Stroke of Midnight

There was a time in my life when I could stay up late - get up at a reasonable hour - and still manage to function with normal 'human' abilities... I remember trips to Denny's or Steak n' Shake after a concert - Going to 'midnight showings' with the other geeks to watch 3 hour movies - and (most recently) trips to IHOP at 2:00 in the morning after church camp... I fear, however, that those days need to become fewer and far between...

I sit here thinking about how tired I am becoming just typing these few simple words at 10:30 pm... I'm starting to linger and contemplate how nice it would be to slide into those cool sheets -gently lay my head on that soft pillow - and snuggle up next to my 'non-snoring' wife... And it dawns on me - I have several students who are waiting to go to a midnight showing... That's an hour and a half from now - to then go and watch a 2 1/2 hour movie... Are they crazy?!!

At midnight - I may not turn into a pumpkin - but I sure might turn into a grouchy oger, or something... I like sleep... In fact - I need it... We all do... God designed us all to sleep - to rest - to refresh our bodies... Even when we have stress in our lives - God wants for you and I to rest well... Proverbs 3:24 says, "when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. " I think tonight instead of a midnight showing - I'm going for a "midnight snoring"... Sweet dreams!!!

Consistently Inconsistent

I have recently discovered that the life of a 'blogger' can go through seasons... Those seasons can be a Spring of creativity and blogging daily- The Fall of equipment failure(i.e. no internet, or computer malfunctions) - a bitter Winter spent snuggled up next to your mac or pc hoping for warmth and communication from somewhere - or maybe even a Summer drought where most of your blogging time is spent tapping your fingers and hitting the 'backspace' key...

I am currently going through a season where I can't find time to consistently blog... I've been on the go since the end of May and haven't stopped since... A week here - a week there... And I'll be honest - I miss it... I truly enjoy this idea of putting down random thoughts... I don't even know if anyone truly reads this jargon on a regular basis or not... But it's great for me... Like many folks today - I'm not the greatest at getting out what's 'on my mind'... I find that I keep things in order to: 1) Keep the peace 2) Avoid looking stupid... But here - in this billowing 'Blog World' - I can let my mind unload a little... It's very 'freeing'...

As American's - we talk a great deal about being 'free'... "The Land of the free and the home of the brave," right..? While it appears that we have our physical 'freedom' - at times we are still in captivity in our own minds... Our spirit still feels chained up and weighed down - like there's no hope for us... Our sin and our guilt have us 'shackled' to our past... But you know what - you can be 'free'... You most certainly can... Jesus said in John 8:36, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

It doesn't matter what season of life you are going through right now - God has the means and the desire to pull you out of any pit and draw you to His side - to the place where true freedom is...

Is It Worth It?

I'm not sure if any of you have ever noticed how difficult it is to go out of town... Whether it's for business or pleasure - it's very challenging to get your (already dysfunctional) life in order enough so you can escape your normal 'day to day' life for a short escape... I've felt this in different environments... I've experienced it in the school system where I would be going to a conference or have to use one of my 'sick days' and prepare for a sub... That was always FAR MORE work than my normal work day... You have to plan ahead and actually - PREPARE!!! Who does that..?

Today - I'm doing that, as well... But this time - it's for 'pleasure'... My wife and I are going to be traveling to meet my side of the family for a week of vacationing and 'fun in the sun'... I believe that it's of the utmost importance that all of us 'get away' every now and then - so for you "work-a-holics" - GET OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND LIVE A LITTLE!!!

However - as in teaching - I am having to think and plan WAY ahead... And I'll be honest - I'm not very good at that... Oh, don't get me wrong - I'm improving by leaps and bounds... But still not great... It's so difficult for me to 'walk away' from the things that are normally under my control and trust others with that responsibility... Even though I know I won't be able to control the situation - I know it will be great - God's still on His Throne...

"The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all." (Psalm 103:19)

So - is it worth the strenuous planning to get away and (at times) find rest for our 'weary souls' (and bodies) - Of course it is... Sometimes - God wants us to let go of the things that are standard or normal - dare I say, "mundane" - in our lives so He can refresh us and give us a new perspective on what He has for us... Worth it - YOU BET!!! Now - does anybody have any spf 30?

Change is Good

I'm always amazed how good it feels to change things around a bit... I'm not sure why - but I enjoy change... Today, for example, I got to exchange and rearrange some furniture in my office... It was fun... It made it feel like a completely different room... A piece of furniture here - some wall art there... Voila! A totally new space...

When it comes to change - I know I'm blessed... I don't mind it as much as some people do... Some people HATE change... They avoid it as much as possible... Now - I will admit that some change is bad... It can even hurt at times... But - know this - God is a God of 'change'... He wants to change our hearts - our lives - and our eternity... He wants to change us from the sinful creatures we are into the children He's always longed for us to be... That change comes when we accept Christ and let Jesus take over... Now - that's way cooler than moving my desk!!!

Raining Babies

Today my wife had her baby 'shower'... Her mom, sister, and best friend put together this celebratory shin-dig to 'shower' her with gifts for our near (nearer all the time) addition... It was a nice mix of ladies... There were family members, close friends, ladies from church, and even a few rugrats... The ladies were single, divorced, married, mothers, and grandmothers - all from different walks of life... On this day, though, they all had one common goal - to 'shower' my wife with blessings... They wanted to show their love and support to my wife and I by providing gifts that would benefit both us and our 'soon to be' son, Bam Bam... It always warms my insides to see people be selfless and show genuine concern for others, let alone bombard them with diapers, soaps, and blankets... It was amazing...

But you know what's even more amazing - is that no matter how much we are 'showered' with gifts by others - nothing compares to the 'showers of blessings' from our Heavenly Father...

"I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." (Ezekiel 34:26)

As God's children - we have 'baby showers' available to us each and every day... God wants to pour out His blessings on all of us - all we have to do is move our umbrella out of the way... "I'm singing in the rain..."

Concert for One

We had a very exciting event for our church tonight... We were involved in a 'Summer Concert' series at our city park... The organizer for the event contacted our worship pastor and worked it out for our praise band to come and do a concert for the community... He wanted the concert to begin promptly at 6 pm - but there was a problem... We have Friday night services that start at 6 pm and get over around 7:15 pm... Whatever to do..? Solution - me and some of my student praise band members did a 'pre-concert' concert... It was a blast!!! It was extremely hot - and the monitors didn't work so we couldn't hear a thing - and there were only like 13 people there when we started - but it was a BLAST!!! I told my band, though - that they may feel kind of funny playing for only a small number of people - but that wasn't our purpose... We were there to play for one person - Jesus Christ...

"How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God ?" (John 5:44)

If He's pleased with our performance - what more could we possibly want... Rock on!!!

Gone Again

I regret to inform you, my blog-buddies, that I will - yet again - be gone and unable to blog for a week... I know - some of you will truly miss my daily ramble on some obscure topic... I too will miss rambling... I've come to look forward to it every day, actually... But I assure you I will be back soon - full of clever stories and anecdotes from a week spent with my wife and 33 of our students and 5 volunteer sponsors...

We trudge over to Indiana tomorrow for a week of a 'church camp thing-a-ma-jig'... We leave on a Monday and return on Saturday afternoon... It is always an amazing week as we spend the vast majority of our time focusing on Christ... Whether it be between devos, services, quiet time, or playing ultimate Frisbee - I am always amazed at how God can truly work in a span of 5 days... Well - I shouldn't be amazed, I guess - God is pretty amazing... Nah - HE'S TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

"For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome" (Deuteronomy 10:17)

I plan on having plenty of 'blog-able' material when I return... Send us your prayers if you have some extra 'God chatting' time... We could sure use it... Until then, my friends...