Go On… Jump!
Kendall was waiting for me at the top of the stairs yesterday, and when I was about 4 steps from the top she jumped…and trusted that I would catch her. Now just freeze this picture in your mind for a moment -- there a lot of things that can happen at this point.
Here are a few of them…
1. I may not have been paying attention to her, and if so, then I wouldn’t have known she jumped. (Yeah right – I love that girl, you think she doesn’t always have my attention?!)
2. I may trip and fall on the steps, if so, then it would be almost impossible to catch her. (There is a possibility of this – I’m kind of clumsy.)
3. I may accidentally drop her. (Don’t think so – but it’s possible.)
The list could go on and on of the possibilities that could happen from her leap – of faith. Hold on, is that what that was – Kendall’s leap of faith – in me? We all know that’s exactly what it was.
I was climbing the stairs and Kendall wanted to jump, and she KNEW that if she jumped to me -- I would catch her. It wasn’t thought out or planned; she thought it and did it! But how could she be so brave at the drop of a hat? That’s the easy part -- she knows me… She knows her daddy loves her, wants the best for her, and can be trusted to take care of her – to catch her when she jumps.
We have been together for four years and 1 day now, and we know each other very well. She knows how I’ll respond to most things without her thinking about it…most things. Sometimes we have to work on confidence – like jumping to daddy when he is in the swimming pool. It took a little time, but she knew it was daddy, and that I could be trusted to catch her when she jumped – so she did.
God has called us to have faith in Him…the kind of faith that just jumps! I know that in order for us to have that kind of faith, 1. We need to know Him, and 2. We need to have experience with Him. But that’s not the end of the lesson – we also need to apply the knowing and experience to our day to day lives, and when things get a little shaky – just jump – His arms are strong, and your rescue is sure.
Unfreeze the picture -- of course I caught Kendall, with not even so much as a stumble. We both had a great laugh, and I was so blessed to know my daughter has faith that her daddy is more than happy to catch her when she jumps -- in fact I’m thrilled that she trusts me that much.
I believe God is thrilled when we trust Him as well!
Go on…Jump!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
I’M BA-A-ACK
I find it hard to believe that it’s been almost 2 weeks since my last post. It’s not that I’ve had nothing to share – I've actually had plenty to share, having time to share it is another story.
OK – it’s official – it has now been two weeks since my last post – the first paragraph of this post was typed about 24 hours ago – then the pace picked up a little.
So here is my attempt at getting everything up to speed…
Today – February, 22nd is a great day… its Kendall’s 4th Birthday. I’m so thankful to God that she has been in our lives for four years – or 1460 days now. What an amazing blessing!
The three greatest blessings in my life – are just that – blessings. I had nothing to do with deserving, acquiring, or earning them, I was blessed with them…as gifts from God.
They are --
1. Salvation – Jesus on the cross to save me, now that’s a gift! Not only that, but because of His sacrifice I am blessed with the opportunity to be in relationship with Him. It’s like Paul said…
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15
2. My Wife Kristin – If you know us, then you know very well that only God’s hand could have brought us together. I am blessed to have married way out of my league. My wife is a beautiful, wonderful, godly wife and mother, and I’m thankful for the gift of her in my life.
3. My daughter Kendall – the Birthday girl! She’s beautiful, (like her mother) amazing, and lots of fun. I couldn’t begin to state all the ways that our relationship has shed light on my relationship with God. It is my belief that I have been blessed with the most wonderful little girl that God ever created. Now look guys, I know that you think you have the most wonderful little girl ever -- and I’ll let you think that -- but I know the truth.
Well there they are – my three greatest blessings! If you weren’t mentioned – don’t panic – I just can’t list more than three today, but that doesn’t mean you’re not on the list.
February 17th -19th -- We took several teens and college students to Winterfest in Gatlinburg, TN. The trip was Great! We enjoyed great worship, encouraging keynotes, wonderful fellowship, and the bus ride was fun as well. It’s always a spiritual blast to experience the presence of God at mass gatherings such as Winterfest, Tulsa, or Sunday morning worship at Sunshine. (I know Sunshine is only about 240 -250 on Sunday mornings vs Winterfest and Tulsa’s 14,000. But God is still there.)
Back to Winterfest – I’ve been taking teens and college students since 1996 and it’s always been an incredible blessing to be a part of this weekend. In 1999 0r 2000 my friend/bro in Christ, Shaun McCray joined me in this effort, and he has been a huge blessing to me and everyone who makes the venture with us. Thanks Shaun! God has blessed us in a wonderful way for our part in this.
Tuesday, February 14th – Valentines Day – I took my wife and daughter to Chili’s for supper, after that we went shopping and then back home. We really had a great time together, I love spending time with Kristin and Kendall, they’re great dates!
After we returned home from our evening out, I received a call at 2:40 am -- the alarm at Innermission was ringing. So I got dressed and drove into town to check it out. The drive to Innermission was beautiful. The moon was full, and it had snowed a few days earlier, the combination of those two things, and a drive over Ft. Hill road was worth getting up in the middle of the night for. Even the darkness is as light to God. The alarm turned out to be no big deal, so I enjoyed the beautiful drive home and arrived around 3:45am, and went right back to bed.
Monday, February 13th -- Kristin and I went to the Boston Beanery for a Pre-Valentines Day date, she's great! God is good to me.
Ok – so I know there are some gaps in this record of the happenings of my life over the past few weeks. But some things are supposed to stay on the down-low, others are to long to mention, and some I’ve probably forgotten. But I really feel compelled to tell you – though my blog posts have been few lately, God’s blessings on me have not. He has showered me with blessing upon blessing; maybe we’ll get to sit-down sometime and talk about it.
I find it hard to believe that it’s been almost 2 weeks since my last post. It’s not that I’ve had nothing to share – I've actually had plenty to share, having time to share it is another story.
OK – it’s official – it has now been two weeks since my last post – the first paragraph of this post was typed about 24 hours ago – then the pace picked up a little.
So here is my attempt at getting everything up to speed…
Today – February, 22nd is a great day… its Kendall’s 4th Birthday. I’m so thankful to God that she has been in our lives for four years – or 1460 days now. What an amazing blessing!
The three greatest blessings in my life – are just that – blessings. I had nothing to do with deserving, acquiring, or earning them, I was blessed with them…as gifts from God.
They are --
1. Salvation – Jesus on the cross to save me, now that’s a gift! Not only that, but because of His sacrifice I am blessed with the opportunity to be in relationship with Him. It’s like Paul said…
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15
2. My Wife Kristin – If you know us, then you know very well that only God’s hand could have brought us together. I am blessed to have married way out of my league. My wife is a beautiful, wonderful, godly wife and mother, and I’m thankful for the gift of her in my life.
3. My daughter Kendall – the Birthday girl! She’s beautiful, (like her mother) amazing, and lots of fun. I couldn’t begin to state all the ways that our relationship has shed light on my relationship with God. It is my belief that I have been blessed with the most wonderful little girl that God ever created. Now look guys, I know that you think you have the most wonderful little girl ever -- and I’ll let you think that -- but I know the truth.
Well there they are – my three greatest blessings! If you weren’t mentioned – don’t panic – I just can’t list more than three today, but that doesn’t mean you’re not on the list.
February 17th -19th -- We took several teens and college students to Winterfest in Gatlinburg, TN. The trip was Great! We enjoyed great worship, encouraging keynotes, wonderful fellowship, and the bus ride was fun as well. It’s always a spiritual blast to experience the presence of God at mass gatherings such as Winterfest, Tulsa, or Sunday morning worship at Sunshine. (I know Sunshine is only about 240 -250 on Sunday mornings vs Winterfest and Tulsa’s 14,000. But God is still there.)
Back to Winterfest – I’ve been taking teens and college students since 1996 and it’s always been an incredible blessing to be a part of this weekend. In 1999 0r 2000 my friend/bro in Christ, Shaun McCray joined me in this effort, and he has been a huge blessing to me and everyone who makes the venture with us. Thanks Shaun! God has blessed us in a wonderful way for our part in this.
Tuesday, February 14th – Valentines Day – I took my wife and daughter to Chili’s for supper, after that we went shopping and then back home. We really had a great time together, I love spending time with Kristin and Kendall, they’re great dates!
After we returned home from our evening out, I received a call at 2:40 am -- the alarm at Innermission was ringing. So I got dressed and drove into town to check it out. The drive to Innermission was beautiful. The moon was full, and it had snowed a few days earlier, the combination of those two things, and a drive over Ft. Hill road was worth getting up in the middle of the night for. Even the darkness is as light to God. The alarm turned out to be no big deal, so I enjoyed the beautiful drive home and arrived around 3:45am, and went right back to bed.
Monday, February 13th -- Kristin and I went to the Boston Beanery for a Pre-Valentines Day date, she's great! God is good to me.
Ok – so I know there are some gaps in this record of the happenings of my life over the past few weeks. But some things are supposed to stay on the down-low, others are to long to mention, and some I’ve probably forgotten. But I really feel compelled to tell you – though my blog posts have been few lately, God’s blessings on me have not. He has showered me with blessing upon blessing; maybe we’ll get to sit-down sometime and talk about it.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Faith...
Faith – as defined in dictionary.com. (I only used the definitions pertaining to my post.)
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.
3. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will.
I’ve heard many lectures on faith, studied many scriptures on faith, I’ve even been blessed to be involved in the lives of Christians who we would consider to have “great faith” in God -- Here are a few -- not all -- but a few things I’ve learned from all of this…
1. Just because I talk about faith, doesn’t mean I have it, even if I'm a Bible teacher, minister, preacher, or serve in any other role in His family.
2. Faith in God is the only faith with POWER.
3. Sometimes the words we say indicate that we merely have faith in faith, instead of faith in God. Let this one sink in.
4. One life with true faith in God, impacts so many other lives in a wonderful way.
5. Faith is caught not taught. (Kind of like a cold. If you want it just keep hanging around those who have it, but you still have to want it.)
6. Faith in God is Life giving.
7. Faith in God opens your life to His all creating POWER.
8. A little faith in God is awesome to behold or experience, how awesome would great faith be to experience?!
9. I regret to admit it, but I have a really small faith in a really BIG GOD – but He’s working on it.
Here are a few scripture to wrestle with…
Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
James 2:14-26 - Read it…
Mark 6: 5-6 - He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Romans 10:17 - Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
This post is not meant to, nor is it even possible to attempt to explain all the amazing facets, as well as the blessings of faith in God. Faith is born by experiencing God at work… through His word, through prayer, in your life or the life of someone else, by watching His creation, or (and probably) all of these together. The blessing of faith is the most incredible place to live, and we can only get there by His invitation… and He has extended it to everyone.
How about you? What are your thoughts or stories of faith in God? You're welcome to share them here, if not then I encourage you to meditate on them with Him in prayer.
Faith – as defined in dictionary.com. (I only used the definitions pertaining to my post.)
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.
3. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will.
I’ve heard many lectures on faith, studied many scriptures on faith, I’ve even been blessed to be involved in the lives of Christians who we would consider to have “great faith” in God -- Here are a few -- not all -- but a few things I’ve learned from all of this…
1. Just because I talk about faith, doesn’t mean I have it, even if I'm a Bible teacher, minister, preacher, or serve in any other role in His family.
2. Faith in God is the only faith with POWER.
3. Sometimes the words we say indicate that we merely have faith in faith, instead of faith in God. Let this one sink in.
4. One life with true faith in God, impacts so many other lives in a wonderful way.
5. Faith is caught not taught. (Kind of like a cold. If you want it just keep hanging around those who have it, but you still have to want it.)
6. Faith in God is Life giving.
7. Faith in God opens your life to His all creating POWER.
8. A little faith in God is awesome to behold or experience, how awesome would great faith be to experience?!
9. I regret to admit it, but I have a really small faith in a really BIG GOD – but He’s working on it.
Here are a few scripture to wrestle with…
Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
James 2:14-26 - Read it…
Mark 6: 5-6 - He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Romans 10:17 - Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
This post is not meant to, nor is it even possible to attempt to explain all the amazing facets, as well as the blessings of faith in God. Faith is born by experiencing God at work… through His word, through prayer, in your life or the life of someone else, by watching His creation, or (and probably) all of these together. The blessing of faith is the most incredible place to live, and we can only get there by His invitation… and He has extended it to everyone.
How about you? What are your thoughts or stories of faith in God? You're welcome to share them here, if not then I encourage you to meditate on them with Him in prayer.
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