I watch with interest from the sidelines the 2008 State Volleyball tournament... my daughter Cara plays middle hitter for MHHS, and their season is done for this year. Lake Hamilton ousted them last night in a hard fought match 3-1...
As I watched this match, I noticed that the coach got really caught up in the excitement of the game and... well... forgot about my daughter on the bench.
Now I know this is a daddy talking here... and I know my Cara is not the only player who gets 'forgotten' on the bench...
But there we were at the state tournament by virtue of our performance during the conference season (to which many girls contributed including my middle child), and the coach simply forgot to put some of the girls in the rotation... most notably (and not just to her daddy) - my Cara.
And I was amazed. I know it happens every day in sports and in other parts of life... and I thank God that Cara places the proper amount of importance on sports... (as Kelly said, she was doing just fine watching 'what not to wear' last night, seemingly already over being left out of the most important match of her high school volleyball career...)
You hope that a coach will a) 'dance with what brung ya' (interpretation: play the girls who helped you win enough to make it to state!) and b) not get so caught up in the game herself to forget about your bench players!
Oh well... season's over for this year... onward and upward!
But it still hurts. ...to be forgotten.
How marvelous it is that we serve a God who doesn't forget! Yeah, I know, He has a mercifully terribly memory about all the things we screw up...
but God knows His own...
Matthew and Luke record Jesus' words which confirm this blessed memory:
"even the hairs of your head are numbered"
wow!
What a God! ...who will never forget!
Blessings
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
27 degrees this morning - yikes!
OK, so you know I love the changing of the seasons... and I really enjoy the blessing of living in a place where we get to bask in all 4 of them.
But each time the weather change signals that one is over and the next one is here, I am always taken a bit by surprise... no, I know it's coming... it just sort of, I dunno... surprises me!
such is the weather this morning... it's flippin' 27 degrees!!! that's freezin!
I know it's cold when Lucy the Wonderdog scratches at the door to go out and then, when we crack the door, she backs away from it and looks at me like "what happened??!?! that's cold!"
anyhow, this weekend we 'fall back'... and set our clocks back an hour, gaining 60 minutes overnight! And I, for one, have been missing that hour ever since it was pried from my fingers back in April...
yep, fall has fell... and I love it!
and winter is not far behind... ouch!
I do love the crispness in the air this time of year...
and I don't know why, but on crisp cool mornings like this one, I am especially reminded of a youth song we used to sing all the time... of course it comes from scripture:
new every morning... I like that!
Blessings!
But each time the weather change signals that one is over and the next one is here, I am always taken a bit by surprise... no, I know it's coming... it just sort of, I dunno... surprises me!
such is the weather this morning... it's flippin' 27 degrees!!! that's freezin!
I know it's cold when Lucy the Wonderdog scratches at the door to go out and then, when we crack the door, she backs away from it and looks at me like "what happened??!?! that's cold!"
anyhow, this weekend we 'fall back'... and set our clocks back an hour, gaining 60 minutes overnight! And I, for one, have been missing that hour ever since it was pried from my fingers back in April...
yep, fall has fell... and I love it!
and winter is not far behind... ouch!
I do love the crispness in the air this time of year...
and I don't know why, but on crisp cool mornings like this one, I am especially reminded of a youth song we used to sing all the time... of course it comes from scripture:
the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end
they are new every morning
great is thy faithfulness!
new every morning... I like that!
Blessings!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Spiritual exercise
Every time I turn on the TV, I see at least 3 commercials for getting healthy... weight loss and diet scams and ads for the Ab Burner Plus Ultimate... or my personal favorite, the Super Duper Pull Up Bar which looks for all the world like a piece of electrical conduit but evidently gives you a 6 pack and makes all the girls on the planet - especially those wearing bikinis - desire you with an uncontrollable passion...
anyhow, it is no secret the Americans are FAT and/or out of shape!
Some of us are a little overweight and some of us are corpulent (my word for the day - means morbidly obese, which just sounds bad!), while others are just not in good cardiovascular condition....
So we Americans spend about $40 Billion a year on 'getting healthy'. wow.
Yet we are still in poor physical condition... why? simple! Diet and Exercise! ...simply put, we eat wrong and don't exercise enough!
(Analogy alert!)
Most of us are in poor spiritual condition as well... for the same reasons: we 'eat' wrong and don't 'exercise' enough!
So what are you filling your spiritual belly with? Do you read the Word daily? (we sure wouldn't miss a meal, right?) when you study and read the Word, what is your purpose? It seems that when most of us study, it is to prepare for a Bible class (in which we are trying to help people reach a certain conclusion) or to 'check out' what that preacher said... when we study like that, we are depriving ourselves! Or, for the vast majority of us, I'm afraid we don't even touch a Bible until we are on the way out the door to 'church'... so we get all our 'nourishment' from someone else... and all in a nice tidy package 2 hours per week! When that is our method for feeding ourselves, we are STARVING!!!
what are you doing to 'exercise' your spiritual body? note: when Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25, he is doing so based on how they treated each other, especially the 'least of these my brothers'... note further: when God speaks through Amos (recorded in Amos 5) to His people, He is warning about the disconnect between the 'Tuesday them' and the 'Sunday (ok, Saturday, but you get the point) them'... when Jesus Himself defines 'religion', He says that it is taking care of widows and orphans and keeping one's self pure....
Momma used to say that losing weight is really simple.... (and by the way, I have lost about 3,756 pounds in my life.... but I've gained just over 4,000 lbs)... to lose weight, you simply take in less that you put out! eat less, exercise more!
I wonder how that works in an analogy? If we were foundering on the Word - absolutely FULL of It, I guess the application would be clear.... but we are starving for His Word... AND most of us don't get NEAR enough spiritual exercise!
so, while God instructs us to know His Word ("write in our you hearts"), He spends a LOT more 'ink' on how we treat each other... the EXERCISE!
ok, now I'm rambling...
I know that most of us are spiritually unhealthy. And I know studying the Bible - by itself - will not make us well... we gotta put It into action... (to be continued....)
Blessings!
anyhow, it is no secret the Americans are FAT and/or out of shape!
Some of us are a little overweight and some of us are corpulent (my word for the day - means morbidly obese, which just sounds bad!), while others are just not in good cardiovascular condition....
So we Americans spend about $40 Billion a year on 'getting healthy'. wow.
Yet we are still in poor physical condition... why? simple! Diet and Exercise! ...simply put, we eat wrong and don't exercise enough!
(Analogy alert!)
Most of us are in poor spiritual condition as well... for the same reasons: we 'eat' wrong and don't 'exercise' enough!
So what are you filling your spiritual belly with? Do you read the Word daily? (we sure wouldn't miss a meal, right?) when you study and read the Word, what is your purpose? It seems that when most of us study, it is to prepare for a Bible class (in which we are trying to help people reach a certain conclusion) or to 'check out' what that preacher said... when we study like that, we are depriving ourselves! Or, for the vast majority of us, I'm afraid we don't even touch a Bible until we are on the way out the door to 'church'... so we get all our 'nourishment' from someone else... and all in a nice tidy package 2 hours per week! When that is our method for feeding ourselves, we are STARVING!!!
what are you doing to 'exercise' your spiritual body? note: when Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25, he is doing so based on how they treated each other, especially the 'least of these my brothers'... note further: when God speaks through Amos (recorded in Amos 5) to His people, He is warning about the disconnect between the 'Tuesday them' and the 'Sunday (ok, Saturday, but you get the point) them'... when Jesus Himself defines 'religion', He says that it is taking care of widows and orphans and keeping one's self pure....
Momma used to say that losing weight is really simple.... (and by the way, I have lost about 3,756 pounds in my life.... but I've gained just over 4,000 lbs)... to lose weight, you simply take in less that you put out! eat less, exercise more!
I wonder how that works in an analogy? If we were foundering on the Word - absolutely FULL of It, I guess the application would be clear.... but we are starving for His Word... AND most of us don't get NEAR enough spiritual exercise!
so, while God instructs us to know His Word ("write in our you hearts"), He spends a LOT more 'ink' on how we treat each other... the EXERCISE!
ok, now I'm rambling...
I know that most of us are spiritually unhealthy. And I know studying the Bible - by itself - will not make us well... we gotta put It into action... (to be continued....)
Blessings!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
don't hesitate - do!
just a quick encouragement as you start your day today...
when you see someone who needs a smile... don't hesitate...
when you see someone who needs a lift... don't hesitate
when you learn of someone who needs a phone call... don't hesitate
when you find out there is someone who needs an email or a text... don't hesitate...
God will place tons of opportunities right in your path today.... so be present and alert and aware and...
Blessings
when you see someone who needs a smile... don't hesitate...
when you see someone who needs a lift... don't hesitate
when you learn of someone who needs a phone call... don't hesitate
when you find out there is someone who needs an email or a text... don't hesitate...
God will place tons of opportunities right in your path today.... so be present and alert and aware and...
don't hesitate!
Blessings
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Honduran school children
I just heard from my friend Michelle Moore at the Mt Comfort Church in Fayetteville... and she wanted to tell me about the results of our fund-raising efforts last Friday night...
Their goal was to sponsor (scholarship) 200 children to go to school and learn to read and write... (a luxury in Tegucigalpa) It costs $75 per child for a year...
They received enough money to sponsor 120 kiddos that night, and are continuing to receive donations, hoping to get to the 200 number...
If you would like to sponsor a child, please email Michelle Moore at battlebuddies@hotmail.com
You will receive a postcard with the child's name and picture, so you can know exactly who you gifted this education to... very very cool!
The concert went great, and was very well-received... and the comedian was very very good and really funny! check out Mike Williams at http://mikewilliams.tv/
very funny, and very engaging....a wonderful ministry! he spent a lot of time with the First Day guys and anyone else who wanted to visit with him...
anyhow, if God moves you to sponsor a child, please email Michelle!
God Bless!
Their goal was to sponsor (scholarship) 200 children to go to school and learn to read and write... (a luxury in Tegucigalpa) It costs $75 per child for a year...
They received enough money to sponsor 120 kiddos that night, and are continuing to receive donations, hoping to get to the 200 number...
If you would like to sponsor a child, please email Michelle Moore at battlebuddies@hotmail.com
You will receive a postcard with the child's name and picture, so you can know exactly who you gifted this education to... very very cool!
The concert went great, and was very well-received... and the comedian was very very good and really funny! check out Mike Williams at http://mikewilliams.tv/
very funny, and very engaging....a wonderful ministry! he spent a lot of time with the First Day guys and anyone else who wanted to visit with him...
anyhow, if God moves you to sponsor a child, please email Michelle!
God Bless!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
fences and gates and padlocks
I saw something yesterday that stunned and disappointed me.
While driving to a friend's house to watch the Hogs lose to Kentucky (AARRRGGGHHH!), I noticed a little country church building... I'd seen it a hundred times before... I've even attended worship there...
So as we drove past this little building which sits in a field about 200 feet off the highway, I noticed something I had never noticed before... it has a barbed wire fence around it... OK, maybe there are cattle in the field where the building sits... then I noticed there was a swinging gate across the driveway.
Then I noticed the most striking feature: the gate was closed and latched and...
padlocked.
Wow. A church in a field with a fence and a gate and a padlock. now there's an analogy begging to be made!
I also thought it an unwelcome sight when I first saw the sign beside a church building on highway 60 on the way to Springfield:
I don't know what kind of hearts the members of these churches possess... but the sign and the padlock speaks pretty loudly.
In a day when - more than ever - people need to feel welcome in God's presence and in the presence of His people, it would seem that we should do everything in our power (and everything in His name) to attract seekers to our lives... and to Him... and even to our houses of worship.
Yet these two examples - especially the church behind the padlocked gate - seem to send a very unwelcome message...
Oh, and by the way, there were no cows behind that padlocked gate... evidently they are not welcome either!
May God Bless us as we lift up His Son!
"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
While driving to a friend's house to watch the Hogs lose to Kentucky (AARRRGGGHHH!), I noticed a little country church building... I'd seen it a hundred times before... I've even attended worship there...
So as we drove past this little building which sits in a field about 200 feet off the highway, I noticed something I had never noticed before... it has a barbed wire fence around it... OK, maybe there are cattle in the field where the building sits... then I noticed there was a swinging gate across the driveway.
Then I noticed the most striking feature: the gate was closed and latched and...
padlocked.
Wow. A church in a field with a fence and a gate and a padlock. now there's an analogy begging to be made!
I also thought it an unwelcome sight when I first saw the sign beside a church building on highway 60 on the way to Springfield:
the King James Bible Church
I don't know what kind of hearts the members of these churches possess... but the sign and the padlock speaks pretty loudly.
In a day when - more than ever - people need to feel welcome in God's presence and in the presence of His people, it would seem that we should do everything in our power (and everything in His name) to attract seekers to our lives... and to Him... and even to our houses of worship.
Yet these two examples - especially the church behind the padlocked gate - seem to send a very unwelcome message...
Oh, and by the way, there were no cows behind that padlocked gate... evidently they are not welcome either!
May God Bless us as we lift up His Son!
"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
Friday, October 17, 2008
red and yellow, black and white
While I was in Tegucigalpa, Honduras a few years ago, I was surrounded by many stark reminders of just how good we Americans have it... In this huge central American metropolis there are very definitely two distinct classes of people: the affluent and the poor. And by poor I don't mean poor by American standards...
I mean those trapped in abject hopeless poverty. Most of the 'have nots' live in shanties with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing at best ...and a very large portion live in houses made of scrap lumber and refrigerator boxes...
The wealthy of Honduras' capital city do not want to be bothered with the poor. Their pristine mall (worthy of any large U.S. city) is surrounded with large walls topped by concertina combat wire. Armed guards stand sentry at the mallwall gates as if they were protecting Fort Knox.
Yeah I saw a hundred heart-breaking things and heard as many soul-rending stories.
But by far the most dreadful story was one where a group of wealthy store owners paid the police to rid their 'side of town' of the street urchins...
for years the rumors had run rampant about children disappearing from the street never to be seen again... the rumors were confirmed about 5 years ago when a mass grave was discovered outside the city. It was filled with dozens of tiny decomposing bodies of these street kids...
When I returned from that trip, I remember standing next to Cassie's bed one night before I kissed her good night. And I wept and I sang...
Tonight I am blessed with the opportunity to sing with my First Day brothers for the children of Honduras...
We are helping to raise money so they can be rescued from the street... so they can go to school and learn to read and write... so they can grow up to be productive citizens of their home country...
please pray for our efforts and those of the Mt Comfort Church of Christ...
Jesus loves the little children of the world
I mean those trapped in abject hopeless poverty. Most of the 'have nots' live in shanties with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing at best ...and a very large portion live in houses made of scrap lumber and refrigerator boxes...
The wealthy of Honduras' capital city do not want to be bothered with the poor. Their pristine mall (worthy of any large U.S. city) is surrounded with large walls topped by concertina combat wire. Armed guards stand sentry at the mallwall gates as if they were protecting Fort Knox.
Yeah I saw a hundred heart-breaking things and heard as many soul-rending stories.
But by far the most dreadful story was one where a group of wealthy store owners paid the police to rid their 'side of town' of the street urchins...
for years the rumors had run rampant about children disappearing from the street never to be seen again... the rumors were confirmed about 5 years ago when a mass grave was discovered outside the city. It was filled with dozens of tiny decomposing bodies of these street kids...
When I returned from that trip, I remember standing next to Cassie's bed one night before I kissed her good night. And I wept and I sang...
"red and yellow, black and white
they are precious in His sight"
Tonight I am blessed with the opportunity to sing with my First Day brothers for the children of Honduras...
We are helping to raise money so they can be rescued from the street... so they can go to school and learn to read and write... so they can grow up to be productive citizens of their home country...
please pray for our efforts and those of the Mt Comfort Church of Christ...
Jesus loves the little children of the world
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