Drew’s birthday is tomorrow. We plan to go to Chuck E. Cheese for a while and then back home for cake and gifts.
Whatever you thought of MJ, this is what I remember about when I first learned about him and his music.
Man, I really learned something today. We had access to a party barge and an awesome jet ski. I pulled the tube with the party barge for a while as a friend drove his two sons on the jet ski. They looked like they were really having a great time. I hope so. I got my turn on the jet ski, taking Holley for a few trips back and forth across the lake. Later on, Kristy and I dragged Drew on for a quick ride. I dropped them off at the boat and took off by myself. I opened the thing up across the lake, veering into coves to check it out. I went around in circles and wove back and forth, and then realized that I was jut plain bored. What? On a jet ski on a beautiful day on a great lake! Why am I bored?
The only thing I can think of is this: I can’t handle journeys that are going nowhere and moments that aren’t necessarily spent accomplishing anything. And yet, I want too. I want to enjoy the journey and I want to enjoy moments of simply “being”. I don’t know where this thought will lead, but it is an interesting thing to learn on a jet ski.
Today at Holley’s last softball game, I told Kristy that I needed to run to the restroom. I left Drew with her while I went. I was doing what you do at the restroom, not thinking that Drew was anywhere around. Then, I heard the voice.
“Daddy…daddy…daddy…,” came the voice. It was coming from the sidewalk outside the concrete building and it was coming closer. I knew his voice instantly. It was the voice of my son. I don’t know why but I was amazed that the voice was so familiar to me that I could recognize it above all the other noises of the ballpark. I suppose the familiarity comes out of hours of relationship that have been built up over the last 4 years.
I felt close to Father in that moment. Surely, if I could recognize my son’s voice, He can recognize mine! I bet He feels the way I felt, too, in a way that blows me away!
Me baptizing my daughter, Holley, with Kristy in the background
Today was a very special day and one that we have been discussing for a week. Holley made the decision to take the next step in her faith journey and be baptized. I had the awesome privilege as her father to do it. It was so moving and amazing!
Eleven years ago, our Father gave us a beautiful little girl. She is growing up so fast. Sometimes it’s hard to watch everything happening so quickly right before our eyes. Yet, Kristy and I are so proud of Holley and thrilled about her decision.
Today she gave herself back to her Father. It was the right thing to do. He is the best!
For the last few days, Kristy has complained about smelling skunk in the kitchen of our house. I didn’t think anything of it. I thought that maybe a skunk had wandered through our backyard (just off the kitchen) and or had been killed on the road below the house. We also have a small dog that goes in and out of the house into the backyard. The thought crossed my mind that Doggie may have tangled with a skunk outside. However, everytime the dog passed me, I hadn’t noticed any rank odor coming from it.
This afternoon, Kristy yells out, “What kind of coffee are you making?” I answered back, “Seattle’s Best Breakfast Blend. Why?” “Your coffee smells like skunk!” she replied. So, to Seattle’s Best coffee: this would not be a good ad or commercial for your Breakfast Blend!
A Tweet from Paul Young, the guy who wrote The Shack:
Barth wrote: ‘God will not be God apart from us.’ Participation is essential to relationship as is communication. Prayer is both.
My friend, Brad, emailed me this week’s sermon notes this morning. He’s using a Dell laptop give-away email he received this past week. The ad promised a “free” laptop if he was eligible. It contained 12 pages of “fine print.” As it turns out, the fine print only speaks to how one might qualify to compete for the laptop. It does not provide the laptop; it only makes one eligible. So it is with the law. As Brad puts it, so many get tangled up in the “fine print” that they never get to compete for the prize. That’s a good thought.
I put that with my sermon for tomorrow. We are preparing for 2 weekends of visits by youth minister candidates and I wanted to help set the proper mindset, if possible. So, I’m using 1 Corinthians 3 and talking about the responsibility we have to build well. It occurred to me that often in church we get so entangled in the “fine print” that we are ok when young people grow up and quit Jesus or even lose their faith because of how unChristian we behave as we debate the fine print. That is unacceptable. I was reminded how firmly I am convicted about this. The main thing is to help all our people, especially our youth, have their own walk with Jesus. If we fail at that because we are distracted, shame on us.
I spoke with my friend Rick today. Somehow during the phone call, we revisited an episode that happened at IHOP one morning over breakfast. We had finished the meal and had talked about everything from theology to telling jokes. It was a good time. The waitress came up, refreshed my coffee, and gave us the bill. I asked if we paid her and she said we could. That’s all I said.
Rick, however, quick-witted as he is, asked her if she was going to pick up his tab. That launched her into a conversation with him about how all her check was going to pay insurance on her new car. Her boyfriend had surprised her with a used truck (new to her) and she was obviously excited about it. The deal he made with her is that he got her the truck, but she’d have to maintain the insurance. That went on for a good 5 minutes.
Here’s the kicker: the whole time I was thinking, “Rick and I were talking about important things, not some stupid truck.” I’m ashamed to say, but I judged this waitress unworthy of having a conversation with. I am ashamed of that. Rick did not, and I’m thankful for that. He engaged her (he’s very good at it) and you could tell that she just wanted to tell someone about the joy that this gift brought. I want to be more like Rick and Jesus, for that matter.
One thing I’ve been concerned with my whole vacation week is the amount of anger I have. It took me literally 2 days at the beach to basically calm down. I don’t know where it’s coming from, bit I now know what to do. I didn’t have to teach class this last sunday morning even though I was preaching the meeting. The man teaching spoke on how God’s grace helps us deal with anger. He used the parable of the man who had been forgiven an impossible debt who then went out and put another in jail for an insignificant debt. I need to start there with my anger.
Tied to my anger is my gut. I’m very intuitive which can be good but is mostly bad especially with Kristy. She does somethingand I assess her motives in a flash. Ha! I’ve got her! Then she tells me her reasoning which makes perfect sense and which I had not thought of. Next comes my apology. Like I said, my gut is good at helping me sense a person’s hurt, but I haven’t learned to control it yet.
