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It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times

Jul22

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The cool thing about doing this traveling is that we get to see all these people we haven’t seen in so long. The bad thing is, they get to see us. The real us. The us who bicker with each other, have bed head when we get up, and sometimes don’t get our masks on completely straight before they catch a glimpse.

But so far, at least as far as I can tell, they seem to love us anyway. So why the mask? Why not just be who we are all the time? Just like an artist who doesn’t like showing a work in progress, I think we don’t want to reveal ourselves until we’re perfected.

Problem is, that’s not going to happen until heaven, and we have a lot of living to do before that point. So we bear with each other, let them see who we really are and, like a business going through improvements, wear a sign that says “pardon our dust.” God isn’t finished with us yet; but we’re still open for relationship.

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever‑increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV84).

Thankful today for:
486. A beautiful day for an outdoor wedding
487. Being married to my best friend
488. Unconditional love

Did I Leave Anything Out?

Jul1

Our bags are nearly packed, except for the essentials; 24 hours until we hit the road. We’ve taken great care to make lists and ensure that we have everything we’ll need for a month on the road. But it occurred to me that there are some pretty important things that didn’t necessarily make the list, but God forbid that they be left behind.

Love: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

We’re going to be encountering a lot of people in the next month, and we can leave an impression all across the nation. What kind of impression we leave is completely up to us. We can show that we love each other and are so happy to have this time together. Or we can act like these are the last people on earth with whom we’d want to spend a month traveling. I vote for the former. That’s only going to come by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joy: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song” (Psalm 28:7).

So many times we try to find joy in our circumstances, but that doesn’t work very well. Many times, our circumstances aren’t exactly what we want them to be. Our joy has got to come from the Lord. If we find that truth, there will be more laughing than bickering along the way.

Peace: Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

In my mind, peace is the opposite of war. War often comes because someone else has something that we want. Maybe it comes from fear that we won’t end up with all we need. Resting in the fact that God has given us all that we need will bring peace to our hearts–and to our journey.

Patience: “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11).

This is a biggie. It’s like forgetting your toothbrush if you leave this one behind. Nothing feels right. We must overlook the accidentally kicked seat or whatever other minor irritation would cause us to focus on our circumstances and not on the Lord.

Kindness: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

The watchword around our house lately has been “kindness.” Show kindness whenever you have a chance. Say kind words, do kind deeds. That will become even more important as we spend hours on end in a minivan. But how good and pleasant it will be.

Goodness: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

This characteristic speaks to me of being Christ-like. The hackneyed “what would Jesus do” should always be evident in our lives. It’s not just about doing the right thing; it’s about being the right person–the one God wants you to be.

Faithfulness: “It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth” (3 John 1:3).

This is about doing what God wants us to do, and always following through. It’s about showing good faith. Be a person of your word.

Gentleness: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5).

Boys will be boys, but a spirit of gentleness will avoid a lot of pain, especially to one’s little sister.

Self-control: “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

‘Nuff said. Keep control of yourself. Don’t react. Be proactive to make sure that your heart and your mind are constantly fixed on Jesus.

The fruit of the Spirit. I can pack all the underwear I want, but if I forget to keep the Holy Spirit in charge of my life, then nothing else I’ve packed will do me any good.

Thankful today for:

420: the opportunity to host another baptism

421. the generosity of friends

422. google maps

423. reliable cell phone service

424. the two upcoming weddings in the family

425. good, clean family movies

Which Wolf Wins?

Jun26

We’ve been dog sitting for the past week. Zoey is the same dog who came to swim with Berkeley back in the spring. Now, her family has gone on vacation, and we, along with two other families, are taking one-week stints watching her.

The first place she went has an older dog who really didn’t appreciate Zoey’s company very much. She got growled at a lot there. We have a big black lab that outweighs her by 56 pounds. But they’ve had a lot of fun together.

The next family she’s going to today has a young spaniel much more her size. I’m sure the romping with be epic. I’m also sure she won’t know what to do with herself once her family is back next week.

But looking at the two dogs at my house reminds me of the story of the black and white wolves. Apparently, the Cherokee Indians have a story about a time when there was a terrible argument between two adults, and an old wiseman was asked to mediate. With all the children gathered around to see what he’d say, the old man told this story:

Inside of everyone lives a black wolf and a white wolf. The black wolf is filled with fear, anger, envy, jealousy, greed and arrogance. The white wolf is filled with peace, love, hope, courage, humility, compassion and faith. They battle constantly. The obvious question to the children was this one:

Which wolf wins?

The old man’s answer? The one we feed.

We choose, every minute of every day, which wolf we’re going to let win in our hearts. Will we give in to anger and jealousy, fear, greed, arrogance? Or will we be filled with peace, love, hope? Those sound a lot like the fruit of the Spirit, don’t they?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22,23).

If we live by the Spirit, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

The principle is simple, but not easy: stop feeding the black wolf.

Thankful today for:

399. a week-long play date for my dog

400. this opportunity for outreach to their community for my boys

401. a cleaned off desk

402. a great husband who will run to the store at 9:00 at night to buy milk because we’re out

403. a significant time of prayer last night for the outreach this week

404. less than a week left before we leave

405. a new look to my living room

406. God watering my new little rose bush

407. the near completion of our landscaping project

408. friends returning home safely

409. the promise of heaven

410. that we don’t have squeaky toys in the house for our pets!

 

Hello, My Name Is _________

Jun22

When David and I started having children, honestly, we didn’t think too long and hard about their names. We picked what we liked, then looked through the baby names books to be sure they didn’t mean something weird. We also didn’t tell people what we chose, because we didn’t want the “Oh, that’s an interesting name” response. We feel good about what we chose: their names mean justice, gift of God and bright, shining sea (or German for morning).

I know that some people agonize over their children’s names, wanting the names to reflect what will be true about them in their life. If only we could determine our children’s futures by their names. I would have named my first-born Rich. Just kidding.

People in earlier times carried names from generation to generation: surnames, middle names, last names, maiden names, nick names. What a child is named is with them forever (unless they go to court and pay to have it changed).

Whereas the names we give our children may not always fit them, there is One whose name fits Him to perfection: Jesus.

There is power in the name of Jesus that can’t be denied. An old song I used to sing as a youth goes like this:

At the name of Jesus, at the name of Jesus, we have the victory!

At the name of Jesus, at the name of Jesus, Satan will have to flee.

Tell me who can stand before us when we call on His great name.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, we have the victory!

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

There’s is another song popular today, sung by Natalie Grant. Listen to it here, and have a blessed day.

Thankful today for

393. wonderful worship songs

394. new plants

395. coffee drinks

396. crispy apples

397. the opportunity both my boys have to participate in a local outreach with their youth group next week

398. the anticipation of a much quieter week next week 🙂

Perfection

Jun14

I just finished watching a replay of a perfect game thrown by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants. A perfect game is an amazing thing to watch, and I’ve been blessed to be able to watch two of them in the last couple of years: one by Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics, and this one by Matt Cain. I didn’t know Braden’s was going to happen until it did, because I was watching it live. But I knew Cain’s was going to happen before it did. The atmosphere and the excitement was still there, though. When the fielders step it up just a little bit more to get those difficult outs; when the crowd never sits down for the other team’s half inning; when shots of the pitcher’s family show their extreme anticipation. There’s nothing like it.

It’s even more fun to watch it happen when it’s a team you root for anyway. The A’s are my favorite, but the Giants are a close second.

So why do we all appreciate perfection? Probably because we’re so far from it ourselves. I know for myself, I can’t think of a time when I’ve done anything perfectly. I don’t consider myself a perfectionist, so it doesn’t pain me when I don’t reach it. I have heard that quilters will purposely add a flaw to their work to signify that only God is perfect. I like that. Perfectionism can cause all kinds of problems for people obsessed with it. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do things well, but when we have to be perfect, we limit ourselves.

Some perfectionists take an amazingly long amount of time to make decisions, because they want to make the perfect decision.

Some perfectionists won’t try to do something because they only want to do what they can do perfectly.

Some perfectionists demand perfection from those around them, and thus they are mostly disappointed.

I like this verse: “He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He (Deut. 32:4).”

Indeed, only God is perfect.

But Matt Cain was a pretty amazing pitcher last night.

Thankful today for:

369. MLB.tv

370. anticipation

371. desire fulfilled

372. our avocado tree finally bearing fruit–and lots of it!

373. new trash cans 🙂

374. the perfection we will finally achieve in heaven