Thanksgiving

This was passed on to me via e-mail and while I usually do not pass such things on this one helped me through the day. It is attributed to Rex Barker and I think is is fitting for the season we are in.
Dear God,
I want to thank You for what you have already done.
I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards.
I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better.
I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me.
I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears.
I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves.
I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet.
I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job.
I am not doing to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief.
I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed..

I am thanking you because I am alive.
I am thanking your because I made it through the day’s difficulties.
I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles.
I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better.
I am thanking you because you haven’t given up on me.

Thank You.

I hope you take time to thank someone.

It's official, it was announced yesterday that the stock market has officially lost half its value from its all time high a year ago. And with the questions concerning bailouts and bankruptcies on the horizon we may not have reached the bottom for this market. As people of faith how then do we face the future?
First we need to be realistic. These are difficult times for a lot of people. We will be seeing some people lose their jobs, lose their homes and struggle to put food on their tables just to feed their families. There will be some that will lose a big chunk of their life's savings and be forced to put off retirement or change their retirement plans completely. We face some very difficult times indeed.
Second, some changes may need to be made. In the midst of all the economic changes happening I have been taking a hard look at the way I live. I am looking at two areas of my life. What areas in my life can I cut back on and seek to live a simpler life. As I look at my checkbook I see a lot of areas where I can cut back because of my tendency to waste money on things I may not need for the sake of my own comfort. The question I ask myself is how can I live a simpler life? Also, I am trying to look at ways in which I can give more. How can I increase my giving to help people in need. I realize I would be unable to ease the suffering of all people but what I can do is help some people through this crisis.
Third, we need to see this crisis as an opportunity. I have a friend who repeatedly says, "don't waste a good crisis." This is an opportunity for the people of God and people of faith to step up and do what we can with what we have to help those in need. How can we step up? That is the big question. We need to listen to those who are hurting and not judge them but be a place where we can help with the resources God has given us. Praying for the guidance of God is a good place to begin. As we pray I believe God will direct us to action if we are willing.

I love mission trips. I believe it is the best way for me to connect with people in need and see of the results of putting faith into action. I just got home from a one week trip with three others from my church. We were working with about 40 others building two houses for Habitat for Humanity in Port Arthur, TX.

I learn a great deal of things about myself and others as I work on mission trips. On this particular trip I learned the need for patience when working with groups. While I have a tendency to organize events that I am in charge of it become very easy for me to become inpatient when others are not as organized as I am. When we arrived at the church which was to be our home for the week we discovered the slab for both of the homes we were to be working on were yet to be poured. They were originally to be poured on Friday before we arrived on Sunday but because of some bureaucratic hold up they could not be poured until the following Monday. That meant the crew would have to be split up to a couple of different sites for Monday work. So the team I was on went to work on some other habitat homes in Beaumont while the other crew went to the site to do some work building some prefab items that could be done while the slab was being poured.

It wasn't until Tuesday after lunch that my crew made it to the site and actually began working on the houses. That was all right because I had the opportunity to work Tuesday morning in Sabine Pass a community that was literally wiped out by the hurricane and from what I saw very little work had been done because there was still a lot of major clean-up to do from three years ago.

But in spite of the late start we were able to do a little catch up over the rest of the week and even though were were not as far along as they wanted to be. I felt we accomplished a lot of work in a short period of time. We had come a long way from no slab on Monday to where we wrapped up on Friday.

Some in our group were planning to work both weeks but others like me only gave one week to the project. But I can't wait to see the progress they are making this week.

I am posting a video of pictures that were taken on the trip I was on and the song is by Casting Crowns, "Who Am I" from the CD: "Casting Crowns". I plan on showing the video in worship Nov. 16th.

There has been a lot of doom and gloom going around lately since some major financial agnecies have gone under. There is alot of specualtion going around about what is the right thing to do concerning those agencies as to should the federal government bail them out to the tune of billions of dollars or should they just let them fend for themeselves and go under. If we do provide help how much and how will it be managed? Those are all important questions. I only heard stories about the great depression from my parents, my mother was born right at the start of it and my father was a young man just out of high school. They told me stories growing up about how difficult it was during those times. Families and neighbors worked together to help each other out in order to make ends meet. It was a time when people cared about each other and help them to get through those tough times.

I believe the command of Christ to care about each other calls us to action in helping one another get through difficult times like we are facing. God calls us to help one another and that is one of if not the most important mission of the church. It is the call of Christ in my life that brings me to church in good times and bad and it is the assurance of God's presence with me that helps me get through difficult times. How can we do that as a church?

Be here for each other. Listen to the pain each person carries as a part of their life. Then act on behalf of the grace God has shown you and show God's grace to another in need.

A week from tomorrow I turn 55 and it is time to take a moment to look back on my life. If you would have told me 28 years ago when I graduated from seminary that I would be where I am in life and in ministry and be enjoying both life and ministry more than at any other time in my existence; I would have thought you to not be telling the truth.
Life for me has been an amazing journey. I have met some wonderful people along the way. I have been in situations that have been not only enjoyable but at times they have been challenging. While there are some experiences I would not want to repeat I realize those experiences, good and bad have all had an impact on my life and have played a part in who I am today.
I continue to believe life is a learning experience. I am continually excited about the things I am learning about faith and God and how those things play out in the life of the church today. It is exciting to see God doing new things continually in my life. It is also exciting to share those things in the church and see and hear the faith experiences that people have.
At 55 years of age I realize my life is most likely more than half over but God is still alive and active and doing new things. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Recently at the church I pastor we had the opportunity to view the movie, "Lord Save Us from Your Followers." I thought the film was excellent and had a great message for people both in and out of the church today. One of the best points made in the film was one of the major problems we face in our society is we are only interested in letting others know where we stand or the positions we take on issues and we no longer seem to be willing to listen to the other people around us.
I find this in particular to be true in the political arena. It seems as we are heading toward the election that people choose up sides, talk only about their candidate and expect us to listen to them but do not want to hear anything when it comes to the other side. This creates a win lose situation and the only thing that matters is my side needs to win. Usually that means if I can yell the loudest, be the most charismatic person to attract the most people and place a better spin on where I stand on the issues then I will win. Now I have discovered that both sides of debates are guilty of this practice and the only thing it serves to do is make both sides more polarized.
What is more frightening than this fact are the results. I saw it in several places today on a personal level. There were four incidences which happened to me today which brought this to light. First, I got into a disagreement on a web site with a person because of how a certain issue was handled. It did not take long for others to jump in and take sides and the whole issue escalated out of proportion. It was quickly stopped by the person moderating the board. After talking personally with both the parties involved he was able to resolve the situation.
The second incident happened at my gym. While working out I heard one of the persons on another piece of equipment start talking in a loud voice about how they needed to s change the channel on the television because he did not like the politcal persuasion of the one being broadcast. It did not matter what anyone else thought he was making sure he was heard and his wishes were followed. The loudest voice is often the one that gets heard. As I left the gym today he was still explaining his position to anyone who would listen.
The third incident happened in my car, I was waiting at the stop sign when a person yelled something directed at me for what reason I am unsure but it was certainly not complimentary. A road rage incident could have easily resulted but I drove away wondering what the problem was.
A fourth incident was through a piece of e-mail I recieved which I found very offensive. I quickly deleted it and went about my business.
Of those four incidents I responded to only one and it quickly got out of control. ( I do plan on aplogizing for my actions.) In each case based on what I have seen lately in our world a response in the other three would more than likely have created a greater escalation of hostility and further problems.
I have spent the afternoon pondering how has our society gotten to this place and is there anything I can do about it. The movie I mentioned earlier did have a solution and it was to take time not only to speak but to hear what others are saying, to have a conversation. Then there is a chance for understanding. That is what I plan to do. Now I have an apology to make.

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything on my blog so I figured it is time to begin posting once again. This summer had some new adventures for me and my family and it seems like there are always some new things to look at and experiment with during times like these.

There were some great highlights for the summer. The high point for me was the family vacation to Yellowstone. I am not much of a camper as a matter of fact I have not camped for about 35 years. The last time I went camping when I was in my late teen years I got such a bad asthma attack I was afraid to try it again for fear of it happening again. But with my asthma under control and a chance to go to Yellowstone with family I decided to give it a try and it worked out well.

It was a great time to not only see a great National Park but also spend time in a unique setting with family. As you can see from the picture we took a whitewater rafting trip and among other things we did some hiking and did some relaxing in the setting of our campsite. What pleased me the most is both our daughters said to us after returning we need to make this a family tradition.

Another highlight of the summer was a mission trip to Texas to work on hurricane damaged homes. There were six of us from the church that went and we working with another crew from Iowa. It was a great time of working together and making a difference in the life of one family.

I love mission work because it get me out in the community and directly meets the needs of those we serve. I am looking forward to returning to to the gulf coast for another opportunity to work in November.

A third highlight of the summer for me was taking a class exploring interim ministry. I really loved the chance I had to do an interim a few years ago and could see me engaging in this work on a regular basis. I took the class to see if this type of work would be for me somewhere down the road. I enjoyed the class and now plan to take the follow up course in October.

Ministry and life continue to challege me in new ways. There is a great deal of life left to be explored and as I turn 55 this month I can honestly say this is the best time of my life so far and if that is any indication there are still better times to come.

Due to a lot of heath issues a couple of years ago we were forced to put our dog of almost 16 years down. While her health had been in decline over the years and we were moving to a new home and because of diffculty climbing stairs and going blind she would have a very difficult adjustment to new surroundings. I really miss Freckles a lot, she was a great dog and I think about her every so often. One of the things she would love to do is play ball. Throw a ball and she would chase it all day using up all of her energy until she would just drop in the yard. The after a few moments she would gather up enough energy and start all over again. She would never grow tired of chasing that ball. It did not matter what the weather was on a hot day, cold day she was always eager to chase that ball. But there was one thing I notcied about freckles and her ball chasing routine: you could not switch balls in the middle of a game. Once you began a game with a certain ball if you threw a different ball even though it looked exactly like the other one she would not return it. It had to be the original ball. I remember throwing a ball over the fence and losing it that stopped the game because she would not chase a new ball because she wanted to play with the old one. No matter how many times I tried to fool her she would never go for the different ball.
When I think about I wish I was alot more like my dog. Many times I put a great deal of energy into chasing things. In my pursuit of getting closer to God I have discovered there are alot of balls being tossed around my yard for me to pursue. It would be easy for me to chase after the biggest, the most attractive or the one with the most bells and whistles and in doing so I can lose sight of my original goal. Freckles was focused in going after that ball and in the same way I need to be focused inb my pursuit of a growing relationship with God. Nothing brought her more joy than the chase and in the same way discovering God brings us a joy we can not get by any other means. It is my prayer that we continue in our pursuit of a meaningful faith.