Delight
We had a terrific weekend. A group of our friends went to Toledo Sunday afternoon to see three transitional houses operated by Urbane Knights, a faith-based, non-profit agency that is meeting significant needs of people Jesus described as "the least of these." Maggie's House can serve up to 16 women and there are two houses for men that can serve 14 men each. These special men and women have recently been released from incarceration and are now starting over - finding jobs, reuniting with families - and their lives are being changed. I don't know what all God has in mind, but we are pretty confident that this is the beginning of what is going to be a very powerful relationship. Please pray for Bernard Williams as he leads this exciting ministry. It was a delight to hear his passion and see the impact he is making.
Sunday evening Kim and I went to MI to spend time with R&C, our Aquila & Priscilla. It was refreshing and challenging and we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Most importantly, we experienced God together. It was a delight and I'm excited about what we are learning.
I'm praising God for a closing on Monday morning!!! It even included a bonus, which comes at a very good time! After the closing, we packed up the van and headed to Kalahari for the day. We took advantage of a special rate for home schoolers and had a wonderful time. If you ever get a chance to go, we recommend it. It was very nice to spend time with the Longs today - devoted followers of Christ who are excellent home-schoolers.
We arrived home to the beauty of freshly fallen snow in The Woods, and our kind neighbor had shoveled our driveway. I eagerly changed clothes, fired up the snow blower, and passed on the kindness we had been shown to several other neighbors. It was a delight to be able to share the love of God with our friends here.
Along with a few other men, I'm reading 1 Kings this week. Like all of life, there were good and bad kings over Israel & Judah. God knew the Israelites were better off without a king, but they wanted to be like the other nations and He did what they asked. He gave them Saul, then David, then Solomon and then a series of other leaders - most of whom were pretty bad. As I was thinking and praying this afternoon, I was challenged NOT to ask God for what I think is best. I don't know what is best. He does. So, instead, I asked God to do with my life whatever will bring Him the most delight. I'm confident He will!
Happy Children
I took this picture at the Pinewood Derby last Sunday. It was a great day.
Shani had her 1/2 birthday party at pre-school today and Kim and I had the privilege of working at her school this afternoon. What fun!
It sure is great to see their smiling faces, to observe how care-free they are and how much they enjoy life. Watching them, I'm reminded that our heavenly Father must be delighted to see His children enjoying the life He has given us.
Seeking First
When we were in MO for Christmas, my dad encouraged the family to live out the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:33 - Seek first kingdom of God and all these things (clothes, food, material needs) will be added to you. It was a good reminder, and the last couple weeks I have benefited greatly from doing that. It's been good to enjoy a Sabbath and spend much more time reading God's Word. My friend Tom and I are keeping each other accountable for daily reading, and we're both growing. The last couple of weeks we have read Exodus and 1 Samuel, and this week we're going to finish 2nd Samuel. I love reading about King David's life and I really appreciate the way God lets us see David's failures as well as his successes.
Some highlights over the last few days include successfully negotiating some contracts and spending time with friends (old and new). It's nice to have a few closing scheduled after a dry spell. Kim and I enjoyed the annual Wood Co Bd of Realtors annual dinner on Saturday. Sunday Seth won 3rd place in the pinewood derby, and we had a great time Sunday night with friends.
Today I was privileged to be a "substitute professor" at BGSU. I taught three Educational Psychology courses and it was a lot of fun. The students responded very well and we all learned some things.
We are now in the second week of Upward Basketball practices and the boys I coach are pretty special. It's going to be a fun season.
A couple posts ago I wrote about being conflicted. I'm feeling more stable these days. Oh, I still have a lot of questions about the future, but as long as I am diligent to keep first things first, I'm sure things will work out just fine. After all, that's what Jesus promised!
Pruning
I really like what Jesus says in John 15. He says to his disciples, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit that will last." I love the truth that God has chosen us and will produce eternal spiritual fruit as we remain and abide in Him. The first part of the chapter talks about what is necessary for bearing optimal fruit: pruning. Jesus says that God prunes us so that our lives produce even more. Pruning requires cutting, and I am moving into a season of my life where I know that He is sharpening the knife.
That encourages me.
It’s time to evaluate a lot of things in my life, foundational issues, and I’m ready to dig deep. Some things will stay. Some will go. Some will go and return even better. I look forward to God’s skillful precision in pruning what is unnecessary. I don’t know what all He plans to cut, but I know that His motive is love and that it’s going to be for the good of my whole family. I’m choosing hope and life and submission to the One who knows where to cut in order for us to experience the most abundant life possible. Let the pruning begin!
Conflicted
I told someone about a year and a half ago that I feel like a walking conflict. I still do.
I'm happy and sad, blessed and frustrated, dissatisfied and content, anxious and peaceful, grateful and taking things for granted, certain and confused all at the same time.
Seth and Shani are pretty amazing children, and they have a way of making me feel like the most blessed dad on the planet. I love it when I come home and they are so happy to see me. One night last week when we were praying before bedtime, they prayed, "Thank you that dad was able to play with us tonight." That made me want to be home every night, giving them lots of love and attention.
They are growing up fast and getting smarter every day. I taught them how to play chess over the holidays and it won't be long before they can both beat me. I am especially amazed at how quickly Shani (5) is learning and able to comprehend the idea of considering multiple moves.
Kim has resumed home schooling and Seth is working hard and progressing well. They are the best children a father could ever have.
I've had some heart-warming interaction with several clients over the last few days as they have shared their stories with me. We have talked and prayed and anticipated the future and expressed our gratitude to God for allowing us to meet. It's hard to believe the number of people God has brought into my life. Even though it may be for only a brief season, they are impacting my life and I trust that they are experiencing the love of Jesus as He listens and speaks to them through me. Now if I can just get some closings...
I'm reading a pretty amazing book now called The Starfish & the Spider. It's about the unstoppable force of leaderless organizations. It's not necessarily meant to speak to church issues, but it is full of truth that ends up being pretty descriptive of the growth of the early church, and definitely supports the philosophy that drives the organic/simple church movement. The people we worship with weekly are growing more in love with Jesus and one another, and I look forward to what we're going to learn together this year.
I am not at all sure where my life is going these days, or where God is leading me. I love working in real estate but the income is too sporadic. My brothers think I am not fulfilling a call to ministry since I'm not a vocational pastor. I can't fully comprehend why, but I just can't get excited about the idea of doing that again. I think I'm afraid of the idea that maybe that's where God wants me. I don't think it is where He wants me. But that's the point. I just don't know. I'm conflicted.
I do know that I'm not satisfied with my own lack of zeal and passion for those who have nothing and don't know Jesus. I'm frustrated with my own insatiable appetite for focusing on myself, and I really don't want to live another passionless day with the goal of merely surviving.
Paul said, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering." That's what I want, too - minus the suffering. But I don't think you can have one without the others, so it's time to rest and let God lead and enjoy this wild ride.
The last few days I re-read "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. I highly recommend it. He has a great way of writing about what it means to follow Jesus in our day. It's one of the few books I have ever read twice, and I will probably read it again. One thing he says (that Myles Munroe also says) is that we are to bring heaven to earth. While we do have hope of eternal life, it begins now and we are to usher in God's Kingdom right where we are, in the present, instead of focusing only on the future. I like that because it gives much more significance to the ordinary, mundane circumstances of life. He says a lot of other great things about truth, the church, etc. so I encourage you to get a copy of the book. I'm sure you would like it.
Bell also writes that we would be much more effective evanglists if we followed Paul's example and pointed out the presence of Jesus where people have simply not been able to identify Him before. He is ever-present, but not always obviously visible, so we live a life of love and ask good questions and engage people as the Spirit leads, and some will join us in the journey.
We've had some very rewarding evenings lately. Thursday as the church gathered the Holy Spirit moved among us and Jesus' headship was demonstrated as He led our time together - singing, prayer, scripture, encouragement, confession, and lots of love.
Friday we spent the evening with friends and had great conversation. I look forward to developing a deeper friendship with G&R in 2007.
I got to spend some time with clients Saturday and also spent much of the afternoon with my neighbor, Tom, splitting firewood. Great exercise. As we worked, I felt a lot of gratitude for my heritage and how my parents taught me to value work - and enjoy it.
I'm recovering from a cold, so I spent most of the day Sunday and today on the couch. It was good to see the Steelers beat the Bengals, to see Dallas lose to Detroit, and the WV Mountaineers come back victory over Georgia Tech ! Sunday evening we celebrated Macee's 5th birthday then went to a gathering in BG with some home-school friends. Excellent time together. Christ-centered conversation, great food, deepening friendships. We have a great life.
