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.

It was a rather brisk morning to clear the overnight dusting of snow off the walks before heading inside to clean.  With the temperature falling below zero, I bundled up well and found myself singing, “Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.  Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.”  The words of the old hymn echoing through my soul made the task not only tolerable, but enjoyable.  Jesus said that it is out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks.  People and circumstances may plant various things in my life, but what I cultivate and allow to grow in my heart is my choice.

With the arrival of the snow and its ugly companion, salt, the floors needed more attention than usual.  Winter seems to compound my need for an early start to work as I get up earlier to clear snow before cleaning, yet the cleaning itself takes longer so I get up even earlier to try to be done by the students arrival.  As I clean, I realize the building seems to be cooling down so a quick check on the boiler shows that it decided to shut itself off.  After a few times of resetting it only to have it shut back off after another 15 to 20 minutes, it was time to call the repairman.  As I waited on him, I spent some time researching our heating system in an attempt to have a better understanding of how to provide a more balanced heat throughout the building.  The arrival of the repairman got us going and gave me more information about how our heating system works.

Some days it is very tempting to let the circumstances win.  On those days, as on all days, it is critical to look for God’s “way of escape” from the temptation.  Look even more carefully at the reminders God puts around you of His love and care.  During the hard and unpleasant tasks, allow Him to fill you with His presence through a heart filled with scripture and praise.  As with my boiler, realize there are times that you need even more help than usual.  Don’t be afraid to ask God, and the people He has put around you, to help you through the difficult times of life.

As the work day approached its end, more snow began falling.  Even knowing that it meant more work to come, the beauty outside my window was another reminder of God’s wonderful creativity.

After missing it completely just a few days ago, the weather forecasts were pretty confident the snow was coming this time so I was up at 5 in the morning and sure enough, the snow had begun.  That seems to be the key word for the day, begun, as the snow kept coming throughout the day.  The sidewalks were cleared, school was delayed, the sidewalks were cleared again, and then cleared a couple more times before the day was done.  It didn’t seem to amount to a whole lot, maybe 4 to 6 inches total, but it came at a steady enough rate to keep things messy — but also enough to cover everything with a clean, glistening coat of white!  Perspective makes a lot of difference.  The snow that was causing a lot of work and difficulty in travel was also creating great beauty and peaceful scenes.  The one I focused on had much more to do with me than with it.

Many of the situations we face in life are like that, aren’t they?  The process may seem messy and troublesome but when we step back and take a clearer look, particularly through the perspective of God’s Word, we begin to see a growing scene that is filled with beauty.  Paul looks at the troubles he faces in life and writes to the Corinthians that such things are but “light and momentary troubles” compared to the overwhelming glory that belongs to the children of God.

After dealing with the mess part of the snow all day, I made a quick trip to Potato Creek State Park to enjoy the beauty of the snow.  While only 15 minutes away from work, it really is a world away.  As the lake effect snow bands had shifted to the north and east, the sky cleared over the park and I made it there in time to catch the setting sun.  As I gazed across the frozen lake, an eagle soared above the trees in the distance — this time too far away for even my best zoom to capture his photo.  A quick one mile hike on a snow-covered trail allowed me a good view of the sun setting over one of the wetland areas.  As I stood to take it all in, both visually and photographically, a great sense of peace filled me as I witnessed and took notice of a small piece of God’s creative handiwork.  As I take photos and share them with people, I try to constantly remind them that God has given us the opportunity to glimpse the beauty of His glory all around us if we were to simply be still and open our hearts and minds to His presence.  So, I’ll leave you with one of the scenes that God left me with as page 12 of this calendar year came to a close.