Time Out To Listen

With all of the rain we have been experiencing in Northeast Ohio, I decided to take advantage of the sunny day we had on Tuesday and start cutting our grass - a task that has been washed out by either the weather or my schedule. Hopefully, it will be the last time I have to do it this year.
I started with the trimming. I was pushing the mower around the north side of our dog kennel, when I heard the familiar, "Hi Dave!" I turned to see the neighbor boy standing at the property line waving at me. I waved and went right back to my task. I finished the trimming and then shut the push mower off.

"Hi Dave!" Again, I turned to see the friendly 7 year old, still waving and smiling at me. A question crossed my mind, "Have I become so busy that I cannot stop what I am doing and give this little boy a few minutes of my time?"

Calling the boy's name, I started a conversation with the lad, which lasted a few minutes and consisted of a very detailed and enthusiastic account of his recent trick or treating adventure.

Once he finished with what he wanted to tell me, he said, "Well, I'll let you get back to your mowing." He then flashed a big smile and walked away.

Did I get as much mowing done that evening? No. Did it really matter? No. While I do not know if my listening to a little boys story had any significant impact on his life, at least he knows that I care. Maybe that is all he needed from me.

An Emotional Day

By the time my head hit the pillow last night, I was well on my way to a sound sleep. I was drained, not so much physically, but emotionally.

Yesterday, we announced my resignation as associate pastor to our church family. It was a day filled with emotions. We felt the excitement that accompanies the sense of God's leading and the sadness of the thought of parting with so many people that we have grown to love.

We will be serving at Grace Fellowship through the end of the year - leaving sooner if God chooses to open a door of ministry for us before that time.

All the while, Robin and I are praying earnestly for God's will and direction to be revealed in our lives and in his purpose for us. We want to be who God wants us to be even more that we want to be where he wants us to be.

Emotional? Yes. But we are filled with the knowledge that while we do not know exactly where this road will take us, we know WHO is leading the way!

Preparrrrrrrrrring For Take-Off

It was my first "date". OK. Not a romantic one, but it was still a "date". I was a strapping young man of 45 pounds, decked out in my blue polyester pants and my blue and white checkerboard jacket. My mom arranged the "date" with a close friend of the family who had recently been divorced. I tried to be the complete gentleman, opening every door and standing to my feet whenever she would leave and return to whatever room we were in. I mustered up all of the charm that a seven year old boy could possibly have.

After dinner at a restaurant, we were off to the entertainment part of our evening. The opening of Disney's The Rescuers. One of my favorite scenes in that movie was when Orrville, the albatross, was trying to take off. Well, here, have a look...





An albatross, even though they can effortlessly fly for days and even weeks on end, has a terribly difficult time taking off. The funny thing about an albatross is that it will wait for hours for the right amount of wind to blow in order to get enough lift to break into flight. If there is little or no wind, these large birds may be land or sea-bound until the right breeze comes along. Walking, for an albatross, is cumbersome and slow - crawling along the ground. I had forgotten about this movie and this scene until last night.

Robin and I have been diligently seeking the Lord about expansion and increase regarding the marriage ministry to which God has called us. The ministry has been in existence since 2004 and, in our minds and from our viewpoint, it has never really left the ground. Much like an albatross without any wind. Sure, we are moving forward, but we are crawling. At least we are crawling after God.

In this scene of the movie, Orrville, basically attempts to run (we can relate to him well)and then throws himself off of the top of a building - the fall providing the speed and lift to achieve flight.

Maybe we have been running, trying to take-off for the last seven years and what we really need to do is throw ourselves off of the proverbial building. Maybe then, the wind of God's Spirit will lift us to fulfil His vision.

No matter what, our hope is in God. He has called us and he will bring about the reality of His vision and purpose.

"Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint."
Isa 40:28-31 NLT


How about you? Have you ever felt like Orrville? Have you been running after a vision that God has given you and it just has not materialized the way that you believed it would? I cannot tell you that you are supposed to jump out of your comfort zone and go "all-in", but that may be what God is waiting for.

There is one thing I take comfort in. Just as an albatross, once it becomes airborne, can fly for days and weeks at a time, God's vision, when we are faithful, will materialize as one that lasts.

It is funny how God has reminded me of this event in my life. Perhaps, even as a seven year-old, God was using me to help bind a broken heart.

The Highest Honor

Yesterday, our Son, Brandon, sent, via text, a picture of the handle of a plunger. Not just any plunger, mind you, but it's the plunger that is passed down every year to the current resident advisor (RA) for the dorm floor that our Son is living on.





What also lends personal value to this picture, for both Brandon and I, is the name of a close personal friend - a friend that I admire and respect, written on the handle.





So what's the big deal about a plunger, you ask? When we think about a plunger, our mind automatically goes to one of the dirtiest places in a house or building - the toilet. No one wants to do the task that requires the use of a plunger or, at least, one does such task reluctantly.





But the plunger in the possession of the RA on Brandon's floor represents far more. It represents servanthood. Being a servant often requires us to do things that we may not choose to do, given the choice. The menial, the mundane, the unheralded, the inconvenient and, sometimes, the disgusting are all parts of being a servant.





For a true disciple of Christ, being a servant is not an optional thing. Christ said it himself...

"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
Mark 9:35 NIV

What part of servanthood are you resisting because of what it requires? That plunger serves as a fitting reminder of what a servant is. According to Christ, it is the highest honor.

Tenacity

Yesterday, before leaving the office, I was startled to find a man walking down the hallway of the church building. After I extended a friendly greeting, he proceeded to invite me to his church. He gave me his pastor's phone number, directions to the church and another invite. He then asked about our affiliation and my role at the church. Soon after I responded, he encouraged me to come and try his church.

I must admit, I was a bit confused at either his reluctance to understand the situation or his misunderstanding of the same, but I couldn't help but admire his tenacity and his huge smile.

While I don't recommend going into another church to invite people to church, I wonder if, for no other reason than this man's willing effort, God smiled.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

I shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the parking space. I glanced in the mirror, one more time, catching a glimpse of him as he walked around the corner of a vine-covered residence hall.

It was a moment that we had been both anticipating and dreading at the same time. Our anticipation stemmed from our knowing that this was part of God's plan - a chapter in the story of our son's life.

Actually, the chapter, for us, started last week, when we left to take our son, Brandon to Minneapolis for the start of the fall semester while leaving our son, Justin to begin classes closer to home. Such is a part of life with twins, the scheduled bench-marks of their lives hit simultaneously leaving us feeling like we're wandering somewhere between good parenting and a no-win situation.

Robin and I drove the 800 miles to home feeling that mixed emotion - neither of us knowing how to put into words exactly what we were feeling. We are excited about the lives unfolding before our sons and at what God will do through them in the future.

Most parents who have experienced this time of life, probably would find our newly recognized maladaptation to the start of the empty nest syndrome, humorous. I've even questioned myself, wondering if our connection with the twins is somehow unhealthy. Unhealthy or not, this is a time of adjustment for us.

We are comforted by the words in Psalms 127:3-5

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate."

Robin and I watch as the first two parts of our heritage prepare to impact this world for the God that we have taught them to serve.

What?

I drove past a church sign yesterday. On it, were these words.

"In order to be loved, one must be lovable."

Immediately, my mind raced, trying to comprehend the meaning of the words and then reconcile those same words with the teachings of Christ.

I thought of a verse in Proverbs. When read in the King James translation, it reads...

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:

and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
Prov 18:24 KJV

It's possible that this verse served as the inspiration for the words on the sign. However, substituting the words friends and friendly with the words love and lovable, results in an entirely different meaning. A meaning that is sadly apparent throughout the church.

I look back into my own life. There were many times during which I was un-lovable. But God showed his love for me, not only through Christ's sacrifice, but through his people. They chose to love me, as I was.

Too often we, as the church send a message to the world saying, "We will love you if: you look like us, dress like us, act like us and smell like us." Nowhere is that attitude found in Christ's teaching. We may even feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give money to the poor and "allow" someone of lower status to attend "Our" church. But, do we love them? When you see someone who is lost and in despair, the addict, the homeless, the businessman who is working so hard at the expense of his wife and family or the neighbor next door, does your heart break for them? Are you moved by Christ's love for them?

Consider this...

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Rom 5:8 NIV

We, as humans, would not have been considered, by many, "lovable" when Christ gave his life for us in the greatest act of love ever. Who are we to declare someone as "un-lovable" when Christ, by example, loved them? It's happening in marriages, families, homes, churches , communities and the world. Love is often only being extended to the "lovable". It's easy to love the "lovable". But Christ placed the command on the believer to love.

What if we loved when our spouse, children, family, friends, classmates, co-workers and anyone else we may come in contact with are not acting "lovable"? What difference would we see manifesting in our lives?

Are you choosing to love today?