Vacation

I spent the last week on a motorcycle road trip down the Washington, Oregon, and Northern California coasts.Left Saturday August 28 with two friends from home and got home Sept 5. Traveled 2426 miles, spent time with my wife and her brother and his kids in San Francisco, and then rode to Fair Oaks CA to visit an old friend that I made in college.

I have lived my life thinking that I am okay, but that good friends are what other people have.

I am married to my best friend, we do everything together, we know each others quirks and enjoy just being with each other. We can finish each others sentences and at times know what the other is thinking with out asking.

Maybe it is my age but lately I have been wondering if I really am influential in peoples lives. You know... am I a person that people like or just endure. I guess that the older we get we start wondering about our legacy.

As I said at the beginning of this post I left home with two friends, we traveled together to San Francisco, after the Golden Gate bridge we parted ways, not that we had differences, just that our plans were different at this point of the trip. I intended to only go as far as San Francisco and they had plans to go farther.

I had found my old college roommate on facebook, I found out that he lived close to my brother in law, so this seemed like an opportunity to take a trip down memory lane. I had very fond memories of our time in college, even though I only went the one year. I was a little apprehensive of the visit, you know the feeling of just being endured for the moment and that it would soon be over.

I am not one to be socially active, some might even go as far as call me anti-social. Small talk and carrying on a conversation for the sake of socializing is not my strong suit. So the trip from the bay area to Fair Oaks was a very gut wrenching time. nobody to talk too, share my fears with. Wondering if I was going to be a burden on a family that I didn't know. What if I was interrupting their Labor Day weekend? What if we were way different from the way we were in college?

This all changed when I was about 60 miles from their home, I was pulled over waiting for a draw bridge to be lowered, and I received a voice mail from my college friend, asking when I was going to arrive, and he sounded excited to see me. That eased my feelings a little.

From the moment I arrived at his home I felt welcomed and accepted, we had good and meaningful conversations, more than just "So how have you been?" Actual life stories and true to the heart talks. People actually listening to what I have to say with out changing the subject matter to focus on themselves. I only stayed for a day and a half but the time was very meaningful.

When I left my friend made the comment "I'll keep in touch." which I took this as a polite goodbye and nice seeing you. This past Wednesday as I was on my way to band practice I received a cell phone call from  this friend, just to say hi and to tell me how much the visit meant to him. Got to tell you...... that made my day.

My life is far from over........ but at least now I can say that it has been more than just endured. Well at least by some. ===Skid===

Parenthood........

I had this thought several days ago: The Christian walk is a lot like parenthood. I know that some of my thoughts might be construed as strange and weird to some but please just allow me to explain.

Parenthood, sometimes can begin with a well thought out planned event, everything well prepared for; finances, home, job. Everything is taken care of. Other times nothing is prepared and it comes as a total shock and surprise. One is researched and the other just happens.

 Whether it is planned for, or it just happens, parenthood is still parenthood. Either way it happens the result is the same.

The birth of the child is not the extent of parenthood, all those who are parents know that the birth of a child is just the beginning. There is much ahead for the new parents, and no matter how prepared for parenthood they are, there is always something that they weren't prepared for. A couple can provide the best  for their child with nothing but the best intentions. Only to find that they have a constant battle with their child. Why is this so tough?

Parenthood takes a lot of work, it doesn't come with an instruction manual, although there have been several books written on the subject. Luckily we have our parents and grandparents to turn to for advice.

Now I know that I haven't covered all the areas of parenthood, but enough for a comparison.

So here is my comparison: The Christian walk can also start as a well researched plan, a person can be searching for something in thier life and find Christ, or they can be totally surprised and shocked to find Him without warning. Whether it is planned or spontaneous the result is the same. But finding Christ is not the extent of Christianity there is so much more.

Walking the Christian walk is a lot of work no matter how prepared I am, there is always something that happens to make a me ask; Why? Luckily I do have a guide book the Bible to help me through the tough times, I also have those who have walked the walk ahead of me to ask for advice.

I guess the point that I'm trying to get across is that Christianity as with parenthood is not finished with the birth or rebirth, It is a constant journey, Just like no two children are the same, not every person's Christian walk is identical.Some children are easy to raise (just ask my mother), others are a real trial. In the same way some people have a real easy time walking the Christian walk, others struggle with their walk.

So what do you do if you have a problem child.....do you just give up? I guess that some people do but does that make the problem go away? In the same way what do you do if you are struggling with your Christian walk, do you give up and walk away? ........I guess that some do, but does that really solve anything?.

Just my thoughts ===Skid===

The Wonderful Cross

I have listened to,and quite often sung the song "The Wonderful Cross", but Easter Sunday during church I didn't sing, instead I took a different approach. I actually read the words. I was amazed at the message that I have missed. I have gotten used to saying the words without really thinking about the message in the song. I am not saying that I don't believe in the Power of the Cross, quite the opposite. I am saying that I have gotten real good at living the "Christian life" without thinking. I think that there might be a lot of others that might be in the same boat as my self.

The freedom that we have in this country I think is partly to blame....now I would not trade my USA for any other. I am just saying that we get used to having everything that we need and sometimes all that we WANT. What if we were forced to give up just a little of those freedoms. Lets say just for the example, lets say The Government felt that Football was wasting to much energy, you know all the TV stations broadcasting uses quite a lot of electricity. I am sure that there would be quite a uproar over that. What if we were asked to give up the Bible because it was causing dissension with the populace, you know all those "Thou Shalt Not". How many people would fight for that freedom? How about our freedom of speech? Our freedom to bear arms? Freedom to assemble?

We have it quite good here in the good ol' USA. A lot of men and women died for those freedoms that we hold so dear. But you know what?.......Christ died for freedom.... He died so that we could be free. But He didn't die so that we could just LIVE free. He died to set us free. Free from sin. I did not say free from sinning. Although I wish that were true, life would be so much easier if I didn't ever have to worry about losing my battle to temptation. Christ suffered a cruel and lonely death, even His Father in heaven had to turn His back. Christ died for someone that didn't even know Him, never heard of His teachings, never heard of His miracles. He died for someone that could care less about the feelings of others. He died for that one that we see on the street corner, you know the one that we avoid eye contact with as we drive by.He bore the pain of crucifixion for that one in prison that murdered.

I have missed a lot by just existing, instead of living for the One that saved me from a life of sin and loneliness.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Chorus:
Oh, the wonderful cross
Oh, the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die
And find that I may truly live

See from his head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
Chorus:
Oh, the wonderful cross
Oh, the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die
And find that I may truly live

Oh, the wonderful cross
Oh, the wonderful cross
All who gather here
By grace draw near and bless Your name
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

The last two lines say it all: Love so amazing,so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

===Skid===           

Loyalty

Saturday morning my wife and I watched this movie.  It has been a long time since I have been so moved by a story. The plot is simple and the acting is okay, not much in the way of high tech cinematography, but the story of such loyalty WOW. I will tell you that I am still moved and emotional when I remember certain scenes. This is one movie that every dog lover should see.

Another thing that has come to my odd way of thinking, is how much this story should be an example to those that profess Christianity as their belief. The commitment level that this dog has for his adopted master.... What if we as believers had just a 10th of that commitment to our God? Can you just imagine the ramifications of such loyalty and commitment. The thought of that just blows me away. It seems that we can't even commit to attending church on a regular basis let alone commit to serving our risen Savior. What if we committed half as much time to serving Jesus as we do attending sports events, or watching TV, enjoying recreation. I am embarrassed to say that I spend way to much time serving myself and too little time serving the Lord. So this is by no means an admonishment to any one but my self.

Another view on my thoughts, is the unconditional love that Hachi exhibits is astounding, I know that God is greater and Loves us more and that I should not compare God to Hachi, but this is just a slice of the Love God has for each one of us. He constantly waits for us as we go about our oh so important lives. He is always there when we finally come home to Him. He died for us can we not give a little of our time to Him?

So any way rent this video or borrow it from somebody, just watch it somehow. I am sure that you will be as touched by the story as much as I was. ===Skid===

Encouragement

These past few years have been a trying time in the life of our church. A lot of different ideas as to what our church is to be about. We have been in transition for a long time. Staff members leaving often and members of the congregation dissatisfied with leadership. It has been a time of wonder. Do you remember the old pepsodent toothpaste commercial, "You'll wonder where the yellow went." that is kind of the way I have felt these past years. "I wonder where the love went." If you have been following my blog at all, then you will see some of my concern within the posts.

Well today I have been become encouraged. We had a service this morning in which I was blessed, then after wards a potluck lunch (I have been batching it this weekend, so home cooked food sounded really good). The attendance of the congregation was up, and I felt the Spirit move among the people.

I thought that I could see a light at the end of a long dark and scary tunnel. Did I say I was encouraged?

God is good. It is just a shame that we try to make God fit into our agenda. What if we just let God use us as He sees fit. After all He sees the larger picture, all we can see is the picture that we are a part of.

There are good times ahead, but also hard times if we are willing to do the will of the Lord.

The picture I put to this post says a lot of what I have felt, the arm of God around His people who have been struggling to make the team. Don't give up, stay the course and listen to what He has to say and learn from our mistakes. ===Skid===

What's That?

I don't know how many of you have found that time has a way of sneaking up and letting you know that you aren't as young as you once were. I had one of those experiences a couple of weeks ago.

A group of men from our church went to a men's retreat, this was Friday evening and most of Saturday. Some of the younger men thought that they would spend the night in the church with their sleeping bags on the floor of a Sunday school room. I didn't think that sounded very comfortable so myself and another friend stayed at a local motel. This turned out to be just one of the events that would show my age.

Friday evening the meal that we were served was very good, roast beef with potatoes and veggies and plenty of coffee available, after the meal we enjoyed the topics that were covered by the guest speakers, I was glad I came.

Saturday the breakfast was great, biscuits and gravy with sausage and eggs and plenty of coffee. Good manly food, no yogurt or bagels. After breakfast we enjoyed more good speaking, along with some very good music and comical relief now and again. Now you have to remember that this is a men's retreat and most men after a good meal tend to get a little distracted unless the speaking is exceptional. Well I do anyway. So with that said I will try to describe to the best of my ability what happened next.

Lunch was served and there was about 45 minutes after lunch that I had to myself. So I thought that a walk around the area might be good. The sun was shining and the temperature was mild, I began walking towards the freeway overpass, this seemed to be the most interesting area around. When I got to the overpass what did I hear coming by but a dude on his Harley out for a Saturday ride, man was I envious of him. My mind then started to wander, I guess daydreaming is what I have been accused of in the past. Well it was now time to go back to the church to hear more speaking.

Inside the church it was warm and my mind was on other things than what the speaker was talking about. I did hear enough to follow along with the topic of his speech. I checked the agenda for the retreat and saw that two more speakers were yet to come. The next guy that came to the platform had a bit of a distracting habit of scratching his nose during his talk, also I felt that he was a little scattered in his speech. So with the warm room, the thoughts of somebody having a good Saturday ride and distracting habits of the speaker, my mind was definitely not on the topic at hand. However I did hear his story about those he has come across in his ministry, about the stories of his kids. I really did enjoy what he had to say. Then at the end of his time on the platform I heard him talking about prayer and healing.

What I did not hear was going to be important for the next few moments. I heard that we were to stand if we had an area of our lives that we needed release from. Others around me started to stand, and then we were asked to stand with those who have requested prayer. I stood and prayed for a friend on my left, I had no idea what his affliction was but I prayed for him anyway. The service concluded with several testimonies of God's healing mercies. What an experience to be a witness to His compassion and mercy.

So what is the topic of this post?...........

After this we were excused for a small break before the last speaker. I went out to be with my friends and as I approached, one of them asked me: "Did that make you feel a little uncomfortable?" I said: "Yes but I didn't hear all that he was speaking about, I was a little distracted." Well this friend of mine just busted out into a roaring laughter. I thought he was going to fall on the floor laughing. Then he said: "Seriously, you couldn't hear?" He thought that I was joking. I said: No, the speaker was disjointed in his topic and the thing with his nose just lost me." My friend then asked "Do you not know what the praying was about? It was a healing service for those that were hard of hearing."

Well then the irony set in. To think that I was at a healing service for those that had difficulty hearing, and I didn't hear what was said. You might say that I was a little curious as to why all those who gave testimony after the healing service were praising the Lord for allowing them to hear more clearly. I just thought that it was a very curious coincident. Boy do I feel my age now.  ===Skid===

My Valentine

Okay guys have you given your special someone their Valentines card, gift or flowers.

I have to admit that I am not the most romantic guy out there. I think that my wife would probably agree with that statement.

I will tell you that I am married to the most gracious and loving person alive. I am not worthy of the love that I receive daily from this special woman. She listens patiently as I complain about the people I come in contact with. She questions but never condemns my actions. She encourages me, never ridicules as I make stupid mistakes. She laughs with but never at me, as she points out the fault in my actions.

These might seem insignificant to others but these are attributes that I fell in love with. I find more each day that I admire about this woman that I call "Honey, Sweety, Dear, Wife, Love, but most importantly MINE.

So you might have a great Love in your life but none is as great or precious as Nancy.

I Love You Nancy, will you be my Valentine? Oh yea by the way Happy Birthday Too!!

Remember this is just a few months away.


===Skid===