Reaching our goals

This week in 24-7 Youth Ministries we were talking about the future and the plans that God has for us. The paragraph that follows is an excerpt that I thought you might enjoy.

If we stop and protest, we’ll never realize our goal. If we throw a temper tantrum because God has
taken a detour, it won’t help us in the long run. Too many people turn rest stops into dwelling places.
We have to keep moving and seek the Lord constantly. He’s not necessarily hiding so much as He’s
leading. We can have all the direction and information in the world, but if we don’t move we are no
better off than someone who doesn’t even have a compass. What’s the point of all this movement?
He is trying to teach us that it’s not about where we’re headed but Who is traveling with us. We hear
this all the time, but it’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey.

I liked the part about God not hiding just leading. Remember God knows exactly where you are and He always has a plan and purpose for your life.

Jesus and Mowers

I like to tinker, there is no doubt about it. My daughters live with the wonderful idea, "Dad can fix anything." For the most part I let them keep this idea because its good for my ego and in most situations its true except for one area, mechanics. For some reason if it has a motor on it I am a complete dummy. I can do a great imitation of what the problem sounds like but when it comes to fixing them I'm at a complete loss. Needless to say the other day my mower "broke."

I was going along fine when all of a sudden it just acts like it wants to die. (At this point in the story I normally make a few sound affects, just pretend for me.) So, wanting to get a quick solution and giving myself  a quick pep-talk to be positive I call Mr. Bob. He tells me to tap on the side of the corroborator which I think sounds like good manly advice and do (after he tells me where to find it) This works for a little while but is starts acting funny again. So, I call him back and he suggests to take out and check the spark plug. I do know where and what this is and proceed to go get the tools to do it. I'm feeling pretty good until I discover I don't even have the right tools to do this simple job. I begin to get frustrated. I go inside to get more tools, even if they are not the rite ones, thinking that maybe I can jerry rig something to get the plug out. While sitting next to the mower and staring at the end of spark plug which I have successfully wrestled the chord off of I notice a small screw and wonder what it is but dismiss the thought due to the fact that I am messing with a spark plug and that is OBVIOUSLY the problem. I go inside and get more tools and the next best thing to a mechanic in our house, Columbia.She proceeds to tell me that she can't tell whats wrong and goes back inside to fix dinner and I go back to staring at the mower.

Finally with nothing else to do I decide to take a look at this little screw that has been gnawing at the back of my mind. and two handfuls of debris fall out at me from behind the cover it is holding on. Turns out there is an air filter for the corroborator behind that black cover that is held in place by that little screw I had been refusing to look at and it had gotten plugged up. I just knew I had fixed it! So I went to start it up and absolutely nothing happened. So I washed it off thinking that it just needed a break from all of the trauma that its been through.  Still nothing. Then a still small voice reminds me, "You cant run a motor with out the spark plug connected."

Me and Fast Food

It happened again! I have the worst luck when ordering any type of fast food. No, strike that, any type of food at all. If I open my mouth to order at ANY restaurant something goes drastically wrong between my mouth the servers ears and when I get my food. I know some of you only have this problem at certain locations. Not me, its a gift. The staff and I at church have even charted it. If I am the person ordering the food something will be wrong 98% of the time. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little but only slightly.

Columbia and I were tired one day this week and decided to not cook at home. So I offered to go out and get the family something to eat. After a brief round of what do you want, I don't know. I set out in my car to go and get it.(The name of the company I will not disclose for their protection...see picture). I got to the food joint safe and sound and while placing my order was pleasantly surprised to meet someone I haven't seen in a while. During our brief conversation I discovered the reason for their absence at church; they've been at work. I returned home quickly with the days hunt satisfied in the quality of the large amount of cheese burgers you need to feed a family of five at today's prices.

When it was Columbia's turn to open her package, you guessed it. It was wrong. So, I took it back for her. Honestly I think that she was more upset than I was. It was so cool to feel God's presence in a situation when I know most people loose their temper. I was praying about what to say when I got there. I am learning that if we let Him God can really use these situations in our life.

When I got there my friend behind the counter was shocked to see me again so soon and then embarrassed that the order I placed was wrong. I then simply told him, "Its no big deal. That's why I'm a Christian. Jesus helps keep me cool when this stuff happens." His jaw dropped open, I think the response surprised him, and he said, "Man I need to get to your church." It was amazing to see God make a connection with someone because of a missed cooked hamburger.

Strong Willed Smile

I was just reading in John Ortberg's new book "The Me I Want to Be" and came across a story about a strong-willed child I thought you might enjoy.

Some friends of ours had a daughter named Shauna who was a classic strong-willed child. When she was four years old, she kept trying to go AWOL on her tricycle. Her mom could not rein her in and finally said, "Look, Shauna, there's a tree right here, and there's a driveway right there. You can ride your tricycle on the sidewalk in between the driveway and the tree, but you can't go past that. If you go past that, you will get a spanking. I have to be inside; I've got stuff to do. But I'm going to be watching you. Don't go past either one of those boundaries. or you're going to get a spanking."

Shauna backed up to her mom, pointed to her spanking zone, and said,"Well, you might as well spank me now, because I got places to go."

I'll let you apply this story how ever you see fit; as for me I'm glad that God starts with me where I am.

The Little Ball That Could

One of my favorite stories as a kid was about the little train that could. Something was so incredibly fun about repeating over and over, "I think I can I think I can!" (Gee its that where my kids get it from?) Although this story makes us all feel really good I'm not necessarily sure that it's all that true. Most of the places that I have gotten, that I am most proud of, have been with a little help from someone else. More over when I look back at where I've come from I get a sneaky suspicion that someone else seems to be in control of the wheel and I'm just along for the ride. Most of us have survived the rainstorms, although some of us are still recovering from them. Rite before they hit I was able to mow the lawn and clean up a little bit of the yard. In the process I forgot to get one of the girls small balls that they were playing with in the back yard. When I found it next it was in the front yard, on the side of a hill, under a bush.
How did it get clear out there from the back yard? It had to get out of a bucked, all the way around the house and through a batch of 'lilies of the valley'.
It was moved by water. Water filled up the bucket and floated the little pink ball out, washed it around the corner, drove it through the plants, moved it up a hill and then lodged it firmly in the bush.
It's kind of like us. We didn't come to Christ on our own, His Spirit drew us. This path we travel through this world is charted by His plan. We are empowered through the Holy Spirit. Finally, we will end in a destination that He has prepared for us.

All of this is impossible to do on our own just like that little pink ball on the side of the hill.

Get A Blog

Get a blog they said! It will be FUN they said! You HAVE to Pastor said. So I did.

I took initiative. (I had to get spell check to even use that word) I was so proud of my self. I gave all of the proper information, selected the background, came up with a name. I did it all by my self! And then I went to re-open the page the next day and I cant log in. That's right. NOTHING!

I spent hours over the next week trying to re-open the blog I created. I apparently did something wrong in the process of picking a name and choosing a password. In the end I quit and started a new one that you are reading now. What did I do wrong? I have NO idea and neither do Pastor or Columbia. They both put in a few hours trying to fix it as well.

How about you? Have you ever thought that you were in the middle of doing something great just to find out that you did it all wrong? What do you do? How do you handle it? Do you scream and shout? Are you tempted to break things just a little more trying to 'fix' it? Do you ever just sigh, quit and throw your hands up in the air? Is it really just all a waist?

Nothing is a waist if trust God with it. The Bible tells us that He can turn all things into good if we trust Him with it. The Message puts it like this: He knows us far better than we know ourselves... and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good (Romans 8:28).

So in short don't waist anything. Even if you think that it is a waist. If it's broke give it to God and He can fix it.

A First Time For Everything

This is my first blog... again. I'll tell you the story in my second blog.