Parents, We're All In This Together! Words From COVID-19 quarantine

 

Parents, “we’re all in this together!” Imagine me singing this to my family with my best Troy Bolton voice and dance moves, but with a bent over hacking cough, and groan, mid phrase. Yep! The family brought each other the gift of COVID-19 for Christmas 2020! I guess the percentages finally caught up with us. We all remained masked and socially distant from others when in public and the people we were around were diligent in trying to keep others safe too, but these measures obviously aren’t impervious to this tiny airborne virus. Somehow 6 of 8 us tested positive for the presence of this nasty present. We’re praying that the other two never get this thing, but we are assuming they have it. We are not a week into this thing, but it came as advertised… aches, fever, cough, chest tightness, headache, back pain, lethargy, and some of us lost taste! It feels like we’re running in a pool full of molasses. Makes us want to stay in bed or rest most of the time. My heart aches for those who have lost jobs, income, family, friends, health, funerals, weddings, graduations, all because of this heinous pathogen. My prayers continue for those suffering from all the effects of Coronavirus; physical, emotional, financial, etc, and especially for the healthcare workers who are exhausted from saving the lives of those who are so very sick. This is one of those world-wide re-centering events that has the attention of people all around the globe… it transcends any arbitrary boundaries we put up. In its short existence, this awful scourge has impacted so many things we hold in such high regard, like entertainment, sports, education, travel, food, celebrity, politics, hobbies, physical fitness, even church services. It forces us to evaluate what is most important. Though these other things I may have valued are either gone or far from normal, I realize that God has never abandoned me, His loving presence has never lessened. As a matter of fact He seems closer than ever. His “no matter what”, unending love seems to be more recognizably present than any other time in my life. Though I don’t always understand His silence, His mercy, love and provision continue. Even though He is allowing me to experience this illness, He still stays close and reassures me like a doting parent with a sick child. Even in death, His provision is there… He has planned for our eternity to be spent with Him and those He loves where there is no Coronavirus or sickness or dying, not even tears as we connect with Him in Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah got a reminder from God about His great love for His people regardless of the scary things that could be happening around them. He tells us even if the world seems to be falling apart, God never abandons those he loves. He says, “For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the LORD, who has mercy on you.” Isaiah 54:10 (NLT2) I hope you have not had to endure this COVID thing and I pray for complete restoration for those of you who have. My greatest prayer is that while many of life’s distractions are lessened, that we will recognize God’s never ending, never abandoning love for us and realize that His relationship is more important than anything else, anywhere, anytime. My hope is that Christmas 2020 brings the blessing of strengthened faith in Christ, regardless of whatever else we bring each other.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all.

Parents, How Do You Treat Weakness!** Words From COVID 19 quarantine.

Parents, how do you treat weakness, in others? Enjoy the photo. Don’t know what my Mom was thinking dressing me like this, I think it came with a permanent placard on the back with the words “kick me” with a smiley face. I wasn’t a Trekky, however I was a regular watcher of Lost In Space, the cheesy mid-1960’s SciFi TV series. It was set in the year 1997, haha! The evil Dr. Smith was the cowardly villain, who was the reason they were actually “lost in space.” Smith, the unintentional stowaway, who was trapped with the victims whose mission he had intended to destroy, was constantly trying to save his own skin at the expense and danger of the Robinson family, “the first family in space.” The Robinson family always forgave the perpetual antagonist. The son, Will Robinson, actually liked and trusted Smith, though Smith’s actions never proved worthy of anyone’s admiration or trust. Crew members, The Robot and Major Don West, never trusted Smith, but tolerated him in deference to the Robinson's grace toward him. The Robot often warned “Danger Will Robinson,” as he flailed his dryer hose arms with hooked-pincher-hands when Dr. Smith was leading him into hazardous situations. As I see it, we all have a choice, we can exploit the weaknesses of others like Dr. Smith, trying to somehow gain the upper hand, taking advantage of those around us, or we can believe the best about others, being gentle with their weakness, giving them the benefit of the doubt. I prefer a story like the Grinch, in which the good-hearted Whos of Whoville, changed the character of the oft abused and then abusive Grinch. His heart grew three sizes in one day. But Dr. Smith, unlike the Grinch, seemed to never change, always manipulating the situation to his benefit and preying upon the presumed weaknesses of his ship-wrecked colleagues. The good news is he couldn’t change the goodness of the Robinsons either, they always chose to believe Smith was doing the best he could do and chose to give grace.

Gentleness toward weakness, it’s what makes Jesus followers different from the rest of the world. The world sees weakness and exploits it, Christ and those who are connected with Him see weakness and they protect it, handle it with care and are gentle toward the ones who are weak. James, the half-brother of Jesus, reminds the early church and us, that God’s people deal with other’s weaknesses differently than other earthlings. He says, ”Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” James 3:13-16 (NIV) In the midst of our seemingly mounting challenges of COVID, will we succumb to fear and the “survival of the fittest” mentality preying on the weaknesses of others, taking advantage of them for our own gain as worldly “wisdom” mandates? Or will we surrender to love, see the weakness of others, have compassion for them, protect them, and give grace as Jesus does? We can be kind to those who are unkind without letting them influence us toward their "wisdom." Who knows maybe their hearts will grow three sizes in one day or at least wonder the Reason for our acting differently than the rest of the planet. You can be like Will Robinson or Dr. Smith... choose wisely.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, It's A Snow Day 2!* Words from COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, It’s a snow day 2. On the occasion that East Tennessee had a snow cancellations that lasted more than one day, the neighborhood kids escalated the creativity, competition, and often danger in how they enjoyed the sledding opportunities. One year I joined some friends on a new street in “the Hills” that was paved but had no houses yet. It was perfect for downhill sledding with little chance of cars coming. The fun and adventure was accelerated when the downhill runs became all out races. Friendly races became competitive races among friends, as is sometimes the case with eager-to-prove-themselves-and-fearful-of-not-fitting-in adolescent boys. I watched the first race, and laughed with nervous excitement as I saw all the competitors grapple and wrestle each other all the way down while still on their sleds. It was like the winter middle school version of Ben Hur’s chariot race (you youngsters can Google it; it was a classic before my time too), though it usually ended up in a spectacular crash and a laugh-talking rehash with color commentary about the whole race top to bottom. Occasionally there was someone who managed to make it down unchallenged, but usually only one race as they became the target of everyone the next time down with the words “get him!”. It was like Rollerball on ice (Rollerball a dystopian Sci/Fi Action film released in 1975, set in the year 2018, in which large corporations, not countries, actually ruled the world… interesting concept isn’t it?). It was like a funner more humane Hunger Games, where the winner gets bragging rights and maybe the validating attention of some neighborhood girls. As I jumped in on the next race, I was quickly tackled, coated in snow, and was unable to finish. The next few times down, I discovered that if I grabbed the back of someone’s sled and gave it a yank, gravity and centripetal forces did all the work and their sled would swerve off and hit the curb or better yet take out other competitors, and sometimes it would even flip the sled causing riders and sleds to snowball down the hill in an avalanche with attached human appendages sticking out. It was like a Law Enforcement PIT maneuver (Police Intervention Technique), when the officer uses the front of his vehicle to tap the rear side panel of the fleeing vehicle, causing them to lose control and the officer can apprehend a fleeing suspect. PAT worked to my advantage, winning a few Alpine ice war competitions, until others caught on to my game, then I was frequently the one rolling down the hill in an uncontrolled burrito spin, laughing and recounting the details of the spectacular snow spraying crash to anyone who would listen on the walk back up. Once I was flipped and the metal runner hit me, cutting my face, just below my eye leaving a patch of red snow at the scene of the incident. I applied direct pressure, as our health teacher had instructed us, with snow and a glove and began the long walk, dragging a sled back home. The intensity always seemed to escalate, but we were back together the next day, having fun. The games continued sans the snow with BB gun wars (“you’ll put your eye out”)… yeah, not the smartest of games, but we managed to escalate that too, to air rifles! Great times in the Hills of Lakemoor!

Just as the fun and competition always escalated among the boys in the hood, the emotional intensity could escalate too, and while this makes for a fun day for middle school boys and often subsides the next, it doesn’t always give us a great foundation to handle real-life conflict in a mature way that benefits the relationships around us. When I have the great privilege of counseling pre-marriage couples, we explore the best ways to handle inevitable conflict in our relationships. One of the worst ways to handle conflict is to escalate it. What begins as a simple misunderstanding, escalates to a shouting match, tossing verbal grenades at each other with increasing defensiveness and volatility, or stonewalling, just refusing to communicate at all, or patronizing criticism of our partner, or even outright contempt for the one we have connected our life with. In the long run no one wins and relationships avalanche downhill into anger and bitterness. We may win the day’s battle, but lose the relationship. James, the half brother of Jesus, reminds us that right relationships with God and others are most important even when emotions become intense. He gives us some good tools to help us stay relational and humble when things begin to escalate emotionally, “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness.” James 1:19-20 (CSBBible) Often, when I feel threatened, I am quick to defend myself, quit listening, and start escalating. I become motivated by fear rather than love and begin to find ways to WIN. We are designed for relationship and when I seek to understand the person I’m in conflict with, it is an opportunity to enrich the relationship rather than destroy it. That way we both win. We seem to be living in a world driven by fear and divisiveness rather than love, forgiveness and understanding. We would all do well to be quicker to listen and understand, slower to speak, escalate, and become angry.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

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Parents, It's A Snow Day!* Words from COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, it’s a snow day! As December 2020 arrives wrapped in a blanket of snow, I’m reminded of snow adventures of my youth. As a kid, I lived in Lakemoor Hills. In the summer we loved the “Lake” part of the neighborhood for fishing and the escape to the aesthetic beauty of the water that could wash over you like a warm healing anointing of peace. In the fall the "moor, (defined as "uncultivated upland" by the Oxford Dictionary) we loved the brilliant leaf colors and the crunch of leaves under our feet. In the winter, on the somewhat rare Southern-climated occasion that it snowed, it was the “Hills” part of the neighborhood that we loved. When it snowed overnight, we got up and watched the TV and listened for the magic words “school closed.” Exuberant shouts of joy went up to the heavens as we put on our long-johns, jeans, boots, coat, gloves and hats ready for a day of sledding and building snow people. My sister, the artist, once sculpted Mt. Rushmore at the foot of our long sloping yard. She rolled 4 giant snowballs from the top and then made Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Jefferson for the neighbors to enjoy. I was always ready to find the best sledding hill where all the kids were. Because Lakemoor Hills had lots of trees, the best sledding was on the roads and because we were in the South and there were no snow plows. Most people just stayed home, leaving the streets open for early adolescent sledding chaos. One street called Timberlake Drive was a great sloping curvy hill, but it was a little narrow for kids sledding down and walking back up for the next long ride back down. My sister happened to be finished with whatever snow sculpture she was doing that day and was ready to join the sledding fun. The challenge was we only had two sleds, my dad’s boyhood, old faithful, an old fashioned, wooden, metal railed, steerable sled, and the other a round disc (think Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation). For a ride downhill on a curvy road, only a steerable sled would do. We tried towing the round disc behind the steerable, but it never worked. So, we both sat on the steerable sled and headed down the hill. As we picked up speed and began navigating the blind curve, steering the sled with my feet, we rounded the turn to see a classmate trying to protect everyone by standing in the middle of the road, waving his arms wildly, yelling, “a Jeep is coming up the hill.” The problem was there were only three options for the dozen or so kids flying down the hill like Susie Chapstick in the Olympic Giant Slalom: 1. Stay on the road and hit the classmate and possibly hit the uphill bound Jeep head on, 2. go left and fly off the side of the road and down a steep ravine including unavoidable impact with one of the many trees, or 3. crash into the car, abandoned because of the treacherously slick conditions on the right side in the ditch, against the embankment. Because of where we were in the pack of snow crazed sled riders, our choice was made for us… crash into the ditched car! The bumper hit me at about 20 MPH, right in the chest, our legs and the sled continued their downhill trajectory and we were wedged like a doorstop under the Olds 98. Other kids were flying off the side of the embankment grabbing trees, letting sleds crash below, and my classmate was dodging everyone he could, but finally, he was taken out at the shins by a shiny new Radio Flyer and a wide eyed, tobogganed, tobogganer! Fortunately, no one was hit by the Jeep... My sister and I struggled to free ourselves like two grease monkeys on a creeper (the little wheeled sled that is intended to take mechanics under a car) squeezed under the heavy metal of the late 1960’s era muscle sedan like mice in a trap, which would have been worse had the sled not impacted the tire and prevented us from being stuck further under the overpowered Sunday cruiser. We managed to get down the hill to a wonderful neighbor at the bottom. She was the snow Mom in the ‘hood who always took care of our gang on snow days. She would fix something Hot Chocolate and Cider, have enough snacks to fill up several snow-hungry preteens, have a fire going and she would put jackets, jeans, socks and gloves into the dryer until all of us were rewarmed. Before long, the long-john clad, snow warriors were ready to suit up and go out again for more snow adventures.

There was always a brief moment in the morning, before the excited snow crunching steps and much anticipated snowplay, that I would walk out the door, take a deep breath and admire the beauty, peace, quietness, and purity of the fresh blanket of snow. It was not yet marred by our footprints or sled tracks and it covered over the dead winter grass and muddy imperfections of the ground… everything seemed to be okay amidst the angst filled days of tweenagedom. When King David had muddied his life by gazing himself into adultery with Bathsheba and stained himself with blood by murdering her husband Uriah, God sent Nathan to confront his hypocrisy and remind him his actions weren't those of... "a man after God’s own heart. David, in his remorse and repentance, returns to God saying, ”Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit. Then I will teach the rebellious your ways, and sinners will return to you.” Psalm 51:6-13 (CSBBible) David tells us that the fresh unscarred, undirtied snow can be a reminder of God’s restoration and reconnection when we confess our shortcomings, sins, and backsliding ways. We are assured that God always disciplines the errant children He loves (see Hebrews 12:6) to turn us back to Himself, but He can also restore and heal the other broken relationships that are always the victims of our disconnection with God and His pure ways. God is always glad to be with us, but His boundaries keep us in right relationship with Him and keep us from disastrous collisions from destructive choices. When we see fresh snow, we can rest in the promise of the restored joy of our salvation as we are washed by God’s Word.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, Make the Most of Time!* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, make the most of time. In middle school, my mother decided she needed to be very intentional about family time together. We all had our evening meals together and Sunday after church family lunches when my father didn’t have hospital rounds, but that was about to change with our rehearsals and practices and all the things that begin to require time away from home about that age. Mom enrolled us all in weekly snow ski lessons through a local community college. The lessons, equipment, and lift tickets were all much cheaper than what the ski mountains charged and so it was not too expensive for a family of four. So, for 6-8 weeks each winter for 4 winters we took off Tuesday nights after school and put on our warm clothes. In the beginning, we felt like Ralphie’s little brother Randy in the movie “A Christmas Story,” overstuffed into too many layers of warm clothes…”I can’t put my arms down..” Though we soon learned how warm you can get while wrestling a pair of skis, gripping a tow rope and trying to avoid the ankle biters that point their little skis down hill and take a straight line down with Kamikaze abandon. We went to the Rolf Lanz Ski School in Gatlinburg the first year. Rolf wanted more and more people to enjoy his favorite sport even in the South. He would come out and say something funny in his Swiss broken English and we would all laugh, pretending we actually understood him. He encouraged us and sent us out with his Ski School instructors. The college changed the classes to Cataloochee Ski Mountain the next few years. It was less than 2 hours drive each way and we skied the night session from 6-10. You definitely didn’t want to fall near the snow making machines or you would be flash frozen like meat and coated in wet ice. One year we added some cousins from Morristown to our snow family. We carpooled with them from a stop on the interstate. This was Southern Appalachian mountain skiing at its best, with man-made snow, lots of icy patches and long lift lines, but we had a blast… we all eagerly learned a new sport together as a family. This was an “US” experience that we got to enjoy together, making lifelong memories of what it meant to be a part of our family. We talked excitedly on the way about what we hoped to learn that night, spoke about how many inches the base snow may be, and teased each other about who would fall first. My mom always had a great sandwich dinner, snacks and hot chocolate for the trip, though we still all got a little hungry when the instructor told us to put our skis in the “pizza slice” position so we could turn and stop easier, later we learned the “French fry” position when we learned to turn with our skis parallel. When we arrived on the mountain we got some equipment and learned to put on our boots and skis… they wisely gave us no poles for fear of impalement of self and shish kebobbing of other skiers in uncontrolled falls. Skis could also be feared projectiles if they came off in this pre-ski-brake era of the 1970’s; my sister was a victim of a runaway ski and had to be taken to the ski patrol first aid room for evaluation… she was fine, more scared than scarred. After skiing, in tired amusement, we drove home and laughed with each other about falling as we got our glove pulled off on the tow rope, or experienced the T-bar that hit you in the butt and dragged you up the hill as you sat on it and hoped you got off before being whipped around the pole at the top and dragged back down the hill, or when we locked our skis with someone in line, falling into a frozen game of Twister, which other beginners often joined as they were unable to avoid the human avalanche that moved at a glacier pace down the bunny hill. We arrived home very late, fell into bed happily exhausted, and had no trouble sleeping a little before the school bus arrived the next morning. By the end of the first season, we had become novice skiers, we had graduated from beginners and were on our way next year toward intermediate and the actual ski lift. We also learned a little more about each other on the rides back and forth. The next day at school we were a little tired, but it was all worth it for some fun and intentional family time.

My mother understood that fun time together as a family was important and she planned to make it happen, but she also understood that time with God and His people was also important making sure we made it to church each week. She even gave us Bibles with daily readings. Connections with God and people take time and time is a limited commodity. When the Apostle Paul was talking to the church family at Ephesus, He reminded them that God’s people use their time wisely doing stuff that pleases God, like valuing other people and living unselfishly. He tells them, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Ephesians 5:15-17 (CSBBible) During these crazy COVID times, we may needta make more special plans with those we are staying at home with, to capture this time and make it special and to value those relationships even more. Time with God and His people takes some initiative too as gathering can put people at greater risk, but there are ways to do it wisely.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Good Tidings of Great Joy!* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, Good tidings of Great Joy. I was reminded of a wonderful childhood Christmas season memory, as I was preparing to lead a responsive reading from Luke 2 in a pre-Christmas event at my church last night. At the event, called A Family Adventure: One Christmas, our international pastors read some Christmas scripture in two languages and pastor J.D. Davis explained many of the traditions of Christmas and how these symbols point us to the Gospel of Christ. Every year my family eagerly awaited the announcement about when the Charlie Brown Christmas would air. We would take our bath earlier than usual that night, put on our red footed pajamas and gather around the tiny black and white TV that Dad had built a shelf for in the kitchen. (Why it was in the kitchen, I don’t know, but it was a place we liked to gather together for a meal, the day’s news, and shows like Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett, Lawrence Welk, or Andy Williams that entertained us before bed). The 4 of us would congregate in the breakfast area around the white round formica table and sit in the mid-mod, black vinyl “spinny” chairs (that we would sometimes spin round and round in until we were so dizzy we couldn’t walk). For the Peanut Special, Mom would pop some popcorn and make some hot chocolate with marshmallows and we would watch intently. Charlie Brown was tasked with doing a Christmas play about the true meaning of Christmas as well as finding a Christmas Tree to decorate the stage. As all the peanuts characters revealed their reasons for Christmas, Charlie Brown, depressed as he was, though he couldn’t put his finger on it, knew something just wasn’t right. As he looked for a tree, all he could find was a pitiful, scraggly little hopeless looking live tree that was losing its needles and it could only hold one little ornament that he took from Snoopy’s award winning decorations. Charlie’s sister Lucy would say, “you’re such a blockhead Charlie Brown.” Charlie Brown raises his voice and asks in exasperation, “does anyone know what Christmas is all about?” And Linus says he does and he recites the Christmas narrative from Luke 2, then uses his blanket to prop up the hopeless little tree as the other Peanuts characters, whose hearts are also changed, come together around the tree, that miraculously emerges as a new beautiful tree. The kids sing “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” What a picture this is of Christ's work in our lives, we are hopeless and pitiful, incapable of bringing much joy to anyone and Jesus’ Advent into this world brings “Good tidings of Great Joy” as He moves into our lives and changes us and makes us whole spiritually. How joyful to know that God loves us so much and wants to be with us so much that He sent Immanuel, God-with-us, God Incarnate, to earth to connect with us and make us a new creation so we can share His great joy back to Him and with others.

Linus quotes Dr. Luke's Gospel as he recites, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. Luke 2:8-16 (KJV) The Charlie Brown Christmas had no “laugh tracks” or complex animation, yet its simple message was a beautiful reminder to us all about the true meaning of Christmas. As we enjoy Thanksgiving and enter into the Christmas season, we can bring joy to those around us. The definition of joy is when someone is glad to be with us. The coming of Christ brings good tidings of great joy, because God is glad to be with us, Immanuel. We can return that gladness to be with God as we worship Him this season and we can pour out that joy on those around us as we are glad to be with them. Unfortunately, the COVID circumstances may keep us from bringing joy up close in person, but we can still express our gladness to be with those we love even if it is virtual. We can also bring assistance and joy to someone who may need our help. Someone may really need to experience the true meaning of Christmas this year.

BTW This year, A Charlie Brown Christmas will air for the first time ever on PBS and PBS Kids on Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will also air for free on Apple TV+ December 11-13.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, What to Say on Election Day: Words from COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, what to say on election day. In middle school one year there was a great presidential election.  Each candidate campaigned hard and it was on every TV ad and radio program. Our teachers decided that it would be a good exercise for the students to participate in our own campaign and voting process the week before the national election to gain perspectives and insights on some of the ways democracy worked. It included some explanation of the Electoral College, but none of us really understood the reason for it in our early adolescent brains. This apparently was a good exercise for me, because I only knew one viewpoint, one perspective, one candidate whom I knew would make the best president. I thought who could possibly vote for the other candidate. My friends on my bus were all aligned on the side of my favorite candidate, and so I assumed every other kid on every other bus would vote the way I did. I thought, this should be a landslide victory. When the day came to vote, we all voted, and I was shocked to learn, at the end of the day, that the other guy had won… not only won but it was not even close. Classroom friends whose candidate had won, learned how I had voted and taunted me and others who voted as I did. The winners even sang the old elementary school playground victory song, “I’m better than you, nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in doo doo!” I wanted to sit in sackcloth and put ashes on my head… mourning and grieving, incredulous that my candidate had lost big… okay maybe a bit of overdrama, but we were greatly filled with angst as middle schoolers sometimes get when things don’t go their way.  Our bus ride home was relatively quiet that day except for one emotionally charged neighbor kid who refused to believe that it was a fair election. His rant included name calling, and questioning the teachers who ran the election and he demanded a recount.  We all knew that this kind of landslide victory was not a simple miscount, unless... as he argued, that it was a system corrupt from the core. The candidate by the way, did win the real election the next week. In my middle school mind, when I wasn’t trying to figure out girls, how not to stink with the wrong deodorant, remember to brush my teeth and somehow hide the stench of my smelly vinyl tennis shoes by sitting on them, I thought that president was a total disaster for our country. All the markers that I thought were most important had absolutely tanked, taxes went up, inflation went up, foreign diplomacy tanked and U.S. positions were compromised, however, apparently there were also some really good things that happened too.But, I can’t remember them, because they didn’t fit my narrative of what I thought our country should look like. It wasn’t until later, when I was learning about other oppressive forms of government in the world, that I realized, “wow, what an amazing gift we have to be able to vote for our own leadership.”  Sure, it has its own challenges and ways it can be manipulated, but what a wonderful concept… to trust people to make wise choices about whom they choose to lead them. I pray that democracy will continue so that people are valued and that we have a voice and a vote in how things happen. Ultimately, there is a Divine Hand in what happens in our world. God always led His people, when they followed Him or when they rebelled. He is always in control, even when His people were overrun, taken into slavery and persecuted, so that, BTW they would seek His face and return to Him from their rebellion.  

Our God, who is the creator of the universe, has a plan for all people, bigger than any country or government. Daniel, who was in exile when God’s people were taken captive to Babylon because of their rebellion, was in the service of King Nebuchadnezzar. King Neb had a disturbing dream about the future of not only his reign, but the future of the world.  Daniel asked God to show him the dream and the interpretation. When God had given Daniel Neb’s dream and the answer, he responded to Nebuchadnezzar with praise for God and the meaning of his dream.  Part of his answer is an encouragement to all of us as we navigate any election season.  We read, “Daniel praised the God of heaven  and said: ‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His.  He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.’” Daniel 2:19-21 (NIV) Anita, is always quick to remind me of this passage when I get all worked up over politics, that all “wisdom and power are(God’s)” and that “(Our God) sets up kings (and presidents, senators, congressmen, etc...) and deposes them.” Regardless of the outcome of this or any other election, we gotta remember the FIRST thing to do, according to Paul, is to pray for “everyone... and ALL those in authority,”even if we do not agree with them. Paul says to young Timothy and the Ephesian church, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time.”  1 Timothy 2:1-6 (NIV) So, the best thing to say on election day is “God has a plan and I’m praying.” 

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, Are You An Angel? *Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, are you an angel? I was headed home from a friend's house when the crash on the big green bridge happened. The Summer was waning and I was soon to be headed to South Carolina for college and we wanted to hang out some more, but it had gotten late and it was pouring rain. The rain still couldn't dissuade my Krispy Kreme cravings for “Hot Donuts Now”as I had to drive right by the glass and brick sugar box. The big flashing sign was like an irresistible magnet for my car. The contents of the white and red KK boxes left a delicious sugar/grease film on the bottom from each donut that was lickable after the contents were gone. Inside said boxes were both high sucrose and lipid self-medication for my teenage anxieties/angst AND they also served as a peace offering for my parents as a sugar coated penance for coming home later than usual. But I digress (see June 23 post on KK). I had just gotten 2 new tires for my newly restored ‘67 convertible mustang and the wisdom at the time was to put the new tires on the front of the car. This made for disaster when the slicker rear tires hydroplaned as they hit the expansion joint of the old green steel bridge that spanned the Tennessee river, not far from the convergence of the Holston and the French Broad Rivers. The bridge had long connected Alcoa and Maryville (pronounced Mur-vul) to Knoxville. The baloney skinned rear tires no longer had traction and became like inner tubes floating up the river of water torrenting down the bridge. This sent the back of the car slowly around to overtake the front of the car in a clockwise rotation. When I realized what was happening, instead of turning into the spin like my friend, Driver Ed, had taught me, in my panic I had turned away from the spin, sending Mustang Sally into an uncontrolled vortex. The front left bumper hooked the side of the bridge sending the left side sliding down the bridge, then the rear of the car spun around just enough to make a solid impact, which catapulted it back into the middle of the bridge, coming to rest with half the pony car in the oncoming traffic lane and half in the passing lane. The left side of the car had a smashed headlight so any oncoming traffic would not be able to see it. It was very dark with no street/bridge lights anywhere. As the sound of wet skidding tires and crunching metal became silent, I peered out and saw just one beam of my right headlight shining eerily into the deluge of large reflective water droplets with pitch black beyond. Thank goodness at the time no cars were coming either direction. As it was happening, all I remember is hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life and seeing myself bounce around in the rearview mirror in this pre-seat belt era car. I was unsure what to do as I exited the car, but God had a plan… another car slowly came up to me and the driver asked if I was okay. I told him I thought so. He told me to get in his car, out of the rain, and away from danger. He said he would call the police. This was very strange to me, because very few people had what we called a “car phone,” which, at the time was a big box on the floor connected by a wire with an old fashioned, black banana shaped handset with a mouth and earpiece on the ends. So, we drove to the end of the bridge and pulled over with emergency flashers on. He then called the police on the phone tethered to the black brick on the floor. A wrecker was dispatched. I called my parents with the dreaded phone call… “Dad, I’ve been in a wreck, I’m okay, no one else is involved, but the car is not good”… I was able to tell him where I was and he and mom were there in no time. We found out that my early adopter, cell phone pioneer, mysteriously appearing, angelic rescuer, God messenger, was a pastor, whom we strangely never saw or heard of again, he apparently just happened to be in the area at that moment. Dad had the car towed to our house where it sat in the backyard, three sides smashed as a classic pony car convertible “planter, ‘ as he liked to call it. He finally sold it for scrap and parts when I left for college. I was glad to be alive, but didn’t fully understand what had just happened.

God frequently sends His messengers, sometimes called angels, to help His people. The Psalmist reminded God’s people of His extraordinary care for those who live “under the protection of the Most High.” He says, “For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11 (CSBBible) I don’t know if the mystery pastor who stopped to help me on the night of my crash on the big green Alcoa Highway bridge was angelic or human, but he certainly acted like one of God’s messengers that rainy, dark, and dangerous night. I do know that he saw a teenager in distress, changed his plans and joined in God’s work of providing a shaken up wet adolescent with a safe dry place to wait for help. He also used his very expensive 1981 cell phone minutes to call the police and let me connect with my parents. I’m currently studying Experiencing God again with a group of young professionals who weren’t even born when the study first came out. The Biblical principles of this study are so timeless though, it speaks to these young people just as much as it did for me 30 years ago when I first took the class. Some of the key principles are, God is always at work around you, He loves you, and personally invites you to join Him in His work. That pastor, messenger, angel joined God in His work and God used him to change a life. There are so many opportunities to join God in what He is doing right now. We can be His messenger/angel we just have to listen for His invitation to join Him. We can pray that God would show us where He's at work today.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, Don't Throw the Hook!* Words From Covid 19 quarantine

 Parents, don’t throw the hook. When I graduated high school, a wonderful and generous friend of my father was going on an ocean fishing trip to the Bahamas and invited us to go with him and his son. We left West Palm Beach in a fancy 24 foot Mako boat and joined a regatta of about 30 boats toward Walkers Cay, which was about 100 miles East. It would take us about 4 hours to reach the island, which would be our home base for fishing in a Blue Marlin tournament for a couple of days. I love the ocean, but most of my experiences had been close to shore, so this trip was an amazing experience. Once we reached about 12 miles away from shore, we could no longer see land… this was an eerie, slightly agoraphobic feeling, but the regatta with a few larger boats and radios were some comfort. The skies were a beautiful blue and the ocean was an amazing blue-green. At one point we passed an old shipwreck of a vessel run aground, its hulking, rusted ugly hull stood in stark contrast to the beauty of its cerulean resting place. The water was so clear, most of the time you could see all the way to the bottom of the comparatively shallow ocean though you couldn’t always make out what you were seeing. Once, as I was watching the bottom as we travelled at about 22 knots (or about 25 miles per hour for us land lubbers), the whole ocean floor under us was covered with a giant black "something" for a few seconds until it swam another direction. I still don’t know what it was, maybe a giant manta ray or large fish, but whatever it was gave me a vulnerable, “sinners in the hands of an angry Poseidon,” perspective aboard this tiny ship… “the mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure.” (Sorry, too many episodes of Gilligan’s Island!) I had a little thalassophobia, i.e. fear of the sea, its waves, depths and creatures. I began thinking, it would only be by the grace and mercy of God that we would make it to our destination and back. (What great faith it must have taken our forefathers to sail across the entire ocean for days of uncertainty to reach a new world of uncertainty for freedom.) Later, as we began to see our tiny island destination, we all got excited about fishing the next day, about our island stay, and to be back on dry land for a moment. The water was even clearer, so clear you could see conchs 25 feet below at the bottom, and the young local as he swam from the dock to collect it for his dinner. We disembarked and found our lodging. It was so hot that day, I went straight for the pool. It was salt water, so it smelled, felt and looked different, but somewhat refreshing all the same. I took a bounce on the diving board and the salt rusted bolts holding it snapped, sending me into the water with the board hurling in behind me, hitting me on the back. This was a fishing village, not a luxury vacation spot at the time, so pool maintenance was obviously not a big priority. We got some sleep and began fishing early the next morning. We trolled all day in great anticipation of catching a large billfish, but with no luck. The ocean and skies once again, were marvelous. The next day we trolled, but gave up on the Marlin and started bottom fishing at some point. BAM! Something hit my line and took the tip down toward the water unlike any fish I had ever caught in the lakes around my house, one that, for all I knew was big enough to swallow me were I in the water rather than a boat. I began trying to reel, but the fish just unspooled the line like it was nothing and it was a strong deep sea line, with the drag set accordingly. They strapped on the fish fighting belt, and the captain fired up the engine and we chased this fish to get some line back on the reel. Eventually, it was just me and this fish, I wrestled this sea monster for hours and it pulled the boat over a nautical mile. Finally, as we knew that we didn’t want to be out after dark, we tightened the drag and I began to pull and reel with all I was worth, we would either get this fish in the boat or snap the line trying. Just as I thought we may get to see this fish, he threw the hook. We guessed it may have been a large tuna, because of the way it was running and sounding, but we will never know. My Hemingwayesque adventure of the “(young) man and the sea” is one I will never forget...the beauty of the experience, the generosity of our host, the unique and new experiences, and the realization of God's grace and mercy to provide for us keep us safe and in His hands everyday.

God’s people were on a horrible misadventure, swallowed up by the World’s dominant earthly power of the time, Babylon. As a result of their own sin and rebelliousness, their lands and lives were destroyed and they were taken captive to another country with a hook in their nose and bit in their mouth (Isaiah 37:29). And yet the prophet Jeremiah tells them of God’s faithful love and sustaining grace for them. He tells them that God still loves them, doesn’t abandon them and even works in their hearts to change their lives. He says, “They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them integrity of heart and action so that they will fear me always, for their good and for the good of their descendants after them. ‘I will make a permanent covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from me.’” Jeremiah 32:38-40 (CSBBible) I wish I could say that my wonderful high school graduation gift of a deep sea fishing adventure and realizations of God’s sustaining grace through it kept me from rebelling against God and the foundations of my faith in the “coming of age” years that followed, but I can’t. God, however, is faithful, and He did (and still does) pursue me when my heart got fickle. Even in God’s great displays of grace and mercy in the midst of all the dangers we face, seen and unseen, our faith can still drift around like untethered buoys. We sometimes choose to throw God’s hook and go our own way. God’s got us hooked though, He’s fighting for our salvation, He’s not letting go and He’s not letting us throw the hook. We gotta refocus on Him, His love and sustaining grace for us rather than the dangers and enemies around us or even worse, the sins that so easily entangle us.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, How Can We Love Big? Words From COVID 19 quarantine*

How can we love big? One staff kid at a former church was the daughter of one of the Administrative Professionals. Though I have permission from her Mom to tell this story, we will call her Addy, so we don’t embarrass this now teenager. The pastors and staff had known Addy from before she was born… I had the privilege of praying for her health, her family and even her eventual salvation at the hospital on the day she was born. All the pastors and secretaries watched each other’s kids grow up and invested in their maturity. We made it a big deal when the kids came to the office. They received words of affirmation, hugs, high fives and candy when they would do something great like get potty trained, do well in school, or be baptized. We encouraged them when they had a bad day. When Addy was about three, she was in the church’s award winning, 5 day a week Child Development Center. I would occasionally go down the hall from my office to the CDC and check on the director and teachers to offer some encouragement, prayer, or just let them know we care about them. One day I was talking with the director in the hall and Addy spotted me from the open door of the classroom. Before the teacher could get to the door, Addy had sprinted out and was headed toward me. One children’s minister I had worked with told me that getting down on a child’s level was a way to let them know you are glad to see them. So, I knelt down to greet her. I was a bit off balance, since I didn’t frequently do deep knee bends, but I thought, surely Addy will slow down before hugging me… nope, she hit me full force with her three year old body, arms open wide, full of joy, in a toddler sprint. She jumped, wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed. I tumbled over like a number seven pin and she was the bowling ball with a healthy topspin, picking up the spare. We both fell over laughing. I felt like a turtle on its back, unable to get up for a moment. The Child Development Director was not laughing so much, it was not something that had ever, and probably would never happen again, in that 3 out of 3 stars Child Development Center… that a child would escape an open door and tackle a pastor in the hallway. I went back to the office and told her mother what had happened. She laughed and said yep, that’s Addy, she loves big! She lives full speed relationally. Wouldn’t it be great if God’s people were all so glad to be with each other, that we gave each other full on topspin-sprint-tackle-hugs? Or the adult relational equivalent to avoid injury and bodily harm? The love Addy felt from her family, the church staff, CDC teachers, the director, church soccer coaches, and her Sunday School teachers is what is she needed to learn and grow. That kind of love is necessary for all of us to learn and grow and mature as humans and as God’s people. Addy was glad to be with those who were glad to be with her. She was glad to know what Christ’s unconditional love was like. She was glad to belong to a group of people who cheered her on. And, though she didn’t always enjoy it at the moment, she was glad when her family, teachers, and friends lovingly corrected her when she was doing something that was not okay. Addy and her family moved to another supportive church a couple of years after the hallway tackle and I learned that she was baptized there about 5 years ago. She had grown in her faith from a simple understanding as a toddler to a realization of what connection with Christ means. She continues to grow in her faith surrounded by people who love her and are glad to be with her.

 

Faith is between a person and God, but faith is fully lived out in the context of relationships with other people that God loves. Jesus pointed out to His disciples, and lived out in front of them, how important both the vertical relationship with God is, as well as, the horizontal relationships with other Earthlings. The Gospel is not just about what we say we believe, but a healthy relational connection with God and those He loves. Jesus knows that these truths can be easy to forget sometimes, especially when things get difficult and emotions run high.  So, He reminds us with these words, “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12 Right now in our world, many of us seem to have forgotten Who loves us and that He "commands" us to love each other. We need to be like Addy and love big… greet people with a tackle hug… well maybe it’s not a great idea to topspin-tackle-hug someone, it may be misunderstood... but we can find other ways to love big... like Jesus does us, arms open wide in a full sprint from heaven toward us, bowling us over so our lives are changed by His big love for us. 

 

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, Do You Love Your Work? Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, Do you love your work? At a crucial point in my life, God allowed me to recover from a very challenging ministry by serving a church with a really fun loving staff. We worked hard together, but we also played together. We had group sermon development meetings each week and had lunch together regularly. Staff meetings included a lot of laughter and they were surprisingly more productive when they included a good dose of levity along with prayer and hard work. Church wide IMPROV comedy nights hosted by the staff were hilarious with these creative and very funny staff members. Once, we had a staff football game that included some other people to fill out the teams. It began as a fun game of touch football, but as some games go with a group of energetic people, the intensity escalated shortly into the game… still fun but a bit more competitive. For what would be my last play in that game, I was sprinting down the field (first mistake... sprinting with my less than youthful body) determined to catch the long bomb hurled from a young college man from several yards away (second mistake… lack of awareness of a defender sprinting from across the field to defend). I was looking over one shoulder watching for the perfectly thrown ball, accelerating to catch it, when, from out of nowhere, another younger and obviously faster staff member came up unseen behind me. Just as the ball was about to sail above my outstretched hands, I jumped. As I was air born with my amazing 3 inch vertical jump, he made impact as he left his feet and reached up for the ball too. The ball tipped off our hands and we rolled over and over like a Texas tumbleweed blown by a dust devil. I had no idea what had just happened, but he jumped up laughing. Apparently, that kind of uncontrolled fall was something he enjoyed and often hoped would happen again and again. I was having post traumatic flashbacks of a concussive flag football game in college (see earlier post http://williampmcg.blogspot.com/.../parents-when-we...). This time, there was no concussion, just a very sore body… stove up from head to toe, to remind me of the fun I enjoyed with my friends and fellow staff members. I wouldn’t have traded the fun times, refreshment, and laughter we had at that church. The staff connection God allowed us to enjoy was seemingly infectious with the whole congregation during those years. The church was growing and people were glad to be together. Weekdays and Sundays were a joy. We were able to witness God at work in people’s lives in many wonderful ways.

The wisest man to ever live had much to say about work. He says to celebrate when God blesses you with work you love and people you enjoy. Solomon, in his book called “the Preacher,” says, “What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:22-26 (NIV) Having experienced both sides of these verses, I am so thankful for the years at various churches, finding satisfaction in ministry. There were some years of sleepless nights (some with tears), worrying needlessly about things that I couldn’t change and that really didn’t matter in the long run but felt so crucial at the time. It all seems to come back to the health of our relationship with God and the people around us. When we love God and the people He loves well, work and life usually seem to be more enjoyable and productive.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all.

Parents, What Are You Glad About? Words From COVID 19 quarantine**

Parents, what are you glad about? In grad school at the University of Tennessee, I dated a true Vol fan, who now, by the way, is my wife. Since we were both students at the time, we could get student tickets for the games. One particular game we wanted to see was the Auburn v. Tennessee game. The year before, Tennessee had a horrible year, but this year was very promising with several who would go on to play in the NFL. As game day approached, we secured our tickets, which happened to be in the second student section, which meant the triple nosebleed altitudes of the upper deck. We knew the game would be on television and I considered just watching from the comfort of my parents living room 5 minutes away. I was even more motivated to be a couch potato fan, when we learned that it was supposed to be one of those cold East Tennessee heavy rains that day. The more I whined and complained about not wanting to sit in a puddle for 4 quarters, my girlfriend insisted that we needed to go have the whole stadium in person experience. As a cheerleader at another school in undergrad, I had experienced all kinds of weather cheering my team on the sidelines… the 110 degree scorching heat of an astro turf convection oven, to pouring monsoons and a giant pond to stand in with water dripping off my partner into my eyes as we stunted, and so cold you can’t get warm, icy fingers frozen, playoff games. My least favorite was cold rain, it soaks you to the core, sucks all the heat out of your body, leaves you all wrinkledy like a prune, and cold as a frog on an iceberg…It’s great weather for ducks, because they have a down coat on and water rolls right off… we silly cheer humans only had polyester uniforms on. At least on the sideline, we hyper cheerleaders could jump around and stand close to our partners to keep warm. In the triple nosebleed section of the iconic Neyland Stadium with the rain blowing sideways and only 17 inches of metal bench to sit on, I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of jumping around (but maybe some sitting close to my favorite girl). Auburn was a powerhouse that year and it was one of the biggest games of the season, my blonde beauty reminded me. So, fearing that I would be considered a wet weather wimp and a fair weather fan, I reluctantly decided to go. We found as much rain gear as we could. With everything from hunting all weather gear to trash bags, we made our way to the stadium in the deluge, so much for the fashionable and warm fall outfits that were normally displayed in stadiums around the country. The game began and it was a barnburner. Auburn’s normally dominant defense couldn’t stop Reggie Cobb (but apparently an unfortunate chemical abuse problem could, which he would overcome and play in the NFL for Tampa Bay). The whole game was close, but Tennessee hung on to win, in one of the most memorable exuberant games I had ever experienced and the goal posts were torn down and paraded through campus. That day, it was good to be a Vol with all the other fans who braved the elements, it was good to be in a rain soaked stadium to experience the victory first hand, and it was good to enjoy this memory with my Orange insistent favorite girl.

In one of the timeless pop songs written by King David called a Psalm of Ascents 122, which celebrated the processional of God’s people making their way up to Worship God in Jerusalem, David reminds everyone that God is worthy of worship and that we have the great privilege of going together to do it. He says, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Psalm 122:1 ESV He says, “Let us.” There is a us-ness about God’s people. We belong to God and each other and we are proud to belong to God and His “us.” Many of us are a part of a team fandom, in which we are proud to be that team’s “us,” to consider ourselves as belonging to that team’s loyal fans. We will climb the heights of the stadium and sit in inclement weather to support our team. We will wear clothes, color our hair, decorate our house and cars to indicate our “us-ness.” We may even sit outside the stadium in the parking lot to be a part of the “us,” if we don’t have tickets. Sometimes our support of our favorite team looks like what David spoke of as worship. Sometimes I need to be reminded especially in a pandemic that I still belong to God and I am one of His “us,” that it is a wonderful privilege to “go to the house of the LORD.” As our houses of worship open back up more and more, we need to be glad when they say to “us,” let us (carefully and very safely) go to the house of the LORD. We may have the inconvenience of a mask and 6 feet apart and extra hand washing and other protocols, but we can be glad to worship God as “us” again. We may need to encourage each other that as soon as we feel safe, to enjoy the sanctuary experience rather than just the couch potato video presentation of worship and experience God’s “us-ness” again.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, Am I an EGR? Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, Am I an EGR? At some point in my rebellion, one of the pastor’s from my home church decided to reach out to me and another friend. We were both a part of a youth group a few years before that “had so much potential,” according to another pastor at the church. My pastor friend was wise and full of grace. He loved us and wanted to see us turn the corner and come back to live the faith we had strongly professed a few years before but were running so far away from at the time. He was taking a group of college students on a ski trip in the North Carolina mountains and asked us to be “ski instructors,” since we had both been skiers for several years and many of the students had never skied before. He told us he would have us a place to stay and buy our lift tickets if we would give some ski lessons in the morning and ski on our own afterward. My friend and I decided we would drive to the mountain ourselves rather than riding with the others. We arrived at the cabin and dropped our bags in our room and told them we were going to get dinner, since they had already eaten. They were going to have a Bible Study and invited us to join them when we got back. My friend and I were not thrilled about that idea. We weren’t opposed to Bible Study per se, it just wasn’t a priority for us at the time (or TBH, we may have been afraid of feeling convicted of our rebelliousness by the Word of Truth). So, we went to dinner… at a bar and grill. We stayed until we thought the Bible Study was over and went back to the cabin filled with the “spirits” and not The Spirit. It was almost midnight. We thought everyone would be in bed and we would just quietly walk straight to our room undetected. To our surprise, the lights were still on, so we snuck into the front door and discovered they were all engaged in prayer… for US! We tried to keep sneaking past them to our room. We stumbled right through the middle of them as they were making intercessions eyes closed, heads down, on our behalf. Rebellion, however, held us fast, we refused to join them, and we quickly went to our room without acknowledging anyone. The next morning we arose to an empty cabin and screaming headaches. The group had gone on to the slopes, since we had overslept. We finally made it to the slopes and made a half hearted effort to find our ski students. We decided our lift tickets shouldn’t go to waste, so we proceeded to ski on the advanced slopes and continue to ‘look” for the beginner skiers there. At the end of the day we hopped in the car and left, without a word. As I look back on this, I’m so ashamed, not just of my rebellious behavior, but the relationships I had injured or missed out on. My pastor, full of love and grace, was quick to forgive and continued to pursue a friendship with me. He would later be one of the officiants at my wedding. He had so much grace for an EGR = Extra Grace Required i.e. a person who needs lots of grace. God seems to surround me with those people for some reason: spouse, mentors, co-workers… the list goes on. I’m grateful for them all.

The apostle Peter had learned from Jesus that relationships are the most important thing in life, that includes relationships with EGRs. Peter once thought he was being magnanimous with his grace if he forgave someone 7 times, Jesus said start with 70 times 7 and we’ll talk (Matt. 18:21). He was reminding God’s people that continual love gives us enough grace for everyone, even enough for EGRs. Peter says, “The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:7-8 (CSBBible) My pastor knew that usually rebellion comes from some hurt in our past, that we are trying to numb, forget, or ignore. His continual love and prayers for us, showed us that he and God really cared and he wasn’t giving up on us. We gotta remember the EGRs are usually hurting and they need lots of love and grace, enough to cover a multitude of sins. When we can love those who treat us badly, we are beginning to get a glimpse of the “sin covering” kind of love Peter is telling us about.

Hang in there people. God is with us. I’m praying for us all.

Update On My Daughter from August 5th Post.

 Update.  Some of you asked to be updated on my daughter’s recovery from the horrendous car crash one late afternoon at the beginning of August. A car spun out of control and crossed the middle lines of the street going more than 50 MPH hitting my daughter and her boyfriend head on. Virginia passed out for more than 10 minutes and when she became conscious again she was screaming uncontrollably. She had several bumps, bruises, seat belt and airbag rashes, and an injury called dashboard knee. Dashboard knee happens when the shin hits the dashboard so hard it pushes the lower leg out of place and stretches the ligaments in the knee. Virginia’s posterior cruciate ligament was torn. Her boyfriend, who was starting Med school the next week, was impacted by the crash too, but was able to grip the steering wheel to keep from being tossed around so much. The puppy ended up in the back window of the car, scared and traumatised.  We got to Memphis as quickly as we could. Her boyfriend and his family gave her tremendous care from the moment the wreck happened getting her to the hospital and a doctor’s care immediately. We joined in the care the next morning and helped her in her apartment for a week.  After much prayer and thought, we sensed God was leading us to bring her to our home to recover.   So,  from Memphis to Columbus we took her and her puppy on a painful 10 hour drive.  Miraculously, she was able to see a doctor within a couple of days. She has been in physical therapy for more than 6 weeks under the care of great doctors, PAs, and therapists. She is now walking without crutches or brace and has been released from the Doctor’s care. The muscles around her knee and her core are getting stronger. Her boyfriend is well into his first semester of Med School and is doing well.  We are praising God for all the ways He has cared for and protected her, her boyfriend and puppy, from the initial impact through recovery and beyond. Her boyfriend was able to find another reliable vehicle.  And God has put His “exceeding and abundant” flare on this whole thing, because just as she is finishing her PT here in Columbus, she has learned that her company in Memphis, that had put her on furlough for 6 months because of COVID, is now bringing her back full time.  We will miss her and her “little dog too,” but will always remember these special weeks of watching God’s work in all of our lives.  Virginia has been a tremendous help to our church by using her digital skills helping us relaunch our Kid’s ministry after COVID, with Anita at the interim helm. Virginia may have to help remotely from the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers through this time.  

Through all this our God has reminded us once again that He works all things, even things like car crashes, company furloughs, and global pandemics, together for His Glory, the Gospel, and our Good. In the Old Testament, when God was getting His people’s attention and they were experiencing some traumatic events, God says, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” Isaiah 48:10-11 (NIV)  The apostle Paul also reminds us, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (CSBBible) And God’s purpose is the Gospel... the Good News that He loves us all and made a Way for us to spend now and eternity with Him.  We can always find God at work, even in the traumas of our lives. 

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!