiritually impotent. 

What did we do? We began to pray more specifically about our needs and goals. First we prayed about finding a church home. I have to confess that, for me, finding our new church was a burden lifted. There was also the problem of finding a place in Glenwood. Did we want to buy or build? If we did build, were we going to have to start construction in the middle of the winter? These are things we talked and prayed about. And, since we're human, we don't always keep these things at bay. So when they come back to burden us we just have to keep turning them over to God. 

So are we fully prepared to pick up and go wherever God leads? Well, probably not most of the time. However, there is a sense of accomplishment after having prepared a house for listing. And a sense of preparedness when you begin to overcome the spiritual obstacles. These combined make it much easier to say "I'm ready God!" and to truly have faith that He is going to open (and close) all the right doors for us!

Will we end up in Glenwood? Not if the Lord points us somewhere else! As I said, it's a secondary goal. The primary goal is to set ourselves in the middle of God's will.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. - Hebrews 12:1,2 (NIV)

Step Aside

We all know the story of Jonah, right? God said, "Do this." Jonah said, "No." God disciplined Jonah and again said, "Do this." Then Jonah complied.

We use this Biblical account to teach our children about obedience. We use it to teach our adults about discipline.

It really is a great story of God's grace and mercy and how God teaches us that, not only do we not need to know the whole story, we shouldn't be overly concerned with the end result of our efforts.

We do spend a lot of time considering this account and what it teaches us. But what if I told you God is not always so gracious and merciful?

Our Bible study for last Sunday was on Joshua. Specifically, it was about God passing the mantle of leadership to Joshua. It was from there that we began to discuss how easy it is to obey/disobey God and how God dealt with that disobedience.

In the context of this account of Joshua and Israel, the Israelites had seen God's hand in their delivery from bondage. Yet despite God's repeated miracles it was no time before they were complaining to Moses that he should have left them in Egypt. Furthermore, once they spied out the promised land, all but two of the spies said the people were too strong for them to take the land. The Israelites had so quickly forgotten exactly who had gotten them to this point. However, Joshua and Caleb had not. They knew it was not them who would take the land but God would, through them.

What did God do when the Israelites refused to take the land? He didn't discipline them did he? This is what God said in Numbers 14 (NIV):

"Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die."

God cursed the Israelite adults (20 years old or older) to die in the wilderness. He used them to raise their children so that their children would take their place and inherit the land He had promised to them. Essentially God told the Israelites to "Step aside and let someone else inherit your promise". He didn't spend any time trying to discipline them or rehabilitate them. He move on without them.

If we are going to teach our children lessons about God's grace and mercy we should be just as willing to teach them (and remind ourselves) about God's judgement. If we aren't willing to do what God asks us to do He is more than willing to find someone else who is willing.

Look at it this way. God didn't put aside one person who disobeyed. He put aside an entire generation who disobeyed! He told them they would not inherit His promise because they had disobeyed. These were God's chosen people! He had gone to what appears (to us) to be a great deal of trouble to get  them out of Egypt and into their own land.

This reminds me of a statement Bill Cosby once made about his childhood:

"From the age of seven my father established our relationship.  He said, 'I brought you into this world an I can take you out.  And it don't make no difference to me because I'll make another one who looks just like you'."

God loves us and He wants the best for us. But don't be deceived... He will not allow our disobedience to interfere with what He has planned to do. He will accomplish His will with or without us. Wouldn't you much rather be on the field than on the sideline?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

This is God

God is not a trend or a fashion.
He is not a hashtag or a tweet.
He is the creator of all things.
He is omnipotent, omniscient and everlasting.
To Him, sin is still sin and righteousness is still righteousness,
The wages of sin is still death and His gift is still life eternal.
His truths do not shift with public opinion polls. He does not require a majority vote.
God does not change. He is above all and over all.
He does not expect us to know his thoughts or motivations. He only asks us to seek Him.
He is sovereign, yet He gives us the right to choose whether to follow Him.
He is holy and just, yet he shows mercy and freely offers grace.
He has no need of anything, yet He desires a relationship with you.
This is God...

Isiah 41:13 - For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

The GRACE of Life!

Today's Sunday School lesson was on marriage. Well, sort of. I guess it was more about the relationships between a man and a woman, from first sight to and through marriage. The lesson started in 1 Corinthians 7 with Paul's response to a question the church at Corinth had written him to ask. Paul's response was "it is not good for a man to touch a woman."  Did he really say that? Yup, he did! He also said some things about divorce and remarriage but I don't want to get into that.

The fact is, if you read Paul's comments within their proper context the are very beneficial to a marriage and not only to a marriage but to someone seeking to find God's will for their life where it applies to marriage and relationships.

One thing Paul doesn't discuss here is dating. Of course people didn't date back then, did they? So we have to take his comments and make them fit into today's culture, right? I have to say wrong. We must remove ourselves from culture and find what is God's will for our life. God doesn't care what our culture is. He doesn't care if others are playing the field, sewing their oats, letting off steam or whatever. He cares if we are doing His will, and that's exactly what we should care about.

Dana and I watched a movie last night named Sara's Choice starring Rebecca St. James. It was really a great movie and well thought out. In the movie Sara (St. James) is a businesswoman who's just been promoted and finds out she is pregnant. Unmarried and afraid she will lose her promotion, she struggles between her religious upbringing that tells her she must keep the baby and her coworker trying to convince her to have an abortion. At one point in the movie she sits down with her pastor, a man who watched her grow up. She tells him she has a decision to make but doesn't tell him what the problem is. He asks her questions about both decisions and, based on her answers, then tells her she knows what the right one is.  Finally he tells her she has to make the right decision regardless of the consequences.

That really slapped me in the face. So often in my life I have made decisions based on what others might think or what I think might make me happy at the time. I have often tried to justify the decision as the "right" one, but in reality the right decision was already clear to me.

I dated in high school and in college. But, looking back, I don't believe that was what God wanted me to do. Why did I do it? Because I was focused on what others thought of me and what I wanted to do, not what God wanted me to be doing. I was driven by a lifestyle that the culture said was normal. And there were consequences.

Paul said it is better for some to marry rather than burn with passion. He said it would be great if everyone could be as he was (not driven by the need for a life partner) but he understands that isn't the case, so he said a man who is driven in the way should find a wife. Paul makes it clear to us that some need to be married. But he also says that some don't have to be... and that's a bonus because they can more readily serve the Lord!

Those of us who are married are married. We have made a choice. There will be consequences. But remember this; all life choices have consequences! Going down one road means I don't go down the other one. Your marriage won't be perfect because neither you nor your spouse are perfect.

Likewise, if you are single and have no prospects, don't feel you're doing something wrong. Don't spend every waking hour trying to find a spouse. Spend time seeking God's will for you and then do His will. You already have most of His will written down for you. The rest will come to you if you stay focused on Him!

If you are married and you are struggling with your marriage, God has given you the answers you need in His word. Look at 1 Peter 3. Read it all, not just the parts today's culture says are anti-women. Get the proper context. Realize that Love in marriage is a verb! Love is what we do more than it is what we feel!

Peter says, in verse 7, that husbands should dwell with their wives "with understanding". Please note that this doesn't mean we know and understand all about our wives. This means that we understand they are different from us and we must bear that in mind in everything we do. Yes, he calls her the "weaker vessel". It's true! Have you tried arm wrestling your wife? Husbands are to protect, defend, love and cherish their wives!

Then he says that a husband and wife are "heirs together of the grace of life"!  WOW!! I've always heard that life is a gift from God. However, I've never really considered this gift as a gift of Grace. Grace is getting something you don't deserve. Life is something we don't deserve! We don't deserve it! But God has given it to us anyway. And not only that, He has given those of us who need it helpers to be partakers of that gift of grace with us till we die. Till death do us part!

1 Peter 3:7 - Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

The Reason For My Blog

  When I created this blog my intent was to help parents realize their responsibility in rearing their children. It was also to help them realize their responsibility in rearing their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". These were the two primary goals I had in this blog, and each of my posts has tried to convey some biblical truth to the reader in an attempt to show them that scripture is by far the best guide in raising a child. I wanted the parent to understand how important consistency is to a child. A child who continually receives mixed signals from his parent will never know just what his parent wants him to do.  Think about it.

It is your responsibility to raise your child. It is not the church. It is not the government, the school, the community or the grandparents' responsibility. The responsibility for your child is yours and yours alone! Moreover, it is your responsibility to raise your child according to the guidelines set forth in scripture.

Not to be judgmental, but factual... there is coming a day when every parent who has ever lived will be held accountable for the way they raised their children (among many other things). When this happens, the judge will not be looking to see that we took them to soccer, basketball, football or softball practice or if we made sure they had the best education we could afford. The judge will determine whether we raised that child up to follow after Christ.

Last month (May 2013) our pastor delivered a sermon titled "Parenting Was Supposed To Be Fun". In his message he stated "..a good start toward what they will be is infinitely more important than a good start toward what they will do". Education, athletics, dance, gymnastics, cheer-leading and social status are irrelevant. Raising a child who fears, loves and follows God is what matters.

If you are a parent you need to listen to Bro. Brent's sermon! Click on the link above. It's about 45 minutes. Turn off the television, put away (not down... AWAY) the phone and listen to this sermon. While you're listening, open up Notepad or some other editor and take notes!! Then, print your notes and put them somewhere that you can see them daily.

We need to change our priorities when it comes to parenting. Our children don't need the money, the things, the activities... they need us! Bro. Brent makes the statement in his message that "the most formative years of any child are before the age of five". That means that a child raised in daycare until kindergarten will receive the majority of his training during his formative years from his experiences in daycare. Do you want your child to have the best influence in his formative years? Then you need to provide it. Why? Because this is the way God intended it.

Am I saying that no child should be in daycare? No, not at all. Some parents find themselves in the situation, one that is more and more common, where they are single parents. They can't be home with their child and earn the money to keep a roof over that child's head. I understand that and I can't imagine what that must be like. However, many Christian families have decided that both parents should work and someone else should raise their child. If you are one of those parents you need to listen to this message! It was meant for you!

Here is the link again.

3 John 1:4 - "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

Show Me Your Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Depending on your Bible translation two words in this verse can be different. Personally I prefer the KJV translation in this verse. 

Last week while studying for our Sunday Bible study I began to ponder this verse. I began to consider how faith could be substance or proof. What is it about faith that gives it substance?

I have often considered faith as an intangible... something you either have or you don't. However, as I began to dig deeper I began piecing together verses in Hebrews and James that I've known all my life but just haven't considered together (in the same context). I guess it wasn't really that much of a revelation... it was something I have known somewhere inside all my Christian life but just have never been able to really lay hold of... to be able to communicate adequately to others. 

In chapter 2, James makes the point that faith without works is dead. He gives the example of someone wishing a person who has nothing well, but not doing anything to help them. In verse 17, after giving the example, he said that "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (NIV). I like the NIV here because it uses the word "action". Faith is a verb... just like love. It's an action word!

James continues... "But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do". James is going to show people his faith by his actions. The substance of his faith is what he does. The evidence of his faith is how people see him act on that faith.

That's why faith without works is dead (nekros)... because without action it's powerless!

• Faith becomes faith because you act on it, not because you have it. 
• Faith becomes faith when you determine to wait on God's timing instead of your own. 
• Faith becomes faith when you take the initiative and make sure that hungry person has food to eat, that hurting friend has a shoulder to cry on, that elderly church member doesn't have to get out and rake their own leaves, or that town in Oregon gets to hear the Gospel of Christ!!

James said "I will show you my faith by what I do". What are you doing? is your faith becoming faith?

Hebrews 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 

Moments Of Clarity

It's been about seven months since my last post. I have started more than one post since then and then just not finished it.

Does that ever happen to you? You get started on one thing and another gets your attention. You put this down to work on that and the other gets your attention. Welcome to my world... the world of Attention Deficit Disorder!

Or maybe it's more complicated than that. Maybe you set out to do something for the Kingdom... some ministry task... and decided you just weren't worthy of such a task. Your conscience just wouldn't allow you to go through with it. So it remained half-done.

That's probably a more apt description of why it has taken me over six months to complete a blog.  Sometimes I look around me and begin to feel I'm failing my God and Savior. I feel like I am unworthy and a hypocrite. When I find myself in this place I find myself doing nothing. It's not that doing nothing makes me feel any better. It's just that, at the time, it seems to not make me feel worse about my testimony. The unfortunate thing is this feeling eventually tends to build on itself. So I have to conclude that I am feeling worse about my testimony and I am beginning to withdraw into my own little pity party.

But there are times, like this past Sunday evening, that can really bring me out of that place. At bedtime Sunday evening Lacey gave her heart to Jesus! She has been talking about being saved for quite awhile now. However, the way she talks about it is so matter-of-fact that it has kept us from making a big deal of it.

Lacey is quite a bit different from her sisters. Whereas they are a bit reserved and don't volunteer much information, Lacey is outgoing, outspoken and whatever is on her mind is coming out her mouth! Lacey is extremely sensitive to the world around her in many ways (much like I was at her age). She can't stand loud noises, she can't handle any sort of intense situations... whether in real life or in a movie. She has yet to watch a Star Wars movie because the intense music makes her extremely uncomfortable. That said, she is also extremely sensitive to (and responsive to) the needs of those around her.

Along with all this sensitivity comes a very expressive personality. Lacey can communicate her feelings better than any six-year-old I've ever seen. She is so expressive your first inclination is to pass it off as a game. But when she came to us Sunday evening to tell us she wanted to be saved we decided we needed to follow up on it this time. I got my phone out and opened up my Bible app. I pulled up a few scriptures and Lacey read them to me. I then asked her to tell me what they meant. She answered all my questions fully and quickly. When she understood what she needed to do she prayed, told God she was a sinner, told Him she wanted to turn away from her sin and turn to Him. She said she knew Jesus was His son and that He died for her sins and she asked Him to save her. It was that simple!

So it's at times like these when I realize first of all that I am making a difference. I also realize I had a responsibility to be a witness because someone was watching me and that someone was my own daughter! She learned about Jesus in part because of me and she made the decision to follow Him in part because of me. What if I had given up because I felt so unworthy to be a witness and had gone my own way? Would she have made that decision?

Finally, we have been studying the Holy Spirit in our Sunday School series. Part of our study was when Jesus promised to send a "comforter".  He said that this advocate would be with us forever... that He would guide us to all truth and He would declare the words of Christ to us!

So, if we have such a Spirit within us, why should we be discouraged? Jesus knew we would struggle with our sin and our inadequacy and he sent his own Spirit to dwell in us and to glorify God through us. In fact, Jesus wants us to rely completely on the guidance of His Holy Spirit and not on our own guidance (Prov 3:5,6). That's where we get tripped up isn't it? We decide we aren't worthy and forget that we aren't supposed to do it! We're supposed to let God do it through us!

Romans 5:20b - "...but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly"

30 Life Principles by Charles Stanley

Who's On Your Friend List?

Do words still mean things? Do we still mean it when we say someone is our "friend"? These questions take on an entirely new light when you consider sites like Facebook. I have 824 "friends" on my Facebook page. I didn't realize I knew 824 people.  But I do. Honestly. I know everyone on my friend list. Not only that, there are certainly hundreds, if not thousands, on Facebook I do know who are not on my friend list. But to these 824... can I truly say I consider all these people my friend?

What does it mean to be a friend? What are the criteria that have to be met for someone to be my friend? To be honest I've never really thought about this. Does my finding them on Facebook and "friending" them get the job done? Or should there be more to it?

In today's world I believe we have come to view friends differently than at any time before. There is a supermarket in our town that employs a lot of high school students. I'm certain the primary reason is they work for less than most adults would and are also much more easily replaced. One thing I notice when I shop there is the complete lack of temperance (for lack of a better word) when these teens speak to one another and to the customers. It's not that they are using foul language. It's that they hold nothing back. It's as if, by smiling at them, greeting them and asking how they're doing, you've instantly become their best friend. And what follows is a detailed account of their lives. In all fairness, however, I did ask how they were doing, didn't I?

I listen to these teens and feel so sorry for them. They obviously have a lot on their minds and nobody with which to share it. I have to ask myself what their home lives are like. First of all, do their parents spend time with them?  Do they truly want to know how and what their teens are doing? Do these teens have true friends... friends who, when asked, give real advice or, when not asked, simply listen? Friends who hold their conversations as sacred, never to be discussed with others and especially never to be aired out on the internet or in the classroom? Do these young people really know what a friend is?

If one is willing to spend time in the scripture the book of Proverbs has a lot to say about the qualities of a good friend.

A friend is someone who

• can keep a secret - 11:13, 12:23
• speaks the truth - 12:17-19
• loves at all times - 17:17

To the person seeking a friend wants to 

• avoid foolish persons - 14:7
• look for wisdom - 12:15
• look for faithfulness - 20:6

There are scores more you can add to each of these categories from the book of Proverbs alone.

I had lunch with one of my best friends today. David and I became best friends in Jr. High and have remained so for the past thirty plus years. David moved back to Arkansas a couple of years ago and we regularly meet for lunch. We share life stories, ups and downs, and our love for God when we visit.  We laugh... a lot. We give advice when it's sought and we don't really hold back much when we give it. That's because each of us knows the other is speaking in love with our best interests in mind.

Finding a true friend is a worthy endeavor as it will benefit you throughout your life.  However, if you yourself aren't willing to be a true friend... to be trustworthy, truthful, selfless and loving... you are likely to have great difficulty finding a true friend. Friendship is a two-way street. It must be both pursued and earned. 

If your children are still with you please make every effort to show them what a friend is. Along your parenting, they need to learn from you what it takes to be and to have a close friend. They need to learn these traits from you before they can ever properly utilize them in their own lives.

If you are a teen who is seeking a friend.  My first recommendation is that you take the book of Proverbs to heart. Let it help you to understand what your behavior should be. Then go and be a true friend... and you will have true friends.

Proverbs 18:24 - A man who has friends must himself be friendly.  But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

The Other Woman

I have a confession to make.  I'm not going to beat around the bush.  There has been another woman in my life.  It's been this way for some time now.  It starts out and you don't even think about it.  Then, years later, you realize the profound impact it has had on your marriage.

It seems like such a short time ago when Lindsey started kindergarten.  She was reading so quickly and hasn't stopped since.  I told her that learning to read was one of the greatest things you can do because once you know how to read you can learn anything.  She has long since read far more books than I ever will.

About a year ago Lindsey got her driver's license (or "dryfen lyvers" as Lacey called it).  It's a very surreal experience to see her and Lauren hop in the Expedition and drive off to band rehearsal or piano lessons or to a friend's house.

Now she's grown up!  She completed all her high school work a few weeks ago.  She's done!  Now she is hard at work pursuing her career as a writer.  At seventeen she has already been published in a Christian magazine and, this week, had the privilege of speaking to a writers group at FamilyLife.  She is now hard at work on a novel and a children's book.

By contrast, when I was seventeen I was only worried about how to put gas in my Nova!  Oh, I had some ideas of what I wanted to do but I was far from making strides in any of those directions.  Come to think of it, I've never really been that adventurous... maybe I'm a hobbit at heart.  But I'm so glad my girls are outgoing!

To quote Larnelle Harris

She's become the other woman in my life. 

She's the evidence of love between me and my wife. 

When she was a baby I held her

And as a young girl I watched her

Become the other woman In my life!

I love you Lindsey and I'm so proud of you!

Psalm 127:4-5 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of ones youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

The Auto-Tune generation

In the golden days of Hollywood the biggest stars worked their way up through Vaudeville to get onto the big screen.  Their talents were manifold.  They could act, sing, dance.  They had spent years (not days, weeks or months) in dance class, acting class, music class, voice class.  Others specialized in physical comedy, earning their money the hard way by taking the fall... and paying dearly for it in their old age.

Today's stars don't have to worry.  They can have their faces and bodies airbrushed to perfection... or have a face-lift and liposuction if they prefer.  They don't have to learn how to dance either.  They simply let a body double do the work, digitally overlay their face onto the shot and voila, they're a dancer!  As for singing, just pipe their voice into a computer, stir in some Auto-Tune and they're instantly a professional singer.

Our children are the Auto-Tune generation!

I admit, it's not like this for everyone.  However, today's youth are bombarded with enough technology to replace almost everything for which the previous generation had to work so hard.  Think about it, today's youth don't even need to learn how to type!  They can speak to their computer (or phone) and it converts their speech to text.  There is so much information on the internet that youth need hardly lift a finger to do all the research they need for a school project.  Unfortunately for them, you can't trust everything you read on the internet (in fact, I trust very little I read unless the source is reputable).

Now, I'm not against technology... after all my career is in the Information Technology sector.  What concerns me is that our youth may be forgetting how to be themselves.  They can create a Facebook account, post pictures and status updates that say whatever they want.  They can paint a completely convincing picture to the world of one person and a picture to their parents of another.  With technology, they can, on their  Facebook page, whiten their teeth, cover up their pimples, take the frizz out of their hair, shave off ten pounds... they can even put themselves in a place they've never been.

One problem here.  With all this technology and information they can't make themselves happy.   What young people see when they look at others' posts on Facebook or Myspace are often "perfect" people.  People who haven't a care in the world.  People who have the best time whatever it is they do.  Why do they see this?  Because everyone wants to be seen as having it all... having what their friends have.  Teens don't want to be seen as being less well-off as their peers.  They want to be in control of everything, and if they can't be in control they want to at least make it appear they're in control.

What this does is build a false sense of worth in our teens.  First they see what others appear to have and they don't have.  Then, whether out of selfishness, vanity or a sense of inferiority (or all of the above), they set forth to obtain what the others have.  Not because they need it or even because they want it, but because it makes them appear to be someone they aren't.  Then the cycle repeats itself.

As Christian parents we need to break this cycle.  It's our responsibility to help fill our children with the things of God.  We do that by placing the things of God in front of them, both by training and by example.  If our children see us in a never-ending race to keep up with the neighbors they will place a higher priority on worldly things.  If they see us more concerned with following after Christ they will place a higher priority on Godly things.

What is important to you?  Are you focusing on your career?  Could it even be you are trying to keep up with your friends in the church?  Their children are in the puppets, children's choir and the teen band, so you think yours should be as well?  Your children aren't ignorant.  They know whether you're focusing on them or on their keeping up with the other kids.  Make certain your children know by your actions that they are the most important things on earth to you!

We need to help instill in our children the confidence that Jesus Christ is all they need.  They don't need to be somebody they aren't because they have everything they need in Him!  So that it doesn't matter to them if their best friend gets an iPhone for Christmas because their hand-me-down slider gets the job done!

Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Christmas at the Wright's

Every year for Thanksgiving we have two family celebrations; one with my family and one with Dana's.  This year it was nice that both family celebrations were within thirty miles of one another.  Normally that isn't the case.  We so enjoy getting to see our families and this year was an especially fun time as we had great nieces and nephews that we hadn't seen in quite some time come up from TX.

On Thursday we normally go to Dana's family Thanksgiving.  We eat tons of turkey, honey-baked ham and brisket.  Then we eat tons of pecan pie or various other desserts.  Then on Friday we go to my parents' house and do it all over again!  And at each gathering we sit and visit for hours, retell old stories and laugh until we forget about how much we just ate.  It's always so much fun!  We're always so worn out when it's over but not quite ready to go home.  We're only glad to be home when we finally crawl into our own beds for the night.

However, at Christmas we stay home and take time to enjoy the holiday as a family unit.  We try to make Christmas as special a day as possible... because it is the day we set aside to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus.

Honestly, we don't get into "Christmas" that much.  We don't go overboard on decoration.  In fact, up until the past few years we didn't have a tree at Christmas.  We would normally set up a nativity and place the gifts around that.  I always thought that was much more in line with the way Christmas is told us in scripture, although there is much debate as to the timing of the arrival of the wise men and the manger.  But we'll leave that discussion for another time.  Suffice to say we try to make Christmas about Christ.

One thing we have done for many years is to make use of Adorenaments.  I don't think these are made anymore but you might find them on Amazon or Ebay.  They are a wonderful way to help your children focus on just who Jesus is in the days leading up to Christmas.  There are twelve Adorenaments (ornaments), each one with a different name for Jesus.  Each name has a scripture reference.  So starting about now (the 12th), and each night up until Christmas eve, we place one Adorenament on the tree and read the story associated with that name for Jesus.

Also, and I'll probably catch it for this but here goes... we don't do Santa Claus.  We decided when Lindsey was a baby that we wanted to be faithful to our children in both big and small things.  We have always believed and done our best to demonstrate consistency with them.  When we tell them something we have always done our best to make certain we follow through on that so they have no reason to doubt us and therefore no reason not to trust us.  We decided that, as seemingly harmless as Santa Claus is, it was not going to work with the decision we had made.  Our kids aren't warped and they don't miss out on Christmas because of this.  In fact, I believe they appreciate Christmas much more being able to see and discern the real meaning of Christmas from the Christmas all the retail outlets would have them believe (if you get my drift).

So if you ask Lacey what Santa got her for Christmas and get a blank stare, it's not that she doesn't understand what you're asking.  It's that she knows Santa didn't get her anything but doesn't want to spoil it for you. ;)

Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."

Can You Keep a Secret?

Dana is keeping a written record of the gems that come out of Lacey's mouth.  When I say "gem" I really mean it.  Some amazing wisdom comes from her mouth.  The other day she told her mom,

"I'm really good at keeping secrets if they are mine, but if it's someone else's I can't handle it!"

After I stopped laughing and picked myself up off the floor I began to think about that which Lacey had so eloquently conveyed.  First of all I have to say I am beginning to realize that, from the smallest age, we are given a great deal of wisdom by God.  However, we're probably just so busy enjoying life as children that we just file it away until something happens (i.e. we do something stupid) and we realize we knew better.  We don't remember exactly how we know, we just know that we knew better.

So back to Lacey's quote for the day.  She's really good at keeping her own secrets, but when it comes to other people's secrets... not so much.  This got me to thinking.  How many times have I said the words... "Don't tell anyone but...".  More times than I want to consider.  Unfortunately, there are two things wrong with that statement.  First, if I didn't want anyone to know, why am I telling someone?  Second, I just placed a burden on someone that they shouldn't have to bear.

Let's look at the first problem... why am I telling someone?  Why do we reveal secrets to one another?  Why do we violate a person's trust and reveal a secret?   I'm no sociologist but I have two opinions.  First, we have some reason to believe that revealing the secret to someone will somehow increase our standing with that person.  Second, friendship requires commonality, so we feel having this secret in common is a way to strengthen our friendship with that person.  

I just mentioned violating a person's trust.  Why do we violate one person's trust in order to gain the acceptance of another?  There is something in us that, in the matter of a few seconds, weighs the costs of revealing one person's secret against the potential gain in our relationship with the other.  And, I have to believe, more often than not we decide it's worth the cost.  Before we know it we've violated someone's trust.  Maybe we justified it as no worse than a little white lie.  Nevertheless, the deed is done.

Now to the second problem.  We just saddled someone with a load they didn't ask for and probably didn't want in the first place but were too nice to stop us.  Let's face it, it's hard to keep a secret.  Especially when it's not about us and we're the only one who knows.  So we just dump it on someone else and, maybe for a few minutes, we feel better.  If it gets out now it wasn't us!  What does Jesus say about this?  Well, he has a lot to say.  For instance, in Luke 17 He says,

"Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin".

Jesus didn't mince words here... He doesn't have a good opinion of enablers.  If He didn't we shouldn't either.  We're told to stay away from people like this.  And while we're on the subject, what do we call people like this?  We call them gossips!!

So let's think about what we're doing when we gossip.  We're violating one person's trust to gain another's acceptance.  Here's my two cents worth.  If the second person is a Christian (a Christ-Like person) we will failed to gain their acceptance.  In fact they would do one of three things.

1. They would stop us before we could tell them the secret
2. They would chide us for being a gossip (as rightly they should)
3. They would be a stranger to us

I like option 1 above.  If someone says "Don't tell anyone, but" I should say "STOP" right then and tell them I don't want to hear it if it's meant to be a secret.  Doing that one time will likely stop the gossip from that point forward.

The final state of a gossip is this.  They don't have the trust of the first person and the don't have the acceptance of the second. The fact is that neither person can trust the gossip.  So it's really just not worth it to be a gossip, is it?

In the Duggars' book 20 and Counting (page 169) they explain how they handle this with their children.  If anyone tells them a "secret" they are to come directly to their parents and tell them.  What this does is keep the burden off the children.  It's a burden they should not have to bear!

Looking in the mirror, I see I fail in this area miserably and often.  Looking at my daughters, I see I must do better.  First of all, I am an example to them.  Second, to think I could possibly be enabling my children (or anyone else) to sin by placing this burden on them ought to be more than motivation to put gossip aside.  It should also be motivation to call others' attention to their own gossip.  

Lacey is right... we "just can't handle it"... and we really shouldn't have to!

Matthew 5:7 "But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one."

Selflessness

Japan pensioners volunteer to tackle nuclear crisis

I read this article today.  Basically these retired engineers have decided they need to step up and deal with the problems at the Fukushima reactor.  Their reason for doing so?  They're old and they don't feel the young need to be exposing themselves to the high levels of radiation at the plant.

The organizer, Yasuteru Yamada, said, "I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live. Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer."

Just to refresh our memories (in this day and age the media have about a 48-hour attention span)...  After one of the worst earthquakes in history Japan is in danger of a disaster that some (in the media) say could make Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem like a bad ozone day.  Engineers have been working for weeks to contain multiple reactors before meltdowns occur.  And things aren't looking very good at present.

So these retirees are volunteering to take the place of younger engineers, to go into the high radiation areas and perform tasks that will probably end their lives early.  What's up with that??

Selflessness and self-sacrifice (along with honor and respect) are integral to the Japanese culture.  This is probably a result of the wide acceptance of Confucianism in Japan.  Unfortunately western cultural influence has begun to slowly change all that.

What is it that would motivate someone to voluntarily offer up their life to save the lives of people they've never met?

This Monday we celebrated Memorial Day... a day which we in the U.S. set aside to remember those who gave their lives in battle defending our country.  At the same time we honor and pray for those who are in various locations around the world doing so now.  I had two friends return last week from Afghanistan.  It was great to see them return safely.  I have others who are there now.  We pray for them daily... as is our duty.

However, in the case of the Japanese, these men aren't on foreign soil defending their country from those who wish to do it harm.  There are no guns and no tanks.  The enemy is unseen and the men really don't know why the problems are as bad as they appear to be.  No politics.  All they know is that if they don't act, younger citizens will be paying a great price for many years to come.  They are offering to place themselves in harm's way so that these younger men and women may live long and healthy lives.  They aren't spending time protesting nuclear power plants at the government buildings and they aren't busy blaming their government or the U.S. or whoever for their situation.  They are simply offering their lives to help.

So we sit in our air-conditioned, well-furnished homes and watch all this on the news networks.  We (myself included) talk about how stupid it was to build nuclear power plants in the most earthquake-prone country on the planet.  Then we turn to another network, listen to a news report about how Medicare is running out of money, how our income bracket is about to incur a tax increase or how our home value is going down the drain.  We promptly forget about Japan and get busy organizing protests, writing letters to our congressmen and complaining to everyone we meet because we might lose something.

I believe we've lost touch with what is important in life.  Our culture has changed the way we look at the world around us.  As a matter of fact it has caused us to stop looking at the world around us unless it might have some negative impact on our wellbeing.  We have become so self-absorbed we have forgotten about things like compassion and grace.  We don't know the meaning of words like altruism and sacrifice.

I read the article and thought about the man being interviewed.  Is he a Christian?  Odds are he isn't.  Christians comprise about 1% of the population of Japan.  But his attitude certainly is Christ-like.

As a Christian I have to say I am ashamed of myself.  A Christian, of all people on this planet, ought to understand the concept of sacrifice.  A Christian, of all people, ought to understand the concept of denying oneself and taking up a sacrificial cross.  And the hope of a Christian ought to be motivation enough to overcome any trepidation about taking up that sacrificial cross.

As a parent I realized I am not setting an example to my children.  Why?  Probably because I am not so filled with that hope as I ought to be.  That has to change!

My two teenage daughters are going to Missouri next week on a mission trip.  They will spend the week doing manual labor to help a ministry there with tasks it otherwise would cost them thousands of dollars to have done.  What am I going to do while they're gone?  I'll find something to do!

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends". John 15:13

Buster Keaton... Better Than Hanna Montana, Idol and DWTS Combined!

School is out for the girls.  Lindsey just finished her Jr. year.  She took the ACT for the first time and made a 23.  I have to say I'm proud of her.  I didn't do that well... on either attempt.  I expect she'll do much better on her second attempt.  Lacey finished K5.  She's reading and writing (We're not going to be able to spell words in front of her anymore) and loving every minute of it.  Watching her sisters do (home) school is a great motivation for her.  She loves her teacher ("Mrs. Wright") and "Mrs. Wright" says she's the best student in the class!  She especially loves it when her principal ("Mr. Wright") is at school (working from home).  Lauren finished her freshman year.  I guess it was uneventful.  She didn't have a brain meltdown.  She did very well on her SAT this year.

Tonight, since they can all stay up a bit later, my girls are currently in the living room watching a Buster Keaton movie... and loving every minute of it!  No innuendo. No foul language.  No graphic violence. No horrible dialog.  No fancy dialog.  In fact, no dialog at all!  Who would have thought kids in 2011 would be in love with silent films?  I was in the back and could hear them laughing.  It was mostly Lindsey but I could hear Lacey's cackle as well, and, once in awhile, Lauren.

Actually, I could have told you that.  Since they were tiny we've watched old movies.  Movies with Gene Kelley, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Ginger Rogers, Leslie Caron, Mitzi Gaynor (They aren't a big fan of Marilyn Monroe), Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello and so many more.  And now that our oldest are teens they would rather watch these classics than just about any new movie (well, they are  big Narnia fans).

So the question I have to ask is why?  Why would they rather watch these movies than the new ones?  And why do other kids their age have no patience for such wonderful movies while my kids will sit there glued to the screen even though that glass of KoolAid the drank is begging to be returned to the wild?  What is it that makes these movies so fun to watch... more fun than High School Musical or even Wipeout??

I think the answer is this... it's not the movies but it's the girls.  Dad always repeated something his uncle was known for saying... "It's all in what you're used to".  It's a very simple statement... almost stating the obvious.  But I think parents often forget this simple truth.

Now, I want to make myself clear.  I am not going to spend time here condoning or condemning any one movie or television show.  I want to make different point entirely.  We have always been very careful to monitor what our girls watch.  Foul language, sex, violence.  We've tried to keep those things at a minimum.  But our efforts have gone further than that.  We have also tried to eliminate seemingly benign programming in which the child repeatedly shows disrespect for others (but specifically elders) or repeatedly engages in wrongdoing with little or no consequences, knowing that allowing them to watch such things gives them the impression we believe the behavior exhibited is acceptable.  We introduced them to these classic movies since they give (for the most part) great examples of showing respect for elders, friends and members of the opposite sex.  They also display (for the most part) good moral values, something left behind years ago in Hollywood.  And they do it in a lighthearted, entertaining manner, something else left behind years ago in Hollywood.

You may be thinking that we're shielding our children from reality.  Based on the experiences we have with our children as we live out our daily lives in this world, I'm certain they know what reality is.  Plus, I hope you don't believe television is reality.  We certainly don't.  Our goal is to help them to understand how they are to conduct themselves no mater what the "real" situation is.  So if they were, for example, confronted with a situation in which they were disciplined or chastised by a superior (boss, instructor) they wouldn't behave like a teenage sitcom star and have an emotional breakdown, call all their friends and badmouth their superior or set out for revenge.  Instead they will be able to examine the situation and respond in the best way possible... a way that improves their situation and shows respect for those in authority.

The upside to this is they will be able to live a life that helps them to be the best witness for Christ they can be.  If they are consistently able to respond to situations in a Christ-like manner their lives become their witness.  If they behave like Drama Queens anytime things don't go their way then they essentially have no witness.

What have we learned over the past seventeen years?  It can be summed up in four letters.  GIGO!  That is, "garbage in, garbage out".  What goes in comes out... good or bad.  Yes, our girls watched Hanna Montana.  And one of them (she knows who she is) has a tendency to be a drama queen... although without Hanna's Tennessee accent.  She also knows how Buster Keaton responds when things don't go his way.  More importantly, she knows how Joseph responded when he was sold into slavery and when he was falsely accused and thrown into prison.

"It's all in what you're used to".  Let me ask you, what are your children "used to"?  I'm not asking you to boycott Disney... but just to consider whether the things going into your children via the television or the internet are the things you would like to see coming out of them.  Think about it.

I truly believe that when our girls set out on their own they're not going to be so desensitized to the world around them that they don't notice a thing.  They're going to take in the world around them and they're going to respond.  They're going to respond in a way that glorifies Christ and that benefits (blesses) those around them.  That is definitely my prayer.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

What is sin... to you?

Now, if you read the post title you probably thought I was asking for your opinion of what sin is.  Well, that's not exactly it.  This post is probably going to be a bit more personal than that.  In fact, that is precisely the intent of this post... to bring the concept of sin down to a personal level.

Recently I was listening to a podcast of popular Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias.  He brought to my attention a quote from a letter Susanna Wesley wrote to her son John Wesley when he asked her what the considered sin to be. 

"Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."

Now, Susanna Wesley is certainly entitled to her opinion.  After all, that's what Christianity is about isn't it... our opinion of what the scripture is telling us?  If you attend bible study in many churches today you might be inclined to think that.  And opinions are fine... for what they are... opinions.  However, at some point you have to put aside opinion and look into the scripture.  Then, at this point there might be room for some interpretation (but if you're going to go into that you need to spend time with the original Greek/Hebrew) but by and large the scripture is pretty much black and white (and red and white depending on your translation). 

So lets look at this piece of advice Susanna gave her son and consider the scriptural relevance.   James addresses this thought very well.  In chapter three of the book of James he addresses the tongue... how double-edged it can be (v. 10).  Then he says "...this should not be" (Ouch)!  The rest of chapters three and four explain to us how our lives are driven from the inside... from our hearts.  If our hearts are on the things of this earth then our lives (and our tongues) will be likewise motivated.  In other words what we say (and how we say it) is pretty much what we are on the inside.

What James is communicating in these chapters is that every aspect of a Christian's life should be based on and come out from our submission to and our love for Christ.  And he gets a bit more personal than that.  He says that "friendship with the world is hatred toward God" (4:4).  What does that mean?  It means that putting on our "Jesus clothes" on Sunday morning for church and then hanging them up for the rest of the week is giving us exactly what we want... the appearance of Christanity without the substance (or without the effort).  It means that studying your bible for two hours a week and then looking at twenty hours a week of trash on television or the internet is doing absolutely nothing for our relationship with Christ.  In fact he says it's hatred (or hostility) toward God.  He even covers the heart in these matters in 4:3 when he says when we do ask we don't receive because our motives aren't pure.  Why are our motives not pure?  Because we are a friend to the world... and not to God (Ouch again).

Basically, we need to get real with our relationship with Christ.  If we want to be like Christ we need to be surrendered to Christ... completely. 

Lastly, James leaves us with a serious challenge.  In 4:17 (NIV) he says "anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" .  Other translations say, "to him it is sin".  This makes it personal.  We can't point our fingers at anyone else now because James has shown us that the life we live is all up to us.  We either fully submit to Christ or we don't.  We're either a friend of God or we're hostile toward God.  

Now, go back and read again the answer Susanna Wesley gave her son.  Then ask yourself, "what is sin to me"?

"Little Miss Get Well Soon"

Do (or did) you ever find yourself in a situation with your child where you have to decide whether you are going to nurture or discourage a behavior?  Honestly, if you have children over 18 months and haven't come to that point you might need to reconsider your parenting approach.  In fact, we should be helping to guide our children from day one.  Show me a parent who isn't helping to guide their child's development and I'll show you a child the teacher (or daycare worker) dreads to see coming. 

Lacey, our four-year-old, is by far the most outspoken of our three girls.  I have told Dana more than once that she has the privilege of raising me all over again.  I see so much of myself in Lacey... the good and the bad.  Let's start with the bad.

Lacey isn't one to fall on the floor and throw a screaming fit... we have guided her away from that.  In fact, Lacey, like her sisters, is a very well behaved child.  However, Lacey does have some differences of personality from her sisters.  Lacey is very "high-strung" (at least that's what I was called.  Maybe that was just a nice way of saying I was hyperactive).  She is also a very determined little girl.  She has to have an explanation.  With the other girls a reply like "because I said so" worked very well... however, not so well with Lacey.  For instance, when we would tell Lacey to be quiet she would get very upset and say, "can't I just say something"?    So how do you guide someone who is so determined, inquisitive and insistent?  I'll let you know when I've figured it out.

On the good side, and this is the reason for this post, Lacey is one of the most sympathetic people I've ever known.  While most children her age are so involved in play or a meal or a television show, Lacey seems to always be acutely aware of what's going on around her.  My concern here is that as she gets older she, like me, becomes overwhelmed by all the stimuli around her.  And this does seem to come out often in the evening when she's begins to tire.  However, her acute awareness of her surroundings has shown us something wonderful about her.  Lacey is very concerned with other people's problems.  When someone is struggling you can see her struggling with them.  It shows on her face.  We've watched her comfort another child her age who is throwing a fit because they didn't get something.  She is not the least bit concerned with why they're crying (as we adults often are) but only that they are suffering and she wants so much to help make it better.

Lacey is our "Little Miss Get Well Soon".  When someone is sick she is going to do something to help them feel better.  Her first task is to draw them a picture.  She always decides the topic of the drawing.  Then she will get with someone to help her write a letter.  Just last night Dana was sitting on our bed resting with a heating pad on her knees (long story).  And during our bedtime prayer time Lacey informed her mother that she was "going to do something special for you tomorrow to help you feel better".   She is always making something special for some of our Senior church members who have been in the hospital.  She has a genuine desire to do anything she can to help people in their suffering.

The best word for Lacey's feelings is compassion.  Websters defines compassion as "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it".  And we want to encourage that virtue.  But we want to do it correctly... there is a fine line between being compassionate and being a busy-body.  That fine line is self and we want to make sure that, for Lacey, self is in the right place.

When a person sees someone in distress they respond in a number of ways, but they're all pretty much defined by where one sees oneself in relation to another person's distress.  Lacey sees herself in a position to do something to help.  What does that mean?  Well, it means she thinks less of herself in this situation and more of the other person.  She is willing to sacrifice of herself to help the other person feel better... to the point that she acts on it.  This begs another question.  Is compassion really compassion if you don't act?  Notice the definition above says nothing about acting on it.  It simply conveys a desire to act.  Think about that.

The flip side would be Lacey seeing a person in distress and first considering how their situation affects Lacey.  It doesn't seem like much but there is a vast difference between the two responses.  It's about priorities.  If self is first then the other person is last.  If the other person is first then self is last.

So in considering how to guide Lacey in this area I realized that I really need more guidance than Lacey.  Lacey is doing what she can while I often do nothing.  How do I become more compassionate (and act on it)?  James 14:7 says "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins".  I guess this means I just have to man up!  If I don't know what to do to help someone in distress maybe I should just go up and ask them!  At the very least I should stop right there and ask God to show me what to do.  In fact, before I ever arrive at this point I should be praying for insight and looking for opportunities!  After all, we do have everything we need to be prepared for a situation like this, don't we?  It's actually a little shameful when I think about it.  My four-year-old is teaching me a lesson straight out of scripture. 

Be Prepared!! 

James 1:22-24 (NIV) - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

How Quickly Does God Answer Prayer?

This may seem insignificant to some, but something amazing happened at our house last night and I had to put it up here as a great example of answered prayer.

Our cat Junior disappeared two days ago.  He is one to stay out all night but he is always at the door the next morning dying for something to eat.  However, yesterday he wasn't there.  He was gone all day yesterday and at bedtime last night Lauren was pretty upset.  Lauren always puts the cats up at night (if she can find them) and was hoping Junior would show up. 

So Dana said, "Let's pray about it". She gathered the girls in Lauren's room and they said a prayer asking God to help Junior find his way back home.

In the meantime while I was sitting in the living room watching the news (I had no idea what was going on in Lauren's room) I heard the familiar deep "meow" from Junior outside so I opened the front door and let him in.  And there was much rejoicing!

What I didn't realize until later was that the "meow" I had heard came at precisely the time (almost to the second) the girls ended their prayer.  So, in a mater of a few seconds after the prayer, the girls were able to hear Junior meowing as he came in the front door.

Again, this may not seem like a significant thing to many.  However, I'm convinced that we don't often consider God's work in our lives as something significant.  In fact I believe most of His work goes completely unnoticed by us because we say a prayer and then go off and shortly forget about it.  But this time was different.  There wasn't time to forget.  What a teaching moment for the girls (and for their parents)! 

I have to consider... if we were more diligent in our prayer lives, not just praying once for someone or something but repeatedly and often, and if we were more observant in our daily lives, we would probably be able to see more of God's work in our lives.  And if we were able to see more of God's work, how much more faith might we have? 

"Pray without ceasing." 1Th 5:17
 
God help me to be diligent in my prayer life and to be observant in my daily life, looking for and expecting to see Your work done!
 
 

What's Really Important?

After lunch today at work I decided I needed some caffeine. So I went to the machine to buy a can of Mountain Dew. When I retrieved the can I was most irritated to find it was hot. Apparently the machine is broken as some in the office had noticed the problem the previous day (and failed to put a note on it). No big deal... I got a cup, put some ice in it and poured in the Dew. I'm not one to dilute my Dew with ice but this was a special situation.

Once I poured the Dew I realized I also needed a chocolate fix. So I made a trip to the ground floor to buy a candy bar (no I don't count calories... instead, I exercise). Even as I made my way from the elevator to the vending machine I was dwelling on the hot Dew and what I was going to do to help remedy the situation.

Just then I rounded a corner and noticed three EMTs tending to our building custodian as he sat there in a corner of his little storage room. There were others in the room watching as they checked his blood pressure. Immediately I was confronted with the fact that I had spent the last ten minutes fuming over a hot Mountain Dew while this man just could be fighting for his life.

On my way back upstairs I said a prayer for him and began to contemplate why I had let myself get so worked up over nothing.

We live in a world that compels us to be self-absorbed. Televisions shows, television and magazine ads, movies and even many Christian televangelists tell us how wecan be this and we can be that. At some point we begin to feel we are really important!! And so we begin again, just as we did when we were toddlers, to look at life through our "me" glasses. How does this affect me? What is that going to do for me? What's in it for me? Finally, we end up feeling so self-important that the nothing events in our lives become world-ending disasters. "Why should I have to deal with a hot Mountain Dew"??

In the last half of Matthew 6, Jesus points out to the disciples they don't need to be concerned over the little things... things like "what will I wear" and "what will I eat". What's funny is we think those are big things. But Jesus didn't. What Jesus ends up saying is, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (what will I eat, what will I wear) will be added to you".

So what is important? Well, apparently the kingdom of God is important. But where is the kingdom of God? Some say it's exists now as a spiritual kingdom. I can't disagree with that. But how do I seek it? Three things... prayer, Bible study and meditation.

If I focus more on that kingdom what will it do to me? Well, first I would be spending less time on other things, right? if I'm normally spending my time dwelling on a lot of useless things, this would be a plus!

Second, my mindset will begin to change. I begin to perceive things in a different light. I will begin to see things around me from a Godly perspective and from not from a worldly (television/movies/politicians/Oprah) perspective.

It's always good when I'm reminded of my own self-absorption. It definitely made me feel guilty finding myself in this state and being shocked out of it by a sight like the one I saw today. Please pray for this nice old man, our custodian!

Boysenberries!!

My coworkers have been saying I'm a bit obsessed with my berry-picking.  So I decided to add this to my blog.  If you look at the picture to the right you'll see boysenberries.  I found these today while picking.  For perspective I put a quarter in the middle of the boysenberries.  Yes, they're HUGE! 

So what is a boysenberry (Tre, help me out here)?  I found from wisegeek.com that they're a cross between a blackberry, a loganberry (a what?) and a raspberry.  We had boysenberries next to our house in Murfreesboro, AR when I was growing up.  Each spring I'd spend a few days picking them so as to have a mess of preserves through the winter.  Mom would always oblige!! 

So, the blackberries I've been picking aren't nearly this big.  However they're huge for blackberries.  I've determined these are hybrids.  Cabot has always been known for the farmland around it and I'm convinced these might have been left over from those days. 

I went again today and picked about a gallon before getting rained out.  I was aiming for two gallons! 

Which brings me to the point here.  Why do I love to pick berries?  I hadn't really thought about it until this year.  Since I was a child I loved berry-picking... but why?  I guess for a lot of reasons.  I love the taste of ripe berries.  I love the preserves and cobblers that are made.  I also just love getting outside away from everything and everyone and being alone with nature. 

However, I think the primary reason I love picking berries is I just can't bear the thought of those berries going to waste!  There is something inside me that just drives me to do it.  I'm sure it's much more complicated though... maybe I love the feeling that I've harvested something that cost me nothing (other than a few chiggers and scratches all over my hands).  And that will then become something (preserves) that I will be able to enjoy for months to come.  In essence I've gained something at little or no cost.  Maybe this was instilled in my by my parents when I was young.

So, this is a great opportunity to teach my girls about being enterprising... about making the best of opportunities given.  Lauren helped pick (a little... before it got too hot and she got tired of the briars) and Lindsey jumped in and helped with making the preservers... she even made a cobbler! 

"Who can find a virtuous wife?  For her worth is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10

God Words

A couple of weeks ago, sitting in worship, I noticed Lacey (Our three-yr-old) was using a crayon to highlight words on our worship lyric sheets.  I leaned over and asked what she was doing.  She said, "I'm finding God words"!  She was going through the entire sheet and highlighting words like God, Jesus, Lord or Savior.

So I took a minute to help her (don't tell the pastor).  It fascinated me that she was excited about finding "God words" in the song lyrics.  With all the things she could do during the sermon... color, play with a doll or one of her storm-trooper action figures, she chose to get the lyric sheet out and look for "God words"!

This really got me to thinking.  How often do I put aside the things I'd rather be doing and look for "God words"?  Let's change that a bit.  How often do I put aside the things I'd rather be doing and look for "God's Word"?  When I'd rather be watching a movie or perusing Facebook, wouldn't it be better to take that time to sit down with God's Word and see what He wants me to do?

You can learn a lot from a child.