Oh no! I'm lost!

I was with my Dad and brother. I was around 5 or 6 years old. We were in Sears at Northpark Mall. I was following them, but looking at the new Matchbox car my Dad had just bought me. I looked up and they were not in front of me. Oh No! Where did they go! I started walking fast to catch up. Surely they were just around the corner. No! They were nowhere in sight. I had no idea where they went, which direction they went, or the next store in our shopping adventure. I walked around the mall for days looking for them (Okay, maybe not days). I couldn’t find them. I would never see my family or friends again. I was doomed to stay in the mall for the rest of my life. How would I survive? That was it, I couldn’t take it anymore. I stopped right in front of Woolworth’s (a store that you probably never heard of because it’s old) sat down in the middle of the mall and cried. I didn’t just cry, I balled like a …well, like a lost 5 year old. A young couple who were in Woolworth’s heard me crying and came out to find out what was wrong. I told them that my mean Dad and brother didn’t love me anymore and had abandoned me. I told them how they devised a cruel plan to buy me a toy so that I would be distracted while they sneakily ran away, and now I was going to have to live in the mall for the rest of my life, and my name was Hansel and I didn’t know where my sister, Gretel, was …wait, that’s not how it went. Oh yeah, I just told them I was lost. They comforted me and told me they would help me find them. About that time a mall security guard (no, his name was not Paul Blart) came driving up in a golf cart. They told him what was going on. He put me in his security golf cart and told me we would drive around looking for my Dad and brother. It wasn’t long before my Dad spotted me and realized he was caught and would have to take me home. Just kidding. He called my name and came running to the police security golf cart, very happy to have finally found me. He and my brother had been looking for ME a long time.

Madison knows this feeling from when she got lost at Medieval Times. She was distracted. I thought she was with your mother, but no, I had LEFT her. She was afraid and crying, and a lady from one of the shops came out to help her. She even got a free toy out of the ordeal. And I know how my Dad felt when I discovered she was gone. It was horrible! As soon as I realized she was gone I was going to do whatever it took to find her and get her back, and the joy I felt when we found her was beyond description.

Funny how we can get distracted by “shiny things” and lose sight of The Lord. We can even focus too much on things The Lord has given us. The good thing is He never loses sight of us (Jer. 31:10, “…He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”). Unlike my Dad and brother, He always knows where we are. He knows immediately when we are “lost”, and will do whatever it takes to get us to look up and follow Him. He might even send other people into our lives such as a young couple, or a cool security mall cop with a cool, police security golf cart, to help us find our way back to Him (John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”).

The best thing to do is never take our eyes off of Him and then we won’t get distracted (1 Cor. 7:35, “I am saying this for your benefit, not to place a limitation on you, but so that without distraction you may give notable and constant service to the Lord.”) and become lost, but when we do (and we will) we need to immediately look up and search for Him (Jer. 12:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”). We’ll find Him right there beside us.

Love Ya,
Dad

Find Your Target

I started playing baseball at age 8, and was a pretty good player. Unfortunately, by the time I was 10, I was average with the rest of the guys my age. One of my problems was sometimes I wouldn’t think quick enough to make a play. When I was 10 and playing second base in a game, a high pop fly was hit to me. As it streaked a mile into the sky and then started arcing down towards me, I remember thinking, “Don’t drop it. Don’t drop it. Don’t drop it…” over and over as it was coming down. Yes! I caught it. I was really proud of myself. Everyone was yelling praises at me. My coach was jumping up and down yelling how great I was. I'll probably get a trophy for such an incredible catch ...Oh wait, they weren't yelling praises at me, they were yelling, "Throw it!." The runner on first wasn’t exactly the best player either because he had started to run instead of stay on base and wait to see if I caught it. My coach was yelling, “Throw it to first base and get him out!” That's when I looked and saw the back of the runner and thought, “Oh yeah! I can get a double play!” One problem. The runner was in between me and the first baseman. What I was supposed to do was take a quick step to my right so I could see the first baseman and throw. But I panicked! With everyone yelling “Throw it!” I just stared at the back of the runner and threw the ball. Yup, you guessed it, I hit the runner in the back. That’ll teach him to not get in MY way. How embarrassing. What’s that saying? “Pride cometh before the fall? Yeah, that’s the one :/ I just needed to stay calm, take a step, focus on my target, and throw.

You’re going to have many situations in your life that will make you panic (Psalm 55:5, “Fear and panic overpower me, terror overwhelms me.”). Just remember: stay calm, take a step, and focus on your target (Psalm 145:5, “I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor, and your amazing deeds.”). Once you do this, the Lord will help you see the issue is smaller than you thought, and there is a way around it.

Love Ya,

Dad

Mind the Gap

We had a great trip to London several years ago as you remember. We enjoyed riding the tube and listening to “Mind the Gap.” Chelsea enjoyed riding the tube so much she went for an extra ride J That was one of the worst times as a parent that your Mom and I went through as we tried to find her.

I still remember it really well. It was during rush hour in London, so the tube was crowded. When the tube stopped at Victoria Station we prepared to get off. There we people waiting to get on, but they waited for us to get off. It took us a little longer because of the luggage we had. I remember Chelsea and I being the last ones to get off when the bell rang signaling for departure. A man who had been waiting for us to get off heard the bell and suddenly jumped on, blocking Chelsea from getting off. I thought she was right behind me, but when I turned around the doors were closing and she had a sad, confused look on her face. We started to panic, but I figured I would be Super Dad and stick my arm in the door as it closed, stop them from closing, grab Chelsea, and swoop her to safety …ta da, Super Dad to the rescue! Unfortunately, by the time I thought of this the doors had closed …wa wa wa (I also found out later that the doors might have closed on my arm and started to drag me). Then your Mom had a great idea and started shouted “Hit the button! Hit the button!” Great idea! Hit the button on the side of the train that would stop the train and open the doors. Again, I thought I would hit the button, stop the car, open the doors, grab Chelsea, and swoop her to safety …ta da, Super Dad to the rescue! I turned quickly to the car as it began to pull away and what to my horror do I see? Well, I didn’t see a button to hit that’s for sure. I yelled “Where’s the button!” Your Mom yelled “I don’t know. There’s got to be a button!” But there was no button. I watched in horror as the car pulled away and you looked at us with astonishment and helplessness. I turned to your Mom and she said “Call her on her cell phone.” Another great idea! I’ll call her on her cell phone, calm her down, tell her to wait for me at the next stop, I’ll ride to the next stop, get off, and embrace her with a big, protective hug, and bring her back to the family …ta da, Super Dad to the rescue! About that time Chandler informs us that the battery on Chelsea’s phone is dead, and we discovered none of us had a cell signal down in the tube. This was getting worse by the second. We decided that I would get on the next train and ride down the line to see if I could find her, and the rest of the family would go up top to find a worker to help us. I thought to myself, I’ll ride to the next platform, Chelsea will be standing there, I’ll get off, give her a big, protective hug, and bring her back to the family …ta da, Super Dad to the rescue! I got to the next stop and Chelsea wasn’t there. I didn’t know if she had gotten off or stayed on the train to ride on down the line. What do I do? I had failed as Super Dad, it was out of my control (Jer. 10:23, “Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.”). I decided to get off and find help. I went up top and found a friendly worker who started calling down the line. In the mean time the rest of the family had also found a friendly worker who started calling down the line, and also created an announcement for Chelsea to go find a worker. Since I was up top I now had a cell signal, so your Mom was able to call me and we told each other what we were doing and who was helping us. I kept trying to push them out, but the worst thoughts of someone grabbing and kidnapping Chelsea kept coming into my mind. It was one of the worst moments in my life. Thank goodness we have the Lord to help us. I prayed several times for her return, as did your Mom (Psalm 55:17, “Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.”). I was standing talking to the lady and man helping me, when I heard screaming on the phone. For a second I didn’t know what was happening and I feared the worst. After a few seconds your Mom started shouting to me that they had found Chelsea! I was flooded with relief and praise to the Lord.

In the end, I hadn’t really done anything to get Chelsea back (NOT Super Dad). It was Chandler who turned around at just the right moment and saw Chelsea walking by. She would have missed the family if he had not seen her. On the train, a really nice lady saw what happened and told Chelsea she could get off at the next stop, walk to the other side of the platform, and take the next train back to Victoria Station. The Lord can put people in our lives to help us. Chelsea never cried or panicked, but just did what the lady said and got back to us.

“God is good all the time and all the time God is good.” He answered our prayers knowing that Chelsea was fine the whole time, and that He was watching over her.

He also taught me that sometimes things are out of my control. I can’t hold onto you three and protect you for the rest of my life. I have to let go sometime and trust Him and you (Phil. 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”). I realized this when it was time for Chelsea to go off to college for the first time. I realize again as Chandler is at college and Chelsea gets ready to leave to study abroad. I’m sad, but I’m sad for me not for you because I know the Lord will take care of you and be watching over you, and I trust all of you.

There will be times in your life that you have no control, and don’t know what to do, you may even be in despair over the situation. The Lord is in control and will answer your prayers, just bring the situation to Him.

Love Ya,
Dad

It's Chandler's Turn

In two days we leave to take Chandler to college. It’s going to be really hard for us and we’ll miss him immensely, but Chandler is getting ready to start the next chapter of his life, The Pursuit of Higher Knowledge, or as you know it the fun college years J.

I wanted to give him something to mark the occasion and hopefully help him remember us back home missing him. A Dad is always wanting to give things to his children, whether it’s love, food, gifts, time, a stern lecture (ha, ha), or knowledge. Second to love, one of the things a Dad wants most to give his children that they can have forever is wisdom. That’s one of the reasons I started these devotionals. Solomon did it when he wrote Proverbs (Prov. 5:1, “My child, be attentive to my wisdom, pay close attention to my understanding,”). Knowledge is different from wisdom. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don’t have the wisdom to use that knowledge wisely then it does you no good. The Bible mentions wisdom 65 more times than knowledge …hmmm, I wonder why. It’s kind of like in the movie “Aladdin” when Jafar wants to be and becomes the most powerful genie in the world, but Aladdin reminds him that he has all the cosmic power in the universe, but a itty, bitty living space, and Jafar is confined to the lamp …for 10,000 years …bummer.

Prov. 22:6, "Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." This is not just about your spiritual walk, but also how you should live and treat others …it’s about wisdom and integrity. I want to give wisdom to Chandler as he embarks on his college career, to Chelsea as she travels abroad to study, and to Madison as she becomes a self-sufficient driver (and only child at home). I hope you will allow The Lord to bless each of you through me and your mother as we all travel down these roads together.

Psalm 127:3-4, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children born in one’s youth. (NIV)

Love Ya (And will miss Ya),

Dad

The Beach

Pastor Miller taught about “drifting” in our faith. That made me think about the ocean current, which led me to thinking of the beach, which lead me to thinking about our family vacation last summer at the beach, which lead me to thinking about the undercurrent just offshore ...whew, that was a lot of thinking. Your Mom and I loved watching you play/swim in the water, but we warned you about the undercurrent carrying you off. We said that you would not notice it until you looked up and saw you were farther down the beach from us. Sometimes you would not look up and did not notice how far away you were, so we would call your name to get your attention and show you how far you had drifted away. A lot of times you were surprised by how far you had drifted away from us. Sometimes there were more dangers involved with the drifting, such as an idiot with a fishing pole and a really large hook right next to us. During these times we watched you more closely so you would not experience what it was like to be a hooked fish.

Sin is like the undercurrent. Sometimes you play around with it and it carries you away from The Lord. Sometimes we “look up” and notice how far away we are, and we pray and repent (Heb. 2:1, “Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”). But sometimes we do not “look up” and we get far away (1Tim. 5:24, “The sins of some people are obvious, going before them into judgment, but for others, they show up later.”). There is no staying in one spot when you are in the current. So if you are not moving closer, you ARE moving away (James 4:8, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners…”).Thankfully The Lord is always watching us (Psalm 37:18, “The Lord watches over the innocent day by day…”) and paying attention to the “undercurrent,” and when it starts to carry us away He gets our attention to show us that we have drifted away. Hopefully we hear Him trying to get our attention …before we drift into the really large hook or get swept away.

Love Ya,

Dad

Every Breath

When the doctors took Dad off of the respirator they said he would go quickly. It was really hard watching my Dad pass away. 

One of the signs the nurses told us about would be the change in his breathing. It would become shallower and have longer pauses in between each breath. So, I would sit there watching him, counting his breaths and the seconds in between each breath. At one point the pauses got as long as 30 seconds, and I thought “This is it. Dad is going.” But he didn’t go that quickly. As you know he lasted another 11 days. For 11 days I would just watch and count.

While this was going on I was telling your Mom about me counting his breaths and the changes in it. She was saddened by it of course, but then she said something to me that I will always remember. She talked about instead of counting every breath, we should make every breath count. It’s simple, but very profound. The Lord doesn’t want us to just sit there and count every breath and waste those moments, He wants every breath to count ...for Him (Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise The Lord! Praise The Lord!”).

Are you counting every breath (Daniel 5:23, “But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways!”), or are you making every breath count (Eph. 5:15-16, “Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”)?

Love Ya,

Dad

Our Amazing Race

Your Mom and I love The Amazing Race TV show. We love watching the teams race around the world, completing different challenges called Detours, Road Blocks, and U-Turns. The teams know they’re going to have these challenges, but they don’t know what the actual challenges will be until they get to them. At the end there are 3 teams racing to the finish line to win 1 million dollars. As they come to the finish line the teams that were already eliminated (Because they were eliminated they have already finished their race) are lined up on both sides of the finish line and they are cheering as the teams race in.

Our spiritual life is much like The Amazing Race. We have detours as we go through life. We have road blocks and even some u-turns that we didn’t expect (John 16:33, “…In the world you have trouble and suffering…”). We know we will have challenges, but we don’t know what they will be or when they will occur until we get to them. What we don’t think about very often is that we’re racing towards the finish line (1 Tim. 4:7, “I have completed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith!”), and that finish line is heaven and being with our Lord.

By the time we each finish our own race we will have had several people who have finished their race and gone onto heaven. When it comes my time to finish my race I picture those people (like my unborn son, brother and Dad) standing around “the finish line” cheering me as I walk up. I miss a lot of these people very much, but it gives me comfort to know they will be there cheering me as I enter the gates of heaven. What a great finish to the biggest race of all time …talk about a great reality show!

In The Amazing Race TV show when the winning team finishes they aren’t thinking about the struggles, Detour challenges, or Road Blocks. They’re just happy to finish and win. And at that moment all the struggles and challenges are worth it. When we enter the gates we won’t be thinking about all our struggles, challenges, trials, and troubles (John 16:33, “…but take courage, I have conquered the world”), we’ll just be glad we finished and we’re home.

The main difference between The Amazing Race and our race is that we have The Judge helping us through our race (Heb. 4:16, “Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.”) making sure we get through the detours, road blocks, and u-turns, and making sure we reach The finish line.

No, we won’t win a million dollars but we have already won something far more valuable, 1 Tim. 4:8, “Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day – and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on his appearing.”

Love Ya,
Dad

2 Cor. 4:8 We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair;

Act 26:22 I have experienced help from God to this day...

Psa 121:2 My help comes from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth!

Phil. 1:19 for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Lepers and Zombies

As you know Chandler and I have been watching “The Walking Dead” and loving it. It hit me that zombies are the modern day equivalent to Biblical time lepers. Lepers were considered unclean and people were terrified to be around them. Lepers were not allowed to live in the city limits around other people and when they did enter the city they were required to shout “Unclean, unclean, unclean…” as they walked down the street. If someone heard a leper walking down the street shouting “unclean” the person would drop everything they were doing and get away as fast as possible with fear in their heart because they didn’t want to become infected.

Then Jesus came along and actually TOUCHED a leper (Mark 1:41, “…Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him…). Not only did He touch the leper, but He had COMPASSION on the leper (Mark 1:41, “Moved with compassion Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him…) …this was unheard of.

Lepers today are not heard of very much, and we are not as scared of them. We understand the disease better today and are not horrified by it like the people of Jesus’ time. So this got me to thinking and trying to understand what it would have been like to experience a leper and watch Jesus touch a leper. This lead me to zombies (I know they’re not real). I felt this was a close comparison. Nobody wants zombies living near them. Zombies have skin and body parts falling off. Zombies kind of shout unclean by “growling” as they walk which warns people of them coming. When people hear the growling they drop everything and get away as fast as possible …well, everyone except Darryl (Inside joke with Chandler)..

If I every came across a zombie I would be horrified, and I would be filled with a fear like I have never known (except one time when I was very young and my sister closed my bedroom door leaving me alone in pitch blackness, and who knows what monsters were in that blackness with me). This is why I compare zombies to lepers. It helps me to understand the horror of Jesus touching one. Image yourself in a zombie infested world. You have found a safe “town” with a fence around it. The fence isn’t perfect and every now and then a zombie gets through. When one does get through you hear it growl and you know to run and hide. Now imagine Jesus has come to this town and is preaching compassion. While he is there, a zombie gets through the fence and is walking down the street growling (“Unclean”). While everyone starts to scream and run, Jesus turns around to face the zombie. He sees the zombie and is full of compassion for the zombie. In Mark 1:41 it says …”Jesus stretched out his hand…” Stretching out His hand implies that Jesus reached for the leper. He did not wait for the leper to come all the way up to Him, He was not repulsed or afraid of him. Now imagine Jesus walking towards the zombie and reaching out to him. He then TOUCHES the zombie! “He must be CRAZY! Doesn’t he know what zombies are and how they can infect him?” But He doesn’t get infected. Instead He says “I am willing. Be clean!” and right there in front of your eyes the zombie becomes a normal person again. AMAZING!

Amazing what a little compassion can do to a person. We’re supposed to have compassion (Col. 3:12, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another…”) for people (which are not near as horrifying as zombies). I don’t even come close to having the compassion that Jesus has. 

The next time you want to complain about someone, laugh at someone unusual, be horrified by someone doing something weird, remember Jesus’ compassion for the zombie (leper) and ask yourself “Should I have compassion on this person?”

Love Ya,
Dad