Reading Between the Lines

I pulled up one morning to church a week or two ago and noticed this sign. What does it say? Go on, read it out loud...

In all likelihood you are normal. I am comfortable knowing I am not. Therefore, you probably didn't share in my experience...but for some reason that day I walked into the building scratching my head and wondering "what in the world are 'creation bears'?"

Miles Between Us

The last two weeks have been exhausting. There have been moments of both good exhaustion and bad. But the common denominator is the same...we are worn out!

While I was at camp, Sara drove to Nashville, to fly to Baltimore to drive to a wedding weekend (for one of her relatives) in Pennsylvania. That same week we found out her grandmother passed away. So she made plans to drive back to Baltimore and fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma to drive east to Muskogee for the funeral. I came back from camp making plans to drive to St. Louis on Monday to fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma to drive to Muskogee to meet Sara for the funeral. Then Sunday morning before I was to leave on Monday I got a call that my grandpa had a massive stroke and he wasn't expected to live. He was 92 but the crazy thing was he was out helping build a fence the day before. My aunt and uncle had been building an apartment on their property for him and they were about two weeks from completing it and moving him in. He was so looking forward to that day!

I still left for Oklahoma on Monday. My grandfather passed away late Monday afternoon. We stayed in Oklahoma for a few days and attended the funeral for Mildred Marie Collier Siner on Wednesday. On Thursday we drove back to Tulsa and flew in to Dallas Love Field. We then drove to Rockwall on the east side of Dallas, where my aunt and uncle live, to meet my family. We did his funeral on Friday which was pretty special. He served in the military (Army Air Core) and so some men from the army were there at his burial to honor him and present a flag to my dad on behalf of the United States of America. We then stayed the weekend sorting through all of his belongings. We couldn't get a flight home until Tuesday initially, but at the last minute were able to get one on Monday. Late Sunday night we decided we would drive grandpa's old '97 Buick Century home. So, on Monday Sara drove to the airport to fly from Dallas to St. Louis to pick up our truck that I had driven there at the beginning of the week in order to now drive the 3 hours home to Paducah. I left early that morning to drive the 10 hours from Dallas to Paducah and got home Monday evening. We crashed pretty much all day on Tuesday as the weight of everything settled upon us.

I'm feeling tired again just typing all of that out. We covered quite a few miles between us the last two weeks both physically and emotionally. I'd prefer not to have to do anything like that again in the near future or the distant one for that matter. But in all of it I'm reminded that we are called to live a certain way in this world and that kind of life is possible because Mildred and Richard daily showed us the way...

Remembering Never to Forget Grandpa

What a crazy last week! It's hard to imagine it being much crazier but I'm sure it's always possible. You expect to lose grandparents at some point but I never thought Sara and I would each lose one at the same time. I will probably write more about this over time but here is what I was able to share at my grandpa's funeral...


READ Psalm 24:1-6

I feel like I shouldn’t begin without greeting and hugging each of you because that’s how grandpa would have done it. But I guess we’ll have to save it for afterward. Just two short years ago I stood in this same place, in the same week and shared how we would forever remember grandma or to many of you Dorothy (Dot) Darling. And now in some ways what seems like just a few days later I want to share a few things about Richard (Dick) Darling or grandpa, I want to remember never to forget.

I use that phrase “remember never to forget” on purpose. I have a hard time remembering things. At times it seems like I have one of the worst memories in the world. I forget items on the grocery list. I forget where I last placed my keys. Sometimes I can’t remember people’s names. At times I forget to complete my “honey-do” list. Other times I can even forget where I parked my car. It can become especially frustrating when I want to remember things from earlier in life.

Yesterday we sat around and shared stories involving grandpa. As others shared I was reminded of my own memories because with grandpa there was a lot to remember. I remember quick trips to the store…a pantry full of sweets and cookies. I remember watching him work in the yard, and on the house, and on anything else he could get his hands on. He was always working away at something. He was hardly ever standing still. I remember stories upon stories. Richard was a great story-teller and never afraid to tell stories on himself. I remember how he loved grandma…how he was so sweet to her whatever the situation. I remember that in many ways Grandpa was an unintentional babe-magnet. He was a looker when he was young but he only got more adorable with age. Everybody thought so and he was always surrounded by a group of people. He also made a positive impression on everyone he met. On Wednesday I was talking with my brother-in-law about coming down here for the funeral and he mentioned that he remembered Richard after meeting him five years ago at our wedding and that in that short time positively impacted his life. That was grandpa!

I want to “remember never to forget.” I have to be intentional about what I remember or else something will slip my mind. Because of that I’m reminded about Israel as God’s people. God constantly called them to “remember not to forget” because it was easy for them to become a forgetful people. He wanted them to remember how he had delivered them from slavery, from the hand of the Egyptians. To remember that it was by his power alone that they were where and who they were. To remember how he had forever changed their lives. They were intentional about remembering through their telling of stories, through their continual sharing of memories. It was these memories, these stories that pointed them to, and reminded them of, the work God was doing in their lives.

Stories about grandma and grandpa are part of what will accomplish that in my life. They remind me of how God has worked before me, through me and will continue to work long after me. And it is stories of the way he lived that I believe will continue to shape me. One of the many things I love and admire about grandpa was his desire to greet everyone. He was passionate about making people feel welcome and he took that role in the body of Christ seriously. Richard also never knew a stranger! He befriended all people no matter the age, race, or economic status…his neighbors, those who worked in the offices/stores he visited, and every person that entered one of the doors of this building. I remember two years ago at grandma’s visitation one of the waitresses at the local IHOP came to comfort grandpa because of the impact he had on her throughout the many times they ate in her restaurant. That’s a testimony to who he was and how he lived. One day when my wife and I have kids of our own, those are the things I want them to know and remember not to forget about their great grandpa!

READ 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10

I don’t think grandpa is groaning anymore and I’m pretty confident he’s enjoying his new clothes! He is away from the body, but at home with the Lord.

I just ask one more thing…if you have ever received a smile, a handshake, and a hug of welcome from Richard Darling would you please stand and remain standing as I conclude… (for those of you reading...close to two hundred people were in attendance and they all stood up!)

Grandpa…thank you for the life you lived. Thank you for how you loved all people, how you loved your family, and how you loved grandma. Thank you for the legacy you leave for all who come behind you. You may have changed locations but I’m sure we know where to expect you…at the “doors” to God’s presence welcoming all who enter. And I look forward to the smile, handshake and hug of welcome I will receive whenever my time comes to join you in the presence of God.

Camp

What a crazy week! If only all the campers knew everything that goes into making Superweek what it is...

We leave in the morning for South Carolina. Twenty-nine of us. It should be a great time. I have really enjoyed it the last few years. But, man is it exhausting! Pray for us this next week. I hope it can be meaningful for all who attend.

Palmetto Bible Camp here we come!

Caped Crusaders???

It has already been well-documented that a few people think the "dark knight" is better than the "man of steel." It's okay though...they have a right to be wrong! With all due respect to the caped crusader, Superman can take Batman any day of the week. There is no need to debate it any more...it's just truth...and the truth will set those of you dark minded folk free.

Or if that doesn't do it for you consider the picture below...do you really think these two can take Superman????


And they thought I was the one with identity issues...If you ask me they would have been better off not to reveal their true identities!

I think you will find this only serves to further affirm my point!

Fecal Flavored Water

Yeah! Gross, right? Well there was apparently a study done last year on the amount of bacteria found on lemons used by various restaurants in their drinks. The following link does a better job of explaining the study than I can. But, either way I'm a little more cautious about the question that follows my order of a glass of water...."Would you like lemon with that?" No thank you!

Warning About Bacteria on Lemon Slices

In case you are wondering about the blog title...One day I brought up this study while at lunch with a group of friends. One person took the conversation a little further claiming he "loves pieces of fecal matter" in his drinks. Gag! And the phrase "fecal flavored water" was born.

I'm not usually a bacteria freak but this study for some reason got my attention. I simply wanted to share my new found knowledge with you.

At least one restaurant offers a solution to the wild spread of bacteria by these yellow-bellied members of the citrus fruit family...

I suggest other restaurants begin to follow their sanitary superior lead!

So now, while you're reflecting on your own restaurant lemon experiences...can I get you something to drink?

Work in Progress

Can you envision the possibilities? It may not look like much right now but it will in a few weeks. It's been about a year since a tree fell on our shed in the backyard. Wow. I can't believe it's been a year! A few things kept us from being able to replace it up to this point. But now we're close. I can almost see it. To ensure production and completion we've solicited the services of a contractor. That's him in the picture. Right next to his "not-so-handy, but eager to help and offer moral support" workman. Some friends are coming over toward the end of the month to release a little stress on the old building. Then hopefully sometime in June our new backyard addition will be complete.

It's amazing to me what a trailer-load of materials can turn into in the hands of someone who has a plan and the ability to fashion it all into something better than it was before. I'm thankful God takes the old, beat-up, broken-down junk of our past and re-fashions us according to His plan and purposes as we walk with Him into a new future!

It's a work in progress...and I'm grateful there's a contractor who's not me!

Birthday Girl

Today is a special day. Actually it would be more accurate to say that this week is a special week! But today is Sara's birthday. Today I am reminded once again how thankful I am for the gift of her life. She is a beautiful person both inside and out. I love her more and more each day. She is kind, compassionate, thoughtful, giving, creative, determined, hard-working, grace-filled, responsible, fun, funny, a gifted counselor, a talented photographer, a hot babe, a wonderful wife and the best life-long partner a guy could ask for!

Sara, I hope birthday week is just a taste of how much I love you! Happy 27th...

Sonic Love Language

You want to know one of my wife's main love languages? Sonic diet cokes! In this case, it's not really her giving them, but receiving them. It speaks even more volumes about my love if I'm able to score one during Sonic happy hour from 2-4pm. It's simple really but it's taken me 5 years to even begin to figure it out.

Today it was 9:30am so happy hour was out the window. I had to run an errand on her side of town and after I was finished I thought, "I have an opportunity to speak Sara's love language this morning!" So, off to Sonic I go. Just a $1.50 later, I possess in my hands 32 oz. of sweet love for my girl. I head to her work to drop it off, knowing I am minutes away from making her day.

Strange. Her car's not in the parking lot. Ohhh...maybe she is at the school today (sometimes she goes to a local school for a morning a week to observe some classes and students). So I casually make my way to the school. ..anticipation building. Even stranger. Her car is not in the school parking lot. At this point I know the ice is already beginning to melt...and I don't want to communicate anything close to "watered-down love."

So, I think to my drugged up self (I've got a little cold going on that's kind of put me in a cloud of haze)...self, what day is today? Thursday. Thursday!?! Shoot! On Thursday's Sara works at a satellite office in Murray (about an hour away). Bummer...

I guess I spent a $1.50 to show my self some Sonic lovin'! But, it's really not the same. See, 5 years later and I'm still learning...

Maybe the fact that I went through all this will be sweet enough. After all, she and I both know I'm nowhere near fluent in her native love language. But I'm sure trying to learn my share of vocabulary!

Man Truck

I've always looked younger than my actual age. For instance now at 27 I might be lucky if a person would guess my age to be 21. A couple months ago after I finished preaching, a woman who was visiting that day came up to me to tell me she enjoyed my sermon. In the context of our conversation she asked how long I had been here at Reidland. I proceeded to explain that my wife and I moved here from Abilene, Texas almost 3 years ago. She almost stopped me in mid-sentence to say..."You're old enough to be married????"

I've also lived in Kentucky now for coming up on three years but have yet to become very "Kentuckian!" I grew up a city boy mostly. I don't really fish. I definitely don't hunt. Barely know how to shoot a gun. I don't own a four-wheeler. And I'm yet to bleed blue and white.


Well I think I've found something that could be a solution to both of those "shortcomings." Let me introduce you to...the Man Truck.


I'm not sure if it makes me look older (I probably shouldn't count on it) or if it really makes me any more Kentuckian (although it's a step in that direction) but it is fulfilling a boyhood dream of owning a truck. Something about owning a truck just makes a guy feel more like a hombre! Now I can haul stuff and put me a big metal box in the back (for my tools of course). It communicates toughness, dependability, and towing horsepower.

Or at least it would if it wasn't a single cab, 4 cylinder, white truck. I guess really all it communicates is that I'm a 21 (not 27) year old, city boy from Florida...but I like it anyway. Just me and my truck. Who knows...perhaps one day the man in both of us will finally be evident to all!

And if you're curious, yes, I'm old enough to be married...at least in most states with parental consent.

Shake, Shake, Shake...

4:36AM. To the best of my knowledge...sleeping and more sleeping. 4:37AM. Wide Awake. The reason...the house was shaking! A lot of things instantly run through your mind when you are stirred awake from a deep sleep to find the house moving more than you are used to. (Thought #1) "Alright, who's playing the prank on us this time?!" Only to roll over and see the iridescent glow of the clock suggesting sure hibernation time. This is no prank. Hmm... (Thought #2) "Well...it must really be storming outside! The wind must be blowing like crazy." Only to peek out the window blinds to see the trees standing statue still. What's going on? (Sara's response as she too woke up) I'm not sure actually.

At most 20 seconds passed. The shaking stopped. Sleep was stronger than my curiosity. My eyes closed with the fleeting thought(#3)...was that an earthquake?!?

Somewhere around 7:02AM. Sara wakes to a text asking, "Did you feel the earthquake?" 7:03AM. She wakes me up proclaiming..."Mike it was an earthquake!" Really, I wondered if that's what it was! She quickly replies, "No you didn't!" Seriously, I did...even though I've never experienced one before what else could it have been. She of course hadn't read my thoughts at 4:37AM during which I logically concluded the only possible outcome...earthquake.

Earthquake!?! It wasn't much. It wasn't very long. But it was still disorienting, even unsettling. For the earth to shift miles and miles away from us but still feel it simultaneously...wow...there's some power that's hard to fathom. To think about its potential makes you feel weak, small, and unprepared.

Next time I'll be ready for it...that is if I'm not sleeping...

Actually the more I think about it the more I realize I'd rather not have the opportunity to experience a next time!

High School Confidential

Reality TV. We've all had the discussion. Is it really reality? In most cases no. It's sensationalized to attract a viewing market who love drama and the idea of reality tv. I think though that some shows serve a purpose. I think about the Biggest Loser. Helping people turn their lives around and live in healthy ways is inspiring, motivating and even redemptive at it's core. Sure, like any television show, they care about ratings and money but in the midst of that they are making a difference.

There is a "reality" type show currently airing on We TV on Monday nights called High School Confidential. From its website...the show "follows 12 diverse girls through their tumultuous and exhilarating high school experience. They encounter sex, drugs, unwanted pregnancy, health crisis, and family chaos -- all while trying to discover who they are. Each episode explores the girls' stories through four years of heartache, discovery, friendship, and self-acceptance." One of the truly interesting aspects of the show is that they followed these girls through all four years of high school and have combined the footage from all four years to help share each girl's high school story. They reveal views, passions, beliefs and morals expressed by the girls as they entered high school compared to their perspective as seniors close to graduation.

The more I watch the show, the more I'm convinced parents of all types should at least be exposed to much of the information conveyed throughout the series. That doesn't mean it's all good but so much of it offers a very insightful window into the general teenage culture of our world today. I even think the show could be used as a conversation starter with teens in an attempt to help them open up about the realities they face everyday. The shows creator Sharon Liese explains that the show "explores a phenomenon experienced by teenage girls: the inescapable struggle to forge an identity while facing pressure to lose her "self."

It is a documentary that (at least within me) evokes a spectrum of emotions. Encouraged. Inspired. Shocked. Determined. Frustrated. Motivated. Scared. I know during at least one of the episodes Sara and I commented to each other..."we aren't having kids!" We were joking (sort of) but it really does put life in perspective and motivate you to want to make a difference in the lives of young people. Whether you have kids of your own or you work with them on a regular basis, I think you can benefit from this up-close and (gut-wrenchingly) personal look at today's teenage experience.

Just to provide you with a little more info about the show, here is the ad for the premiere...

Jesus Calling...

Another word from the devotional book titled "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young...

Taste and see that I am good. The more intimately you experience Me, the more convinced you become of My goodness. I am the Living One who sees you and longs to participate in your life. I am training you to find Me in each moment and to be a channel of My loving Presence. Sometimes My blessings come to you in mysterious ways: through pain and trouble. At such times you can know My goodness only through your trust in Me. Understanding will fail you, but trust will keep you close to Me.

Thank Me for the gift of My Peace, a gift of such immense proportions that you cannot fathom its depth or breadth. When I appeared to My disciples after the resurrection, it was Peace that I communicated first of all. I knew this was their deepest need: to calm their fears and clear their minds. I also speak Peace to you, for I know your anxious thoughts. Listen to Me! Tune out other voices, so that you can hear Me more clearly. I designed you to dwell in Peace all day, every day. Draw near to Me; receive My Peace.

I really try each day to find God in every moment. I want to look for Him in every person, in every situation, and around every bend. I want to be a part of His purposes in my life and in this world. But often the noise distracts me or maybe it draws me into complacency. Sometimes I can be so aware of God, other times I'm only aware of myself and what's important to me.

God designed us to dwell in Peace even in the midst of a world in unrest. But, I need to constantly tune in to His presence, to intentionally look for his fingerprints and listen to His voice. He knows my heart...and longs for me to continually search after his.

May we draw near to his presence and dwell in his peace!

Your Future Plants Will Succeed

You just gotta love fortune cookies. Most of the time, the "wisdom" they offer is so random. Other times you question whether or not what is on the paper inside is actually a fortune...maybe a proverb but not a fortune. And are they ever really specific...the ones I always get seem to be so generic...empty platitudes to wish me joy and prosperity.

The above title was a "fortune" I received a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if it is a sign that I might have a future career in the farming industry or if they knew about my wife's lack of a green thumb. For some reason I think it was intended to communicate something else to me. Today, I got a "two for the price of one" special as there were two pieces of paper in my cookie. The "mysterious" thing is that they were both similarly applicable. One offered this nugget "You will enjoy doing something different this coming weekend." The other simply said, "Do something unusual tomorrow." This cookie must have had some inside sources because after all tomorrow is the "live" show of the Charity League Follies, and it is both unusual and different for me! Hmmm....

Sometimes I wonder if as Christians we attempt to offer people the "good news" equivalent of fortune cookies. We've been trained to say and do certain things when we encounter people that what we end up sharing with them is as generic and out of place as a fortune claiming "Your future plants will succeed." We offer them empty sayings that don't provide any more depth or meaning than a shallow "do something unusual tomorrow." Does what we offer connect with where they are right now...in the valley of darkness, in the depths of despair, in the frustrations of making ends meet, or in the anxiety of approaching the end of their rope? I often laugh at the humor in random fortunes. But what does the world around me do? How do people see me? Do they laugh at the "out-of-touch randomness" I offer or do they see a fellow human being who simply understands the grace of God and longs to invite them to swim in its depths?

Much more than just a generic piece of paper in a cookie, may I daily look for opportunities to connect in deeper ways with people who are looking for the love of God. And much more than any empty fortune, may those around me see a Christ follower, a forgiver and a friend!

I Follies and I Can't Get Up

Slow blog time for me lately. The main reason...my brain, legs, arms and voice are tired. For the past two months I've been involved in a musical performance called the Charity League Follies. It's a fund-raiser they do every few years to benefit the Easter Seals program in town. I've been singing, dancing, and learning my lines and I'm about ready for this whole "out of my box" experience to be completed. I've enjoyed parts of it and I hope the actual performance will be fun. But, so much of it has been stressful, overwhelming and time-consuming. We've had Dress Rehearsals all this week and they will continue tonight and tomorrow with the live show on Saturday night. I have fun on stage but I have to take the long road to getting comfortable and confident in order to do so. We'll see...

Sara's dad came in for a "brief" visit last week and one of the things he was trying to do while he was here was sell one of his bird dogs to a guy in Tennessee. Well, Dennis had to leave early so I had to complete the sale and drop-off the dog. This dog is the son of a Grand Champion and so just his name and that fact alone get a lot of people interested in him. He is a very well-trained animal or so I've been told. Because I learned while watching him for a day that it doesn't matter how well-trained a hunting dog (or any dog for that matter) is if you don't know the right commands. Let's just say I learned rather quickly that he doesn't respond real well to "Come back Copper!" I guess I got a little exercise out of the deal though.

Then I met the "buyer" at Cracker Barrel in Calvert City. The funny thing was some people from church saw me there, in a different vehicle (a truck), with a dog they had never seen before and I was passing this dog off to another truck next to me and receiving something in return. When they came up to say hello and ask what was going on I immediately started to think about the rumor possibilities..."in order to make ends meet, local minister dabbles in dog-dealing on the side!" Just another example that often in life, there can be more to circumstances than what meets the eye...

Jesus Calling

Somewhere around six weeks ago I attended a leadership retreat with Sara. The presenters at that retreat gave each couple who participated a devotional book entitled "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young. The book is designed to share a few thoughts each day as if they were the spoken words of Jesus to me and you. Occasionally I plan to share an entry from this book and reflect on the message God has for my life as I listen for and rest in the words that reveal the heartbeat of Christ...

Rest In My Radiant Presence. The world around you seems to spin faster and faster, till everything is a blur. Yet there is a cushion of calm at the center of your life, where you live in union with Me. Return to this soothing Center as often as you can, for this is where you are energized: filled with My Love, Joy, and Peace.

The world is a needy place; do not go there for sustenance. Instead, come to Me; learn to depend on Me alone, and your weakness will become saturated with My Power. When you find your completeness in Me, you can help other people without using them to meet your own needs. Live in the Light of My Presence, and your light will shine brightly into the lives of others.

I think it is easy to agree that the world around us spins faster and faster. When we live in the midst of that spinning it doesn't take long to find ourselves dizzy from the experience. We search for a way to regain our balance, to reestablish equilibrium. But often the hard part is finding our way to the "cushion of calm" at the center. I wonder though if it is difficult because more often than not I try to go to the world for sustenance--for rest, for relaxation, for peace. What would it be like if I learned to depend more on God and less on myself, less on others, less on the comforts of the world? I desire in my heart to have the power and presence of God "saturate" my life...but what does the order and direction of my life communicate about that desire?

God, help me to see I am complete in you. May I slow down long enough to find you at the center of a fast-paced, me-first, spinning kind of world and may my light shine bright enough for others to see as they too travel through the world's dizzying fog...

The Full Mickey Transformation is Complete

We had a wonderful time on our cruise. It was great to get away for even just a little bit. And the experience on the ship was so much better than I expected. There were plenty of things to do like shows, performances, karaoke, games, swimming, eating and sleeping. For some reason the gentle swaying of the ship throughout the night made sleeping incredible. Best sleep we've gotten in a while. Nassau wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was a little too touristy for our tastes although it was good to say I've been there and experienced it. Castaway Cay, Disney's own private island in the Bahamas is the place we really enjoyed. It was what I imagined a tropical island experience to be like. Sara and I laid out on beach chairs relaxing and reading books for most of the day just staring out at the beautiful clear blue waters. It was great!

My favorite exchange of the trip came when we were inching our way through the Straw Market in Nassau. It's kind of like a flea market type atmosphere. Everybody's got something to sell you. As you walk down the crowded isles women will be calling out "let's make a deal." One lady got even more persistent with a female tourist. She really wanted to make a sale. She held up a custom-designed tank-top dress kind of thing (obviously hard for me to explain) and said to the lady..."Don't you like this? You want to buy it? It's your size." The tourist responded by saying "how do you know my size?" And the woman countered by saying, "It's 3X." Not exactly the marketing approach I would choose. Well this woman tourist is shocked by this other woman's words. "What are you trying to say? I'm not that big?" This is where it gets classic. To sweep in and close the sale she proclaims, "honey, you're not fat...you're just fluffy!" Well let's just say a business transaction never took place.

The whole trip was a great experience. Until I woke up Sunday morning. The last day of the cruise. I often joke around doing the voice for Mickey Mouse and I think I can do it alright. Well by Sunday morning the whole Disney experience wanted me to leave as Mickey Mouse. I didn't have a normal voice. The only way I could talk was in a very high-pitched falsetto. It was pretty funny. However, what followed wasn't so funny. The full Mickey transformation from a Disney saturated weekend was just the beginning of my next sickness episode. Ever since we got back late Sunday night I've either been in bed or in the recliner in the living room miserable with something bordering on the flu. Today is the first day I actually felt like I might be able to make it to work for a little bit.

I think in the future I'd prefer to just stick to impersonating the mouse. And leave it at that.

Why I Love Hotel Baptistries

When it comes to enjoying hotels I have two things working against me:

1) I'm a home-body. I like being in my own home, in my own room, in my own bed, etc.

2) I worked at a hotel for a little over two years and had about all I could take of a lifetime's worth of hotel experiences

But even I can admit that hotels can be nice from time to time. Especially when they have certain amenities. In most cases I like to have my ESPN. I prefer places that have FREE wireless internet access. Some of the nicest places I've stayed charge a fortune for using the internet. But I like the nicer places because they usually have quality mattresses and some of the best pillows I've ever allowed head to rest. But one of the amenities I have come to value the most, especially when it comes to youth trips, is a quality baptistry...or an indoor pool to most of you!

This weekend at Winterfest we were privileged to participate in another baptism. There is something so special and sacred about friends and family going into the waters together and surrounding the person who is about to be buried with Christ and raised to new life. Those who chose not to get into the pool gathered around its edges and witnessed the amazing transformation of choosing to live the Christ-life. In some ways it's the closest thing I've been able to experience that hints at what it must have been like for believers in Acts.

Maybe I'm bias to baptisms in pool contexts. After all I grew up in Florida and our mindset was... who needs baptistries when everyone's got a pool. I know it's not any less meaningful but somehow it doesn't proclaim the same message when we do it in the small "bathtub" baptistries. When everyone is in the water together there is beauty in the expression of community. It communicates on a whole other level that we as fellow believers are here to walk beside you, to share in your death, and to rejoice in your new life! It's hard really to even explain it adequately in words...but I believe it's a sacred moment that leaves God's fingerprints upon all our lives.

There weren't thousands of us, just 54. It wasn't Jerusalem at Pentecost, just the Ramada Inn at Winterfest. There wasn't a special formula or magical words on our part, but at least for those few moments...that hotel couldn't have been any more holy!

You Are What You Shampoo...

Winterfest really ended up being a wonderful weekend! Although often it doesn't feel wonderful to me. I think it is because the ultimate responsibility for 54 people falls on my shoulders. I find myself constantly concerned about various teens, about making sure people are in the right place (and not lost), about safety, about schedules, and about everyone's enjoyment of a weekend trip. I still am able to have fun but I'm a little on edge most of the weekend with a heightened sense of awareness and responsibility. I am grateful to both my chaperones (who were wonderful) and my teenagers (who are always respectful, responsible and well-behaved) for another memorable Wintefest!

Once we arrive home though I feel like I can finally breathe. I can feel the burden removing itself from my shoulders. Sara and I made sure everyone had a ride home from the building and then it was time to head over to the kennel to pick up Topaz. When we got him in the car it didn't take long to realize he smelled awful. So it was decided that as soon as we got home Topaz was receiving a bath.

We got him into the bathtub and began looking for the dog shampoo. It wasn't in its usual place on the back edge of the tub. We quickly found it though on the upper shelf in the shower. Hmm...odd place for it...we don't usually put it up there. Then we remembered that we had guests stay with us last week who were without power at their own house. Sara and I both burst out in guilty laughter. Turns out our friend Kevin mistook the dog shampoo for one typically best suited for humans. I thought I noticed him itching a little more the last couple days.

Needless to say it was a good way to release the stresses of a long weekend! And of course, when I saw Kevin yesterday, I made sure to bark a little! He was less than thrilled, but his bark is worse than his bite...

Be the Possum...

...and Die that You Might Live! Along with the help of a few short clips from the movie "Over the Hedge" that was the message of my sermon on Sunday. Here are a few of my favorite lines from it that impacted me...

"After all death isn't exactly something we typically look forward to. It’s hard to picture any of us longing to sit down and have a cup of coffee at Starbucks with the Grim Reaper…we often fear it, do all we can to avoid it, and rarely are we truly ready for it. Death often creates grief, sadness, despair, even loneliness. It doesn’t make the Travel Channel’s list of Top 10 vacation destinations yet it is exactly what Jesus calls us to…"

"...when we are buried with Christ we come up out of the waters with new garments on…the wardrobe of compassion, kindness, humility, discipline, peace, and love. They are clothes that may not compare to the latest trends or create considerable buzz in fashion circles, but they are Christ’s clothes and God longs to tailor us that these clothes might continue to fit as we grow."

"The ironic (even crazy) thing about it all is that we live in ways that allow our fear of death to shackle us, when all along Christ’s message of dying to self would truly bring us freedom!"

"Sometimes our dying to self is nothing more than a performance for others to see. However, the last thing we should want to do is make it about putting on a show for others because in the end it’s still about us. We haven’t really died to self. We haven’t fully done away with our old way of life. We can’t stand by and allow the world to run us over and flatten our witness!"


Dying to self is something I have to continually work on each and every day. It can be very difficult and painful but the life that follows the death is worth the struggle. I only hope that as God works on this piece of clay more and more, I too can share in Paul's words..."My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."


May Christ's life be evident in mine as I continue to learn how to die!

A First Time for Everything

This afternoon I was provided with a unique opportunity. I had the pleasure of witnessing a baptism. Just the three of us. Although that wasn't the unique part. The unique aspect involved who the person was...we'll call him Johnny. I'm not certain how old Johnny is but if I had to guess I might say somewhere in his sixties. He is a resident at a local nursing home. This morning we received a call from someone who works with Johnny on a regular basis who informed us that after several conversations between the two of them over a period of time, Johnny had made up his mind to be baptized. So this afternoon the two of them made their way up here to the church and together we ushered Johnny into new life with Christ.

It was a sweet moment really. See, Johnny has some limitations. He is mostly confined to a wheelchair because of problems with his legs. We had to struggle to help him up the stairs to access the baptistry. His friend Will playfully joked that it could be his therapy for the day! We got him to the top only to attempt the descent down into the waters. We made it halfway down the stairs into the baptistry when Johnny turned them into a water slide and slipped the rest of the way in. It was hard for him to manipulate his body in the ways needed to fulfill his heart's desire. But by the time he made it in you could see the excitement in his face. He went under an older, broken, physically limited man but came up a new creation with the joy of the LORD as his new strength.

Beautiful. Sacred. Intimate. And I was allowed the privilege to participate in the moment. When I first heard about it earlier in the day I was a little taken aback. I had never been asked to witness a baptism under these circumstances. But by the time we finished sharing the God-moment together...it was worth feeling uncomfortable and awkward...because here was a man who despite his age, despite his limitations, despite his lot in life...understood the simplicity of dying to self in order to be raised to life!

Special. Powerful. Humbling.

God be praised for another first!

The Tempting Pull of Perfection

Genuine. My grandma was a pretty genuine person. In most cases she was the person everyone saw her to be. She was straightforward to the point of blunt, a little rough around the edges but she had a beautiful caring heart for people. Whether it was received positively or negatively she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but in all of it she was honest. Honest about herself and about others. She didn’t seem preoccupied with what others thought of her. She wasn’t perfect, she made her share of mistakes but…she was pretty authentic.

I try to be authentic. But it’s not always as easy as you think it would be. Expectations get in the way. Selfishness interferes. Pride surfaces. Fear creeps out from behind the corner. Sometimes I’m tempted to be real only to the point that it becomes uncomfortable. Then I retreat a little bit back into the shadows of the mystery, back to the place where I feel safe because fewer people know my faults and weaknesses. I don’t think we set out to be fake but I wonder if it’s kind of like convincing ourselves that we’re not lying when we strategically withhold part of the story. Why do you think we feel the need to do that?

Who are some of the most genuine or authentic people you know? When I think about those people I start envisioning how I might be more like them. Being around genuine people is infectious. The way they live invites you to cross over into the authentic side. Authenticity isn’t simply being an open book, but knowing the appropriate time to share a few deeper paragraphs. The more genuine people I know embrace both their strengths and their weaknesses in ways that bring honor and glory to God. They are authentic because they live in the freedom to walk beside me through this life as together we share in the peaks and the valleys and the journey back and forth between the two. They are real because they know life is not about what they can do but about what God can do through them.

The authentic are not perfect, they simply seem to recognize the tempting pull of perfection as she softly beckons us to live as hypocrites…and they turn a deaf ear. Sure at times they may listen, but more often than not they walk forward in faith trusting the One whose love for all of us defines authentic!

Yoga-ing Break for Education's Sake

The only Yoga I knew growing up in school was the furry friend of BooBoo, who enjoyed swiping "pic-i-nic baskets" and "terrorizing" park rangers. But today is a new day and apparently there is a push for some in the school system in other parts of the country to begin to incorporate yoga into the class schedule. The reasoning? Student's lives are so busy that a daily dose of yoga could do wonders to help students better cope with the stresses of their hectic lifestyles. The hope is that this meditative outlet will not only foster greater learning opportunities because students can be more rested and focused, but that it will also help students become more balanced and disciplined people along the way.

Now, Yoga may be a helpful tool to combat the extreme busyness that plagues both young people and their families, I don't know. I'm not trying to say that yoga is a bad thing here. But what strikes me as ironic about this whole conversation is that our society is so caught up in the routine of busy lifestyles, that even when we talk about ways to address feeling overwhelmed and fatigued we don't talk about removing activities from our lives but adding one more thing to help us deal with it all! Are you kidding me? I'm afraid that as a people we are fooling ourselves into thinking we can control this "runaway freight train" lifestyle which says the more you can fit in to a day, a week, a month...the more productive or successful you are. I think it's a false truth...one that ultimately will lead us to crash and burn in a pile of physically and emotionally exhausted rubble.

What's more is that I'm not sure we as Christians do a great job of dispelling the lie either. Our lives are just as full, our schedules just as busy as those around us. The irony for us is that even though we read and know the words of Jesus we fail to believe them, let alone live by them...

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

Life can already get pretty hectic for me and I don't even have kids yet. I don't know how that variable will add to the busyness equation for me one day. But it seems like this is one area that must make us distinguishable from the world. Even the life of God was lived out in the appropriate ebb and flow between work and rest. We have good news to offer people...it's a real possibility for our lives to dwell in the rhythm of God's rest!

Yet somehow I don't think yoga is exactly what God had in mind...