These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

The Christmas decorations have been taken down and packed away. There is nary a trace that a holiday even happened around here. I suppose there is a bit of sullenness that accompanies the period of time right after Christmas. After all, Christmas can be such an emotionally stimulating celebration. I mean there is family, and meals (lots of meals!), and gifts, and old Hallmark movies and commercials...well you get the picture.

Emma (L) - Dani (R)

This year was special for our family. We had all five kids including our three married children and their spouses with us. I feel having them all here was the best gift Kim and I could have received. We likely will not enjoy this situation very often since there are those other guys (in-laws) that will require the presence of the kids for the holidays. This year, however, was made even more special because we got to celebrate with two very new granddaughters, Emeilia Grace (Emma born in August) and Christina Ana-Danielle (Dani born in November).

Yes the house was packed. But it was fun. I love the fact that our kids love to be home for the holidays. I love the fact that they laugh and carry on and eat. Then they laugh some more and eat some more. Man can they eat!

There are so many of us that the gift opening becomes a rather chaotic exercise in which we kind of get lost in a sea of wrapping paper. We have a blast enjoying the mess.

I am so thankful God has blessed our family with such a loving spirit.

My Top Five

I keep seeing posts by my Facebook friends listing an item for which they are thankful. It started on November 1 and I suppose will run through Thanksgiving on the 28th.

I have resisted the temptation to make these entries each day, though I am very thankful. In fact, I have so much to be thankful for a mere 28 days would not be sufficient. What I will do is list the top 5 things for which I am thankful.

Numer One - The forgiveness of my sins through the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. My salvation is a gift from a loving God given to an undeserving sinner, me. If I had to become good enough to deserve eternal life I surely would have come short as does everyone in this world. The only way I will make it to heaven is because God has promised me that if I would receive His Son as my Saviour I could go. Wow, I am really thankful for that.

Number Two - A loving, patient, humble, godly wife. I chose to enter the gospel ministry years ago because I felt the call of God. She has followed me into that calling faithfully. I have dragged her half way around the world to live an extremely difficult life in Africa. She survived spiders bigger than a man's hand, no electricity, no water, no washing machines, no medical services, and the list goes on. (And she still loves me) I am so thankful my wife loves God, hence she can love me.

Number Three - My kids and their families.

My five children. They are not perfect. They may never win an award for child of the year. But, they all love God and are "good" people. To me, those two things are more important than just about anything else. While they are very different one from another, they each are kind to people, friendly, easy to get along with, gentle in spirit and most of all, love their family. I am a proud Papa when it comes to my kids. They are what they are by the grace of God and the good parenting skills of their mother. For my children I am extremely grateful.

My daughter in law takes good care of five of my grandchildren. She is a good woman who loves my son and loves God. She makes sure my grandkids know about God and gets to church where they can learn even more. That is important to me.

My son in law is a good man who treats my daughter with love and respect. He is a hard worker and a good provider. Thats important to me.

My soon to be daughter in law is a sweet, kind, loving mother. Because my son is still in school chasing advanced degrees in music her willingness to sacrifice for him makes me happy. I am thankful for the mates God has brought into the lives of my children

My grandchildren, three girls and three boys, each are a blessing to me. This Christmas we will all be together as a family. I am so amped up about this Christmas. I am thankful that God has worked it out for us to be together.

Number Four - My church. Our church has gone through its share of ups and downs recently. Through it all there remains a loving family whose hearts are knit together by love of the Saviour. Our church family is a faithful group of families that week in and week out come together with a spirit of worship and praise to our great God. I am blessed to be its pastor.

Number Five - My country. Having lived abroad I can attest to the excellence of the USA. She is not perfect. She never has been or never will be. While there is corruption in the political realm of our country it does not diminish the excellent spirit of all true Americans who have a huge heart of compassion for those less fortunate. At any disaster in the world America is almost always the first on the scene to help and usually the largest donor of aid. We often help those countries who had previously spit on our flag. We do what we do because of who we are, Americans. We do what we do because it is right. I love America, with all its faults. I would rather live here than any other place in the world. I am thankful to be an American.

Well, there you have it for what it is worth. My top five. What's on top of your list?

Words - Be Careful

It's been nearly a month since I last posted on the blog. There has been so much happen since then. I really have only one excuse, procrastination. Can that be an excuse? Oh well, at least it is a reason.

I was able to perform a wedding yesterday. As I spoke to the young couple and gave them my "charge," I said something that resonated with me in a particularly striking way. Yes, God even speaks to the preacher when he is in the pulpit. I said, "You both are starting with a clean slate today. You have the opportunity to make your marriage whatever you desire it to be. What your marriage will become will be determined by the choices you make." I know, not really profound, right? What struck me so strongly though is the fact that many of the little decisions we make ultimately work together to change the course of a marriage. Little choices can make major directional shifts. The Bible says says in James chapter three that great ships are turned about by very small helms. The little choices in life can make major directional changes.

The other day I was floating around in our backyard pool. The pool is not big enough to swim in but the kids enjoy it. I was lying on a float and just drifting around with the currents from the pump. The gentle breeze would push me one way or another. I found that if I stroked the water one time I could change the direction that my float was going. It did not take a lot of force. I was not thrashing around. Just a little push of the water and I was going in a different direction.

This reminded me of our marriages. We often say or do something while in an emotional state that we later regret. Sometimes we react (in an ungodly way) rather than respond (in accordance to the Spirit) and we later regret that reaction. It does not take much to change the attitude and atmosphere of the home.

I often remind our church family that once words flow from our mouths no matter how sorrowful we are, we cannot take them back. Our spouses may choose to ignore them or forgive us but the damage is already done. Be careful what you say and how you say. The Bible teaches us that "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." What this means is the right word, at the right time, given with the right motivation ministers grace and blessing.

We all could use a little more temperance and self control in our relationships. Remember the Bible also says that it is the little foxes that spoil the vine!

Pray For This Church

Yesterday, a tragedy struck Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. A bus carrying many children and adults over turned on the interstate and crashed. Three people were killed and many were injured. The press released two of the names of the deceased, Chad and Courtney Phelps, the youth pastor of the church and his wife. The bus was returning from a week long youth camp in Michigan and was only a mile or so from home.

As believers we know God is control and has a purpose for allowing this tragedy. We know those who died in the Lord are with God in heaven. Let us pray for God's healing grace to cover this church family.

The Problem With Kids Leaving the Church

I saw this article posted by a pastor friend and thought I should repost. There are a lot of good points made by the author. To all my church going friends, please take the time to read it.

http://www.churchleaders.com/youth/youth-leaders-articles/159175-3-common-traits-of-youth-who-don-t-leave-the-church.html

God Bless America

I recently posted this on my Facebook page and thought I would post it here because some do not use Facebook.

Having lived in another country for nearly thirteen years, I still believe America is the greatest country on earth. She is not perfect, never was. She is not Christian, never was. (A country cannot be "Christian" but only stand for Christian principles. In 313AD Constantine tried to make a Christian nation and it was a mess.) What makes America great is her nobility. Where is all the foreign aid when disaster strikes within the shores of our nation? It never comes. America is always the first to send funds to other countries when disaster strikes there. America has extremely generous immigration laws, but they are laws to be followed. Try gaining residency in a foreign country! This is truly the land of opportunity. For the most part, if a person is willing to work he can find work enough to feed his family. If you desire to hate on America, I suggest you move to another country for a while. You will come running back and kiss the ground. God bless America!

A Father's Life

I just finished a week of volunteering at a classical guitar music festival here is Houston. This is my second year doing this. My son competes in this festival each year and has done very well. This year he placed second amidst some very stiff competition. Part of my duties this year was to be back stage to proctor the competitors before they performed. I would announce each one prior to their entry on stage.

As a father, I will admit my prejudice. Our son, JB, played extremely well. Maybe the best I have ever heard him. It brought tears to my eyes, literally. I had a lot of time to reflect on the week and here are some of my thoughts (a bit random maybe).

Wow, that is my son? - Musical abilities run in our family a little. My wife was first chair violinist in her high school orchestra. My oldest son plays a variety of instruments. My daughters have some skills on the piano. My youngest son is doing well taking cello lessons. I have played guitar since I was about ten years old and currently am going through my second childhood learning to play the ukulele. So music runs in our family, but wow, not like this. JB has exceeded all of us.

What a roller coaster of nerves. - There was so much tension in the air surrounding the competition. I remember playing sports when I was a kid. I used to get so nervous before a big baseball game or a wrestling match I thought I was going to throw up. I could see the nerves visibly on all the competitors faces as they were preparing to go on stage to compete. It was amazing to see how they were able to get the nerves under control and perform with such silky smooth ease. Hats off to them all.

My son has a gift from God. - JB only started playing the guitar back in 2007. He started out teaching himself off the internet. Very soon after he was able to find a teacher locally that really made a huge difference in his playing. Whether she (Valerie) knows it or not she is a gift from God as well. Its been said that we are what we are because of the people we meet. Some impact us negatively and some positively. Its up to us to choose which way we allow people to influence us. I am thankful that JB has been able to take the good from the people he has met in life and rise above the negative. Many have wasted the gifts given them. My prayer is that JB will not.