Helpful while helpless

This week has had me at the Salmon Creek Hospital in the ICU unit on a daily basis. One of the men from our church family has been there since last Saturday. The prognosis for a long earthly stay is not good. Thankfully he is heaven bound. However, the family must deal with their own thoughts. I realize that I have NO control over upcoming events... thus, helpless. However, I can point the family to the one who loves them with an everlasting love... the one who does nothing without total righteousness... the one who is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Maybe in some small way I can thus be helpful...

Birthday pixs

Great, hot day

Today was great. Hotter than I like, but a great day none the less. Ruth and Ray had invited some of their friends over to our house to celebrate Josette's first birthday and Mikayla's fourth. With the temperatures climbing to an eventual 100 degrees, this was a day spent in the shade. As the guests arrived, we had a mixture of generations. Some guests were family (Ray's parents and grandparents made it), some guests were parents bringing their children to the party and others were friends of Ruth and Ray. Hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on two grills were the foundation to a filling meal. The guests supplied salads, chips and all the other goodies to make for more than anyone would want.

The children played at first and then joined in with the meal. After lunch, the children donned adult sized t-shirts and "painted" an LARGE drawing of a rocking horse that Esther had done. Then it was time for water balloons! I had taped some pictures of hippos on the porch wall and they began lobbing balloons at them. Some hit and broke and others bounced off and were grabbed up again... all accompanied with giggles. You could tell we were hosting pre-school children as not one took aim at anything but the targets!
The cupcakes were then brought out and the kids had fun icing them. All enjoyed little ice cream cups. Finally, all poured into the air conditioned living room to open presents. All were so generous and the birthdays girls seemed to have a lot of fun. So... a party on a hot day. Four hours of fun, beginning at 11 am. Wow...
I am worn out! And I hardly did anything.
While I certainly was not the oldest attending this party, I did reflect on a time... not so long ago, it seems, when Diane and I were these parents ages. The reminder that we should redeemed the time was forcefully thrust home today!

Pastor's week

How does a pastor's week go? Saturday, Sunday! Saturday, Sunday! Saturday, Sunday! Here I am on another Saturday. Tomorrow brings a class for kids on a title for Christ, then continuing our study in Romans 1, then an Elders/Deacons meeting, then home for lunch with family, then evening service where we are viewing a dvd about America's heritage. A nice mix.
This week we began using some new software for our pregnancy center. It is called ekyros and when we are up and running, it should be of great help. There is a learning curve (but not too bad) and lots of data entry. I have been trying to help out, but there is a lot to do.
It is almost time for Lawrence Welk. Diane manages to empty the room with that program! The music isn't too bad (well, most of it), but you have have to blink at the LOUD outfits! At least Diane will sit down for the hour that it is on (unless her mom calls).

Back again!

I enjoy reading other blogs... thought I had better get back to mine! Can it be over a month since I last wrote? Yep!
In this last month I went in to see my doctor. We had changed our principle care physician (PCP) and he needed to write out new prescriptions. While I was there he asked (innocently enough), "Have you had your flu shot?" I replied, "I usually don't get sick with the flu." The upshot was that I got a shot and... you guessed it... here it comes... I got sick. Well, it wasn't really the flu... no temp... just a nasty cough. It just hangs on. More like walking pneumonia.
Anyway, life rushes on. Can it be the latter part of February already? Wow! I have been busy. The Scouts have called on my services more recently. I have loved being the counselor for the "Citizenship in the Nation" merit badge. I think that as a general rule our understanding of the original documents and fathers of our country are woefully lacking. Reviewing the documents and history is always inspiring. I went online and ordered some dvds from Wallbuilders (www.wallbuilders.com). Good stuff. If you haven't seen their materials, I would highly recommend you reviewing their resources. What a Godly heritage we have! I often feel we have been robbed of our heritage because of the failure to teach it in our schools, talk about it in our discussion of current events and apply it in our culture.

Potency of a Proper Position

Reflecting on Romans 1:1 "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God" Paul obviously had come to understand that his strength was as a commissioned servant of Jesus Christ... not as a Hebrew of Hebrews, Pharisee, Rabbi or any other position of power or influence. I preached on the potency of a Proper Position on Sunday... and then there was today.
I was in the midst of counseling a couple this afternoon and as we were working through a situation that had come up today, several ideas came together. When we are walking with the Lord in faithful obedience and then something goes drastically "wrong" from our perspective, we should recognize that we have just gone to war (Eph 6). Now it the time to trust (lift up the shield of faith) and use the sword of the Spirit (The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord. - Job 1:20). Now it the time to stand firm... even when we don't understand what is happening.
We should also understand that in this context the Lord is often preparing to demonstrate His great power. Paul experienced this in a Philippian jail. Joseph discovered this in Egypt. We understand Job was instrumental in teaching Satan a lesson. We should know that when we are walking in obedience and our world is suddenly turned upside down that this is not a time to whine about our misfortune but rather to watch in wonder as to what the Lord is about to do. This is not a time to get defensive, it is a time to defer to the Lord. The power of the Lord shines through in our lives as we operate in humble obedience. That is what I mean by the potency of the proper position.
Well, in review, this blog reads like a mini message, but I just wanted to write down some thoughts about what the Lord has been showing me.