I'm Out of Here!!!

It has been a really interesting few weeks, but I am really looking forward to this week. My family is headed out tomorrow for a week long cruise with one of my brothers and his wife and some really good friends of ours. This is the first time we are taking the kids along. I can't wait to see their expressions when they see the ship, the ocean and the buffet!!! (The cruise line is going to take a loss this week!)

Please continue to pray for my family. My dad is fairly stable right now, but everything is still touch and go. Also, pray for my mom. I know all this is hard on her and she is wearing down.

We are out of here for a few days. I hope you all have a blessed week.

Worship Celebration

I wanted to just write a quick post today to express how excited I am for our worship celebration this morning. I am looking forward to having my friend Nate lead worship today (the dude is amazing!!) and to teaching from Mark again.

Today I am raising the issue of our identity. In Mark 6, "King" Herod has John the Baptist beheaded. He wasn't a king, but killed John because John spoke out against his adulterous affair. This should be a fun experience.

Tomorrow, I am out of here for a week. I have had a cruise planned with my family and some friends for several months. My dad is stable right now and we have been told by my mom and by Hospice to go ahead with our trip.

I pray this morning that your worship experience will be an intimate, passionate love affair with Jesus.

Childlike Faith

It has been an interesting few days in my life. My dad is slowly slipping away and that is hard, but it sometimes help you put some things and some thoughts into perspective.

This afternoon I am preparing the final for the class I teach at Palm Beach Atlantic University. It is on worldview and ethics and how we see life. My students have been studying how different people from different backgrounds view the world and how we as followers of Christ should view the world and universe. It is a pretty intense philosophy kind of class.

I bring this up to make the point that my dad has always had a very simple worldview. He has always just been the kind of person to try and do his best, try to be as honest as possible and try to follow through with his commitments. He has a relationship with Christ, but it has always been very private. As he is getting closer to passing from this life to the next, he has asked questions, made comments and talked at times like a little child.

I thought about this today: we may think we have a lot of education and understanding, but faith in Christ and understanding of a Christian worldview come down to simple childlike (or even elderly) simplicity.

We should all examine life. We need to study, think and wonder. But ultimately peace is found in the faith of a child.

Seen and Unseen

I published yesterday about my dad and his failing health. He seems to be a little stronger in terms of his physical condition, but his mental condition has worsened. It is really tough on my family who is caring for him right now. Thank you to all who wrote and commented about your prayers and concerns.

My mom told me this morning that one of the pastors from their church came to visit my dad for a few minutes yesterday. Now my dad is not always alert so it is difficult to have a conversation with him. But this pastor was trying to just encourage and demonstrate love to my dad. As the pastor got ready to leave, my dad looked at him and said, "Well, I'll see you in heaven." If you know my dad at all, you know how unusual it is for him to talk that way. He has a relationship with Christ, but it has always been very private and personal.

I was thinking of the words of the Apostle Paul this morning after talking with my mom. Paul talks about the suffering that goes on in human life. he talks about how we keep the treasures of God in "jars of clay" and how our life will never be without suffering until we are with Jesus. He says this at the end of the passage: "So we fix out eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

My dad is approaching the end of his life and is looking toward what is unseen. I pray that I, and you, would not wait until the end to focus on what is unseen. Focus now on what matters. Focus now on what life is really about. Focus now on the idea that this life is temporary and all the troubles we face are but a mere breath of eternity. Jesus Christ is real and what he is about is the reality of eternity.

Death and Dying

My dad is dying. He has been very ill for about five years and it seems like we are really nearing the end. Hospice nurses have told us that they would not be surprised if he did not make it through the week. I have so many different thoughts and emotions that I know I can't explain them. On Sunday I asked the family at LifeQuest to pray for me, not knowing how bad my father was doing at the time, so I wanted to share some thoughts so that you can know what is happening in my head and my heart.

It is extremely hard not being in Mississippi where my family has gathered. However, it just doesn't work right now. I was there several months ago when he was in the hospital and never expected him to live this long. I am really waiting for the end and then will take my entire family for the services. The stress of not being there eats away at me, but I have done all I can do right now. My dad is pretty out of it mentally, so he does not even know I am not there. I am in constant phone conversation with my mom and siblings, so that helps.

Last night Alana and I sat down with Emily, Zach and Kimberly and told them. They were upset naturally, but handled it all fairly well. Emily spent most of the night writing a song. It sounded great from what I could hear, but I simply had to go to the other part of the house. It was hard. The only line I can remember is "It is never easy to say goodbye/there is never a right time to leave." It brought tears to my eyes as I dried the dishes. Zach went outside int he rain for a few minutes just to sit. Kimberly cried for a little while and just needed to be held.

For those of you who have been there, you know how painful it all can be. I am writing as a way of keeping people informed about what is happening in my life. I asked for your prayers this week and I covet them now.

The picture is from April at my nephew's wedding. It is my dad (Charles) my mom (Mamie) my sisters (Cathy and Caroline) and my brothers (me, Dan, David and Ron). If we come to mind this week, please pray for us as we walk this new and difficult journey.

Significance

Last week I spoke with our high school students about significance. I read from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 where Paul talks about God choosing the lesser things of the world to confound the wise and the rich. God doesn't always work using people of great worldly stature. He chose a murdering shepherd who couldn't speak well to bring the nation out of Egypt. He used a man hiding in luggage to avoid being made king to be the first king of Israel. He used a shepherd boy who no one thought would be king to expand the nation. He used a bunch of guys who were not quite good enough for other rabbis to change the world.

There are very few places in scripture that God uses the person who makes sense. Most of the time he uses those who are of no particular stature in this world to make the greatest impact. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel great. It works because ultimately we realize, in the grand scope of things, how small we are. There are over 6 BILLION people in the world today who have no idea that I exist or that I write stuff on the web. I am not sure there are six who actually read what I write, and that's okay as well.

Last night I was watching a Team USA basketball game on TV. They were talking about how the night before Lebron James had dinner with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. At the table, Lebron was the person who was worth the LEAST financially. That is a power table right there.

God uses the small things of the world to show his greatness and his mercy. My prayer is not that God would make me great. My prayer is that God would use me greatly. I want to be an instrument that people look at my life and think to themselves, "If God can use him, he can use me." That would be significant!!!!

Sunday Night Thoughts

I know I am in the minority here but I am so glad this weekend is over. We re-modeled the garage this week to make a room for Emily. It looks awesome, but I am worn out!!! I need to go back to work so that I don't have to work so hard!!!



It was a long, hard weekend, but I had a blast working alongside my family. Alana is an amazing woman. How she does all she does and keeps our lives together is awesome. Emily, Zach and Kimberly are the coolest kids ever. We had a blast moving things, painting and even doing insulation in the attic. Okay, we hated the insulation but it was fun to work together.



I am reminded that life is an incredible journey of small efforts. We take small projects, dig into them piece by piece and then ultimately the task is done. The fun part is not always the finished project but the journey along the way. Our family will always remember painting the floor chocolate brown so that it looked like a giant cake. We also will remember getting paint and caulk everywhere. But mostly we remember being together. It was awesome.



So, don't go through all the little task alone. Find someone special, lay out the process and enjoy the steps along the way!!!