Truth Be Told

Daily Prompt: No, Thanks
Is there a place in the world you never want to visit? Where, and why not?

Call Me the Word

Daily Post Prompt: Call Me Ishmael
Take the first sentence from your favorite book and make it the first sentence of your post.

Where Faith Grows

A man told me love would last until death stole our breath.
We divorced; I lost faith in love.

My body failed to produce a child of my own.
I am infertile; I lost faith in family.

Terrorists flew planes into a building and thousands of lives were lost in one day.
In fear; I lost faith in man.

At each loss, I scream, “Why?!” I opened the Bible and found comfort…

Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, LORD, are good. PSALM 25:7
I have faith in unconditional love.

Sing barren woman, you who never bore a child, burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolte woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. ISAIAH 54:1-3
Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband. GALATIONS 4:27
I have faith in family even if it does not come from my own DNA. The same message is given in the Old Testament and the New Testament…God is good.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. JOHN 3:16
I have faith in Jesus.

This is the role that faith played in my life. Faith continues to grow.

Observational Correlation

I got all choked up and I didn’t even know them.

Dream Wedding

John 2:1-11 (NIV)

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman,why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

No doubt about it, weddings are expensive.  The bride and groom hope to have enough food and drink for their guests to enjoy themselves.  At the wedding at Cana in Galilee, the wine ran out.  With Jesus’ help, water was turned into wine and it was better than the best wine they had already served.

Our local television news station, eightWest, is hosting a Dream Wedding contest.  The winning couple will be awarded $25,000 in gift certificates to be used toward everything they need for a Dream Wedding to be performed on 12-12-12.  The top three couples were revealed on the show today and my friends, Megan and Erik, have been selected!

The viewers have until October 8, 2012 to place their vote online for the winning couple to be revealed on October 10, 2012.  After the couple is selected, the viewers will vote on the dress, the menu and the honeymoon destination as well as a few other wedding details.

Would you please take a moment to look at this website, read the submission that Erik wrote, register your email address and place a vote for Megan and Erik?  I know that Jesus is going to be on their guest list and he is going to be in their lives forever.

Vote for Megan and Erik!!

Do You Have a HOME SWEET HOME?

I cannot believe what I saw in my back yard. Surely the heat of the afternoon sun was getting to me as I had never seen anything like it before.

Hang On, Jesus is in Control

August 12, 2011, 2:30 a.m.
I just woke up from some rather odd airplane dreams and I cannot get back to sleep. In one part of the dream, I could hear the sound of an airplane, but when I looked at it, I saw one man lying on his back, flying in the air feet first, with another person hanging on and they were coming in for a landing.

Isn’t that like Jesus, carrying us through difficulties? He is there from take-off to landing and the solution is one that does not make sense to us until we’ve gone through the difficulty. We need no other protection from the “elements” that we pass through in life; we need only to hang on.

Isaiah 40:31(NIV)
but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint.

Airport Security

I just returned from a business trip in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is what I noticed as I traveled alone in the airport.

Her giggles caught my attention as I ate my lunch in the food court. A metal railing corralled patrons systematically through the food ordering process, but to a 4-year-old girl, the railing was a jungle gym. I watched as her older brother joined in the fun and tried to teach her some new daring moves. They were having so much fun being kids while their father stood nearby waiting for their food order.

At one point, someone behind the counter turned on a blender and the noise startled the little girl. She covered her delicate ears and ran behind her father for protection.

Sitting on a tiny plane for the last leg of my journey, the woman sitting next to me was traveling home with her husband and their 17-year-old son. The airline made an error in ticketing this family and the son was on a different flight heading to their hometown while the parents were on my flight and planned to drive 45 miles to get home.

The son sent a text to his father alerting him that the airport changed the departure gate for his flight. He became lost in the large airport and feared that he’d miss the flight that was nearing take-off; just as our plane was about to shut the door for take-off. The father rushed off the plane to find his lost son.

When life turns on “the blender” and we get scared, we can stand behind Jesus anytime and He will protect us. Jesus told a parable about the shepherd who was missing one sheep. The shepherd left the flock to rescue the lost one.

Being a witness to two Bible stories in real-time made my trip a complete success.

John 14:27 (NIV)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Luke 15:4(NIV)
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

The Chameleon, The Girl, and Jesus

One of my favorite Looney Tunes cartoons was developed as a sort of documentary about animals and their habitats. A memorable part showed the chameleon standing in front of a slide show of color and he comfortably blended in with each color. One color slide, in particular, had him upset and stepping away in tears pounding on the ground in frustration and screaming, “I just can’t do it!” The color slide was a plaid.

I comfortably wear the colors black and brown in my wardrobe. When I was in high-school in the 80s, I had the coolest yellow pants and a bright orange t-shirt. A matching belt married the two into a super-cute outfit. I stood in front of my mirror on a number of occasions admiring the look, but ending up telling myself that “I just can’t do it” and never left my bedroom with that outfit on. It was too bright.

Jesus comfortably wore tunics and sandals. On the night He was betrayed, He went, with His tired disciples, into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. While deeply troubled about having to be stripped of His garments and die a horrible death, Jesus sweated blood. He even prayed for this cup to pass Him by. He never said, “I just can’t do it.” Instead He said to His Father, “It is your will and not my own”.

The chameleon and I could not see past ourselves, but Jesus could.

Perhaps you are being challenged today to go beyond yourself. Are you going to react negatively by saying, “I just can’t do it” or are you going to go to God in prayer and say, “If it is your will, Lord, I will follow”?

Mark 14:36(NIV)
“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

In Memory of My Dad

Your sparkling blue eyes and friendly smile always lit up a room.

Your strong hands built bikes, fixed everything broken, threw an awesome knuckle ball, and changed into the best back-scratcher ever.

Your character, integrity, and wit cannot be duplicated.

Your time, talents, and treasures you shared gave every indication that Jesus lived in your heart.

I love you and miss you Dad.

My Dad, 1927-2009

1 Timothy 5:4(NIV)
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.