Parents, Don't Go Changin':* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, In the words of Billy Joel "don’t go changin’ to try and please me" (or anyone else). My peewee football coach was looking for a new defensive lineman, I felt safe because I was one of the smallest kids on the team. However, this peewee coach wanted every kid to try the position for a few plays. The first few plays worked out pretty good for me. Getting hit was not something I enjoyed, so I decided to be like water, “taking the path of least resistance.” Aided by my small size, I was able to slip past the large offensive linemen and sack the quarterback a couple of times. The coaches were thrilled, but when they watched a little closer they discovered that I was making minimal contact with the offensive line. I don’t know what they were thinking, but they said you have to hit the offensive lineman before you sack the quarterback… didn’t make any sense to me. But because the coach said it, I knew I had to do it. I was going up against a kid that outweighed me by probably 20 lbs and when you only weigh 40 lbs that is a big difference. So, I lined up opposite this large kid. I knew a little bit of physics from smashing my hot wheels cars together… the biggest car or truck always won. I knew it would take all that I had to go up against this kid. The ball was snapped and I lunged forward with all my might. The larger kid wasn’t expecting it and I knocked him down and, of all things, he started to cry. I was conflicted, I had hurt my fellow player, but the coaches were going wild, jumping up and down and high fiving each other, so maybe this was a good thing? They said, “do it again,” and they put another kid up against me. So, once again with all my might, I butted him like a young spindly legged billy goat. However, this kid knew what was coming because he had just watched the 7 year old version of the now illegal “Oklahoma drill.” We stalemated and then the whistle finally blew. All I wanted to do was go back to the defensive secondary where you didn’t get hit every play, but apparently my efforts to not end up like the smaller hot wheels car had earned me the title of “newest offensive lineman.” I know right? How does the smallest kid, who was put in as defensive lineman, end up as an offensive linemen… SMH. So, for that season, which was, by the way, my last season of playing organized football, I was the offensive guard. I was always going up against kids twice my size. So, I didn’t like playing any more, I wasn’t “all in” (unless it was a game of pick up football with the neighbor kids on the church field next to my house). That season, football always meant pain and any rewards seemed minimal to me. Kudos to my son and other linemen, who play offensive line for their whole football career and love it. Linemen seem to have this special fraternity. It is like a club, if you are a lineman, you know it. I never saw myself belonging to that group, but I was so eager to please those coaches, that I tried to change who I was, to become the player they needed… this never ends well especially if you are 40 lbs dripping wet and they want you to be a lineman.

When we belong to Jesus and connect our life with His, He changes us and makes us a new person, a new creation. God does the changing… we are changed by our connection to Him and His people. When we become that new person, sin no longer fits our life. We are not trying to please people all the time. We are not trying to be who the world wants us to be or says we are supposed to be. We are “all in” for pleasing God by being the new creation He has made us to be. Paul reminds us to be who we are… in Christ. He reminds us that we are not who we used to be, we aren’t slaves to sin anymore and we shouldn’t try to be someone we are not. A 6’8 NBA basketball player is never going to be a horse jockey in the Kentucky Derby and a 4’11 Derby horse jockey is never going to play in the NHL. Both may be excellent athletes, but they have to be who they are. As people who belong to God, we don’t do things that disrespect or dishonor God or His Word. We don’t do things that He says not to do. And we don’t do things that hurt people. We are lovers of God and lovers of those He loves. Hate, harm and disrespect don’t fit us anymore regardless of who wants to tell us we should act like that because that's how the world is. Paul says, “... that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT2) In our new self, sin no longer has a place in our life. When we belong to Jesus Christ we are a new creation. So, “don’t go changin’ to try and please” people, if it doesn’t match what pleases God.

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

Parents, When the Troubled Waters Get High:* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, when the troubled waters get high.  My kids and I had decided to take a short 45 minute float down the river and back up the creek adjacent to my father’s property on the French Broad River in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. My daughter and her friend decided they wanted to float in a tube, while the other two of us chose the canoe.  The river was flowing just fast enough for a lazy relaxing float in the cool water. Crickets and Cicadas were singing their Summer songs together as the water gently lapped the side of the canoe. I would be looking for the little swirls that formed as I paddled to see if I was paddling properly according to the instruction of my canoe savvy boy scout leader many years ago.  We launched the two tubers (not to be confused with potatoes or other underground vegetables, though at points that Summer they may or may not have been considered couch potatoes, boredly staring at their multiple screened devices).  I pushed the canoe from the still waters of the launch into the slow downstream flow. The dog, who was still on shore and could easily walk down river on the bank to the take out point not too far away, for some reason, became very scared that her humans  in that pointy ended aluminum watercraft were leaving her forever. So, she ran up and down the river bank barking and whining. Finally, she could take it no more and jumped into the water from the bank. She swam to the canoe and I knew that she couldn’t swim the whole way and she would not return to shore. I worked with my canoe mate in counterbalancing the tip prone hull so we could throw the dog into the boat, before she threw us all into the water. So much for a relaxing float. By this time the floating girls in tubes had decided to hop off their rubber river doughnuts and explore the island’s rocks and pebbles. About that time we were passing in front of my Dad’s place… He was standing on the bank excitedly trying to get our attention.  From his experience on the river, he knew what was about to happen. He could see the water was rapidly rising and moving much more swiftly because the Dam, several miles upstream, had begun releasing much more water and it was about to get very dangerous. The lazy river we had launched our canoe and tubes into was becoming much more treacherous by the minute. We were able to quickly get the girls off the island, put them in the canoe and tie the tubes to the back of the canoe.  The gunnel was just a couple of inches from the waterline, being loaded down with three medium sized tweens, a medium dog and one large human.  We made it through the small rapids and paddled hard for the mouth of the creek that would take us out of the fast water and into the safety of the still creek. My father had made it on land to the take out point and helped us disembark, then load the small boat, tubes, wet dog and preteens onto the souped up golf cart, known as the “bad boy buggy,” and took us to the  security of log home. Happy to be safe, we all talked excitedly about our adventure as we downed the snacks that always followed a river adventure. 

So many times our God protects us and keeps us safe.  He can see what’s coming and warns us with His Word.  The Psalmist had seen God’s hand of protection on His people and wrote to remind us of who our God is. He says, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah 

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.  God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah” Psalm 46:1-7 (NKJV) When we get into rough waters, God is with us, He is our strength even when nature wreaks havoc… The God who spoke creation into being can simply say the word and bring us through any disaster.  He is also the God of eternity who saves us eternally when the storm appears to overwhelm us completely. 

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

Parents, What Does Your Hike Look Like?* Words from COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, what does your hike look like? My Pastor’s story of his hike to the Chimney Tops near Gatlinburg reminded me of my own climbing misadventure with some friends on the same trail. “Let’s hike to the Chimneys, it’s beautiful at the top, it’s only two miles up… it’ll be fun!”... is what I told the group as we were deciding on the day’s activity. My family of six would sometimes go on a weekend retreat with another wonderful family of four. This particular trip, we were staying in a lodge in Gatlinburg in the Smoky Mountains and we were trying to decide from a myriad of activity choices: Hillbilly Golf, gondola ride, ice skating, shopping, watching taffy being pulled... I convinced the crowd ages 8 to adult that we should summit the Chimneys... and off we hiked. What I had neglected to tell them is the last time I had hiked the Chimneys was on my 12th birthday and I had forgotten that there was a vertical climb of 1400 ft in those 2 miles! It became a very strenuous climb for this group... some of us had rarely hiked past the refrigerator. I had not brought water, or snacks for us or told anyone to dress appropriately for the weather at the top… therefore, my kids had to find icicles to hydrate themselves and our friend was heard to say, “I’ll give you $20 for a donut right now!" At the top it was cold and there were steeply angled rocks with a 200 foot drop off just feet away, throwing the moms’ into a panic as our kids scrambled all over the precipice with reckless excitement. We all had blisters and sore muscles for a few days from the rugged trail. We survived the hike, but I was never allowed to choose the activity for the group again... go figure! The group walking with me was not happy that I had not fully prepared them for what was coming. I had only told them of the wonderful benefit of the beauty at the top of the mountain, not the suffering it would take to get there.

Fortunately for those who follow Jesus, He makes no euphemisms about walking with Him in this life. He alludes to the beauties of our final destination with Him, but He lets us know there will be suffering along the way. He does promise peace as we go. He says, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world." John 16:33 (CSBBible) So, how do suffering and peace go together? It is our connection with the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is always with us and glad to be with us. We are connected to the Eternal, Almighty God, Who brings us a peace that transcends any earthly circumstances we find ourselves in. When our hike is getting strenuous and we are suffering, Jesus reminds us with Whom we are hiking right now and the promised wonderfulness of our final beautiful destination. When we remember that He is the God of all creation, we are filled with peace and we can also encourage the others on the hike with us to enjoy His peace now and look forward to the summit too.

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

(here’s the DBC worship service that includes Pastor JD’s sermon from the Psalms of Accent https://www.facebook.com/dublinbaptist/videos/431586274499123/)

Parents, What Deflates You?* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Photo cred. Campfire Cycling

 

Parents, what deflates you? While serving a church in East Nashville, I would frequently take a bicycle ride as a way to de-stress and think through the challenges of church, family and community. Sometimes I would ride with someone else, but most often, I rode alone to sweat out some toxins in my body and as an outlet for toxic thoughts in my head and heart. We had 4 preschoolers when we moved there and they were all smart, like their mother, so each needed care and stimulating challenges based on their unique personalities and I never seemed to have the time I wanted to give them. The church had gone through some “growth opportunities,” if you are an optimist; also known as “challenges or problems” to the realists. The year before I arrived the church had lost a pastor and almost 100 families. We were experiencing about one funeral a month and we had about a half dozen people in one of Nashville’s many hospitals each week. So, in addition to preparing three sermons each week and writing a newsletter article, I frequently was at the hospital or preparing for a funeral. The community around the church was diverse and was just beginning to see some urban renovation, but at the time the high school had only a 10% graduation rate and the middle school across from our house had to go on lock-down because of a gang killing. Shelby Bottoms Green Way was one of my chosen bike routes to stay off major roads and allowed me to enjoy some Urban nature. Though I didn't have time to play golf, I could enjoy the beauty of the the VinnyLinks, a 9 hole golf course whose main supporter was Vince Gill. After the green way, I would head toward downtown and the Titans Stadium. If you have ever driven through Nashville on the interstate, you have seen Steiner Lift, a huge scrap metal recycling yard. I passed the entrance to this iconic business that was ambiguously celebrated for being green, but also considered an sprawling rust-filled eye-sore to those visiting the Music City. All kinds of scrap iron and metal ended up here to be repurposed, crushed, and sold to other companies to be melted down and reused. Unfortunately there were usually pieces of glass, slivers of metal, and other materials that weren’t very friendly toward bike tires strewn around the street in front of the place. One day, when my brain and body were in need of an endorphin bath, because of some stress, I pedaled hard past the Steiner Lift entrance. I heard the unmistakable “pop” of a tire being punctured and the “spew, spew, spew” as the hole hit the ground, then air, ground, then air...it was empty in seconds. Though I had a cell phone, no one seemed to be available to help and my wife had just gotten the kids down for a nap… and the #1 rule in a house with 4 preschoolers is never wake a sleeping baby. So, because I was not smart enough at the time to carry a spare tube (I usually did after that), I began to walk the few miles back home in the 98 degree heat. I had some time to listen to God on that walk, He reminded me that He was with me in the midst of my struggle and deflation. He was with my family even though I never seemed to have enough time with them. He was with my church, though there was always some challenge. And He reminded me that He was at work in the community, that seemed to have so many problems. He also reminded me that my anger and arrogance were not helpful to the situations that were facing us all. I wish I could say that I instantly changed and my pride disappeared and I responded well to hardship, but sadly, years later, I’m still working on those things and recognizing that He’s in charge regardless of what’s happening. He still has to humble me, but hopefully less often. After I had covered a couple of miles or so walking the kids woke up, so Anita called to find out where I was. She and the kids came to rescue me and my trusty two wheeled steed “Raleigh.”

We can all have multiple stressors around us… the world is full of junky thinking, we can have too many irons in the fire and we can experience sharp opposition that can deflate our hopes and dreams, but sometimes God has to deflate our overinflated egos, just like a punctured bike tire, to get our attention and remind us that there is only One God and we are not Him. He reminds us that just because the world acts a certain way, we don’t have to act the same, we are responsible to love people no matter what. The Apostle Paul had apparently thought he was always right and was prone toward arrogance and God had graciously humbled him and saved him. He wanted to warn God’s people not to do the same thing he had done and also remind them that it is all about our faith relationship with God. He says, “For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.” Romans 12:3 (CSBBible) The next time we get deflated, humbled, laid low, we need to consider it a good thing… God is just reminding us that He loves us and He is still God and we are not. We don’t have to save the world, that’s God’s job. We just have to love the people God loves. That should relieve some pressure on us.

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

Parents, When Life Gives You Cherries**... Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, when life gives you cherries. When I was a young preteen my family took a several day trip in a large RV with a wonderful family with whom we had taken beach vacations. This was quite the adventure because there were 10 of us in this giant wobble-box on wheels. The family was gracious and patient especially when one or all of the 6 kids got tired or upset about something or we couldn't stop laughing from our shenanigans. We saw beautiful scenery from Tennessee to Colorado, taking in sights and adventures at National Parks and enjoying cool mountain weather in mid-summer. We saw beautiful plains with “wavin' wheat (that) can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain,” and we saw mountains that jutted straight up out of the plain with snow caps and rugged beauty. We saw buffalo and antelope, deer, elk, and meese, or mooses, or just moose. The trip had been carefully planned to take in as many sights as possible. Each family would take turns sleeping in the RV and the other in a hotel or lodge close by. One camp where we stopped was a cherry grove. You could pick any cherries you wanted and it happened to be cherry season! So, we climbed on top of the RV and picked a gallon or two of cherries all the while stuffing our mouths full of the red deliciousness. Our shirts and hands were stained, but our tummies were full and our hearts were happy. We hit the road again the next morning for the next state and new excursion. As we neared the next border we read signs saying that no fruit could cross the state line for fear of transferring fruit tree diseases. So, with a large amount of fresh picked cherries we were sad to possibly have to throw them out. My mother didn’t bat an eye, she just started pitting the cherries and making pie crusts from scratch as we traveled toward the border inspection station several miles away. Feeding people was one of the ways she expressed her love. She was under the gun with a short time limit like on a modern day cooking show. As we neared the state line, she never lost focus but just kept making pies. She popped them in the oven just in time and all the inspectors found as they asked us if we had any fresh produce was the wonderful sweet smell of fresh baked cherry pies wafting through the driver’s window, and a smiling “no, no fresh fruits here.” We had plenty of dessert for the 10 of us after dinner at our new destination. We had many more great memories with family and friends in a giant wobbly bus seeing our beautiful country on that trip.

As we connect with Jesus, He gives us spiritual fruit to be enjoyed by His people in our community. That fruit is to be used to encourage and build up the Family of those who belong to God and those who are not yet a part of God’s Family. (“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...”(Galatians 5:22–23) During COVID 19 restrictions, opportunities to share that spiritual fruit can seem limited. It’s like we have gallons of cherries, but no way to use them before they have to be thrown out or rot because they can’t be enjoyed by those we need to share them with. We may have to start using our creative gifts in different ways to share that fruit with other people. We may need to let people enjoy the sweet smells and tastes of fresh baked pies rather than fresh fruit right off the tree. We may be tempted to just give up and forget about how important it is to bring the fruit to the people of God. The Apostle Paul wanted to make sure the church in Galatia didn’t give up and let their gifts and fruit go to waste when things got tough. It may have been really difficult to keep doing the right thing when the challenges came along. He tells them “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV) If we have some fruit that is about to go to waste, we need to remember there may be another way of sharing it with people. We can still show people that we love them even if the ways we used to do it may not work anymore.

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

Parents, Thank You For Acting Like God's Children: Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, thank you for acting like God’s Children. Wow! What an outpouring of love and encouragement from our post yesterday! We are so moved by your concern, your prayers, your thoughts…Thank You! It is so comforting and exciting to see God’s children being God’s children and loving us with words, helpful thoughts, sympathy, empathy, encouragement, mercy, and grace. We have seen God’s Hand during this ordeal. We are praising Him for His tremendous care and love; some shown in secret ways we may never fully know and some very publicly and tangibly through each of your posts. We experienced joy as each of you showed up with some written words, prayers, likes, cares, shares, loves and emojis and a tiny circle of your likeness next to your response. We smiled and gained comfort from your posts and the ways you have shown up in our lives on His behalf now and times before. COVID restrictions and distance had no victory in this situation, because you showed up with verbal hugs and comfort from miles away but no less real. Your digital virtuality became doses of emotional and spiritual reality in our time of stress. Thank you for connecting and loving us like God's family!

Thank you for following the Apostle Paul’s advice to the Ephesian church. He asked them to love people well… he says, “As God's dear children, then, take Him as your pattern, and follow Christ by loving as he loved you...” Ephesians 5:1-2a (NJB) You are a blessing to us… thank you! You inspire us to keep acting like Jesus too.

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

Parents, When You Get That Dreaded Phone Call: Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, when you get that dreaded phone call. Sunday afternoon Anita and I had enjoyed a good day at church and had picked up a few things at the grocery that we needed to make it through the week. We had come back home and decided to cook some dinner when the phone rang and it was my daughter’s boyfriend’s mother… she was very upset… we heard the words “horrible accident,” “ambulances, police cars, and firetrucks,” and an added hesitant, “they are okay.” She wanted to give us an accurate description of the seriousness of the situation, but her sweet nature is to always bring comfort, so she was conflicted, as we all were, hoping for a good outcome, but seeing the dire circumstances. At that moment our instant reaction was “get to Memphis ASAP!” We assured his mother we were praying for her, our kids, and all those involved. She said she would call us back with more details as they were available. We put away the food and quickly packed as we prayed and tried to make the best plans we could with a panicked brain. We threw some clothes in a bag and jumped in the car for the 10 hour drive. As we travelled we learned more details… that a car going more than 50 mph had crossed the center line into their lane while spinning, hitting my daughter’s BF’s car head on. The other car was almost backward and the impact was all in the rear of the other car and the driver had left a child in the car and fled the scene, the police however, had caught him. My daughter was unresponsive for 10 minutes. Her eyes were dilated and her lips were blue. She finally woke up screaming and in shock. We then received pictures of the cars from the scene… it was horrific… we struggled to keep our fears of the worst in check. After 4 hours of driving and a lot of praying, we were able to speak to our daughter in the hospital ER. She sounded weak, but not yet gotten her Xrays or CT scans. She said she had seatbelt burns and bruises, chest and headache, and her leg hurt so badly she could not walk on it without excruciating pain. When we finally received news that they found no internal injuries and they were sending her home, we took a sigh of relief, praised God, and evaluated our own physical state since we had been in hyperfocus on the situation for about 6 hours. By this time it was after midnight. We found out she was safely resting at her BF’s family’s home and we decided to stop in Nashville at Anita’s parent’s house rather than risk our own accident from the exhaustion that came from the adrenaline charged sprint towards Memphis. We knew we could make the last 3.5 hours in the morning, although had she been admitted to the hospital we were committed to finishing the drive that night to be with her. Anita’s parents gave lots of prayers and encouragement and gave us a good breakfast to get us on our way. As we got started, God and our daughter’s BF’s mother had miraculously gotten her an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon that morning and we met them at his office building. We were unable to go in because of the Coronavirus restrictions. We were so excited to see her limping out on crutches with her BF helping her. They were ALIVE and we got to see them and hug them (very gently, because they were all stove up). The Doc had determined from X-rays that she had a bone chip where the ligament was attached to one of her leg bones, but he wanted an MRI before determining whether he needed to do surgery… that won’t happen for a few more days. We are currently helping her recover at her apartment because she has been significantly immobilized by the traumatic impact of two vehicles slamming together at a high rate of speed. As we have a few moments to reflect, we realize that this could have turned out very differently for everyone. We are very thankful to God to have these loved ones, though hurting and maybe needing surgery, alive and able to interact with us. Things don’t always turn out this way.

The Apostle Paul knows how fleeting life can be and warns us to continue walking with God as He walks with us. He encourages us to make the most of the time we have, because there are no guarantees. He doesn’t say this so we walk around scared all the time, fearing the worst, but so we will continue to live in God’s will loving people and bringing joy to them for as long as we are able. I like the New King James version that says it this way, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17 (NKJV) The word “circumspectly'' comes from a Latin word meaning: to look around, it carries a meaning also of prudence, and cautious, careful consideration. During these uncertain times, we gotta wisely, carefully consider what our life will be… We are gonna haveta intentionally love God and His children, see how He wants to make our life count for Him. These types of incidents… car crashes, near death moments… are making me realize how fragile this life really is. We are glad to have our daughter and her boyfriend still here on this planet. I encourage all of us to not wait, but to love our Heavenly Father and others well right now. Ask God the best ways to do that, He loves them too, so He will let you know…

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

Parents, Are You Roundin' Up?* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, are you roundin’ up? In elementary school we learned about roundin’ up (an East Tennessee pronunciation of “rounding up”). Anything over halfway to the next higher number could be rounded up when you’re roundin’ up. Rounding up can be a good thing, if say, a store gives you the opportunity to round up to give the extra change to a worthy cause (it’s a little thing to each customer, but it can add up to a lot of help for people in need). Roundin’ up is also a good thing if you are a cowboy with a lot of cattle, or you are a mountain climber finally reaching the precipice while climbing around the peak, or if you are a baker when your dough ball begins to rise, or if you are running the 440 (or now the 400 in meters) on the last turn ahead of everyone else. But roundin’ up isn’t so great when we get a little older and we are put into the next older category based on our age group, or when your midsection gets more girthy and roundin’ up as your age is roundin’ up. As a “middle aged” human the last two seem to be happening to me more and more and today I turn 57. But a great thing I have also discovered having been ‘round the sun a few times, is that if the corners of your mouth round up, you can incrementally round up the overall mood of any room you enter. Regardless of the mood of the room a smile will change the whole positive outlook. Apparently, there is some brain science at work here. We are all desperate to know that someone is glad to be with us. A genuine smile communicates, “I’m glad to be with you!” When our brains recognize that someone is glad to be with us and they truly care about us, we can escape some fear of rejection and we can relax and do our best work. Fear puts us in a negative spiral that makes us not glad to be with people and everything rounds down like our furrowed brow or our frowny mouth and eyes. So, regardless of whether things “roundin’ up” are perceived as good or bad, we can always be roundin’ up the corners of our mouth to communicate “Regardless of what’s happening, I’m glad I get to be with you.”

God was communicating to His people through Moses and Aaron that He is glad to be with them. Now they had done some knuckleheaded things and He had let them know those things were unacceptable, but He also let them know He was always glad to be with them. He tells His servants, to bless the people and let them ask Him to smile upon them. Numbers 6:22-26 (NLT2) says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: ‘May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.’” When God smiles on us He gives us favor and peace... shalom and blessing. As we seek God and ask Him to round up the corners of His mouth to show us He’s glad to be with us, we can smile on the people around us too. Are you roundin’ up?

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

42Ouida Middleton, Melanie Middleton Vincent and 40 others

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Parents, When We Forget Who We Are:* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, when we forget who we are. First semester of my freshman year in college I played intramural flag football. In one game, I was going up to catch a pass and collided really hard, head to head with another player. I remember nothing much after that. Apparently I just wondered off the field and went back to my dorm and fell asleep. (BTW isn’t that what you are NOT supposed to do with a concussion? That would explain a lot.) When I woke up, I asked my roommates what happened to our room? They thought I was trying to be funny, but I actually did not remember that we had changed it all around the day before. With a few more questions, they were worried about me and escorted me to the campus infirmary. The nurse evaluated me and asked them to take me to the ER. So, they did. As we drove out of the parking lot, my roommates pointed out my “new to me” car and said “there is your new car” … to which I excitedly responded, “I have a new car! That’s awesome!” They said, “you don’t remember? You just drove it back from Knoxville a couple of days ago.” They thought it was kind of funny, so they circled the parking lot again and pointed out my new car to see what my reaction would be… and yes, I gave the same response, “I got a new car! That’s awesome!” So, with much glee they did that a few more times to amuse themselves and confirm that my short-term memory had indeed been impared before finally taking me to the hospital. One of my roommates was headed to Med School and must have been fascinated by the brain and injuries to the brain and perhaps he thought I made a good “living cadaver brain” on which he could experiment… kind of like “10 second Tom” from the movie 50 First Dates, who completely forgot what had happened just a few seconds before. They did get me to the ER and the doctor evaluated my amnesia and sent me back to the school infirmary for observation. I had absolutely no recollection of my car, the drive back to school in said car, what classes I was taking, my new college friends or that I had tried out and made the JV Cheer squad, asking “whose megaphone” was in my room… I ended up in the infirmary for a few days… I didn’t remember that either. Later, when freshman English papers were due… I had no clue. With short term memory loss, I couldn’t focus long enough to remember the sentance I had just written. And apparently, I really hurt the feelings of some of my new friends, because I didn’t acknowledge them in the cafeteria. I didn’t know I knew them. It was a rough semester… I considered transferring back to the university closer to home. But I didn’t. I eventually recovered and began to remember things again.

Sometimes we get spiritual amnesia, forgetting who we are. If we can remember who God is, what He has done for us, and how much He really loves us, it will inform us of who we are. We can sometimes look at trying circumstances and completely forget all the blessings God gives us, and begin acting out-of-character. At one point King David had to remind himself who God really is with a song, and he said, “My soul, bless the LORD, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. My soul, bless the LORD, and do not forget all his benefits. He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the Pit; he crowns you with faithful love and compassion. He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle.” Psalm 103:1-5 (CSBBible) Once David is reminded, his whole outlook on life is changed and he reminds all of God’s people how loving and compassionate and forgiving God is. So, when we forget who we are, we need to remind ourselves who God is and that will help our souls remember who we really are and that we act like Him…Sometimes we have to be reminded over and over again, just like my roommates circling the parking lot and showing me my new car… “this is your New Life in Christ, this is the Way; walk in it.”

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

Parents, Are You Being A Mean Joe?* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, are you being a mean Joe? My sister wanted a pony, so she convinced my parents to get one (because she was the favorite). We had a small mini-farm of 7 acres on the Little River near Knoxville … it was enough room for a pony to run around. My sis diligently looked at the ads in the paper and, lo and behold, one day she saw an ad that said: “Saddle $25, pony is free.” That should have been a little clue about this pony. So, Dad went to pick up this Shetland pony and found out his name was Joe. We finally came to the big day, the first day to ride Joe. Shetlands are typically gentle and have a good disposition but they can also be very stubborn and headstrong. Joe gladly received the bridle and saddle. So, my dad put my sister on Joe and gave her some instructions: pull the left rein to go left, pull the right rein to go right, and pull both to stop and say "whoa!" She sat on the pony, but Joe refused to move. She said, “Giddyup, Joe!” and flipped the reins a little… Suddenly, Joe thought he was Secretariat looking for another Triple Crown. He took off out of the shoot like a bullet and He was headed straight down a steep hill toward the river… My sister’s eyes were wide as saucers, she was bouncing all over that saddle and screaming “whoa Joe!” while pulling on the reins as hard as her little arms could pull and trying to grab the saddle horn to stay on. My dad was chasing her and Joe as fast as he could run, yelling “whoa, stop Joe” and maybe a few other words. My mother and I stood at the fence and watched with mouths agape, then we too started shouting “Whoa Joe!” Joe had a different idea than stopping… my sister went flying off and rolled to a stop next to a rock. She was not severely hurt, but very scared. So, that was the end of riding Joe. We sold the saddle and bridle, but the next buyer was a little more savvy and refused to take the pony. Over the next several months I would sneak away from my chores in the garden and bring Joe a little treat and call him over to the fence and talk to him. After a while Joe let me pet him. A little while longer and he let me put my arm around him. Then, call me crazy, but I wanted to try to ride him. The saddle and bridle were gone, so I put my cub scout skills to use and tied some bailing twine together and Joe let me put it over his head. There was no bit for his mouth, it was just makeshift bridle. Then as I talked to Joe, he let me climb on his back and ride him. He responded to my gentle pulls right and left on reins and stopped when I said, “whoa.” Eventually, we had to get rid of old Joe, but that experience taught me some things. Regardless of how mean and ornery Joe may have been, gentle words, gentle hugs, and little treats reminded him that he belonged to a breed that was strong, but gentle with a good disposition. Screaming and yelling at Joe, didn’t seem to make him want to stop being mean. Joe remembered who he was and began to act like himself when approached with the right attitude.

We believers sometimes need a gentle reminder of who we are too. We belong to God who is loving, compassionate and gentle. He tells Moses who He is and how He acts. He says …”the LORD is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth,”Exodus 34:6 (CSBBible) and James, the half brother of Jesus, reminds God’s people that since they belong to Him they need to act right... like God does. James says, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20 (ESV) Just like Joe needed to be reminded that he was a gentle Shetland pony when he wasn’t always acting like it, we sometimes need to let God’s Word remind us of who we are when we aren’t acting like God’s children should act. The New Testament is filled with scripture that reminds us what we are to act like since we are one of His and belong to Him. Do you know a Joe or Jo, who needs some gentle words and some love to remind them of who he/she really is and how his/her “breed” acts… a believer who may have forgotten who they are, Who they belong to, and how it is like them to act. When they are acting like a “mean Joe” they aren't acting like themselves. Like Joe, most people don’t respond well to our screaming and yelling at them to change. Approach them gently, value them, honor who they really are and who knows, they may start acting like their true selves.

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

(not the real Joe and not my photo)