One of those days and other stuff

Today was one of those days…but today was in a good sense.  Monday is a day I spend with my family and do nothing church related if I can help it all.  Today I had a wonderful day with my wife and my kids.  We swam, played board games, went to the Library, and laughed a lot.  It was just one of those wonderful days.

I did do some reading in my new book “The 4 Hour Work Week” today.  Has anyone read this and if you did what are your thoughts on it?  I am about seven chapters in and find some of it to be thought provoking. 

Being used….

There is nothing quite like being used by God!  I have been at places in my life where I sensed God wanted to use me and I was too fearful to let him.  Then there are times like this past weekend where I pushed through the fear and allowed Him to used me.  The feeling of Joy that comes with being used far and away out weights the regret and pain of not letting God use you.

What was the last thing you did that you allowed God to work through you?

Craziness!

My life is crazy as I prepare to speak this weekend.  Normally I am the behind the scenes guy making things happen and doing a crazy video.  This week I speak and I feel so unprepared!  Funny thing is I have been working on this for a couple of weeks on and off.  I have in the past spoke more consistently but getting out of the groove has slowed me down.  Anyways I am talking about Moses and his excuses in Exodus 3 and 4.  I see these excuses based in fear.  I see him being fearful about his ability, if God will be there for him, and then his fear of what “they will”  say.  On top of this – Today I became the parent of a teenager – Tomorrow is my 16th anniversery – Saturday is Mom’s Birhtday! 

What do you do when life gets crazy for you?

FEAR

I am preparing a message for the 22nd of June on Fear and got a great taste of it Saturday.  Our church did a fair for the community and we happened to pick a day when it was 98 degrees and a heat index of 112.  I was doing my job of talking with people and making sure things were running right and then moving to the dunking tank for my turn.  Normally I complain about having to be in there but this year – not so much.  My beautiful wife sings and our praise team had just finished a set and I talked with my wife inside before going to the tank.  About 3 minutes in the tank and some comes and tells me my wife is sick and I need to “come right now!”.  I scurried into the building and to where they said she was to find about 10 people standing over her and her slumped in a heap on the floor.  A nurse friend had called 911 and they were on the way.  I hunched there with her and held her hand.  The ambulance got there and I followed them to the hospital.  My wife had dehydration and heat exhaustion.  2 bags of IV fluid and she was better, but there was fear in me. I am so grateful that it was something easily taken care. 

Later we had our phones (both home and cells) ringing off the hook.  It is great to see the love and care of people.  There were several from the community who commented on how much people at out the church cared.  Through this thing that seemed to be hard on us, the testimony of God’s people was shown.  Let us make sure that we have this same care for those who do not yet follow Christ, that would be an even more powerful testimony.

Little Things

Perspective begins with the little things.  I sit here on the floor with my son watching Ben 10 beside me.  A few moments ago he looked up and said, “I can not wait for June 6th”.  To understand you have to know that June 6th is his 6th Birthday and I earlier today laid out the plan for what we will do on his birthday.  He is totally into it.  The whole family is going to go to lunch at Chic-fi-la  then to see Kungfu Panda then back home to swim.  He is so excited to do this and it is really not a big deal unless you are turning 6, it is all about perspective. A great combo my little guy has and it is perspective and passion.

Perspective spiritually begins with the little things.  God has a wonderful life for all of us, but we need to go and grab it.  We are not called to be side-liners in life but called to live life to the fullest.  We are to be excited about what God has for us.  We are to live this life with perspective and passion.

It is all about the little things.

Crazy season!

Have you ever had one of those crazy seasons that you could not wait to get through?  I am in the middle of one of those seasons currently and can not wait till the end of June for things to slow down some.  These are those times when I have to work hard to keep things in balance.  I find that I get short with my wife and kids.  I am not as productive as I need to be.  I work hard to keep things in check.  How do you deal with times that are the “crazy season”?

Tonight my little boy graduated from Kindergarten.  It is fun and exciting to watch him grow and from a selfish perspective it is sad to watch him grow because he is at an age I would love to bottle up, but I do know that too long at this age would become annoying.  Reminds me that if I did not grow in Christ I would be a little boy spiritually that would be cute for a while but then would turn into an annoying freak after a while.  Let us keep growing!