Thanksgiving 2009

Tis the season to be thankful. Tomorrow is Thansgiving Day so I thought I would spend this post listing some of the things for which I am thankful.

1. Salvation through Jesus
2. God's Word
3. God's Work
4. My family (Gretchen, Meagan, Marissa and Malory - What a blessing)
5. My extended family
6. God's provision
7. An awesome church family (Immanuel is the BEST)
8. Friends
9. God's Creation
10. Hobbies

This is certainly not a comprehensive list by any means. It is however the some of the things that immediately come to my mind as I try as best as I can to disply an attitude of gratitude!!

Pioneering vs. Settling

I had lunch with a ministry friend today. He is 69 years old and has been in full time vocational ministry for several decades. After his "retirement" he wasted no time in getting on to the next phase of his ministry. He started a whole new ministry focused on mentoring younger ministers in order to help them accomplish their God-given dreams with church growth as an immediate and long term bi-product.

While some choose to use their "golden years" as a time to sit on the porch swing and read the daily paper, he has chosen to continue to live a life of eternal purpose. My father-in-law would say that he is a pioneer rather than a settler. Pioneers choose to continue to go into uncharted territory and claim it as their own. Settlers sit on territory that has already been developed.

This concept has really been close to my heart recently. I cannot find anything in scripture that supports a settler attitude (spiritually speaking of course). In fact what I find in scripture is exactly the opposite, because I see a commanding of a pioneering attitude in regards to spiritual things, including ministry.

I just pray that I will NEVER be a settler in my spiritual life or in ministry. I pray that if and when I reach 69 years of age that I can sit at the lunch table with a 42 year old minister and try as best as I can to pour into his life and ministry. I pray that the passion I now have for church growth and health is 27 years stronger than it is right now. I pray that I will be as passionate for the direction the Lord wants me to head as the 69 year old man I sat at lunch with today.

Tour de Lance

I began to follow the Tour de France some when I was younger. Mainly because I grew up in Boulder, Colorado which is a haven for cyclists. I had a friend who was really into the Tour and because of that I followed it somewhat. It was not until the 2001 Tour that I really got into it. That was Lance Armstrong's third tour win and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was at a friends house to watch early morning coverage of the British Open and while we were waiting for the Open to start we switched it to the Tour. When we switched it over Lance was on a climb in the Pyrenees and was trailing Jan Ulrich. It was at that point when Lance seemed to find another gear and passed Jan like he was standing still. At that very moment, I was hooked. I have watched it faithfully ever since. Even in the years sans Lance. That is what makes this year all the more exciting, because Lance is back. And after today it seems as though he is back to do more that just participate, he is back to compete for the maillot janune. So I plan on taking in as much as I can of this years Tour, even if it finds me waking up at 4:30am....

Fourth of July reflections

Yesterday I celebrated the 4th of July by mowing my yard, triming a tree back, going to the movies, and eating dinner with family and great friends. It was a great day lived under the flag of freedom that I enjoy as an American. As awesome as that freedom is, it is infinitely trumped by the ultimate freedom I have in Christ. However, the two freedoms have some interesting similarities. (1) freedom only comes from great sacrifice. (2) freedom brings about responsibility. (3) freedom is never to be taken for granted. I am sure there are many more but these are the ones that I reflected on yesterday and are still on my mind today.

I sure do love my wife

One thing I think about on a regular basis is how much I love my wife. There are way to many things to mention in this post. Plus I am doing this on my Blackberry. The short of it is that she is literally the best friend I have! She loves me in spite of my faults and failures of which there are many. She is the epitome of unconditional love. Being away from her is a painful experience. I thank God every day for giving her to me.

Where did the years go?

Something happened to cause me to wonder where all the years have gone. The other day I was watching home video's with Meagan. I was watching all the girls from Christmas of 2000. They were almost ten years younger then. It sure does not seem that long ago. That caused me to look at the girls now. Then I thought, holy cow where have the years gone. To me the lesson is to enjoy each and every day as they happen.

June Gloom

After living through our 11th June in Southern California I have come to realize that in SOCAL June can be a mixed bag weather wise. There have been June months that have been a scorcher, while others have been pretty mild. The milder June's are possible because of a pacific trough that sits off the coast and brings in a heavy marine layer. Sometimes the marine layer gets as thick as 5,000 feet in elevation. When this happens it brings in what we call "June Gloom." This is the time when living in SOCAL seems more like living in Seattle. This year "June Gloom" has been especially thick. We are now into our 22 day of below average temperatures. In fact as I write this, I am looking out the window at a cloudy, cool, drizzly morning. The lifers here seem to really dread this phenomenon. I, on the other hand, love it! It keeps things cool and saves on my electric bill. After all July will be here soon enough and the days will get hotter and hotter and the electric bill will rise accordingly. Temperatures during July - September have been known to be as high as 110+ degrees (of course it is a dry heat). So I will take my "June Gloom" extra heavy please!!! To me it is a reminder that God gives us what we need when we need.