After another good night’s sleep, I headed to work early to start a day filled with great variety.  My daughter has been having seizures and needing extra sleep, so after an early morning cleaning and building prep I headed home to be with her while my wife went to work.  While Susan slept, I finished writing the next 31-day devotional I am working on.  This one is about choosing the words we use each day.  Later in the day I printed out the initial manuscript so it is ready for my proofreader/editor.  I also printed a copy to take with me to the Christian Camp Leaders’ Conference so those in attendance can browse through it and see how it could be used in their camp setting.

Next on the agenda was taking Susan in to work then heading downtown for the St Joseph County Right to Life March for Life.  I had the privilege of offering the closing prayer at the rally prior to the walk downtown to the Federal Courthouse.  I shared one of the poems God had given me last year and prayed for the gathering and the need for everyone to value all life.  It seemed to be a very good turnout for noontime on a Friday and the weather was as cooperative as you could expect in mid-January.  My prayer is that this community was able to see that there are people willing to stand up, and speak up, for those who can’t speak for themselves.  Not only the community in general, but that those who value life would see that they are not alone.

It is interesting how quiet people can be about issues that matter when they are not sure how others feel.  They say that there is strength in numbers and I believe that is true in both positive and negative ways — depending on which side can draw the most people.  When you feel you are all alone, many people will allow fear to keep them from speaking up.  As Christians, God calls us to be bold in speaking of the hope we have in Christ.

After the rally and march downtown, I had lunch with a friend then headed back to work where I finished the set-up for the book I’m working on then began doing my end of the week cleaning of the building.  As I cleaned the building from one end to the other, my wife and daughter came down to help so I could get finished earlier in the evening.  Once the building was ready for the weekend, it was time to start loading up books and display material for the CCL conference.  As I prepped and packed, I checked in on the current road conditions through Kentucky and Tennessee and prayed that they are cleared up considerably by tomorrow afternoon.

I finally felt like I got a good night’s sleep after having several nights in a row that I would wake up throughout the night with a return of some anxiety/panic attacks.  It was also a clear night, so no snow to deal with at work leaving me with time to pay extra attention to the floors which needed it after several snowy days.  After getting the building ready for the day, I turned my attention to getting some more writing done for my next 31-day devotional journal.  I had completed the initial writing for 16 of the days earlier and now it was time to spend time with God in prayer to refocus on the second half of the book.  

As I worked, a variety of birds were playing outside my office window.  At one point, I noticed some movement further out in the woods and as I looked more closely, saw there were several deer bedded down within view of my office.  It was a beautiful thing to know they were comfortable making themselves at home that near the building.  The rest of the work day was a mix of writing, preparation for an upcoming conference, ministry conversations, and a meeting to evaluate possibilities for additional outside lighting.  By the time I left the office, I had completed the devotional writing and questions all the way through day 28 in the new book so just a little further to go before I’m able to send it to my proofreader/editor.  

The title of the book I am working on is “Watch Your Mouth: Choosing Words Which Honor Christ”.  As I spent time with God writing today, I was reminded of how important it is to choose words wisely.  Our words have great power to heal or to hurt.  In an era when so many people believe it is okay to say whatever they want — after all, it is a constitutional right — the reminder to watch your mouth seems to be a timely topic.  The writing process has been a great reminder for me and I pray that the finished product will be used to help others realize the need to reign in their tongue.  I pray that it brings glory to God and accomplishes the purposes for which He has designed for it.

I wrapped up the day by taking my family to meet my mom and dad for dinner.  It was good to catch up with them and hear about the enjoyable time they had as they spent the first two weeks of the year in Florida.  As we arrived home, the nearly full moon was shining brightly in the crisp cold air.  Like the beauty of the cardinals and deer, I have yet to get tired of photographing the beauty of the moon.

Another snowy night meant another early morning start to the work day.  As I cleared the walks, it was as if I was working in a snow globe.  The snowfall was such fine snowflake crystals that they sparkled in the light as they fell.  As I worked my way down the sidewalks and around the building, the entire parking lot was a sparkling beauty under the lights.  After the first pass on the walks I did the inside cleaning then went back out for a final pass before the students began arriving for the day.  Then it was time to work inside setting up the replacement office computer and installing the necessary software.

With the extreme cold moderating a bit, the cardinals began playing outside my office window even before daybreak.  They were joined throughout the day by various songbirds, woodpeckers, and squirrels.  The squirrels have discovered the bird feeders that were put out by one of the teachers and they go to great extremes to help themselves to free food.  As I watched the squirrels, I began to think of all the effort we put into getting something for free because it appears to be easier than working for it.  The berries and food sources that had been supplying the birds and squirrels are still obvious along the tree line but there seems to be something alluring about these hanging bird feeders.

In recent weeks we have watched people buy into a lottery system with hopes of winning a record payout amount.  For some, it’s a game.  For others, money they didn’t have was spent on a chance to have an easier life without having to work for it.  I believe that God wants us to be responsible with every resource that He allows into our hands.  God is not only our creator, He is the creator of work.  God understands that when we do whatever work that is before us as if doing it directly for Him, we find satisfaction and fulfillment in accomplishing a noble task.  Often the problem, I know it has been for me at times, is in seeing some of the work tasks we are faced with as having anything to do with God.  We tend to forget that the way we work, the way we treat one another — even the “least” of our brethren — is the way that we treat Jesus.

I pray that you and I would seek out the good works God created in advance for us to do rather than being drawn in to the misguided allure of easy money and get rich quick schemes.  Shoveling snow is not a glamorous task, but when done for the glory of God it is much easier to see His beauty that sparkles like diamonds.

With only a light dusting of snow overnight, I planned on just going in to work for a short time and then take the rest of the day off since it has been several weeks since I’ve had a day that I’ve not gone in to work.  I took care of the walks and inside cleaning before getting sidetracked by some heating and computer issues.  After adjusting the heating it became apparent that the computer I was trying to get running wasn’t going to be resuscitated.  One of the things I enjoy greatly is researching purchases to find the best value — not just the lowest price, but the best combination of price, quality, and features in an item.  I found what I believe was the best value computer for the intended purpose and it was available locally, so I made a combined trip to pick up a computer and restock some cleaning supplies.  By the time this was done, and I responded to a phone message that was left while I was out, my short day had turned into a 10 hour day. 🙂  As I left work and noticed the mix of clouds and blue sky, I decided to head down to Potato Creek State Park for a hike and some photos of the sunset.

As I researched computer options, I thought about the words of Jesus instructing His followers to count the cost of being a disciple.  Even as I was in the store and knew what I intended to pay, the salesman did his best to convince me I need to add accessories, features, a warranty, or even paper and pens to increase the price of the sale.  This time I didn’t need any of that, but I remember more than a few computers that I would tell my wife the cost of and she eventually learned to ask, “And how much for the necessary extras?”.  Being a faithful disciple of Jesus requires that we not only start a journey with Jesus, but that we finish that course.  As Jesus gives examples of people in life counting the cost of winning a war or building a tower, He concludes with the statement, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33).  For many people, being rescued from Hell sounds like a good deal that is simply theirs for the taking.  Yet there are times when there is little evidence of a changed life because they have either not understood the cost of being a disciple or chosen not to give up themselves to the lordship of Jesus.  I pray that your understanding of salvation through Jesus Christ not only considers the benefit to be had, but also accepts the cost of full surrender.

The best value you will ever find in life is to pay everything you have and everything you are to be a disciple of Jesus.  In exchange for things that have no eternal value, you receive eternal beauty as a bought-back, adopted child of God.

Earthdate: 20160118 — These are the ramblings of one traveler’s journey on earth as he makes his way toward a heavenly home.

The day started with blowing snow and bitter cold wind chills.  The actual temperature reached -3 degrees with the windchill in the negative 20 range before beginning an upward movement mid-morning.  Even with the extreme cold and the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, I was expecting a couple different service companies at the building to do some work, so I bundled up and headed to work.  As I waited for the service people to arrive, I worked on adjusting some of the heating in the building and changed air filters.  While the air in the building never seems to be “dirty”, it is amazing how much dust is caught by these HVAC filters.  All of this stuff in the filters has been present in the air without anyone noticing.  The particles are too small, too insignificant to even notice without a system to filter them out.  Once trapped in the filter, you are shocked at what you would allow into the air you breathe without some type of filter.

Life is kind of that way, isn’t it?  Without a consistent use of God’s Word as a filter, all kinds of dirt and pollution find their way into your life.  Most of it isn’t that obvious.  It may not be noticeable at all because we’ve gradually become used to its presence around us.  God’s desire is that we would use His Word to identify the filth that is so prevalent –not only around you, but perhaps even in your life.   God says that we should gaze intently into His Word so we know the standard that He calls us to and can recognize the changes we need to make.  The thing with filters, whether HVAC or God’s Word, is that they are not an “apply it once, pay no attention to it again” kind of thing.  We must not only allow the filter to do its work, we must regularly discard the filth that the filter catches.

By early afternoon, the sun was shining brightly and even with a brisk cold wind a few cardinals came out to eat some of the remaining berries from the woods.  The moon even made a beautiful appearance in the crisp clear afternoon sky.  While the temperature was on the positive side of the thermometer, it was time to clear snow from the walks to prepare for tomorrow and pray that there isn’t additional snow to deal with in the sub-zero weather tomorrow morning.  As I finished the shoveling and prepared to head home for an evening of rest, I snapped a photo of the afternoon moon.

Earthdate:  20160117 — These are the ramblings of one traveler’s journey on earth as he makes his way toward a heavenly home.

It was a snowy start to yet another day, so off to the church building I went to clear the walks before the start of our Sunday morning gathering.  Being Sunday, I was able to sleep in once again — this time until a little after 8 AM!  I was able to finish the walks and still had time to write page 16 about the previous day before the start of our worship gathering.  As I sat in my office finishing up some writing, the cardinals appeared outside my office window gathering food before it was completely covered by snow.    As I watched them, I began to think about the importance of being prepared.  

Many people put a lot of time, effort, and energy into being prepared for a variety of things.  We prepare for work.  We prepare for recreation.  We prepare for meals.  We’ve come to understand that being successful in life requires preparation.  Even more important than any life event that we may prepare for, is being prepared for the time our life on this earth ends.  Business people often talk a lot about maximizing their return on investment.  The greatest return we will ever experience is found when we invest everything we are, and everything we have, into a relationship with Jesus.  For me, Sundays are a reminder of many things.  They remind me each week of the love God has for me that He was willing to pay the price to reconcile me to Himself.  They remind me of the need believers have for one another and the responsibility we have to each other.  They also remind me that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for me and will return one day to take me to that place.  Sundays are a reminder that I both need and want to be prepared for the day I see Jesus face to face.

Following a quick lunch, I was back to the church building for a missions committee meeting.  Not only do we need to be prepared for eternity, it is our mission as Christians to help others know how to be prepared for eternity.  It was a good meeting as we discussed various aspects of the missions ministry of the church and the work being done by the missionaries we help support.  

When I finally arrived home, I had some prayer ministry correspondence to respond to in preparation for some ministry opportunities later in the year.  As the day’s theme of preparation began to sink into my mind, I typed out this “page” for the day.  While the day hasn’t officially ended, perhaps writing this and posting it now is preparation for whatever tomorrow may bring.  🙂

It is interesting how my idea of “sleeping in” has changed recently.  After a week of being to work between 5:30 and 6:00 AM, it felt good to sleep in until 7:30 AM before heading to the church to get the weekend cleaning started before our men’s breakfast meeting.  The morning devotion focused on what it means from God’s perspective to “be on guard” as a man.  The idea behind the wording it to stand watch.  The same wording is used as Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to “watch and pray” in the garden before His arrest.  The best way to guard our heart and mind from the temptations that seek to destroy our relationship with God is to constantly be watching and praying.

For many of us, just as in the garden of Gethsemane, our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak.  It appears the enemy has a better understanding of the importance of watching and praying than many Christians.  In leading a prayer ministry, I find many people who want to grow in the practice of prayer but fail to realize the spiritual battle taking place in which the enemy does everything possible to keep us from praying, not only as we ought to but even as we want to.  Standing guard takes work and discipline.  When we think of watching and praying as a spiritual form of standing guard, we begin to better understand the work and discipline necessary.  It is my prayer that we be on guard against every form of evil by our commitment to watch and pray at all times.

After the morning breakfast I spent some time in the office catching up on writing tasks and continued preparing for the Impact Prayer Ministry representation at the upcoming Christian Camp Leaders’ Conference.  The office work and building cleaning took me through the early afternoon.  As I worked, the tree line outside my office window was filled with the activity of a variety of birds and an opportunistic squirrel that wanted to empty a recently hung bird feeder.  It was fun to watch the squirrel hang from above the feeder and enjoy a free lunch.

Earthdate: 20160115 —  These are the ramblings of one traveler’s journey on earth as he makes his way toward a heavenly home.

Finally a snow-free morning but the floors once again needed extra attention due to the previous day’s snow.  Some days the character quality of perseverance is necessary to keep doing what needs done no matter what.  While this is true in many life situations, it is even more important in our daily walk with God!  Jesus made it clear that we would have trouble in this world.  In those times of trouble we are often tempted to look for a shortcut or easy way out of the difficulty.  We must decide daily that the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ is important enough to keep at it no matter what.

 While the day was filled with mostly routine tasks, God reminded me that routine doesn’t necessarily mean unimportant.  As Christians, it is so easy to get caught up in the routine of doing what we’re supposed to be doing that we miss the importance of the faithful life we are living.  My goal, and I pray the goal of every believer in Christ, is to hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  I pray that I will continue to learn to heed Paul’s advice that in whatever I do, do it to the glory and honor of Jesus.

Part of my routine has found me at work every day since Christmas, and I need to be back tomorrow, so I headed home early in the afternoon to just rest and relax.  It is good to be able to take time to unwind and allow the body and spirit to be refreshed.  God’s design for a day of rest was intentional and sometimes I need to be creative in finding the times of rest I need.  When I begin to become weary, I look back at all of the times of refreshing God has brought into my life and I trust  Him to continue to provide those opportunities.

Kayaking on the St. Joe River.