I began page 177 with some breakfast and a cup of coffee before resuming my trip to Kansas City.  My first stop was just down the street from where I stayed as I got in a morning walk through downtown Chillicothe, Missouri.  When I booked my lodging, I noticed that the town was noted for having a variety of giant murals painted on the exterior walls of some of the downtown buildings.  With needing to use up a little time so I didn’t hit Kansas City during the morning rush hour, I took a walk and photographed a number of the murals.  

As I drove out of town after my walk, the sky began to darken to the west and pretty soon I was driving in some fairly heavy rain which lasted all the way into downtown Kansas City as I arrived at the convention center.  After unloading my display materials and books, and snagging a couple extra tables from an exhibitor that wasn’t going to use them, I drove around the block and checked into the hotel.  Once my belongings were stowed away in my room, I headed back over to the convention center to work at getting the display set up.  For me, this is usually a process — I set up the basics and then step back to consider how best to fill in the remaining space.  Once it is all “done”, I leave it overnight and let the look of it simmer in my mind — often making at least minor changes first thing in the morning before the exhibit hall opens.

I thought I would take a nap after the initial set-up was done on the display, but it was such a beautiful afternoon that I ended up taking a walk instead.  About a mile into my walk, I began to smell the wonderful scent of BBQ.  Since it was late afternoon and I hadn’t had lunch, the appropriate thing to do was to follow my nose until I found the source of this wonderful aroma.  I chose a chicken and brisket combo plate and decided I may have to find a long enough break during the convention to return and see if their other choices are just as good.  After this late lunch/early dinner combo, I went back through the exhibit hall to see if any changes to the display had come to mind.  It still looked suitable to me and the set-up time for the day was nearly over, so I made my way back to the hotel where I settled in with God to write the prayer guide for next week.  With my latest book, “Living Free”, finished and in the process of being published, and the Fourth of July next week, I settled on the topic of living free for the prayer guide.  With a busy week ahead, my goal is to finish writing today’s page and try to get a good night’s sleep.

Today’s photo was taken from the hotel window this morning.  I had taken a few photos that were basically the top three fourths of this picture — the beautiful blues and whites of the sky and and the various shades of green from the fields and trees.  Then I took this photo which includes the highway that was also part of that view out my window.  While it is important to keep our eyes fixed upward in this journey of life, we also must be aware of the path we are on.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Sometimes a planned delay is useful to avoid a more frustrating unplanned delay.
• It is good to see a town have an identity that makes it attractive to people.  It is even better when God’s people have an identity that makes Him attractive to people.
• I find driving much more enjoyable when the sky is blue and filled with puffy clouds than when the sky is filled with clouds that are pouring down rain.  
• If we wish to arrive at our destination, it is important we continue the journey until the end, regardless of how much or little we like the “weather” we are passing through.
• Just because I have a process I like, doesn’t mean that others can’t do a similar task in ways that they find preferable.
• Our life ought to provide the sweet aroma of God’s Spirit that attracts people to Him.
• God has called us to live free, but He also instructs us not to use our freedom in ways that harm others or leads us into sin.
• Even while you keep an eye on the road ahead of you, it is important to keep your focus fixed on your eternal destination.

Page 176 has been a good day, but a long day.  I was up early so I could finish the last of the cleaning for the weekend so the building was ready for the Sunday morning worship gathering.  After the cleaning work was done, I packed the truck with the Impact Prayer Ministry display and resources for the North American Christian Convention.  Once I had everything in the truck that I needed — at least I hope I have everything I will need — I headed back home to get myself cleaned up.  When I was ready for the day, it was on the road to Cassopolis, Michigan to preach at the Pleasant View Church of Christ.  

I made it to the church in time for Sunday School, where the class I sat in on was looking at 1 Samuel 15 with a focus on our need to be obedient to God’s authority.  Unfortunately, I suspect that most of us are more like King Saul than we like to admit.  We know what God’s Word says but somehow we think our way, which is different, is the same as God’s way.  While Saul did not follow God’s instructions, it seems that in his mind he did.  In fact, he tells Samuel that he had indeed done everything that God had said to do.  When Samuel pointed out specific actions that were not what God had commanded, Saul became very defensive and when Samuel didn’t back down, Saul eventually tried to shift the blame to others.  Sound familiar?  Many today have one excuse after the other when it comes to why they believe a compromise of God’s Word is necessary.  Many are willing to accept the teachings of another simply because they are a good person — holding fast to sound doctrine seems to carry little weight.  Even while we look back and wonder how various institutions that began with a sound Christian foundation have strayed so far from the truth, we seem blind to the practices that led them there — and will lead us there.

After the Sunday School class, I shared in a great time of worship with the Pleasant View congregation.  During the worship gathering, I shared a message focused on prayer and living in such a way that prayer becomes a lifestyle rather than just an activity.  Following the church service, it was time to hit the road and begin my trip to Kansas City for the North American Christian Convention.  As I drove, the sky was once again filled with the big white puffy clouds set on a brilliant blue background.  With a little over 8 hours of road time ahead of me, I decided a couple stops along the lake to take some pictures wouldn’t extend the travel time all that much.  Today’s photo is from my first stop as I looked down a wind-swept sand dune across Lake Michigan toward Chicago.  The fluffy clouds were behind me and over the Chicago skyline but the sky over the lake was primarily clear blue.  It was a good stop to unwind a bit from the morning’s activities before continuing my journey down the road.  After an eventual stop for lunch, I finally made it to my stopping point for the night just after the sun had set for the day.  The writing of today’s page is part of my “unwinding” process tonight and hopefully I will be able to sleep soundly in preparation for some busy convention days.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Handprints on glass doors are inevitable and seem to appear almost immediately after cleaning — even knowing it won’t last, the cleaning still needs done.
• Most of us seem to smudge our lives with sin on a pretty regular basis yet we can have confidence in the power of the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• God desires obedience more than sacrifices and excuses.
• It can be very difficult to submit to God’s authority when we want to be the authority.
• Instead of becoming defensive, God wants us to repent when caught in sin.
• Repentance can be difficult because it means we are heading in a new direction and leaving the pursuit of our own authority behind.
• Prayer in your life will never be what I could be if it remains an activity rather than a lifestyle.
• The journey isn’t always about being the fastest, but it should always be about finishing.  Sometimes slowing down and enjoying the journey makes it possible to finish.

After a week in which I left the house by 7 each morning and didn’t get back home until nearly 9 each evening following Vacation Bible School, page 175 was a day to relax and rest — somewhat.  I slept in for a little while before getting up and sitting down with God and a cup of coffee as I went through the outline for the sermon I will share tomorrow.  As I let the scripture and thoughts simmer in my mind, I checked on Susan to see if she was going to wake up and go to the zoo.  She had no interest in getting up, so I let her sleep and gave myself a haircut so I don’t look so shaggy as I head out to preach and then make my way to the North American Christian Convention.

As I fired up the pellet grill to work on lunch, the sky was begging to be photographed with its brilliant blue background being danced upon by a variety of fluffy clouds.  After lunch the rest of my day was a mix of computer games, napping, sermon focus, and just letting my mind and body relax.  Today’s clouds reminded me of my childhood as I still remember times stretched out in the backyard watching the clouds float overhead.  Chances are good that I was doing my best to avoid working in the garden, but I would imagine myself floating among the clouds without a care in the world.  I would often look up in expectation that these could be the very clouds that Jesus ascended through as He returned to the Father . . . and perhaps the very clouds He would return upon to take His children, including me, to himself.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Even good events can wear a person down eventually.  
• God strengthens us for the tasks at hand but also calls us to, and provides for, times of rest.
• It is good to have God’s Word hidden in my heart, but only if I don’t allow it to remain hidden.
• While we should care about our appearance, we should care more about our character.
• Just as surely as Jesus walked this earth and ascended back into heaven after His death, burial, and resurrection; one day Jesus will return to take His children home.
• While I often dream of and long for the day Jesus will return, that is only a pleasant thought for those who have been clothed in Christ.

Page 174 was filled with work from one end to the other with a short break in the middle to celebrate my daughter’s birthday.  I woke up and went to work early, hoping I could get a good part of the mowing done in the morning.  As it turned out, the rain moved in early and stayed much longer than the forecast had predicted.  So instead of mowing, I spent my morning cleaning bathrooms, running the floor scrubber, and washing glass doors to get the building ready for the Vacation Bible School closing program in the evening.  It kind of had a school year Friday feel to it as I knew those tasks would need to be done again at the end of the day so the building is ready for Sunday.  

By noon I had the building ready for the evening, so I went out to lunch with my family to begin Susan’s birthday celebration.  After lunch, Susan blew out the candles on her cake and opened her presents.  While I was home, the rain had come to an end and I shot a few photos while the flower blossoms were still covered in raindrops.  Today’s photo is of one of the daylily blossoms that seems to be drinking in the moisture.  God’s desire is that we would open ourselves to Him and drink deeply of the life-giving water of His Word.  

By late afternoon it was back to the church building to shoot photos during the VBS closing program.  I just realized as I’m typing this page, that I was so busy taking pictures that I missed out on the ice cream they were serving.  Once the program was over and people had finished their desserts and headed home, I finally made it outside to get the mowing started.  I didn’t know how far I would get before dark, so I started with the most visible areas around the building and leading up to the building.  I eventually made my way to the back ball field and made it about two-thirds of the way down the field before evening began to turn to night.  After putting the mower away, I went inside and ran the floor scrubber in the hallways before calling it a day.  Thankfully, my fellow staff members and a a crew of VBS volunteers had done a lot of the cleaning and prep to get the building ready for Sunday so I only have a little more to do sometime tomorrow or early Sunday morning.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• When there are multiple things that need done, sometimes it doesn’t make a lot of difference what order they are done in.
• As the morning storm front moved through, I watched the trees bend over almost horizontal to the ground as the front brought some intense wind with it.  With life came flexibility that kept the trees from breaking.
• The ability to be flexible through circumstances beyond our control also goes a long way toward keeping us from breaking.
• A quiet building to clean in is a good place to pray and seek God’s refining of the sermon I’m working on.
• Even with a lot that needs done, it is good to take the time to celebrate milestones in life.
• It is important to use our gifts, but even more important to allow God to use the gifts He has given us.

I’m tired.  It has felt like a long week and it is only Thursday.  And I suspect that this week is only practice for what next week will feel like.  I began my workday with the usual summer morning walk-through of the building to take note of anything that would need taken care of before Vacation Bible School in the evening.  After checking on the progress of my book as it works its way through the printing process, I went to see about having my truck serviced before my trip to the North American Christian Convention.  They said they could get to it early in the afternoon, so I went back to the office and put on my accounting hat as I worked on the missions account record-keeping.  

Shortly after noon, I took a break from my accounting work and dropped my truck off at the service center.  While it was being worked on, I spent some time on the Riverwalk through downtown South Bend.  There was a perfect mix of bright blue sky and white fluffy clouds that just longed to be captured in photos.  Not only did I get a lot of photos of the water and sky combination, I also captured today’s photo of a duck and turtle sharing a log.  It first made me think of our need to get along with people who are different than us, and together share this beautiful earth that God has created.  The center of the log was submerged, but the other end had even more turtles and ducks sharing the branches.  That part took me back in time to my first ministry working with youth.  I had a saying that was much more than a slogan, it was a core element of my philosophy of ministry — “Always room for 1 more!”  It seems that many times in ministry it becomes so easy to focus on attendance and numbers that we lose sight of the individual “one more” that makes up those numbers.  For me, that slogan was a way of saying not only is there room for you, but that you are important as an individual.

After my walk, I picked my truck up from the service center then stopped for a late lunch on my way back to work.  The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing up my accounting work.  As I finished that part of my workday, the children were beginning to arrive for Vacation Bible School so I saved my work and got my camera out to take photos of the evening’s activities.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• There seems to be a difference between a good tired and a bad tired, but right now I’m not sure which it is that I am.
• Sometimes I’m not sure why people ask my opinion on things when it is obvious they don’t want to hear it.
• Good things can be just as distracting as bad things.  My task is to stay focused on the things God has called me to do and let others stay focused on what He has called them to do.
• Regular maintenance goes a long way in keeping a lot of things going smoothly.
• This planet we’re on isn’t ours, so we ought to learn to share it with others who don’t own it either.
• Perhaps church growth isn’t about programs, events, and crowds but rather all about keeping our eye out for the “one more”.  
• I suspect that writing is my way of saying, “Here I am!  Listen up, I have something to say!”  I’m thankful that God uses it in spite of that.

Page 172 was a day of good things accomplished even if I didn’t get to everything on my list of potential tasks for the day.  My morning walk-through of the building found several areas that would need my attention before the start of Vacation Bible School in the evening.  After making a note of those things so I wouldn’t forget, I checked messages and followed up with some social media responses from the previous day’s postings.  

The rest of my morning was a mix of working on the sermon for Sunday and getting my latest book, “Living Free”, set up to be published and distributed on Amazon in print and Kindle editions.  By late afternoon the Kindle edition was approved and went live on Amazon at the following address: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0731DD8DN.  The print edition takes a little longer to make it through all the approval processes, so it will probably be a few days until it is available.  

By early afternoon I had done what I could for my part in getting the book ready for Amazon, so I picked up the list I had made in the morning and took care of the building needs to get it read for the evening.  Once the building was ready it was time to get some lunch and take a short break before coming back to work to take photos during Vacation Bible School.  My break once again took me down to Potato Creek, but there was no visits by the eagles — surprise or not.  It was still a beautiful afternoon and once again I just sat on the pier taking photos and resting.  Today’s photo is one that has more to it than it first appeared to me that I was photographing.  From where I was, I could see a heron out in the sun with a close eye on the surrounding water.  As I zoomed in to capture the detail I wanted, I noticed a second heron in the shadows on the shore.  It made me think about how often we pay attention to a person who is in a place where they are more noticeable, and completely ignore the person who appears to simply be in the background.  God’s desire is that we are faithful in doing what He has called us to, whether that leads us into an up-front and obvious work or into a behind the scenes service that often goes unnoticed.  Both have purpose and value when given such by God regardless of how the world may judge them.

I didn’t get to spend much time at the park today until it was time to head back to the church building for Vacation Bible School.  Not only is it fun to see children excited to be at church learning about God’s love for them, it is a joy to be able to capture some of that excitement in photographs.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Progress is measured by what gets accomplished, not by what you don’t get to.
• Notes and to-do lists are useful.  The mind has a way of forgetting things that we tell ourselves we won’t forget.
• Tasks that I don’t get finished one day are usually still waiting for me the next.  If not, it likely wasn’t that important after all.
• My schedule for when things should happen can be a useful guideline, but God’s schedule is the one that matters.
• Sometimes God uses us according to our preferences and sometimes He uses us in spite of our preferences.
• The person serving in the shadows is just as important as the one in the spotlight — as long as each of them are where God wants them.
• Joy and excitement in learning about and knowing God’s love for us shouldn’t be limited to children.

Page 171 was another full day filled with a variety of good things.  I made it to work around 7 AM and took care of some correspondence to start my workday.  After catching up on messages, I spent some time doing some touch-up cleaning and restocking of the bathrooms to have the building ready for another evening of Vacation Bible School.  Once the maintenance tasks were taken care of, I spent the rest of the morning proofreading the next book I will publish.  Because of the speed in which the writing of this book came together, I really expected to find a lot of typos and other word issues that I would need to correct.  I don’t know if it says something about my writing, or about my proofreading, but I only found three minor corrections I needed to make.  After making my way through the book and correcting my manuscript file as needed, I began the process of formatting it for Kindle publication.  The files I need to submit for the print edition is very different than what is needed for Kindle publishing, so it takes time even with copy and paste to create a new document.

By mid-afternoon I needed a break before Vacation Bible School, so I left the building to get some lunch and make a quick trip to Potato Creek.  I guess I have been in need of rest as today made two days in a row that I just sat at the boat ramp taking pictures without hiking any of the trails.  When I got to the lake, the eagles were no where in sight so I sat on the pier to take in the view in front of me as the cloud formations were beautiful.  As I was taking photos, a number of different people used the boat ramp for its other purpose — getting boats on and off the water. 🙂  Eventually one of the people heading out in a boat asked me what kind of bird I was photographing.  I told her I was just photographing the clouds and lake scenes as there wasn’t much else out today.  Her response was that she had thought I was photographing the bird at the top of the tree next to the boat ramp.  I looked behind me and up then said, “Oh, that’s a bald eagle.”  Evidently it had flown in behind me and perched in the top of the tree while my attention was focused in a different direction.  Today’s photo is the one I shot right after turning around and realizing that what I had hoped to photograph, and thought I wouldn’t be able to, was right there above me.  Sometimes we give up on things simply because they don’t happen when we think they should, or how we think they should, or where we think they should.  God wants us to persevere as we trust Him to accomplish the right thing at the right time in the right way at the right place.

After taking a few photos of the eagle, it began to rain so I packed up my cameras and made my way back to the church building in time to sit for just a moment before the start of another evening of  Vacation Bible School.  The next few hours were spent roaming the building taking photos of the children having a great time playing and learning of God’s love for them.  I also took individual photos of the children to be used for a craft project later in the week.  When my work was done, I finally made it home where I warmed up some leftover ribs for dinner before sitting down to write today’s page.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Finishing well requires that you start.
• Most clean-up only gets worse the longer you wait to do it.
• Noticing and correcting mistakes is usually more difficult than making them.
• An uncorrected life eventually makes even less sense than an uncorrected book manuscript.
• To have my writings published, I must submit them in the proper format as required by the publisher.  While it may take extra work and effort, the only other option is to not publish my work.
• Because Jesus says that no one comes to the Father except through Him, we would be wise to follow His instructions in order to obtain eternal life through a relationship with Him.
• Since we’re not in charge, we don’t get to make the rules.
• It can be very easy to go through life without noticing how near to us God has brought what we need.

Page 170 began a little later than my weekday mornings so far this summer, but it also ended later than most of my summer workdays so I guess it balanced out  After a full Sunday yesterday, today began with the writing of yesterday’s page.  After I finished writing page 169, I spent a little time moving a few tables to help get things set up for the Vacation Bible School which began this evening.  With the building things taken care of, I turned my attention to drawing into God’s presence in His Word to work on next week’s prayer guide.  I eventually settled on the topic of leadership and spent the rest of the morning developing a prayer guide that considers how God would have us lead in whatever area of leadership He has given us.  Leadership done God’s way is generally quite different than leadership done the world’s way.  Many times Christians have tried to adopt the world’s methods and means of leadership within the church and then wonder why they are not experiencing the “success” that they expect.  We are quick to plug people into roles of leadership and decision-making based on their degrees and an appearance of success in the world, but rarely look at how successful they are in being faithful to the Word of God.  Most, if not all, of my failures have come as a result of my insisting I know what I am doing and God allowing me to do it my way until I realize the need to do it His way.

After the prayer guide was written, I took the time to format it and get it scheduled to post online and go out via email to start next week.  Then my attention turned to a sermon I’ll be sharing with the Pleasant View Church of Christ congregation in Cassopolis, Michigan on Sunday morning.  I’m sure God will be refining that over the next few days as I listen to Him for the heart of the message He would have me share.  By mid-afternoon, it was time to take a break and get some lunch.  I stopped and picked up a sandwich on my way to Potato Creek State Park.  As I drove toward the park, the clouds were beginning to stack up upon each other and the sky was turning very dark in front of me.  Behind me, the sky was still a fairly even mix of blue sky and white, puffy clouds.  At the park, I took quite a few photos of the clouds and sky in an attempt to capture some of its beauty.  Today’s photo was also taken at the park as I found a butterfly pausing for a moment on a lily blossom.  While both the lily and the butterfly are beautiful to see and photograph, the work being done here is often unnoticed and taken for granted.  As do bees, butterflies help to pollinate plants as they pick up pollen from one blossom and spread it to others.  It made me think about our role as Christians in helping the gospel message to be reproduced in the lives of others.  We pick up the “pollen” of truth as we spend time in God’s Word and then gradually spread it into the lives of others as we go about our life — dropping life-giving elements of God’s Word into the receptive blossoms of those we interact with.

The dark clouds finally gathered more moisture than they could hold and the rain began to fall.  It was time to go anyway, so I quickly packed up my cameras and headed back to the church building to spend the evening taking photos during Vacation Bible School.  I’m wrapping up the day writing today’s page and then it is time to get some sleep to get ready for a similar day tomorrow.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Looking ahead to see the possibilities of a day helps me set an appropriate pace to accomplish what needs done.
• Leaders don’t always carry a title of leader.
• Whether you notice or not, someone is probably watching your actions and following your example — that would make you a leader to them.
• How you lead people will say a lot about how you follow Christ.
• Man’s ways are not God’s ways and many time we must choose which way we will follow.
• While dark clouds will generally produce rain, there is often much that can be done before the impending darkness turns to rain.
• If you expect the seeds of the gospel to germinate in the lives of others, you must have regular contact with both the Word of God and those who need its life-giving “pollen”.