Rusty

We got some sad news last week.  My wife's brother, Rusty, passed away due to multiple chronic conditions that he had been struggling with for many years.   Some of those conditions were the result of years of alcohol abuse at an early age.   Rusty had been sober for many years thanks to organizations like AA and strong support from friends and family, but the health issues were a lasting reminder of the disease that haunted him.   We were lucky to see friends and family at the funeral that we had not seen for decades.  Everyone remembers Rusty's sense of humor and his infectious laugh.  I remember the day that Rusty visited us and grinned from ear to ear as he water-skied with us.  One of his close friends spoke to Rusty about his faith consistently and assured us that we would see him again one day.  I'm pretty sure I have posted this song in the past, but this is the one that the family elected to play during the memorial service.  Take a few minutes to listen if you can.

Overwhelming Odds

I sometimes feel overwhelmed when I am facing a situation where it seems the odds of succeeding are impossible.  I think, "There is no way that this can work out even if everything proceeds perfectly."  My perspective is largely shaped by my view of the size of my God.  In other words, "My God is not great enough to get me through this."    In my fleeting moments of strength, I remind myself that God is not only almighty, but He is also my Father.   He watches me always.  He watches my struggles.   He watches my sins.  He watches my triumphs.  He watches me always.  He not only watches, but He corrects me when I am wrong, and He cheers me on when I am succeeding.  He yearns for me to call out to Him for help so that he can demonstrate His love for me.  He wants me to pray God-sized prayers, so that when they are answered, I and anyone else who is watching will know that there is no way that could have been accomplished without God in the middle of it.  I pray for the courage to pray those prayers more.

Hear the roar

 

Last night, we had our first ConnectGroup meeting at our house.  We are reading "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day."  The book is inspired by an Old Testament warrior named Benaiah. Benaiah stared down a lion, chased him into a pit, and killed him. In the first chapter, Batterson spent some time talking about two different types of sin - sins of commission and sins of omission.  The church has long focused on sins of commission - the bad things we do that we need to stop doing. The church doesn't talk that much about sins of omission. These are the opportunities that God presents to us that we think we don't have the time or ability to pursue - opportunities missed.  In the next 7 chapters, Batterson is going to talk about 7 of the main obstacles to taking those opportunities and running with them. Let me know if you would like to join in the discussion.

In A Pit With A Lion

 

Our Winter/Spring semester of our church ConnectGroup is starting up next week.  We will be reading and discussing "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson.  Mark is the pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC and is a best-selling author of 12 books.  When Mark was 19, he heard a sermon about Benaiah from the Old Testament who chased down a lion and killed it.  He decided at that point, that if he ever wrote a book, it would be about that passage.  The first chapter introduces the idea that some of our greatest opportunities for growth can come from facing fear in the face.  I look forward to reading and discussing his ideas on this with our group.  Let me know if you would like to read along with us.

The carpenters

Some of you may already know that my wife and I are building a new home on Lake Hartwell.  We have been planning for a while and finally got started last month.  Things are proceeding slowly due to "the weather" and "the COVID", but some progress is being made.  We are thankful that we don't have any real deadline to move, so we are working hard to enjoy the process.   I came across this article written by a woman who is also building a home, and her experience has been positive so far.  She states that the workers are delightful and seem to take pride in their work and actually enjoy their work.  It made her start thinking about how our current society dictates that young adults need to have a college education (or 2 or 3) to make a difference in our world.   It seems that we have boxed out the possibilities of people being successful building, farming or fixing toilets.   Jesus was a carpenter and his disciples were fishermen.  I think her ideas are interesting and true.  I would love to know what you think.

Cheer-full

College football is a crazy thing.  When I was enrolled in a SEC university in 1980, I decided to participate in the marching band.  That was the only year I marched.  I would have never imagined that at the end of that season, UGA would be celebrating its first National Championship in 38 years.   It would have been even more surprising if you would have told me it would be 41 more years until UGA would win their next title.  During those 41 years, I married my wife who attended UGA, sent my two kids to UGA, watched my daughter-in-law work the sidelines at UGA as an athletic trainer and fed hundreds of hungry students at our pregame tailgates.  College football is big business.  But it has also served as a rallying point for our family and friends to gather and cheer.  This year, Caroline and I joined our kids and one of their spouses (sorry Emily) in Indianapolis for the biggest game we have had in a while.  Cheers to UGA.  Cheers to family.  I hope your family has something fun to cheer for.

Sad But True

I have mixed emotions today as I look forward to all the good that 2022 has in store for us and am also reminded of the 2021 insurrection that occurred at our nation's capital one year ago today.   I thank God for the freedoms that we have living in this country, but feel sick that some of our own chose to exercise their freedoms by attacking innocent people that were doing their best to protect those very freedoms.  My prayer today is for the families of the people that were injured or killed and that our legal system would do everything in its power to bring justice to the offenders.  I also pray that we are protected from further attacks from those inside our borders and outside of our borders.  This year I want to have open ears and an open heart to those that think differently than I do.