| Jernill |
Be niceMy boys are a continual source of pandemonium.No small animal is sacred. It's not that they are mean. They are just fast, and many, and curious, and careless. Woe be to the lizard, frog, spider, or unsuspecting critter who falls into their group gaze. I had to learn that when we trap a mouse in our no-pain mousetraps (you know the kind, the last sound they hear is "click"), I can't just fling the remains out in the yard. Invariably the army-of-short-people who have invaded my house will find the mouse carcass, no matter how far I fling, and triumphantly display it to all who would look...as though they achieved something. So there goes mouse-recycling. It is a little fun, though, having been one of them myself long ago, as they have sisters to torment with their finds. I do feign my appropriate fatherly disgust with such nonsense, and will never admit the little chuckle that is under my eyes when the teenage girls go through their contortions. 8:17 PM - Oct. 25, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentA backyard JordanToday our 11 year old girl was baptized in our swimming pool in the back yard. The pastor graciously gave of his Sunday afternoon to discuss her decision with her and then perform the baptism. It was truly a blessing, especially knowing how she had initiated the event herself, making sure it was scheduled and that everyone she wanted to attend was informed. She said in her testimony that she wants to follow Jesus in her life of obedience, and she wants to help Jesus' dream come true. Wisdom.I never thought about Jesus' dreams until today. 8:24 PM - Aug. 30, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentWho's yer daddy?No one is in authority unless God allows it. (Romans 13). It's tough to digest that, considering some of the historic, and, perhaps, present authority we can see.Despite that, the fact is that the ultimate authority in our nation is "We, the People". It is more than a right, it is a duty of us in that authority, to look at our roles and exercise them in all of the myriad ways available. While we celebrate a voter turnout that went from 63% in 1960 to 57% in 2008, a closer look reveals the pathetic abdication of the authority placed in our hands and allowed by God. Our nation was established to guarantee the freedom of our individuals, but 37-43% of those individualsstay home rather than perform their most basic duty in the authority vested in them as citizens, as, the People. I'm sure everyone of them has a story. Blame it on "the big boys?". Sure, that's easy. The problem is that we put them (the big boys) in authority. God allowed it, true. However, God not only allowed us, but for those of us born into this citizenship, placed us the authority that is greater than theirs. Kind of sobering, eh? 10:28 AM - Aug. 28, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentDonorOne morning last week a 21 year old young man woke up with the intention of doing whatever he did in the normal world. Somewhere along the course of the day he was killed suddenly, catastrophically, in a way that preserved his very healthy internal organs.With little thought he had checked "Yes" on the driver's license form to the question about being an organ donor. An abstract thought, probably. After all, he was young. What are the odds. That same day, just before midnight, we were called...there is a kidney available for your daughter. We got her to the hospital, and around 12-18 hours later that kidney was working inside her body...probably less than 24 hours since his tragic death...an unexpected end to his otherwise regular day. She came home this weekend and went to church with us this morning. I watched her as we sang of God's love and His miraculous power. She has embodied miraculous healing most of her life before all who have known her. I thought of this young man, hoping he was in heaven with the Father, wishing that his tragic end would be completed by a loving reunion with the Father who saved Him, another fateful decision made during his life...that one day he can meet my little girl whose life is vastly improved by the gift of his checkmark - and maybe some of the other 6 people who received other gifts from him...what a conversation they could have. Thanks God for making such meeting possible. 6:45 PM - Jul. 19, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentIts like He was looking...I remarked in my last post about losing a good friend who had shared the last 4 years of Wednesday nights in prayer with me and another friend. Last Wednesday was our last meeting together, as he is moving, actually today. Incredibly, we prayed that last time together for Grace to get a donor finally for her kidney - that the doctors had told us that this was becoming important because dialysis cannot prevent some long term damage.In my post I commented on how we had seen miracles. As a gesture of His grace, mercy, and power in the waning of our little group, He did it again. We got a call that there is a kidney that matches and Grace needed to be at the hospital early. Kate left at 3AM to take her to DC, about a 90 minute drive. They are there right now awaiting the surgery, which will take place around lunch time. With all of the universe to keep aligned, our Father God saw fit to bless us in this important way. As my friend Rob goes off to his new situation, He does so with an explicit visual of the power and promise of thie God, so merciful and sweet. We thank Him and ask for Grace's healing as this progresses. 8:32 AM - Jul. 10, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentSee there RobTomorrow my friend of 24 years moves away to a retirement village to be closer to the care one with his level of Parkinson's needs. He has struggled with the decision and process, and the fact is, he is not suited to living 8 miles out of town in the country anymore,I will miss him. We have shared much over these years. He retired and then I did. His daughter grew up as a friend of one of mine. We shared a wood shop. We argued about how to build things. We have opposite views politically and the mutual stubbornness to chat them up and not yield an inch, loving as friend do despite... For the last 4 or so years we have shared most Wednesday nights with another friend praying for each other and what is on each others' minds. We have seen miracles come of those prayers as the Lord has honored His promise to listen and answer, and are amazed each time. Now the Wednesday nights will continue for us here, now without the founder. He has promised that he will begin a new group where he is, and that the prayers we lift will still end up in the Throne Room together, just having originated 50 or so miles apart rather than from the same room. I think that's OK. 50 miles is as an inch to the Lord, isn't it? 9:08 PM - Jul. 9, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentWhere God wanted usWe lived by the seashore this last 2 weeks with our house full of kids God has blessed us with. There were 2 adult kids, adopted at young ages, both in college, one of them preparing to leave soon for Air Force boot camp. The other 8 are kids who came by other miraculous ways to be ours, 4 in the midst of the long adoption process, one already adopted after surviving myriad life threatening illnesses, and 3 we anxiously await word on whether they can enter the adoption process. All 8 rumbled through the sand, the water, the ice cream shops, the late nights, sand dunes, and souvenir junk shops as one unit of Gods love delivered to this little spot for this little time.Tomorrow we will roll out of here at 8:30 to catch the ferry. We need 3 spots on the ferry this year; one for the van, one for the jeep, and one for the trailer. The tide will have reset the beach sand to the state God wants it in, the maids will come to the house to reset the house to the condition the owner wants. We will proceed home over the day, and it will be like we were never here. But we were. Our hearts are indelibly blessed with the grace of God in this lovely little spot, this place of peace where the sound of His voice resonates as the heartbeat of the ocean. We have laughed and cried, had birthdays and daily devotions, fished, had timeouts, and stayed up to late. We even had a record 6 visits to the emergency room. Thanks God for a lovely time. Now we get back to work. 4:33 PM - Jun. 12, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentCould it be?I watched a good show last night about the end of time as told in the book of Revelation. It was a History Channel show..and was surprisingly considerate of the way God's Word lays out how the end will come. One of the more startling comments to come from this secular show was "no matter what scientific method causes these things to happen, if God wants it to happen, He will use whatever means He chooses." Very bold statement for secular TV to make.Bold and true! I appreciate their candor and recognition of this simple fact of God. He encourages our participation in His plans, but is in no way limited by what choices we make beyond our willingness to follow. He offers us free access, but should we refuse, His Will commences regardless. It is somewhat of a relief to know who is in charge... 5:02 PM - Jun. 10, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentLook out below!If I should say, "My foot has slipped,"Your lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up. This assurance from Psalm 94 is good one indeed. I suppose as I walk I do get on rocky paths on the edge of hills...no railing, often with limited sight, I can only go forward with this assurance. All the more reason to make sure I am on the path He planned for instead of being on one above where He wants me... 8:24 AM - Jun. 9, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentI've done my partIt can never be that way.Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love... Paul's direction to the Ephesian christians is still appropriate direction. I know for me, the patient, gentle persistence of Christ calling me was without my response, in fact, with my ignoring Him, sometimes consciously rejecting Him. He nevertheless persisted, loving me because He truly wanted to save my life. I hope I can be the same in my life...that what I do can demonstrate the love of Christ. When I think of how those who demonstrated that to me gave me pause to reject my own meanness and stubborness I am grateful. 9:45 AM - Jun. 8, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentThe sandThe sand at the seashore displays God's power very beautifully. It is delivered with no effort on our part to separate the land from the sea. It is full of nutrition, life, and minerals. It is ubiquitous. Kids love it. It is replenished from what appears to be nothing. It takes a beating everyday yet is fresh every morning..And it is infinite. 6:56 PM - Jun. 7, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentWhose crab?Walking along this beach we always see lots of crabs. They dart in and out of holes, some the size of a quarter and others as large as an adult fist.They are funny to watch. As soon as they realize a person is nearby, they dart to a spot; sideways and with their 2 eyes fully deployed on the little sticks that hold them, adn then stand still. If you watch closely they slowly draw their little appendages up to their bodies as if they could get small enough to not be noticed. I don't think anyone told them that running across the sand is their giveaway... It is, though, a miracle that they live at all. The beach appears to us a deserted wasteland of broken shells and twisted wood...to them it is a buffet of delectible dead things...pick pick pick... How much more can God care for us? 12:35 PM - Jun. 6, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentThe imponderableI sat with a good friend today pondering out loud. Its fun to do that at the beach, where worries are reduced to "when did I eat last?" and "if it rains does it matter because I'll get wet anyway?"Anyway, our pondering led us to the inevitable discussion of "what does God want us to do?" It was a good discussion. Our conclusion was that we are the ones who make it a hard question, forgetting the scripture that implores us to do whatever we do as though it were for Him. We can, therefore, start where we are and just devote our next thing to Him. Doing this will start the path, as He sees our direction and willingness and then directs us. I remember watching an Easter movie when I was a kid. In the movie it dramatized the story of Jesus feeding the crowd of 5000 with the few loaves and fish. The presentation of this was good - rather than focusing on how many fish and loaves it took to feed the crowd, it was that every time an individual reached into the basket, there was a loaf or a fish for him. The crowd was there to listen to Christ. Nobody had anything more than they needed, but they had all they needed. His provision is the same today. Every time I ask Him to enable me, especially in work I am doing for Him, there is exactly what I need in the basket. If I worry about how much it should be I rely on me rather than Him. If I do what I am doing right now for him, the basket will have just what I need...no more, just exactly what I need. 3:36 PM - Jun. 5, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentOverwhelmingA good thing about the beach vacation is the tranquil environment. Getting away from the hub-bub of the real world is good - it gives us rest and a chance to give God more space in our lives. It's kind of hard to miss Him around here.I give our young sons pieces of bread to take out on the deck to feed to the seagulls. They go out, no birds in sight, and put bread on the rail. Within minutes there are myriad birds fluttering to have bread thrown to them as though they knew all along it'd happen. God tells us that the way He provides for birds should give us an example of how He provides for us. I thank Him that I can look at this small provision for the birds and their reliance on forage to ponder how much more He provides for me and my family. Whenever I doubt Him or worry I suppose I should remember that He is likely to be inspiring someone to put something out on a deck rail for me. All I need to do is expect His provision at just the right time. 9:41 AM - Jun. 4, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentI've always hated thatWhen we left on vacation I told myself it'd be an ideal time to post on my blog, especially since I hadn't in forever. I've always hated the out of date, ignored blog, and when it is me I hate it more. So, here I am.What goes on that takes me away from it? Nothing really, maybe I just have less to say. I know it is said already in a lot of places. I have strong opinions on the news, the administration, Prop 8, the Mars rovers, and an assortment of other things, but they aren't unique or all that interesting. What is interesting is that I am presently at the beach with all of my children (the ones who are at home), some very good friends, and, of course, my best friend, my wife. We come here this time each year to hear the sound of many waters, rest, burn, laugh, and try to give at least a little attention to Weightwatchers. We picked a part of the beach that has little but the house and the beach deliberately. Today the big excitement was the ice cream truck coming by. Life is sweet when little things excite... So, I guess I should try to have more to say if I own this page. I will. For now though, I am caught up. 9:15 PM - Jun. 3, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentAll things newI love how at this time of year what was once a gray/brown, crunchy and dead landscape begins to come to life. From those clumps of leaves from last fall that never got cleaned up come new, fresh, tender green shoots, sometimes right through concrete. It seems impossible that something so tender can break through such hardness.Yet it does, year after year, spring after spring. All without our help - in fact - despite our help. What a God we have. 1:28 PM - Mar. 26, 2009 - comments {1} - post commentHard boiled eggs and pork chopsEaster's one of those "non-holiday" holidays. There's a little bit of weirdness for the kids, putting eggs into baskets (mind you, not all in ONE basket), marshmallow baby chickens and ducks, and that stupid fake grass (what happens to the factories that make that for the rest of the year?).It's always on Sunday, so everyone gets the day off. Except the fast food people. There's ham a lot of the time. It's like a get back, see, we can eat pig parts now... It's pretty sad, in fact, knowing that the real thing is that this is the celebration of the PROOF that we have a Messiah. Christ's resurrection is the most magnificant divine act since creation itself, and we have relegated it to the "by the way" of a holiday celebrating candy and eggs. While the world spins on it's rumpus trying to solve all of it's problems and debate who is a homophobe, we have a God who saw fit to bring a publically executed and brutalized man TO LIFE 3 days after being buried to PROVE that He was Who He Said He Was, expecially since he and others had foretold it for thousands of years.... In the name of tolerance we reject Him, in the name of diversity we turn away from Him. In the name of science we insist on proof, and in the name of self we doom a generation. 10:12 PM - Mar. 23, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentAnyone smell smoke?There seems to be a misunderstanding around town that if we call ourselves a Christian then we are one.Fact IS, it is not a label. It is a choice ....to be a disciple of Christ. A disciple. Disciples are students who choose to follow their teacher to the extent of adopting the teacher's life as their own, to yield to that teaching, fully invested, not just learning some facts and knowledge, but adopting the details as to become just like the teacher. Of course, it is fine for each of us to be able to say what we want and to believe what we choose as "the truth". And, it is each of our individual rights and responsibility to make that call. It remains, though, that believing in something or another doesn't make it the truth. The truth IS, regardless of belief. One day. we each will be called to account for our choice, no matter what we believe. On that day, our answer will determine our eternal destiny. Our religion won't Our label won't Neither will our preference for anything. There is a place for discussion and debate...discussion and debate that honors the basic fact and does not compromise the truth that Christ died to deliver...there is no place for discussion or debate that will cause people to lose their life. There is no negotiating the truth that was delivered by God to us. He said "I am the way, the truth, and the life...no one comes to the Father but through me." That is a narrow and indisputable claim. If we believe that, we are of "The Way" and we can call ourselves Christians. If we call ourselves Christians and we don't believe this root truth, we fool ourselves. We wear a label because we like the sound,or he look... We don't have to believe that. We don't have to believe He said it. We don't have to believe He was telling the truth. It is our choice. But, if we call ourselves Christians, it is the foundation of what He, the Christ of "Christian" said. I say this because I see with sadness many fooling themselves. We are a pluralistic society, respecting others' right to believe what they choose, that is what we are signed up to do in America. We are free people. But that freedom does not relieve us of the sobering responsibility given...to let everyone know when the house is on fire. I respect my neighbor's right to privacy and security. I would only enter his house after knocking and being invited in. On the other hand, if I saw his house on fire and saw no response, my greater caring for him would overtake my politeness and I'd let nothing stop me from letting him know his house was on fire. I wouldn't comment on his paint colors, on his housekeeping, his choice of furniture or food, on the condition of his lawn. I would make every noise, search every corner, set aside whatever I was doing for myself to make sure he knew. For, saving his life is the preminent act of love and friendship, not how I might make him feel in the process of saving him. So let's not let our wish to be nice and fair and polite overpower the fire alarm that is ringing. There is a foundational truth, that, once accepted, will open the way for us all to have hundreds of years of discussions and dialogues about whatever we want while we bask in His glory in eternity 5:43 PM - Feb. 8, 2009 - comments {2} - post commentStimulationI know for myself I would be quite stimulated by an injection of 800 billion dollars into my household. As a matter of fact, that is such a huge number that any percentage of it would be a very stimulating addition. Go ahead...name a percentage..Tell the truth, though, we all really know what is actually going on is that the Congress is getting a free pass to write checks for everything they ever wanted so that they will get reelected, right? Everyone knows that right? I mean, look at the list....these weren't new inventions...they are wish lists from long ago. Instead of bridges to nowhere we are about to get financing for bridges to everywhere. "Heck with the budget...we'll spend everything anyone will earn for the next 30 years and call it a day." Or a stimulation. Of course if we don't bad things will happen. What exactly? Houses people can't afford will be lost? Already did? Jobs? Same. How about banks? Gone? Companies? Gone. If we stimulate it will we build better cars? Not. How about real green instead of fake green products? Not. Will we get health costs under control? Nope. We'll just pay the high price for them. How about education? Will we get the "F" word out of the hallways? Teach real things instead of bust work? Will we encourage values and tell kids that everything doesn't go? Nope. Fact is, our government already spends a couple trillion a year of our money on the things it's supposed to do. I say they keep doing that, we get back to a few basics, and maybe have to save rubber bands again for awhile. And it's not our government's job to get us to do the right thing. It is a function of the "we the people" who must sit down and decide every day to do what is right, not what makes us fell good inside. We should be looking around to see what our neighbor needs. Fix it ourselves. Give a little...no...a lot. Quit whining. Start loving. And make the kids pull their pants up over their butt cracks. 5:16 PM - Feb. 7, 2009 - comments {0} - post commentNew Treasury SecretaryWe now have a new Treasury Secretary. It is good for the taxpayers, as he can sympathize with people who "forget" to pay their taxes. He forgot he had to pay his, of course it was only $30,000 he forgot to pay. Now that he will head the IRS I'll bet he'll want to make sure no one else "forgets".Change has come to America. 7:11 PM - Jan. 26, 2009 - comments {0} - post comment
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Purrpiss
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