I Just Said The Weirdest Prayer

I just prayed for a bunch of people I don't know who post on ESPN's website.  How weird is that?

A good friend sent me an email the other day about a letter Shannon Stone's mother had written to Josh Hamilton encouraging him to continue tossing foul balls to fans in the stands.  (Story)  I saw it again on ESPN today and re-read and then started reading some of the responses and just started getting mad.  People writing rude things about how the mother's name is spelled, about the son, about faith, etc.  I realized I was having the response that evil would want me to have so I stopped and prayed for all the posters who wrote something rude, prayed that somehow their hearts would be touched by grace and mercy and love. 

It's weird praying for strangers who are mean but I already feel better having chosen prayer over anger.  I might try it again one day.

Grace and peace to you.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to one and all.  Today is a day of reflecting on the greatest gift, Jesus.

Grace and peace to you.

It Should All Be Fun and Games

What a night.  I was supposed to leave work early to meet some missionaries for dinner but stayed late helping an employee and friend through a small minefield.  I was going to go home for a nice dinner and watch a movie and relax (which I still accomplished) but it was between texts and phone calls with one friend who's dad was in the ER for chest pains and another friend who was dealing with two children who were making bad decisions and paying the consequences for them. 

Oh, how my heart hurts for these people, for the pain and stress of what these issues are bringing them at a time that is supposed to be filled with joy. 

I can't help but to go to Ephesians 6 over and over, never more than last night.

Lord, come quickly.  In the meantime, keep my friends strong and give me the wisdom to help how I can.  And, if I can ask this, thump the enemy on his head really, really hard.

Grace and peace to you.

Christmas Already?

It seems like Christmas is a month away.  At least that's what it seems like when I look at the presents I've bought compared with what I need at this late date.  It's looking like I'll just be giving Christmas cheer this year! 

Lyle Lovett at Bass Hall.  It's a great way to spend a pre-holiday night and made a fabulous Christmas present to myself.  Next up...Robert Earl Keen, Jr. on December 30. 

I haven't been to my church on Sunday in 5 weeks.  Time flies by.  Places to be, things to be done.  Time with friends, family and work have kept me on the go.  I miss it.  I miss seeing some of my brothers who lift me up and give me strength.  I miss singing some wonderful songs of praise and hymns that stir my heart.  I miss hearing a challenge or thought from Rick that causes me to take time to reflect on God.  

I'm looking forward to Sunday.  To being back with the body, with my family worshipping the great I AM.

Grace and peace to you.

The Hard Days

December 17 is a hard day.  A day with bad memories.  It comes just shortly before Christmas, a time that is supposed to be a happy time, a celebratory time...and yet the days leading up to Christmas are hard days.  

How is one supposed to get through hard days?  How am I supposed to get through hard days with a smile of my face and a spring in my step?  The easy answer is Jesus, the son of God who has suffered more than any other human but the easy answer doesn't immediately make me feel warm and fuzzy.  

This I know.  The hard days move into history and my hope is that in the days to come, on the December 17th's that will follow, the days will be easier and the pain will lessen.  I do trust in God to bring healing.  December 17 will never be a day of great happiness for what has happened in this world but I know in my head that there can still be joy for what is to come.  I look forward from that knowledge moving from my head to my heart.

Grace and peace to you.

Las Vegas

I recently spent roughly ten days in Las Vegas and I come away amazed at what goes on in that town each time.  The money spent.  The alcohol consumed.  The scantily-clad dancers in the middle of casinos and the who-knows-how-clad dancers in other places.  The smoke.  The noise.  It's sensory overload.

All in all, I had a good ten days there.  There is so much to create temptation after temptation and short of staying up too late and donating my $100 to the craps table (when I was up $50 and knew I should walk away), I survived it relatively unscathed. 

I had seen a t-shirt before I left town playing on Vegas' tag line that said, "what happens in Vegas is revealed in heaven."  So true. 

I listened to Rob Bell's Love Wins book on the way home and kept wondering what God will say to all the folks that make Las Vegas what it is when they meet him.  No answers, just questions.  (And possibly more on Bell's book later.)

It was a good run for our company in Las Vegas but I'm glad to be out of there, glad I didn't do anything I would be regretting today and glad I don't have to be surrounded by that all the time. 

Grace and peace to you.

The Challenge

Life.  It's a challenge.  I have good days and bad days but what about all the days in between?  What about the average days?  the sick days?  the blah days where I just don't feel sharp?  What am I going to do with them?  It's those days I have to keep my eyes open and trust God will use me.

Last night, I'm sitting in my office way past the time I wanted to go when a friend calls to say her marriage is in crisis and she doesn't know what to do.  It's in those times that I hear God say, "here's your opportunity today".  Oh, how I hurt for my friend and her husband right now.  I hope my words were of some comfort and I hope the prayer we prayed on the phone and the prayers in days to come will drive away the enemy of peace and joy and love so that God will reign in the hearts of these two people and in their marriage. 

I'm glad she called because I've allowed myself to get too busy, too involved, too physically and emotionally exhausted and I'm failing in keeping my walk one where I am pursuing God.  Thankfully, he sends reminders my way to help me renew my focus.

Grace and peace to you.

Lessons From The Road

Last Wednesday, I took off with a good friend on a little road trip to Las Vegas.  It's a work trip and I was driving one of our dealership's Freightliners and pulling a really nice Cimmaron living quarters trailer.  I knew it was a bad sign when we had to stop before getting out of Wise County because someone forgot to put something on the trailer.  It's so easy to turn a 10 hour drive into a 14 hour drive.

Driving across parts of New Mexico and Arizona, it's easy to see the poverty that exists around us.  Houses that look like no more than plywood on dirt covered lots.  Travel trailers that would come apart if you hooked it up to a truck are homes for families.

As I consider buying a house, I'm caught between what "seems" normal in my world and what is necessary when I consider God's creation.  Oh for a few more square feet when people are living in houses that may fall apart.  I can't help but wonder if my rationalization for more house (I'll use it for small groups/youth groups/yada-yada) isn't just that - rationalization.  At the same time I realize money and more of this or that won't change everyone's life and those people may prefer to do whatever it is they do to make that their home.  Still, my heart won't quit hurting knowing there are people out there that life, circumstances, bad decisions and the hurt of other people have pushed them down to a point of suffering that I can't comprehend. 

I look forward to the day we are all dancing with God in his palace.

Grace and peace to you.

P.S.  Dancing is metaphorical.  I'm not sure everyone will have rythym in heaven and I'd still rather be fishing than dancing.

My Office, Part 2

God, thank you for using me and allowing me to minister in your kingdom.  Thank you for making my workplace a place where I can help others and to share the lessons on my pain and of my victories so that they might find peace, healing and reconciliation with you and with those they love. 

Grace and peace to you.