Father’s Day Early Gift

My eldest called me up yesterday and asked me about what day this week I could go out for lunch.  She explained that she had to work on Sunday right after church time and would not get to have lunch with us.  She wanted to take me out for Father’s Day.  So, I got an early gift today. 

We had lunch and hung out for a couple of hours together.  I think that’s pretty cool and I really appreciated it.  On top of that, she told me that she had a gift for me at home that she wanted me to open when everyone was there. Cool!  Not the gift, but my daughter.  She could have a sack of rocks and they would be special just because she got them for me.  The real gift was the time spent with my daughter who cared enough to spend time with me.  Thanks Woo Woo!!

Blessed Week

I guess it’s true what the group Chicago sang, “Everybody needs a little time away.”  This week has been good.  We have met new friends, got to spend time with people we love dearly, and had loads of fun in the process.

Last night we went to eat with Cecil, Barbara & Steven, Steve Puckett, and our new friend Mark.  We ate some great seafood and had wonderful conversation.  Afterward, we came back to the resort for a short visit.  The kids all went swimming and we came back to the room for one last visit.  After a short visit, Cecil led us all in prayer and asked God’s blessings on our travel.  I really appreciated that.  Cecil and Barbara left and when the kids got back to the room, we said our goodbyes to two of the nicest young men I’ve ever met.  Thanks to all of those teens at Central.  They treated my kids with kindness and respect.

Florida has been nice, but I’m ready to return to our home.  We feel tired, but rejuvenated somehow.  We look forward to getting back to our church family and growing God’s kingdom in the Shoals area.  God is good and this has been a blessed week.

Highlight of the Trip

God is awesome! Of course I know you know that, but really, God is awesome! Spiritual growth and excitement shows up in the most unexpected places sometimes.

Of all the things there is to do in central Florida, (Disney World, Sea World, Space Museums, Museums of all kinds, and tons more than that) last night was the highlight of the trip for me. You must wonder which attraction I’m talking about. The attraction was our kids with some of the youth group from Central church and a visit from friends.

I didn’t know that anything but a visit from Cecil and Barbara was going to happen. Boy was I wrong. First we got to meet the better half (no offense Cecil) of the Cecil and Barbara couple. It was a pleasure just sitting and talking to good friends in a relaxed atmosphere. Then came the kids.

The group you see pictured provided ample entertainment for us all. It didn’t take long, however, for the kids to be outta here and to the resort swimming pool and putt putt golf course. When they finished there, they came back to the resort room to finish off all the cookies, then off to the beach.

About midnight, I called to see where they were and when they were coming back. Brandon said, “We’re just down at the beach singing.” They had gone down and worshiped. From what my kids told me later, they had a truly wonderful God moment! There was sharing (I don’t know all the details, but i don’t have to know everything) their love for God and one another. These kids just met! God is truly awesome.

They got back to the room and we sat with all of these kids for another hour talking about stories of mischief and fun. This group of kids told about things that they have experienced at church camp, neighborhoods, and school. Ellen and I told a few stories ourselves.

When I took these teens back to their car at the end of the night, I was amazed. They shook my hand and talked about how wonderful their night was. One told me what a pleasure it was to meet me and my family. Very mature! I told them how much I appreciated their treating my kids so well. They spoke highly of my kids back to me.

When they left and I returned to my room, my kids were still talking about how wonderful their night was. They spoke of the genuine “realness” in the lives of their new-found friends. They talked about how awesome God was in bringing them together. We talked about how to take this spirit home. it’s the Spirit of God they were speaking of. They may not understand all there is to know about that, and neither can I, but I know this. Only God could have orchestrated such an evening. He had some willing subjects though in our kids. What a special night!

God’s Beauty

We do not serve a boring God.  Yesterday and today especially I’ve seen some of God’s most wonderful creatures, nature, and people.  We went to Sea World yesterday.  It was too late and I was too tired to blog when I got back to the resort.  This morning I couldn’t sleep (again) so I decided to take a walk down the beach.  Being a North Alabama born and bred guy, I just don’t get to do that too often.  My guess is those who do probably take it for granted. I’ve decided to let this blog speak of God’s beauty through pictures.

Some of God’s most beautiful and smart creatures–Dolphins

Shamu the killer whale - one really big mammal!

Clyde and Seymore - two very funny sea lions.

Funniest guy in the park - The Pirate Mime.

The sunrise on the ocean.  This is what you can see when you can’t sleep here.  Wow!

God’s most beautiful creation in my life - my family.

My silly kids.

What An Awesome Sunday!!

I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed today.  First, this morning we started the day with a powerful morning of worship with our family at Central in Cocoa.  We all felt like we were at home.  I just want to let all the good people from Central know how much we appreciated the warm welcome.

We were able to spend a little time with one of the most precious people on the planet–sister Joyce Massey.  Her husband Jim was one of the most intelligent men of God I have ever known–a man of great talent and a deep sense of the grace of God.  Joyce still looks the same and her smile and encouragement have not changed either.

I really enjoyed getting to meet the rest of the Cecil Walker clan.  Meeting Steven and Barbara  in person assured me of something I suspected.   Cecil, brother, you have blessed my brother.   They are a wonderful family.

It was good to see Chuck and Mike again as well.  I met these two brothers at the Pepperdine Lectures.

The highlight of the day at Central came at the end of the service when Asha (not sure of the spelling and didn’t get the last name)  walked up to the front of the auditorium and expressed a desire to be baptized.  IN her testimony she shared about her struggles a bit and said how much she appreciated the lesson and that it touched her.  Now those of you who know me know that I don’t write that to gloat or brag.  In fact, I don’t even believe that it was me.  I don’t have that kind of power.  I write it to brag on my God, who through the power of His Holy Spirit touched and convicted that little girl.  I have to tell you though that it’s a humbling experience to have God work through you.  Those of us who get to speak for God (and I don’t just mean men who stand in a pulpit, but all those who speak for Him) know how much of a thrill it is to be used by Him. Thank You Father!!

After lunch, we finished the day at the beach.  Nice sunshine, beautiful sands and water, the awesome power of waves and the surf, having my mom relax on a beach chair, the laughter of my children, the company of my wonderful wife of nearly 25 years!!  It was an awesome Sunday.  Hey, God willing, we have five more days of this stuff!  More to say later.

From The Sunshine State

Florida is its usual beautiful self. Boy, is it hot though!! We drove all night last night and we’re all very tired.  We left about 9:30PM central time and arrived here about 10:30 eastern time.   As I speak I’m looking at my son asleep awaiting pizza for supper. We are so excited about the space shuttle launch later this evening. People are already piling into the beach area to get a view of it.  I hope to be able to film it.  I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow I’m sure along with a report on how things went at Central. I’m looking forward to speaking there tomorrow. Cecil, I don’t know about bringing the house down, but I know and fully expect to be lifted up in Jesus.  Greg, I don’t like to preach those “moving” sermons anywhere.  I’d like to come back.

Thanks to you all for all the encouraging words spoken on Danielle’s behalf. She is now a graduate. She is looking forward to beginning college this fall. God bless you all.

Southbound

If the Lord wills, we will be doing something tomorrow night (by the time most of you read this it will be tonight) that we thought we would not get to do this year.  We will watch Danielle walk across the stage to receive her high school diploma.  She is so excited.  I really don’t know if she is more excited about the graduation or the trip afterward.

We will be leaving for the Sunshine state to spend some time on the beach and seeing a few sites.  I will be preaching at the Central Church of Christ in Cocoa this Sunday.  Where have we heard of that church before?  Oh, that’s Cecil’s church family.  I’m looking so forward to that.

We really need this as a family.  It’s been a long time since we’ve been on a family vacation.  We are so thankful to God for this opportunity to go and relax for a few days.

I hope my next blog will be from Central Florida.  Please pray for our trip.

Perspective

Perspective is a difficult thing to keep. When I place the problems of my life next to the suffering that other are going through, many times my problems begin to pale in comparison. When I begin to compare our way of living as opposed to a third world country, it makes things like fuel prices, grocery prices, and the economical crunch that we are “suffering” through seem not so bad. We must keep our perspective.

How many times has someone done something to you to hurt you and you think, “How petty they are!” Does it ever occur to us that our “petty” may be their “not so petty.” Someone once said that “one man’s mountain is another man’s mole hill.” That’s so true.

I think one of our problems when it comes to perspective is that we put too much stock in this world. We have it so good that when tragedy comes, or even then little problems come, we really don’t know how to handle it too well. This is a broken world with lots of broken people, places, and events. It’s not ever going to be totally fixed. It’s probably to our advantage to put that into our perspective.

We used to sing an old hymn called, “This World Is Not My Home.” The concept that “I’m just a passing through” is a true perspective helper. It tells me to think of this life as a journey. It is a short period of time in which there will be many ups and downs. It is trip of sorts that we are taking which leads us right on into eternity. That’s where we want to really live!

God help me to keep my world in perspective so that I can see what You have in store for me in the home that You are preparing for me.

Unfathomable

I cannot fathom the loss of one of my children.  I pray that God will protect them so that I won’t ever have to deal with that.

I just learned about our blog friend, John Dobb’s tragic loss of his son who was to graduate this Friday. Instead he has gone on the be with Jesus.  You can read about it here.

Please remember this in your thoughts and prayers.

Disappointment

Wikipedia defines disappointment as “the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest.”  Do you think God gets disappointed with us?  I know that the scripture says before the flood that “He was sorry he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” (Genesis 6:6 NCV)

I don’t know if we can come close at all to that feeling until we have children.  Now, you all know that I love my children.  I blog about them all the time.  My wife and I have found that when we are out eating, just the two of us, we catch ourselves talking about the kids.  Nearly every moment of every day is spent doing something or thinking about something that has to do with our kids.  So, when I talk about disappointment and my children, please know how much I love them.

I guess that’s what makes it so hard when they disappoint.  If we didn’t care so much, it wouldn’t hurt so much.  We really set ourselves up for it don’t we.  Our expectations are sometimes too high.  We expect too much from them I suppose.  In so many ways my children set me up for it.  They are good kids.  They give us almost no problems when it comes to the kinds of things I see out there in the world that they could be into.  When I start looking at it in those terms, I feel so blessed.  So even they make it hard on us by being good most of the time.

I think God does get disappointed.  I think that because He’s a relational person–not some extra-terrestrial dictator of rules who has no feelings.  He is our “Father” after all.  We are his children.  He cares.  He expects. Therefore, I know He must feel disappointment.

The real hope in all this to me is that if He feels disappointment, He must feel victory.  When our children “get it right” and we see that, there’s no more victorious feeling than that.  I’d like to think that our God feels the same excitement for us in those rare but good victorious moments.