Wow...what a couple of years it has been in the financial market. We have experienced record high gas prices, reduced home values, diminishing mutual fund markets, and now what seems to be total financial turmoil in the market. I would say the word "fear" could describe where many Americans are today. Yesterday my dad called us to give us some advice that he and my mother have taken themselves. He recommended that we withdraw a sum of money form the bank and keep some cash on hand just as a precautionary measure. That conversation really got me to thinking. What if... ?
I think Satan uses that stuff all the time to get us distracted from God's purposes, plan, and ultimate care for our life. Sometimes in these moments I find myself in mental panic mode as I desperately try to fix the problem by dwelling on it and worrying about it... as if that actually accomplishes something. As my dad and I continued to discus the financial state of the economy and what kind of effects that it might have on us he said something profound. My dad said, "Jesus is my real banker so there is no use worrying about this." That really struck me hard. I found myself immediately agreeing with that statement. That in the end if I have faithfully turned my life over to God including my finances than Jesus would faithful and deal with this mess for me. What do I really have to worry about? I have the God of the universe who died on the cross for me and lives in me. Will He fall off His throne during the nations financial crisis? Absolutely not! Why would I even think that? Well, because that is what Satan wants.
Now keep in mind Erin and I are paying attention to our personal finances...God expects us to. We are eliminating all spending on "extras" right now. We have somewhat of a spending freeze in our house. However one thing that we will not stop is our tithing. Erin and I have been able to work towards, with God's help, giving well over a tithe. We have learned to stay faithful and now in a time of crisis is when our faith is needed more than ever. I want to ask you a question...who is your banker? Let that set in for a moment. Is your ultimate banker Jesus Christ. Have you given over everything in your life to Him? Do you trust Him with your whole life including your finances? If you have and you learn to be faithful with what you have then no matter what, God will be faithful to you. That doesn't mean you won't struggle or even go through financial hardship. What it does mean is that you have Jesus who will walk with you through the struggles and lift you up in your time of need.
In these moments I am learning to lean even further into God and my relationship with Christ. In the end my banker is not 5th 3rd or the United Methodist Credit Union. It is Christ. So in the end I have nothing to fear, rather I have every reason to have faith. How about you?
In Community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
How much do I really care?
Last week on Tuesday night we held a Prayer/Praise service at church. It was a powerful night filled withe presence of the Holy Spirit. We prayed about several things. We lifted up our church, community, nation, and world. However in each case the subject matter was similar. We prayed for God's presence and opportunity in each of those places. What would it look like if we prayed for God's opportunity in our friends, family, and community? ...A prayer that asks God to soften hearts, open souls, and prepare people to be receptive to the love of Christ. I started thinking about that in my own life and evaluating it for our church body. Then Rick Warren in my devotional today hit me between the eyes.
Before we ever have this kind of prayer life we have to ask our selves this. Do I really care? Do I really care about others lives and where they will spend eternity. Or am I mostly consumed with myself, my family, my issues, my work, my struggles. Love is the key that unlocks these kinds of prayers. Do I really love others, does my heart long to see people make decisions for Jesus? Each of us needs to examine our own hearts and seek God's forgiveness bu then very quickly start praying for and loving on others. God will create a "burden" in your heart for others if you let Him. that just means that you begin to care for others and the direction their life is taking. God will use you but you have to decide to love...you have to decide to care...you have to decide to ask God to "Use you".
It all really boils down to love. Do we have love that goes beyond feelings and good intentions for others. Or do we have real authentic love that we are giving people a part of ourselves. Are we interested in pouring our lives out, sacrificing our lives so that others might live? That is after all what Jesus did for us. If we ask God to change people's life and we make ourselves available to be His agents of change than God will move and do a new thing. What does your prayer life look like? Do you really care? If so what are you willing to do about it? These are questions I am wrestling with and I challenge you to do the same. In community with you, Your Dreaming Pastor
Before we ever have this kind of prayer life we have to ask our selves this. Do I really care? Do I really care about others lives and where they will spend eternity. Or am I mostly consumed with myself, my family, my issues, my work, my struggles. Love is the key that unlocks these kinds of prayers. Do I really love others, does my heart long to see people make decisions for Jesus? Each of us needs to examine our own hearts and seek God's forgiveness bu then very quickly start praying for and loving on others. God will create a "burden" in your heart for others if you let Him. that just means that you begin to care for others and the direction their life is taking. God will use you but you have to decide to love...you have to decide to care...you have to decide to ask God to "Use you".
It all really boils down to love. Do we have love that goes beyond feelings and good intentions for others. Or do we have real authentic love that we are giving people a part of ourselves. Are we interested in pouring our lives out, sacrificing our lives so that others might live? That is after all what Jesus did for us. If we ask God to change people's life and we make ourselves available to be His agents of change than God will move and do a new thing. What does your prayer life look like? Do you really care? If so what are you willing to do about it? These are questions I am wrestling with and I challenge you to do the same. In community with you, Your Dreaming Pastor
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Maybe Sister Sledge got it right???
"We are family...all brothers, sisters, and me!" Family is an amazing thing. There is such an unwavering commitment to those in our families. We would do almost any thing to see our family members succeed in life. Take for example recently my fathers commitment to me. I needed his help with a major decision I was going to make. Only this decision was in Loudonville, OH. It was just under a 2 hour drive for me and a 3 hour drive for my dad. He was not going to benefit one bit from helping me out. He was getting nothing out of this for himself and he even was going to have to pay for his own gas and rearrange his schedule that day. He did all of that. What a commitment on his part. That wasn't the half of it though...
I arrived to the spot in Loudonville well before my dad got there. I assessed the situation and realized that I had made a huge mistake and error in judgement. What I was looking for was not what I saw when I got there. I had to call my dad on the phone and tell him not to bother coming the rest of the way. However he was already in the neighborhood. He had driven three hours for nothing...and now had to drive back home for three hours for nothing. I felt terrible and sick to my stomach that my dad did all this for nothing. However he was very gracious and told me not to worry about it a hundred times. The truth is that he didn't do all that for nothing that day...he did it for his son.
The truth is when you are family no request or need is out of reach. Family always tends to rally around one another in times of need. Sadly though many people did not grow up in this kind of family atmosphere as I have. Some of you have lived through broken models with broken relationships, and ultimately broken hearts. The Goodnews however is that God wants to provide you with a Spiritual family in Christian community. Being in a small group is less about studying good things and getting lots of knowledge then it is about building deep relationships and creating a spiritual family that has one another's back.
We all need a spiritual family...that's what the local church is. A community of believers that want to be our family. However it is not just enough to attend worship on Sunday's. We need to get to know a smaller group of people and learn to love one another. These then are the people that we will grow in family love with and go to bat for each other. These are the people we might drive 6 hours for, wait in a hospital waiting room with, help them clean up in their home after a disaster strikes. They are your family. Do you have a spiritual family? If not, you only have your self to blame. All you have to do is try a small group. It's up to you. Your family awaits...and maybe you too can sing, "We are family...all my brothers, sisters, and me."
In Community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
I arrived to the spot in Loudonville well before my dad got there. I assessed the situation and realized that I had made a huge mistake and error in judgement. What I was looking for was not what I saw when I got there. I had to call my dad on the phone and tell him not to bother coming the rest of the way. However he was already in the neighborhood. He had driven three hours for nothing...and now had to drive back home for three hours for nothing. I felt terrible and sick to my stomach that my dad did all this for nothing. However he was very gracious and told me not to worry about it a hundred times. The truth is that he didn't do all that for nothing that day...he did it for his son.
The truth is when you are family no request or need is out of reach. Family always tends to rally around one another in times of need. Sadly though many people did not grow up in this kind of family atmosphere as I have. Some of you have lived through broken models with broken relationships, and ultimately broken hearts. The Goodnews however is that God wants to provide you with a Spiritual family in Christian community. Being in a small group is less about studying good things and getting lots of knowledge then it is about building deep relationships and creating a spiritual family that has one another's back.
We all need a spiritual family...that's what the local church is. A community of believers that want to be our family. However it is not just enough to attend worship on Sunday's. We need to get to know a smaller group of people and learn to love one another. These then are the people that we will grow in family love with and go to bat for each other. These are the people we might drive 6 hours for, wait in a hospital waiting room with, help them clean up in their home after a disaster strikes. They are your family. Do you have a spiritual family? If not, you only have your self to blame. All you have to do is try a small group. It's up to you. Your family awaits...and maybe you too can sing, "We are family...all my brothers, sisters, and me."
In Community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I'm all out of love
I think that too often Air Supply has gotten it right. Aren't there times where we think we have reached our capacity to love. Maybe someone did something to us or we have tried and tried to show love to another and it just doesn't seem to get the right response. There are times where I feel like I may not be able to love any more than I am loving, or worse I may not want to love anymore. Love is one of those things that doesn't come naturally. It is a decision of the heart that takes a lot of work and focus on a regular basis. In fact God commands us to love and to respond in love in all moments with all people. That in and of it self seems overwhelming.
I was confronted with a truth today that I have thought of before but not necessarily in these terms. Did you know that God will increase our capacity to love just by His presence? All we have to do is ask Him to, and lean into His guidance and instruction. The Bible clearly states this in
2 Peter 1:3
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God.
In other words when you invite Jesus into your life you have opened your heart to a power source that goes well beyond your own personal capacity. You have been given the love of Christ and therefor will never run out of love for others. In fact a sign that you have given your life over to Christ is that your love for other believers is growing, along with your love for anyone for that matter. For some of us that means we need to ask if we have ever invited Christ into our life and turned the reigns over to Him. For people like me it is a sobering reminder that I have not loved fully in the way that I am capable of loving. Today my prayer is that I would realize the capacity God has given me to love. I am asking God to fully open up the valves of love in me that I have spent most of my life ignoring or closing off. To often I walk past opportunities to love others in the church, at home, out in day to day life. I want to share God's Good news and I can simply do that my loving others more. What would it look like if everyone decided to love out of their capacity in Christ more? It would be radical!
In community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
I was confronted with a truth today that I have thought of before but not necessarily in these terms. Did you know that God will increase our capacity to love just by His presence? All we have to do is ask Him to, and lean into His guidance and instruction. The Bible clearly states this in
2 Peter 1:3
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God.
In other words when you invite Jesus into your life you have opened your heart to a power source that goes well beyond your own personal capacity. You have been given the love of Christ and therefor will never run out of love for others. In fact a sign that you have given your life over to Christ is that your love for other believers is growing, along with your love for anyone for that matter. For some of us that means we need to ask if we have ever invited Christ into our life and turned the reigns over to Him. For people like me it is a sobering reminder that I have not loved fully in the way that I am capable of loving. Today my prayer is that I would realize the capacity God has given me to love. I am asking God to fully open up the valves of love in me that I have spent most of my life ignoring or closing off. To often I walk past opportunities to love others in the church, at home, out in day to day life. I want to share God's Good news and I can simply do that my loving others more. What would it look like if everyone decided to love out of their capacity in Christ more? It would be radical!
In community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
How do you show that you love God?
I was reminded of something today while in my daily devotional from 40 Days of Community. We show our love for God by loving others. This doesn't mean just having positive feelings for them or how much we do for others but hinges on how much we give of ourselves to others. This really hit me right between the eyes. How much of myself do I really give to others? Everyday I am surrounded by people that God has placed in my path for me to love them...give them some of me and ultimately then, some of God. How often do I take the opportunity to do that? Instead I usually look at people as objects or tools to have my needs met whether it is the postal worker, shop owner, customer service person on the other end of the phone. I want to open my eyes more to the opportunities God sends my way.
You might think well you are a pastor and leading this 40 days thing so you should be feeling that way. That's not the reason. I really, really want to learn how to love people more. Each and everyone of us can do this. Who are the 5-10 people in our life right now that we know who we don't necessarily have a close relationship with but see each other in passing (work, store, school, ECA's). What would it look like if we started to take opportunities to give them part of our lives? We could love them more! What am I waiting for? What are you waiting for?
I think we can easily make the mistake of claiming we know and love God but in our actions we have nothing to prove this. It is not possible to love God and not have a willingness to love his creation. You can't claim to love one and not the other. Look at what the scripture says in Ephesians 5:2
Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins.
I am asking myself and all who read this today...how can we be more of a vehicle of God's love. If we are willing to be stretched, God will use us to change the world and we will do it together. God is doing new things in my heart this 40 Days. I pray he is for you as well!
In Community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
You might think well you are a pastor and leading this 40 days thing so you should be feeling that way. That's not the reason. I really, really want to learn how to love people more. Each and everyone of us can do this. Who are the 5-10 people in our life right now that we know who we don't necessarily have a close relationship with but see each other in passing (work, store, school, ECA's). What would it look like if we started to take opportunities to give them part of our lives? We could love them more! What am I waiting for? What are you waiting for?
I think we can easily make the mistake of claiming we know and love God but in our actions we have nothing to prove this. It is not possible to love God and not have a willingness to love his creation. You can't claim to love one and not the other. Look at what the scripture says in Ephesians 5:2
Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins.
I am asking myself and all who read this today...how can we be more of a vehicle of God's love. If we are willing to be stretched, God will use us to change the world and we will do it together. God is doing new things in my heart this 40 Days. I pray he is for you as well!
In Community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Monday, September 22, 2008
On your mark get set go!!! 40 Days of community
Well here we go...we are off and running in our 40 days campaign. Yesterday in worship we started off with a strong reminder that we need each other and that we are not meant to live life alone. God hates loneliness. I have realized that just because you are in a relationship or constantly around other people doesn't mean we are not lonely. The only cure for loneliness is true authentic community with others who are tapping into the power of Jesus Christ.
As I read the first two days devotional readings (Yes, the readings started yesterday with Day 1 in the book) and have been strongly reminded of why loneliness tends to set in for most people. At least for me I get stuck on focusing on my issues, downfalls, needs, wants, desires rather than looking to others. In true community we discover how awesome it is to really love others and when we love others we look beyond ourselves. When we look beyond ourselves and have others to love in healthy ways that's when the loneliness is filled with love, God's real love, the love from a community! You and I were created with the capacity to love but I am discovering as rick Warren points it our that it is not usually my first response. I have to choose to love and live beyond the false pretenses that love is a feeling and an emotion. Love is actually a choice! Just like joy love is something that I can choose to do. We get confused that love is this sweet feeling that conjures up from our heart when we have a good experience with someone or something. The problem with that is what happens when people to act positively towards us, then what. Usually our feelings aren't good and then we fail to love. When you look at love as a choice then we have the capacity to respond in love to anyone in all circumstances...wow that's pretty wild isn't it?
By ourselves we have a limited capacity to love but there is a promise in the Bible that I love from our devotional reading. In Galatians 2:20 it reads, "It is no longer just I who loves, but Christ who loves in me." Did you see that? Isn't that awesome! When we invite Christ into our life our capacity to love actually grows...we now are able to love as Christ and God have loved us. Not only that be we have the ability in Christ to love people with His power. WOW! This was a huge discovery for me in today's devotional. Let's take it one step further. Not only do we have the capacity to love people at a Christlike lever but God actually expects us to. We are to love others and for lasting deep relationships in community. You and I have a love expectation. My prayer today is that God would increase my awareness of my need to choose love more often. I pray that I lean into the love He has put into my heart. I ask God to help me look past my own issues and self absorbed feelings and learn to look to others needs in genuine Christian love. May He do the say in you!
In Community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
As I read the first two days devotional readings (Yes, the readings started yesterday with Day 1 in the book) and have been strongly reminded of why loneliness tends to set in for most people. At least for me I get stuck on focusing on my issues, downfalls, needs, wants, desires rather than looking to others. In true community we discover how awesome it is to really love others and when we love others we look beyond ourselves. When we look beyond ourselves and have others to love in healthy ways that's when the loneliness is filled with love, God's real love, the love from a community! You and I were created with the capacity to love but I am discovering as rick Warren points it our that it is not usually my first response. I have to choose to love and live beyond the false pretenses that love is a feeling and an emotion. Love is actually a choice! Just like joy love is something that I can choose to do. We get confused that love is this sweet feeling that conjures up from our heart when we have a good experience with someone or something. The problem with that is what happens when people to act positively towards us, then what. Usually our feelings aren't good and then we fail to love. When you look at love as a choice then we have the capacity to respond in love to anyone in all circumstances...wow that's pretty wild isn't it?
By ourselves we have a limited capacity to love but there is a promise in the Bible that I love from our devotional reading. In Galatians 2:20 it reads, "It is no longer just I who loves, but Christ who loves in me." Did you see that? Isn't that awesome! When we invite Christ into our life our capacity to love actually grows...we now are able to love as Christ and God have loved us. Not only that be we have the ability in Christ to love people with His power. WOW! This was a huge discovery for me in today's devotional. Let's take it one step further. Not only do we have the capacity to love people at a Christlike lever but God actually expects us to. We are to love others and for lasting deep relationships in community. You and I have a love expectation. My prayer today is that God would increase my awareness of my need to choose love more often. I pray that I lean into the love He has put into my heart. I ask God to help me look past my own issues and self absorbed feelings and learn to look to others needs in genuine Christian love. May He do the say in you!
In Community with you,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
40 Days of Community
Please be praying for our upcoming 40 Days of Community that starts this Sunday. We are believing God to do a great and huge thing. Many people are signing up for small groups. There are many people buying the devotional and study guides that go with it. Pray that God works on people's hearts to come to church and hear his Word. Pray that people sign up for a small group and commit themselves to one another like never before. Pray that there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a way that unifies our church and brings people closer to God. I sense the Spirit of God wanting to do something new through this time.
We all really do need each other. We were designed for significant relationships with others to walk with us. I pray that new relationships will be formed and old ones will be rekindled. This is a chance for us all to come together in a great way. Small group leaders be inviting people to your group. Consider welcoming new people into your existing group and see what God can do. I pray that people are challenged by the service project and that it brings us closer to our communities. God I invite you to do a new thing at OFC and for your Spirit to sweep through all of us in a fresha nd new way so that all of us feel your presence. God change lives and bring people into your Kingdom. We dedicate and devote our lives and this campaign to you! God you are our everything and deserve our praise, our love, and our unity behind you. We give you 40 Days of Community! A-Men. Be praying with me. Blessings, Your Dreaming Pastor
We all really do need each other. We were designed for significant relationships with others to walk with us. I pray that new relationships will be formed and old ones will be rekindled. This is a chance for us all to come together in a great way. Small group leaders be inviting people to your group. Consider welcoming new people into your existing group and see what God can do. I pray that people are challenged by the service project and that it brings us closer to our communities. God I invite you to do a new thing at OFC and for your Spirit to sweep through all of us in a fresha nd new way so that all of us feel your presence. God change lives and bring people into your Kingdom. We dedicate and devote our lives and this campaign to you! God you are our everything and deserve our praise, our love, and our unity behind you. We give you 40 Days of Community! A-Men. Be praying with me. Blessings, Your Dreaming Pastor
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Because Mike wanted me to Blog
Well yes as you have noticed I have been quite the delinquent with my blogging lately. I have all the excuses in the world and none of them are worth telling you about. I preach all the time that life is about priorities and if we are too busy for church and God...well then we are just too busy. Anyway God has sure been doing some really cool things lately in my life and ministry. In the past several weeks we have had some baptisms. I have had a chance to lead someone to Christ. We have had people join the church. And last night I had the privilege of teaching at the Heidelberg Campus Fellowship meeting. What a powerful time with about 60 college students who are hungry for a relationship with God. God is so good!
There has still been more going on in my family. Isabel came back from getting her cast removed and her latest hand surgery just looks great. Both fingers that were worked on function even better now. It is awesome! This past week Erin and I did some important work on our relationship and saw God's victory in that. He is so good and I am so blessed with a super awesome wife. I thank God for her everyday and her patience and perseverance with me. To top it all off I am getting older here in the near future. To tell you the truth I actually haven't given it much thought at all. I have even forgotten about it until someone at Campus Fellowship last night reminded me of it. Life has been good! The church is a blessing. Our relationships there continue to grow. My family continues with many of its challenges but yet I sense that we are all growing and adjusting as needed. Life is good and I give it all to Jesus. He is the reason and my first love. So there it is. My first blog entry in I don't know how long. Blessings, Your Dreaming Pastor
There has still been more going on in my family. Isabel came back from getting her cast removed and her latest hand surgery just looks great. Both fingers that were worked on function even better now. It is awesome! This past week Erin and I did some important work on our relationship and saw God's victory in that. He is so good and I am so blessed with a super awesome wife. I thank God for her everyday and her patience and perseverance with me. To top it all off I am getting older here in the near future. To tell you the truth I actually haven't given it much thought at all. I have even forgotten about it until someone at Campus Fellowship last night reminded me of it. Life has been good! The church is a blessing. Our relationships there continue to grow. My family continues with many of its challenges but yet I sense that we are all growing and adjusting as needed. Life is good and I give it all to Jesus. He is the reason and my first love. So there it is. My first blog entry in I don't know how long. Blessings, Your Dreaming Pastor
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Delving into a little politics
Normally I am not all that public with my political viewpoints. I am not certain that those things are helpful coming from a pastor especially from the pulpit on Sunday mornings. Jeremiah Wright might have a different opinion on that I am sure. If you would ask me and most of you by now have figured this out that I am a Republican. With that being the case however I never spend too much time paying attention to the media or for the candidates for that matter. Especially this year when it felt like neither the Democrats nor the Republicans were going to offer a candidate worth voting for. Quite frankly I have been disgusted by the whole process and totally disenfranchised by it. Until Friday...
Friday it was announced that Sarah Palin would be running for VP alongside John McCain. That got me interested...very, very interested. As my dad and several others shared with me who she was and what she stood for I felt my heart warmed at the realization that God has given me someone to vote for... that he had truly delivered.
Then came the attacks. For the last week we have seen an all out assault on Palin, her family, and her children. It has been disgusting at best. I have never witnessed such inappropriate behavior by people who call themselves journalists and reporters. It has been cruel and unusual with the nature of these attacks. However my sense of all this negativity is that it is going to, and already has in some cases backfire for those who seek to destroy her. I believe it has unified a republican party and for people like me (on the fringes) has draw me to her. To a woman who is guided and directed by her faith in God as I am, who loves her special needs child as I do my Isabel. This is a women who has 5 kids and works a full time job where she is responsible for many many lives. I can relate to that. Bye the way I am a full time pastor and I have 5 kids and nobody is accusing me of being a lousy dad because I choose to work. It is down right silly that for years women have been starving for equal rights. Now there is a woman who represents most of what they have been fighting for and she is being criticized by these same women for working while she has 5 kids. Just ridiculous and shameful. This is a candidate who chose to keep her child even after finding out he had Downs Syndrome. Amazing!
She has a child who is pregnant by her soon to be husband. Does this negate Sarah from being our VP? Or does it make her human...dealing with difficult circumstances of which you have no control over and having the resolve to handle it the best way possible. In my estimation this trial in her family will only serve to make her stronger. Who among us have raised the perfect child. I sure have not...does this disqualify me from being some one's pastor? Certainly not! It actually makes me human and easier to relate to. We all have struggles and difficulties. So does Sarah Palin and that draws me to her.
My interest has been so renewed and excited that I actually watched the RNC last night. I sense and feel a new hope that maybe we are going to actually get there as a nation. At the same time I have been shocked and surprised at how vicious the criticism has been. Then again when people feel desperate and cornered is usually when they get ugly. I am sensing today that Sarah Palin has awakened many people and given a shot in the arm for some. I know she has done that for me and I thank God for her.
Blessings,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Friday it was announced that Sarah Palin would be running for VP alongside John McCain. That got me interested...very, very interested. As my dad and several others shared with me who she was and what she stood for I felt my heart warmed at the realization that God has given me someone to vote for... that he had truly delivered.
Then came the attacks. For the last week we have seen an all out assault on Palin, her family, and her children. It has been disgusting at best. I have never witnessed such inappropriate behavior by people who call themselves journalists and reporters. It has been cruel and unusual with the nature of these attacks. However my sense of all this negativity is that it is going to, and already has in some cases backfire for those who seek to destroy her. I believe it has unified a republican party and for people like me (on the fringes) has draw me to her. To a woman who is guided and directed by her faith in God as I am, who loves her special needs child as I do my Isabel. This is a women who has 5 kids and works a full time job where she is responsible for many many lives. I can relate to that. Bye the way I am a full time pastor and I have 5 kids and nobody is accusing me of being a lousy dad because I choose to work. It is down right silly that for years women have been starving for equal rights. Now there is a woman who represents most of what they have been fighting for and she is being criticized by these same women for working while she has 5 kids. Just ridiculous and shameful. This is a candidate who chose to keep her child even after finding out he had Downs Syndrome. Amazing!
She has a child who is pregnant by her soon to be husband. Does this negate Sarah from being our VP? Or does it make her human...dealing with difficult circumstances of which you have no control over and having the resolve to handle it the best way possible. In my estimation this trial in her family will only serve to make her stronger. Who among us have raised the perfect child. I sure have not...does this disqualify me from being some one's pastor? Certainly not! It actually makes me human and easier to relate to. We all have struggles and difficulties. So does Sarah Palin and that draws me to her.
My interest has been so renewed and excited that I actually watched the RNC last night. I sense and feel a new hope that maybe we are going to actually get there as a nation. At the same time I have been shocked and surprised at how vicious the criticism has been. Then again when people feel desperate and cornered is usually when they get ugly. I am sensing today that Sarah Palin has awakened many people and given a shot in the arm for some. I know she has done that for me and I thank God for her.
Blessings,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Isabel's surgery
Well tomorrow is yet another surgery for Isabel. She is having work done on her left hand (further seperating her fingers and turning her thumb more inward.) I think this will make number thirteen.? This one is particularly hard because I will not be able to go. It has been several years since her last major surgery, the last one being when we still lived in Dayton, OH. From there Cincinnati Children's Hospital was only about an hour drive. I was able to go and only miss a day of work and also have my folks take care of the kids. Up here that is a little more difficult. I am staying behind to be with the other 4 kids and my mom is coming up to help.
It doesn't get any easier when your child has major surgery like Isabel. I know in the end she is in God's hands and that he is in control but it still makes my heart ache to have to see her go through this painful and uncomfortable time. I think it makes it all the harder because she is has such a sweet and strong spirit. She never complains and she never worries about it. She doesn't ever think any less of herself and doesn't get bothered when other little kids ask her about her hands and her head and why she looks different. She is a warrior. Now my little warrior is going to go through yet another trial in this battle of Aperts.
As I think about it there will never really be an end to her struggles. Even though this surgery will soon be over and she will have recovered, there will be many other trials to deal with. Sometimes if I think about that long enough is when I get a little overwhelmed and wonder if we Can handle it. When I start feeling like that all I have to do is look at her and watch her and experience her strength, courage, and power...to be filled with inspiration. She is awesome. Erin and I covet all of your prayers and will keep everyone posted on how she does. Her surgery is tomorrow morning at 9AM.
Blessings,
Your Dreaming Pastor
It doesn't get any easier when your child has major surgery like Isabel. I know in the end she is in God's hands and that he is in control but it still makes my heart ache to have to see her go through this painful and uncomfortable time. I think it makes it all the harder because she is has such a sweet and strong spirit. She never complains and she never worries about it. She doesn't ever think any less of herself and doesn't get bothered when other little kids ask her about her hands and her head and why she looks different. She is a warrior. Now my little warrior is going to go through yet another trial in this battle of Aperts.
As I think about it there will never really be an end to her struggles. Even though this surgery will soon be over and she will have recovered, there will be many other trials to deal with. Sometimes if I think about that long enough is when I get a little overwhelmed and wonder if we Can handle it. When I start feeling like that all I have to do is look at her and watch her and experience her strength, courage, and power...to be filled with inspiration. She is awesome. Erin and I covet all of your prayers and will keep everyone posted on how she does. Her surgery is tomorrow morning at 9AM.
Blessings,
Your Dreaming Pastor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
