Life and Death

This is not original, but I liked it and wanted to pass it on...

We are all caught between life and death.  Making the choice to live every moment is intentional.  It doesn’t just happen.  Live on purpose...so that your life will matter.   Thomas A Kempis said ” It is vanity to wish for a long life and care little about a well spent life.”  That’s how we should spend our days here on earth.

I love the last line of IN CHRIST ALONE… “No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.  From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.”

That is how I choose to live.  From first cry to final breath, Jesus please direct me and guide me until I see You face to face. (JIM DRAKE)

Cold

It's cold outside. It's been cold for a while now. It's winter in Missouri so it's supposed to be cold. But for some reason the cold has been more cold to me lately. Not only am I physically cold but as this month rolls along toward another February I think I'm getting emotionally cold. I've been thinking this week about what we were doing this time 3 years ago. Bonnie, the girls and I were in Williston, ND talking to First Baptist Church about possibly joining them in ministry.We were well received. The possibilities were exciting. The environment was going to take some adjustment for us with the extreme cold, snow, etc. It was a fun trip for the four of us. On the way home we took a little detour through the Badlands and on to Mt. Rushmore. It wasn't crowded there. It was very cold. We had fun walking around the monument. Not sure Kayla had as much fun as the rest of us. A little too much walking for her. We were excited to be there though because "National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets" had just been in the theaters and we were trying to find where they did some of the filming. We had been blessed by dear friends at FBC, Paris with some extra cash, which made this side trip possible. We stayed at a nice hotel with an indoor pool. Our room was right by the pool with entrance to it from our room. It was very cool. We were talking and praying about the possibility of moving. The girls didn't like the idea but were willing to go IF God called us there. Kayla was pretty sure God was in it. Alicia was hoping He wasn't. I am so glad that God gave us that last trip together. I miss them a lot right now and I suppose with February quickly approaching again that this is normal. I am still not a huge fan of this new normal though. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to this roller coaster. I'm not a huge fan of roller coasters to begin with but this is worse than riding Space Mountain at Disney. If you've never been to Disney, Space Mountain is an indoor roller coaster in the dark. You can't see where you're going or what is coming up next.The first time you ride it is the freakiest but then you get use to it and you can anticipate what's coming. There doesn't seem to be any "getting used to" experiences in our new normal. Especially when it comes to the emotions. The comforting thing about all this is that God is with us. He sees the big picture and He says He'll never leave us or forsake us on this journey. 


This Mark Schultz song is needed now:
And even though I'm walkin through
The valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I've been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need 

And He will carry me 

The First Blog of the New Year

Here's my first blog of the New Year. Don't get too excited ,I really don't have much to say. I'm still recovering from a great vacation spent with family and friends. I have no written down resolutions. Making wise choices or better ones shouldn't be done only during the first week of a New Year. This is a daily renewing of our minds. This renewal involves more than just thinking about it, it involves action as well. We are all guilty of the GOOD INTENTION syndrome. I want my intentions to be more than this though, I hope. As the famous line from High School Musical goes...WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. We are supposed to lift each other up and encourage and even prod if necessary. God bless you as you draw closer to Him this year. Remember as we draw near to God, He has promised to draw near to us!

Christmas Is So Close...

Christmas is so close...you can smell it. That's what the deejay said as I was drifting off to sleep. Apparently that sparked my brain because every time I woke up I had a thought in my head. So now let's see if I can get 'em on here. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas is how the song goes. What about the smell of Christmas? One of the first smells that entered our house on the day after Thanksgiving was the smell of the  Christmas tree. For all except one or two Christmases we've had a live Christmas tree. They smell so good. We love Douglas Firs. As the scent of turkey fades from the kitchen we begin to smell the sweets!! Yum. At home, we had White Chocolate Chip Cookies and Alicia's famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies. Now at Mom and Dad's house, we have Batman Cake, Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, Reese's Bars, Cupcakes, Corn Flake Wreaths that stain your mouth green. At home it's snowing. That has it's own wintry scent. But what about the first Christmas? What did it smell like? If the manger was a cave, then it had a dank smell. After traveling all day by donkey, I'm sure Mary and Joseph had an unpleasant bodily smell. Course this was before deodorant so everyone stunk. LOL. Jesus was placed in a feeding trough. We assume it had hay in it. Hay has it's own smell. A freshly cut hayfield smells great. But what if the feeding trough was for the pigs. Well that probably wouldn't be since this was a Jewish town. But the thought of the feeding trough having slop in it produces a completely different idea. So you can keep your hay-filled manger. Then you have the animals. We assume there was a donkey, the one Mary and Joseph had, but we don't know if there were any other animals. Coulda been a cow or horse there, maybe a sheep. Because if the close quarters you would have to watch your step. Again, a smell all its own. That first Christmas was not as neat and clean as our pageants portray. The sweetest smell of Christmas, of any season, is the smell of love. That smell is hard to describe but impossible to miss.  The aroma of love for one another coupled with the love for our Savior is the most inviting, welcoming smell of all. So as Christmas draws closer I hope your home is filled with beautiful fragrance of the love of Christmas! A scent that is indescribable but unmistakably sweet! 

Soundtrack

Was reminded of something I said a couple of years ago. Don't you wish your life had a movie soundtrack to it. Imagine the "Jaws" theme just before something bad happens. That would be great or at least it would give us a heads up as to what's coming. Our life has had it's own soundtrack but the tracks are either concurrent with live or just a few moments after the fact. A constant theme for as long as I can remember is GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS. "...All I have needed Thy hand has provided..." His timing is always perfect. Not necessarily our timing but His. Like the old song says, "He's never late, never early, He's an on time God" When the time was right, after a 400 year silence, God spoke His love to the world, to you and me, through a baby. A baby that "grew in favor with God and man." A boy that astounded the religious leaders when He was only 12. A man who not only fulfilled the Law but expanded it. "Love your enemies...Turn the other cheek...Go the extra mile..." A man who laid down His life for His friends. That friendship spans the centuries to today. Because of that great love, we can truly know what love is. Without His love, our love is just a shadow. "...Morning by morning new mercies I see...Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!" Thank you!