Humbly Grateful

I've been praying for a lady I don't know named Heather.
Why, you may ask, would I be praying for somebody I don't know? Because God has moved my heart with compassion for her and for her family is the only thing I can reply.
Heather has a tumor on her brain and is currently wisely seeking for medical expertise. Heather is a Christian woman with a strong faith.

Why does God choose to allow some people to walk through extremely difficult circumstances?
I don't know.
Why does God allow the same people that have had one difficult circumstance to go through another, and maybe another, and maybe another... maybe what seems like a lifetime of one thing after another?
I don't know.
Why does God allow His saints, His people to endure these kinds of difficulties?
I don't know this either.

As an example, we have personal friends that have had many difficult things in their lives over the past many years: Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, tumor, family estrangement, other medical problems.
Sometimes it just seems like it will never end. I know from the Bible that God does not impose these circumstances on His people, but I believe from reading Job that if it occurs, it is because He permits it; and from reading Jeremiah 29:11, that there is a purpose in it.

These people are strong, well-grounded believers in God; they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He came in the flesh as dwelt as a man; that He died for the forgiveness of our sins as the perfect atoning sacrifice; and that He rose again from the dead three days later and after appearing to those who had known Him, He ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father.

Then I consider that there many others that believe the same, but for some reason are not touched directly by these seemingly overwhelming trials. I am humbly grateful to fall in this category. Thank You Father God.

Jesus, it says in Your word that Your heart was moved with compassion for those that came seeking You and for the healing You have the power to give: paralytics, blind, sick, diseased, oppressed and possessed by demons; even the dead. You touched them and healed them and made them completely whole and set them free. Oh Lord, we long to see Your glory fall in these days for healing and deliverance. We desire to see Your majesty manifest in these days that many souls would come to know You and worship You. We live in a lost and dying world that desperately needs the hope and life that ONLY YOU can give. Come Lord now in these days and display Your power for all the nations to see. Lord we need You! And Lord... I love You!

Our Gifts of Life

I walked down the aisle,
With my new found wife beside
We stepped on through the door,
To live the gift of life.

And the days just seem to fly,
And the years keep flowin' on by,
And the days just seem to fly... away

I looked into his eyes,
Our new born baby boy
A gift of heaven above,
To fill our hearts with joy

And the days just seem to fly,
And the years keep flowin' on by,
And the days just seem to fly... away

I looked into her eyes,
Like a dove, she seems to fly
On wings so pure and gentle,
A beautiful daughter so full of life

And the days just seem to fly,
And the years keep flowin' on by,
And the days just seem to fly... away

I looked into her eyes,
Our little giver of joy
Her smile so full of laughter
A gift so pure and bright

And the days just seem to fly,
And the years keep flowin' on by,
And the days just seem to fly... away

They seem to grow so quickly
The time just seems to fly
Yesterday they were babies
Now they've filled our life

And the days just seem to fly,
And the years keep flowin' on by,
And the days just seem to fly... away

They sure have grown so quickly
The time has sure gone by
We're blessed that we've received
Our Gifts of Life
We're blessed that we've received
Our precious Gifts of Life

And the days just seem to fly,
And the years keep flowin' on by,
And the days just seem to fly... away

I wrote this song a few years back; not yet knowing as fully as I now know, and still not yet as fully as I shall still come to know.
My oldest daughter is but a few weeks from her high school graduation and getting ever closer to leaving for college. It was not an easy endeavor taking my son to college, now almost two years ago; I can only venture to guess that it will be harder to leave my little lady. Our youngest is now only three years from graduating high school and I cannot, dare not, will not think about that now.
Grace for those days does not yet belong to me.

And the days just seem to fly... away

Getting Tuned In

Have you ever had to mess with an analog radio to try to get it tuned in? Do you remember those, the kind with a little dial that you have to move back and forth just so to get it so you can hear the radio station without the static. I know those are fading into the past in this digital age. Today the tuners on our car radio still have a dial that you can turn to the left and the right to change the station, but it moves from one digital channel setting to the next so when you get to the exact frequency the radio station is broadcasting (like 98.3 MHz), you have a corresponding digital setting.
I remember when I was younger, before everything was digital, radios had dials and the tuning knob would take you through all the space in between 98.1 and 98.9 when you were trying to get to 98.3 and getting it set could sometimes be just a little touchy... and radio stations didn't announce that they were broadcasting on the decimal somewhere in between the whole numbers, they rounded up or down; the local station that broadcast on 92.9 announced its location as 93. Simple.

I started considering this this evening after an adventure...
I am trying to find new places to go ride my mountain bike in hopes of actually getting this decaying body back into something resembling being in shape again (which is no small task). So even though the weather forecast was gloomy and the skies were threatening, I went out to ride in a city park close by that provides some moderately challenging terrain. I was hoping to get about a five mile ride in before the weather got bad. I had mapped out my route before going, but since I had not ridden there before I was not familiar with where all the trails went. I was having fun and I missed the place where I had intended to turn off to the trail to take me back to my pickup. About that time I was crossing an open area on the top of the bluff and it started lightning and thundering pretty intensely.
Now I often talk to God while I'm on little outings because it is usually a good time to do so. There generally aren't too many interruptions. [Sometimes I also ask for help to keep breathing.] Well I mentioned to Him that I noticed the static electrical show that was dancing around me was impressive, but it was also making me a little uncomfortable and that I understood that I needed to get back, but the trail was leading away from where my truck was parked. I reasoned that it shouldn't be too much further to where the trail was supposed to head back the other way so I went on a little farther, maybe another 1/4 mile. *** This is where it ties back to the fine tuning. ***
I need a digital tuner so that I can clearly GET the frequency God is broadcasting to me on. Somehow it seems that I am still using an analog tuner that gets a little fuzzy from time-to-time and I am not quite getting the clear signal. And I think the lightning was messing with the reception too.
I know God speaks clearly, so the reception problem has to be on this end. God said, "You should stop and go back that other way to the truck." What I got was something like, "You should <crackle> go <crackle> that <crackle> way to the truck."
Okay, so not really... there weren't any static crackles in the reception, though there really was plenty of electrical static. I confess that there was just that stupid thing in me that says "just a little further and I can turn around there and go back..."

"I'm sorry Lord. You spoke. I heard, but I only kinda listened. Thank You for having mercy on this servant and only allowing me to get a little wet, when if I had really listened I would have been back at my pickup before the rain started to fall. You truly are merciful."

Oh, and as for the analog tuner, I think I need to replace it with a digital tuner attached to a PA system so it can get through my hearing difficulty.

--God bless.

A Young Lady on Modesty

A young lady named Katie is a friend of my son Chris. The last several posts on her blog have been about modesty. She writes about what the Lord has been showing her about the matter and how He has led her to make some changes regarding how she is to dress. Katie admits it isn't easy, but believes it is worthwhile to do so.

I agree with her that it is important for young women to be aware of how they dress. I have attempted to communicate this to my own daughters so that they understand how God wired men to respond to the female body; which was in its inception good. Adam saw Eve and said "Wow! This is great." And so it was. God looked and said it was good. That was before the fruit episode that turned into he said-she said and messed up the whole thing.
So the problem now is we live in a fallen world and have a sinful nature, so our glances turn to thoughts which can quickly turn to lustful thoughts, a.k.a. sin. The more skin that is revealed, the faster the thoughts go toward sin.

I'll relay what I've told my daughters: Ladies, men notice! Men will notice what you are wearing and they notice what you are not wearing. It does not matter how young or old the man, he will look. If it would totally creep you out that some guy that is 50 or 60 years old (or older) would look at you and enjoy the view, you might want to consider what you are showing. Men will consider it advertising.

I do not share these things to place a burden on women; men have their place of responsibility in the matter. Those of us who are aware of the need to control our thoughts try hard to do so. But there are many, many men in this world who do not even consider that they should avoid thinking lustfully and entertain it quickly, so ladies please be aware.

Enough on this subject today.

God Bless you all.

VT Tragedy

There is not much I can say that hasn't already been said by so many others. This much I must share:
My heart grieves over the this tragic, senseless act of violence and the loss of life.
My heart grieves for the parents of the young man who needlessly took so many lives, and is now absolutely lost as well. There is no hope for his salvation.
My heart grieves for the families and friends of those who were slain and injured. Their lives will never be the same. Their hurt, unimaginable. Their trust is shaken.
My heart grieves for the students and faculty at VT. There is no way any can remain untouched by this horrific event.

Dear merciful Father God, You Who comfort those who mourn. Comfort those now who are mourning for their loved ones lost to them. Send forth Your Holy Spirit to touch hearts as only You can. Send forth Your workers into these fields to share Your Word, Your hope, and Your promise of eternal life for those who will believe that You Jesus are truly the living Son of God. Lord, forgive me that I am unable to fully see how You will use this to Your purposes, but Lord, I know You will do it.
Thank You for making us bold to proclaim Your gospel in these days, in this time, to this desperate and dying world that so needs You.

Riding Uphill Into the Wind

Last summer I took up mountain biking for exercise. Well, to be more specific I took up riding a mountain bike and attempted to take up mountain biking. There is a difference. Anyone that can ride a bicycle can ride a mountain bike. Not just anyone can mountain bike. The latter actually requires some skill, which I used to think I might have.

Anyway, I can easily ride my mountain bike on wide nicely groomed trails which is what I started doing last summer during my lunch times. I figured at 40-something and a desk job, I could use it. Occasionally since then I have endeavored to ride with some guys at work that actually know how to "mountain bike" and that is quite different and really close to being a lot of work, and that is another story for another day.

Today I went out on the wide "easy" trail which heads north from our office building figuring it was going to be an easy ride. But I didn't count on the steady 20+ mph headwind (gusting to 30+ mph) to go with the slightly uphill ride. The five-and-a-half miles that usually takes me 25 minutes, took 35 minutes today and I was gassed. Fortunately the ride back is a slight downhill and today had a great tailwind. :P

I guess the point to all this babbling is that sometimes the ordinary things in our lives can seem long and arduous when things change just a little bit from the usual. Sometimes a storm blows in and we end up heading into the wind and we get tired. The hard part is persevering, but sooner or later the wind changes direction or we change direction and it isn't so difficult any more.

Cristo Redentor

Today I thought I would post something that might be a little different and hopefully interesting.

The picture on the left, as well as the one I have associated with my blog is that of a statue on Corcavado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil called Cristo Redentor, or Christ the Redeemer.

These are not pictures I found on the internet, rather it is one I was fortunate enough to have been able to take myself in June 2004.

The statue is 125 feet tall and quite impressive as it sits on top of a 2330 foot high mountain that overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro, the Guanabara Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean.

I hope you enjoyed this brief trip to Brazil.