Merry Christmas!

Difficult days

There are days that you hate to face. Days that look difficult before you even get started. As you look ahead you can see that this will be a very difficult walk, but the day comes and we have to walk through it.

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How do we face those difficult days, the walk ahead that seems so hard?

The truth is that God never promised that the Christian life would be easy, but he did promise to walk it with us. To have someone with us who knows where to walk is vital when the path ahead seems so unsure. It helps if you have someone who has walked this way before....who knows where to walk, and that is what God promises to do in our lives...he promises to walk with us, to lead us, to help us walk our difficult days.

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Psa 25:4 Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.
Psa 25:5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.
Psa 25:6 Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old.

A new baby boy is on the way!

Last Saturday night we attended a Christmas party at the home of our daughter in law's parents. It's an annual event and we always look forward to being there with our kids and the in-laws. The talk of the night was our son and daughter in laws new baby boy due in April. I can't tell you how many women patted Tiffany's little baby tummy and said, "Aaahhh." I'm sure she got tired of it quickly, but I know they are excited about having their first child. Here's Tiffany and Joye that night.

Behind the bell, part 2

A few days ago I told you the story of a friend of mine who had the great joy of helping someone in need. One of the comments on that post came from one of our dear ladies in the church. Here are her words-

"I was there at that Wal-mart that night. I watched as the bike was purchased and saw the person who was doing the purchasing. I saw the excitement about giving something needed to somebody in need written on his face. I was working at the customer service desk when our friend came in to exchange the bike because he could not work the shifters with his cerebral palsy. I was the one who got to work with him and do the exchange. He was so excited about getting the bike and being able to get back to his tent home safely. It was a neat thing to watch the excitement of both the giver and the receiver. I even got to be part of the solution to the problem. What a neat experience. :)"

When I read her comments I had several thoughts. First, you never know who is watching you. People are watching us. We may not know it at the time, but we are making an impression on others even when we don't know they are watching. Second, there is a "ripple effect" to a good deed. It helps the one we intended to help, but there are blessing for others as well. You won't see all that happens from doing something nice, but it affects more than the person it was done for. And third, the bible tells us in Proverbs that God takes care of repaying good things done for those in need. You can never give to someone who is in need without God getting involved in the whole situation. I look forward to seeing what God will do in my friend's life, in John's life and in the lives of those who watched this little act of kindness in a Wal-Mart store.

Fun with the kids

Last night Joye and I had some time with the grandkids while their parents went to a Christmas party. Here's a very common site in our house when the kids are over.....EVERYONE in grandma's lap. Grandkids are great!

Saturday's cartoon

It's just a matter of perspective..........

"Sometimes I ask myself, 'Why am I the lucky one?'"

"Good job"

This is from Pastor Kris' blog. He said it well, and I'm sure he won't mind me sharing it with you. ..............
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"Today I had the honor of changing my wife's flat tire. I really really really didn't want to leave my office to go up town and change her tire in the cold and the rain. However, there was a moment that made it all worth it. After taking out the spare tire, taking out the jack and other tools, getting rained on, after jacking the car up, freezing, taking off the lug nuts, removing the tire, freezing, putting on the new tire, getting soaked, putting everything away, freezing, after all of that, Tammy said to me, "Good job". And she meant it; it wasn't a "Good job, at least I didn't have to get cold and change the tire." She really meant I did a good job at changing the tire; she may have assumed I was going to mess it up somehow. But the pain of changing the tire was removed by my wife telling me, sincerely, "Good job".
There is just something very powerful for a man when our wives compliment our work. I love it. I'd change the tire with my teeth if I knew my wife would be proud of me. Married ladies, this tip is for free, sincerely compliment your husbands and you will be amazed at what kind of man they become."
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Just thinking

Today is a busy day for a Friday. I'm working through a long list of "must do's" and most of them are overdue. Finding balance between time with people (which I love) and working at a desk and computer (which I hate) is hard because I do the one I like and put off the one I hate, so it piles up. Today I'm trying to get some of them done.

Like my fellow pastor, Brent, I am thinking about our Christmas party last night. It was a great time (as usual), but my heart just wasn't in it. It would have been great for me if I could have just called it in. All of our staff, elders and deacons are great. We have an amazing group of people, but I just wasn't up for the social stuff last night. I think when your business is people there are times when you overdose and just have to go hide. That was my mood last night.

Today is another day full of people, but I've recovered a little, so I'm ready for another "overdose."

I also have to get busy with teaching notes. I'm teaching through Revelation. The class starts mid-January and I haven't got my notes together. I need to get that done today, so excuse me, I'll be with you in a few hours...for now it's to the desk and some study. Have a good day.

Funny signs

I saw this sign and thought it was great. Nothing like a little competition to make things exciting, and no one does it better than McDonalds.

Behind the bell

One of the guys in our church stopped by Wal-Mart last night. During this time of the year we all notice the Salvation Army volunteers ringing the bell to raise support for the Salvation Army ministry, but often we look away to avoid eye contact. Sometimes we will put a few dollars in the bucket, but rarely do we look at those behind the bell.

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Last night he did notice the man behind the bell and talked to him. This bell ringer was a man in his 30's who told him that he is homeless and lives in a tent on the other side of town. He also told my friend that he just had his bicycle stolen, his only means of transportation. Our guy went into the store, but couldn't put this man out of his mind. He has so much, but here is a homeless man living in a tent who had his bicycle stolen.

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Then he thought, "I have a few dollars extra and Wal-Mart has bicycles." He went back to the bicycle section, found a good bike for the price and bought it. He told the salesman what he was doing, and needed it prepared for the man behind the bell so he could get back to his tent for a cold nights sleep.

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As he purchased the bike at checkout he couldn't help himself, he had to tell the cashier what he was doing....he was excited to be able to give something to someone who had nothing. He took the bike out to his new friend and presented it to him. Then he learned more. His name is John and he has cerebral palsy. (Could this story get any sadder?) John was excited to have the new wheels, but didn't know if he could shift it. My friend gave him the receipt and told him to exchange it if he needed a different bike, and then walked to his car....almost floating on air.

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How blessed we are. How much we have. How often we overlook those who have nothing. My friend had a wonderful day yesterday and has nothing to show for it but a smile that won't go away....

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Eph 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
Eph 5:2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Little blessings

It's funny what we DON'T worry about. We don't worry about not having air to breathe. We don't worry about the sun coming up. We don't worry about the rotation of the earth....these are things we take for granted. They are expected to be there and always are so we don't even think about them, but even these things we don't think about are taken care of by God. He keeps all of this working so well that we don't worry about the really big things....they are dependable and always there because we have a big God. I'm grateful for the things I never think about because God is so faithful.

What a day!

I saved this photo for just a day as this! Wow, it has been one of those days....where has it gone? What did I get done? Even as I write this it's after 11pm and I'll be up and working again in a few hours....it amazes me how quickly time gets away. Today I feel like Seinfeld- today this is a blog about nothing...except a busy day with no time to even think. It will be this way for a while. I'll post something of content (I hope) tomorrow. For now, good night.

Anticipating Christmas

It's interesting to read the newspapers online this time of year. The wording of the stories is fascinating and the content often very strange. It seems the world wants the fantasy of Christmas, but not the reality. The story this morning was from a paper in Australia that presumes to solve the "mystery of the star." They write about this event as myth, but then try to explain it with science and astronomy.

For this simple Christian I'm just grateful that on a day in time and history the God of the universe was born into our world with the intent plan of dying to save the human race. It is THE story of history....the invasion of the love of God into the history of planet earth. I am a grateful recipient of that love, and am glad that God gave us the greatest gift of all times and makes it available to anyone who will accept it...the free gift of salvation by faith alone.

Monday's cartoon

The weight of worry

Early each Sunday morning I meet with a group of guys and we spend time together working through the issues of growing in faith and living the Christian life. We have been working through the book of Colossians, and yesterday we came to chapter 3. I skipped the first part of the chapter and we spent our time working through verses 12-17 together. Because I know what is happening to many of them we talked about what might happen in their lives....the real possibility that they may lose their jobs.

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We had a serious and rather intense discussion. The weight of worry that these guys were carrying was visible on their faces as we began to discuss this topic. What will you do if you lose your job? How will you pay the bills? Will you lose your home? What will happen? The weight of these worries is real in their lives and in the lives of many in our country. There is real worry and fear looming in the hearts and lives of people I meet....it's a heavy weight, and many honestly feel crushed by it.

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I never know how times of study like this affect those in a group, but one of the wives stopped me later in the morning at church to tell me, "thank you, my husband really needed that." I don't know what he took away from our time together, but I'm glad this honest discussion of trusting God in difficult days made a difference for him. The real issue is simply this- is God big enough to care for us or are we on our own? Is life and death, hunger and homelessness, work or unemployment important to the God who loves us? We know it is, and we know he's big enough to care for us, but often we will be tempted to carry the weight of worry ourselves...as if it all depends on us to do it all. We simply cannot carry this weight for very long before we begin to be crushed under the load. I know some of these guys were feeling that load as we talked, so I know that some of you are suffering under the weight as well...the weight of worry about what might happen. May I remind you that God loves you and cares for you? May I remind you of a short passage in Peter's letter that gives you a solution and action plan when the load is too heavy? Here it is-

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1Peter 5:6-7- Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.