Camouflage??

Sorry it's been so long since I updated this. The face book thing has pulled me away. I' ve been debating weather or not to totally convert over, but haven't decided yet.

If you've seen my Facebook page, you might have seen the picture of the killdeer eggs we have in the driveway nest. Yes, I did say nest in the driveway. Killdeer are ground nesters and they rely on one single factor to allow the eggs and nest to survive and make it to hatching. That one factor is camouflage. The eggs match their surroundings so well, that predators don't see them....most of the time, that is. Something did happen to two of the four eggs in the driveway nest.

This got me to thinking about my life. How often do I sit back and blend into my surroundings - camouflaged, if you will? I mean, do people realize that I am not of this world and I don't want to be the same as it seems the world is sliding? I want people to know that I'm a Christian! I want them to know that I'm different. But I don't want them to think I'm weird or a fanatic, Do you know what I mean. Can anyone else relate?

I'm getting better at this as I get older, but why does it take so long? Because of the gift our Lord gave to us, we should be jumping for joy! We shouldn't care what the rest of the world

thinks!

So.......how bout it. Are you ready to join me in shedding the camouflage and putting on the neon???

Every Day is Easter

Cut off Catalpa tree stump.

I thought it might be time to start up the ole' blog again. I took a short sabbatical around Easter, so I could keep up with everything else. Thanks for the faithful readership (both of you! Ha!??)

As I was walking down by the creek a while back, I noticed that someone had come in and cut down my favorite tree that stood near the road and the creek bank. It was a Catalpa tree. To some of you, that name may not mean anything or be familiar to you. My brothers and I used to call it an elephant ear tree because of it's huge, elephant ear-like leaves. Anyway, these trees are native to Kansas and they bloom a brilliant white flower in early summer. Now, nothing is left of that tree but the stump. I don't blame anyone, and I really don't know who to blame anyhow.

But that incident caused me to start thinking, especially since Easter was still on my mind. It brought about the correlation of this tree and the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like Christ, this tree was a beautiful specimen. It was living what some would call a perfect life. It had a great future. But then, the tree was cut down. It was really causing no harm and was giving others joy. The parallels are interesting. Both Jesus and the tree were killed by man.

The difference, though, is that Jesus died and then came back to life after three days. (The tree's life is over.) And for believers, Jesus offers an eternity with Him, with no more sorrow, sickness, or pain. What a cool deal, huh? We've got a saying at our church that states, "Every Day is Easter!"

New Catalpa tree planted in our yard. (Happy Easter)

Conform Not

I took this picture last Saturday. Yup, that's right - the day it was really cold, windy and a bit snowy. It was ten degrees when I took this. But if you'll notice, the flowers are vividly blooming. These flowers are always the first to bloom in our flower bed. They pop up about the end of February and bloom for about three weeks. They are called Glory of the Snow or Snow Glories ( Chionodoxa forbesii). Tamra and I bought these bulbs from our nephew, Evan, when he was selling them for a school project. We really didn't know what we were buying for sure, but thought it would be neat to have some extra flowers in the front.

If you'll notice, there are no other flowers blooming in the picture, nor is there anything else that is even remotely a bit green. This flower is the first to bloom in the spring season. In fact it gets its name from that because it is often seen poking through the snow - again when nothing else is even thinking of blooming.

When I saw these beautiful blue blooms, I thought of the fact that those flowers are such independent little boogers. They just do their own thing. God made them that way. I also thought of the verse in Romans 12:2 that says, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

God's word tells us that we are not to follow the ways of this world. Hmmm.....just like the Glory of the Snow. If it bloomed when all of the other flowers bloom, it would quickly wither and die. So it is with us. If we follow the ways of everyone else, straying from the teachings and commandments of God, we soon "wither and die" spiritually. God gave us independence from others and the world so that we may follow Him and his will.

Isn't it great to be able to follow such a Savior who wants us to do our own thing? Take some time this week to ask God what that thing is you're supposed to do. You may just bloom in the process!

It's All in the Perception

Snow Creek

I got back Monday from a ski trip with our church youth group. Where did we go, you ask? How' Missouri grab ya? Yep, Missouri. Believe it or not, there's a small ski area just a bit north of the KCI Airport outside of the town of Weston, MO called Snow Creek. It has 12 labeled runs and 6 lifts, counting the rope lift. Sound interesting?

Collin on the lift

Well, we had a small portion of our youth group wanting to go skiing, but none of us had much of a budget. So we found out about Snow Creek and then got an inside rate on motel rooms near the airport, and away we went. I had my doubts about the area, and I had convinced myself that I was just really along to help chaperon anyway.

Guess what! I was pleasantly surprised! For man made snow, the skiing was really pretty decent. The temps were just right and it was busy but not overly crowded. Only Collin and I got to go (out of our family) and we both had a great time. There were people from several states there, including MO, LA, OK, TX, Iowa, & KS; some other countries also.

FBC Youth

We found out that Snow Creek was a great place for people to learn to ski; a good place for skiers to refresh their skills; or just a neat little place to go and save money. I guess it's just like other things in life. It's all in how you perceive it!

Collin & Yours Truly

Sacrifice?

We had a missions conference at our church this past weekend. There were 12 different sets of missionairies there, who present the Gospel in many different countries. It's incredible how these people have given to a walk that requires them to sacrifice so much.

I've been thinking about that lately. How is my walk? Am I giving and sacrificing for the sake of spreading the Gospel? At times, I think I do pretty good! I mean I have to alter my personal schedule once in a while and even miss out on "important" personal events as a sacrifice!

Could I be doing more? What is the meaning of sacrifice and being a "missionary" for God?

Romans 12:1 & 2 says, "And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Have a great week!

We've Got "Spirit," Yes We Do!

Well, we've spent the last three days going to basketball games in which Adam and Collin played in. The boys both played Thursday, then Adam went on to play in two more games at the El Dorado tournament, the Bluestem Classic. There were some good teams there. Even though we (the El Dorado H.S. Wildcats) didn't win any of our three games, I'd still say that the El Dorado ball club is a good team. After all, we only lost to the tournament champion (Wichita Collegiate) in our opening game by four points. And we only lost the other two games by a deficit of two and four points. Man, we seemed good enough. We basically did all the right things. Most people were happy with the team's actions. Man people, said we appeared to have what it takes. We just couldn't seem to win the game, though.

Maybe you can already see where I'm going with this. Do the last few sentences remind you of some people's description of their "religious" lives? Unfortunately, there are still people thinking that they are going to earn their way to Heaven because they appear to have what it takes. They seem good enough and, basically, do all of the right things. Most people are happy with their actions, too.

Wow! We' been talking a lot in church lately about being in the Spirit. One of the statements that our Pastor said today was: "If we live in the Spirit, we must walk in the Spirit." Walking in the Spirit doesn't mean just coming close to winning. Coming close to eternal life is not where I want to spend eternity. My idea of "winning" in life is ending up spending eternity in Heaven with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in the meantime, I want to be walking in the Spirit, not just talking like I'm there and appearing to do all of the right things. It's more than that. Letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace (Rom. 8:6).

It's my goal this year to live a Spirit filled life. As we're talking in Church: I'm going to be on the front line in '09.

Are We Listening?

Our Sunday School lesson last week was on listening to God. Now, if you're like me, sometimes I, not a very good listener. But when we were getting ready to leave, I asked the class to really listen to the Lord this week and come back and share their experiences. (That way we all could be encouraged and edified by the experience.)

Ex. #1: Well, I had prayed that I would be open to God's will for me and that I would obey, but you know - often we think it will probably be the other guy. It wasn't!

My supervisor and I were coming back from K.C. on the Turnpike, and we passed a car that was broke down on the side of the road. There were two girls outside of the car as we passed. I felt that we should turn around, so we did. Long story short.....the girls were headed back to school in California and the car was causing problems. We were able to get them started and followed them to a repair shop that I knew of in El Dorado where we always take our vehicles.

The girls were very grateful; I'm sure one of them was a Christian by the way she talked, which made me feel even better.

Ex. #2: I had been burdened with the sickness of an acquaintance of ours through our Church. Our S.S. class wanted to help them out in some way but we didn't know how and what the status of our "brother" was. I was able to obtain the cell phone number of the brother's wife and caught her in the grocery store. I told her that we were wondering how they were and if we could possibly help them in any way. She was so moved that I thought she was going to cry over the phone. She told me that she had been praying for help to see how she was going to handle this coming week, as our brother was needing to go to the doctor in K.C. and she was going to be tied up with her oldest daughter who just had a baby the day that I was calling her. Also, she was burdened with the fact that her grandson was receiving chemotherapy and all of the other aspects of life. (Wow!) I told her we were there for her and we would do whatever it took to help her.

If that isn't answered prayer on both sides, I'll eat my hat! But should I have been surprised? The Bible tells us when we pray to be prepared and expect answers. Yup! Awesome!

If you've got a story about hearing from the Lord, I'd like to hear it and maybe even pass it on to our S.S. class for their edification. Hey, you never know when God's going to give you that Elijah-type whisper or a little tugging at your heart! But when he does, go for it!! You and others will be blessed!

Resistant to Change? Me?

I guess I'm wondering why everybody is so resistant to change. I mean, it's really very simple - change is a necessary evil to make the world go round. But why is everyone so against it? It' not that bad of a thing! But I do have a few questions?

- Why is it so important for young people to have their cell phones on 24 hours a day, especially for texting purposes? Are they missing an important meeting or business appointment?
- Why do girls wear those furry little boots with their pants tucked in them when it's not even snowing outside?
- Why do boys not comb their hair anymore?
- Why do girls wear at least 6 or 7 shirts, making sure the bottom one is longer than the others so it sticks out farther than the others....and then, the neckline still doesn't cover most of what it should?
- Why do boys wear their hats cocked off to the sides of their heads?
- Why do girls pierce everything?
- Why do boys put major holes in the lobes of their ears with this wooden or plastic ring in there? (Do they have any idea how stupid that will look when they get older?)
- Why do young car owners put those loud "mufflers" on a four cylinder engine?
- Why do girls pay $75 for jeans with holes in the knees? (I'd do it for $10!)
- Why do middle-aged men and women try to act like they are as young as these kids in the previous questions??????

Living Water

While on my daily morning walk that last few days, my attention has been drawn to the sounds of the water flowing over the rocks in the small creek that runs near our house. The unique thing about this creek (properly pronounced "crick" where I grew up) is that it never freezes over and never quits flowing. You see, it originates from a spring back in the trees, so it gives continual water up from underground at a constant temperature (which by the way is usually the same as the mean annual air temperature: around 56 degrees in El Dorado).

I often walk in the dark, so when I walk over the little bridge, I can only hear the water. I still know it's there, though. (Just because I can't see it doesn't mean it's not there, right?)

This reminds me of the parallel between the Holy Spirit and living water. Remember the passage in John 4 & 7 where Jesus refers to His Spirit as living water? He said that it becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within you, giving you eternal life. (Is that cool, or what?)

I offer a challenge to you. When you see or hear water, meditate on these passages. If you don't know what it's like to have the living water within you, seek out a friend, Pastor, or contact me. We'd be glad to share that living water with you.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the spring fed creek near our house. Enjoy, and have a great week!

The warm water in the creek never freezes.

Cardinal Flowers bloom in the pool of the creek fed by the spring.