2008

I've been thinking about this past year. In so many areas I can see how God has been moving and I am praying that 2008 will be a year of miraculous events. I pray that I will see it in the church, in our homes and in our lives.

Happy New Year!

AHHHH

Ok, so I am a 40 year old college student. It is an amazing feeling when I get to put the books in the bookcase and tear up all the unimportant papers that have accumulated through the semester. There is just something about hitting that send button to submit my last assignment for the semester. It's a mix of feelings ranging from accomplishment to freedom. Another semester done and a few steps closer to my degree!

Our relationship with God should be like that, I mean, God is always teaching us and it's up to us to learn. Once we learn something, God is already moving to the next level, wanting us to follow. Each level brings us closer to the time when we'll be with him forever - graduation!

Are you doing your homework?

D

Family Stick

The other day our son Alex came home from school holding something he had made. It was a colored wrapping paper tube onto which he pasted cut-out heads depicting each member of the family. Wow, does that boy have a keen eye! Each of "our heads" were placed in the proper order from top to bottom. He didn't miss anything, not my mustache/goatee or his older brother's buzz cut. It was a remarkable piece of work.

As I look at it, I'm reminded how God notices every detail of our lives. Scripture says that he knows how many hairs are on our head. He knows about our strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures and he can use them all for his glory.

Just as Alex recreated our heads in intricate detail, God knows us and desires to use us, faults and all. The question is, will we let him?

Christmas Joy

Ok, I admit it. There have been times in recent days when I wasn't exactly joyful that Christmas Day was approaching. It isn't that I don't love the holiday, or realize the true importance and significance of what God did for mankind. My focus was diverted from the true meaning to thoughts like "what will the kid's think with another year of space under the tree?" Or. "Can I find some extra job with insane hours to make-up for my shortcomings as a dad?"

Pondering this at work the other day, it was brought to my attention that many children do not have families to celebrate Christmas with. Or, worse, they have families that want nothing to do with them.

That was the attitude adjustment I needed. I think I will hold my kids a little tighter this Christmas... and the whole year through.

Honesty and Transparency

As of today, I'm almost through the book entitled "Confessions of a Pastor" by Craig Groeschel.

It has been a breath of fresh air and has challenged me in so many ways. This past year my family and I have been through some things, some things that I erroneously thought that a Christian and especially a minister should be above or be immune to.

This book has really helped me to see my own humanity in a different light. What I have read is starting to sink in and, more importantly, change me.

I also am following the blogs of several staff members at a church near Columbus, Ohio who are attempting to go 21 days straight without complaining. It has been refreshing to follow and relate to the struggle such an attempt presents.

Problems, Prayer and a Laughing Duck

Phil 2:5 KJV

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:...

In several instances during the past few months, I began to feel like I was "losing it." Instead of waking up with a song or scripture verse in my mind, I would wake up to the sound of maniacal laughter. I would also hear it during the day, while praying or reading in my office. Always the same sinister "ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha".

The past several months have been a valley in my life, full of questions and concerns. While I was still praying and believing God for the answers, I couldn't help but feel like I was getting laughed at by the enemy of my soul - Satan. Physical problems in my family, lost loved ones seeming more lost than ever, families continuing to crumble and discouragement was running rampant.

One day last week, I heard the laughter very loudly. I quickly spun around in my chair and looked out of my office window. There, just a few yards away, were my neighbor's ducks. I noticed that one duck, actually I think it is a drake, opened his bill really big and let loose with that same menacing laughter that I had been hearing. Now it was my turn to laugh, hysterically. I have never, until that point, encountered a laughing duck, well, at least one whose call sounds like a laugh.

Since then, things have been different. Where there had been darkness, shafts of light have begun to push back the inky blackness. Some families on my prayer list are showing signs of healing. Broken relationships are being mended. Again, I'm waking up in the morning with a song or a scripture verse in my mind.

Are there still problems in my life and family? Sure! However the power and strength to deal with those problems is also present through my relationship with Christ. Am I relieved that I am not losing my mind? Absolutely! (Some might say I lost it long ago.)

What are you and your spouse or family facing today? Know that your strength, hope, fulfillment, joy and happiness are found only in Christ. He is the one who can get you through the times when it seems like Satan is laughing at and lying to you! Be fervent in prayer, asking God to renew your mind and give you the mind of Christ. Wait for God to answer - because he will!

Oh yeah, when you think you hear someone laughing at you, be on the lookout for a white duck

Ministry vs Occupation

Monday, as I was working, I began to simply talk to God. I was asking him to give me an opportunity in ministry. For some time now, my family and I have been waiting for God to open the door to a full-time ( or even a part-time) ministry.

Now, I'm not sure if the thought that entered my head next was from God or my own imagination. The thought was this. "I called you to ministry, not necessarily to an occupation." WHAM! WHACK! OUCH!

I remember back a few years, when I first answered God's call. I remember telling a group of married couples that I didn't know if I would ever make a dime from the ministry that God has planned for me. My gift is in a ministry area that most churches cannot afford and simply cannot budget for. I was immediately met with comments, such as, "I bet your wife hopes so", "you had better make some money to pay back your school loans" and "if your not going to make any money, why are you doing it?."

Funny thing is, I was OK with the possibility that I might not make any money and would be required to work a job to support my family in addition to ministering. But, somewhere along the line, I developed this notion that being a full-time minister, pastor, or in my case, a pastoral counselor required pay.

Perhaps, I'd be better off reclaiming my initial mindset (I know my blood pressure would probably go down) of expecting to be in servant ministry. God knows!