Fear Not

I don’t feel like I am consumed by fear, but I do think I fear things every day.  I fear rejection from clients and friends.  I fear downturns in business.  I fear bad health and getting old.  In Matthew 10, Jesus is preparing his disciples for what they can expect to face as they attempt to follow him.  He didn’t warn them about bad health or aging. Among other things, he told them to expect to be flogged.  I had a general idea of what flogging was, but just to make sure, I did a quick internet search, and here is what I came up with:  “to torture with a whip of broken glass and with a metal ball with two metal hooks at its end.”  That has to be one of the most gruesome descriptions of pain that I have ever heard, and do you know what Jesus told his disciples after he told them to expect to be flogged.  “Fear not”  Are you serious?  

I hadn’t read that passage in a while, but a friend reminded me of it last week.  She had meditated on it in her quiet time and recorded it in her journal.  She shared it with me through her husband and her pastor, who read it at her funeral last week.  You see, cancer had crippled her body, but her soul was fully alive and fully aware of the fullness of God.  And she let us know it every day by the way she treated us.  So she didn’t just write the words “fear not” in her journal - she lived them.  Thank you, Cheryl, for showing me Jesus through your life. (See last week’s post for more about Cheryl.)

Celebrating A Life

I have let you all know in past posts that Cheryl and Dan Kniffen are two of my favorite people.  Cheryl is one of Caroline’s best friends and has been living with cancer for the past 14 years.  Last week, Cheryl passed away and is now in the arms of our Savior.    On Wednesday, we were privileged to attend a memorial service which celebrated her life.  Two close friends spoke beautifully about their time with Cheryl, and I was completely amazed by Cheryl’s 19 year old daughter who spoke with such composure about her mom and all that her mom had meant to her.   Our minister reminded us that Cheryl did not lose her battle with Cancer.  She won the battle every day with her unshakable faith and her abounding joy under the toughest of circumstances.  I can’t wait to see her again – fully restored.

Out for a walk

Our small group at The Vine Church is going through a video series by Andy Stanley on marriage.  This week Andy pulled out a prop to help make  his point.  The prop was supposed to be a leash, but it was actually a rope.  (I did not see a noose on the end.)  He was talking about expectations that spouses place on each other and how we need to release those – to let go of the leash completely.   He then explained that God has placed the ominous responsibility on each of us to be the face of Christ to our spouse.  This generated some spirited conversation at Muskogee Lane last night, but I am looking forward to a fun side trip to Montgomery, AL (it ain’t sexy)  for a couple of days, where I intend to do my best Jesus impression.  Good luck, right????

Not just any big hole

I hesitate to admit that one of my favorite movies from the 80’s is National Lampoon’s Vacation.   Clark Griswold takes his family across the country to Wally World with one of the stops being the Grand Canyon.  They have run into several roadblocks along the way, including running out of money, so after taking cash from the cash drawer at the Inn at the canyon, they have only a fleeting moment to take in the magnificent view.  Click here for a trip down memory lane (in Japanese, I think).  Caroline and I often joke about this when we are flying from place to place on vacation and not taking enough time to soak in all that a location has to offer.  I tell you all this because last week, we had our first visit to the Grand Canyon.  We had several hours to view the canyon from different vantage points along the south rim and stayed through sunset to watch the canyon change colors.  I know we all over use the word awesome, but I can’t really think of a better word.  No matter how many pictures you have seen, there is no way to know the full beauty without standing in front of it.  I love knowing the God that created a world that can still surprise me.

Shared Room

I blogged about the Keller Williams Annual Meeting at SpotOnTheLake  this week.  We were in Phoenix, and my son and business partner, Michael, and I shared a room together.   This was great for me.  Besides just spending time with him, I got to listen to him make some calls to clients back at Lake Hartwell.  The two hour time difference helped out allowing him to make calls early Phoenix time – not so early Lake Hartwell time.  After a call, we would talk about things that he could have said or asked that might have been better.  On one of his calls, he was making very good progress and then his tone changed significantly.  I could tell from his side of the conversation that the client was scheduled for some surgery.  I don’t know the nature of the surgery, but it sounded serious.  The empathy that I heard in his voice made me tear up.  I was so proud of him.   From that point on, the business progress stalled, but the Kingdom was advanced.  Michael, thanks for handling that call perfectly.

On the rocks

For the second time in the last two weeks, Atlanta is getting hit with some crazy winter ice.  The city was very deliberate about keeping people off the streets after the huge traffic fiasco last time.  I have quite a bit of work to do at Lake Hartwell as I am going to be out of town next week for our Keller Williams annual meeting.  Having the day today in the house and not being able to leave, has been sort of refreshing.  I have gotten caught up on my emails and kept a few things moving, but it has been very nice to be forced into a more relaxed mood.  I want to allow myself to do this more – without the ice.

Great Scott!

I am very much looking forward to the Winter Olympics.  Besides the thrill of the competition, I am a real sucker for all of the human interest stories that the networks come up with.  My biggest concern is being consumed by all of the coverage and not wanting to miss anything.  Scott Hamilton is always a fixture around the ice skating venue.   I remember him as the funny little guy who was full of energy and would always throw in a back flip when the rules allowed – and sometimes when they didn’t.  I knew that he had struggled with cancer, but didn’t know his full story until I found this video.  This video is 10 minutes and starts kind of slow, but hang with it if you have time.  You may look at him differently when you see him on TV over the next couple of weeks.   I would love to see or hear your favorite Olympic stories.