Tomorrow morning at 2am, Daylight Savings Time officially ends. We have the unique occurrence of gaining an extra hour--a day that is actually 25 hours long! Now, most of us will be sleeping when this occurs...and we can always use an extra hour of sleep, since we are the most sleep-deprived nation on the planet. However, the unique thing about this night is that we actually re-live the hour from 1am to 2am. See, at 2am we set our clocks back to 1am, and do it all over again.
If only we could do that in life on a regular basis. If only we could re-set the clock and re-live a moment over. How many times have you said something and, after it was out of your mouth, wish you could take it back? How about doing something you have regretted....or not doing something you wished you had?
While we cannot re-set the clock and "do it over", God can. He can re-set our lives on the path they need to be. He can give new beginnings....make things over....help us to re-make our life. While the clock is never fully turned back, and while we never totally re-live our lives, we can make a fresh start with God's help.
Have an area in your life you are struggling to overcome? Would like to re-live it, or turn the clock back? Turn it over to God...let Him re-make it.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Looking for the Boundaries
I found myself driving home on Friday night from Virginia in the rain and fog. Now, normally that would not have been a problem. However, I ran into rain and fog as I was driving up the eastern side of the Shenandoah Ridge. The higher up the mountain I drove, the harder the rain and the thicker the fog. It became increasingly difficult to drive.
Not wanting to totally stop, I slowed down and pulled to the right-hand side of the road. I began to focus on the white line at the edge of the road. Knowing where the white line was, and where the yellow line in the middle was, I knew my location. You see, I had driven the road enough to know that there are areas where just off the edge of the road is a drop of 300 feet or more. In other places you are against the side of the mountain...nothing but rock. So knowing where the boundaries were gave me a level of comfort not available by just looking down the road.
Life is much that way. We are not always able to see down the road. We must rely upon the boundaries to keep us on the right path. If I had not trusted the lines on the road Friday night, I could have landed in the ditch. We have to trust the boundaries in our lives to keep us on the road.
What boundaries are in your life? Do not resist them. Do not ignore them. They are there for a reason. They are there to keep you headed in the right direction.
Not wanting to totally stop, I slowed down and pulled to the right-hand side of the road. I began to focus on the white line at the edge of the road. Knowing where the white line was, and where the yellow line in the middle was, I knew my location. You see, I had driven the road enough to know that there are areas where just off the edge of the road is a drop of 300 feet or more. In other places you are against the side of the mountain...nothing but rock. So knowing where the boundaries were gave me a level of comfort not available by just looking down the road.
Life is much that way. We are not always able to see down the road. We must rely upon the boundaries to keep us on the right path. If I had not trusted the lines on the road Friday night, I could have landed in the ditch. We have to trust the boundaries in our lives to keep us on the road.
What boundaries are in your life? Do not resist them. Do not ignore them. They are there for a reason. They are there to keep you headed in the right direction.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Value in Your Life
Sometimes you read a word and it jumps off the page. This happened to me in the last 24 hours. The word was "unappreciated". When I first read the word, I stumbled across it. It seemed to speak to me, but I did not want to listen. However, as usually happens in circumstances like this, I made my way to the dictionary and looked it up. "To hold in low esteem"; "to be ungrateful for"; "to assign a low value to"; "not increasing in value". The sting of those words hit me in the face as I began to ponder them.
It is easy for us to just go our own way and take for granted the people in our life that give value to us. It has been said "no man is an island", and that is true. Not one of us has any value on our own. Each of us has people that have influenced us, poured into us, and affected us along our journey. And we in turn, have affected others. It is the process of interaction that brings out the value in all of us.
When you and I were in school, there was some teacher that stood out in our memory. She was the best. She easily explained that algebra problem. She helped you understand how to diagram a sentence (but not necessarily why). She seemed to know how to help you, pour into you. But see, it did not start with her. She was taking from her experience, her life-knowledge and giving to you. That is the interaction. Taking what we have been given and giving it to others.
Each of us has something to give, something to contribute. Don't be shy. Pour into someone in your life. Share your experience with them. They will be better for it; and you will too! And, just as important, be grateful for those who have poured into your life. Tell them. Show them. Appreciate them.
Since this is Pastor Appreciation Month, let me say to all my pastor friends, thank you for pouring into me. Thank you for your words of encouragement. To my family, thank you for you support and love and understanding. To my friends, thank you for being there when no one else was. Thank you for understanding, listening, encouraging, and loving. Each of you plays a different role in my life, but you all have one thing in common...you are loved by me.
Be grateful for those in your life who have contributed to who you are. And tell them.
It is easy for us to just go our own way and take for granted the people in our life that give value to us. It has been said "no man is an island", and that is true. Not one of us has any value on our own. Each of us has people that have influenced us, poured into us, and affected us along our journey. And we in turn, have affected others. It is the process of interaction that brings out the value in all of us.
When you and I were in school, there was some teacher that stood out in our memory. She was the best. She easily explained that algebra problem. She helped you understand how to diagram a sentence (but not necessarily why). She seemed to know how to help you, pour into you. But see, it did not start with her. She was taking from her experience, her life-knowledge and giving to you. That is the interaction. Taking what we have been given and giving it to others.
Each of us has something to give, something to contribute. Don't be shy. Pour into someone in your life. Share your experience with them. They will be better for it; and you will too! And, just as important, be grateful for those who have poured into your life. Tell them. Show them. Appreciate them.
Since this is Pastor Appreciation Month, let me say to all my pastor friends, thank you for pouring into me. Thank you for your words of encouragement. To my family, thank you for you support and love and understanding. To my friends, thank you for being there when no one else was. Thank you for understanding, listening, encouraging, and loving. Each of you plays a different role in my life, but you all have one thing in common...you are loved by me.
Be grateful for those in your life who have contributed to who you are. And tell them.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Don't Let Your Dreams Die
At 8:41pm CDT, I was jetting down the runway at Houston Intercontinental Airport in a Embraer RJ135 heading for Torreon, Mexico. As the plane lifted from the runway, I looked over the city. My thoughts turned to two places: My destination and my home. I sat amazed as I thought of where I was from and where I was going. I am presently living in the mountains of West Virginia and I am on my way to the mountains of Mexico. I presently pour into a community of believers in West Virginia and I am headed to Mexico to do the same.
You see, this dream actually began about six years ago. I was asked to dream big for the Kingdom. And I did. I wrote on the card they handed me "Teach at a Bible School outside the United States." That dream was bigger than me. At the time, I did not know any administrators of a Bible School...let alone an administrator outside of the US. However, that dream did not die. I held on to it. I nurtured it. I prepared for it; even though I had no idea how I would fulfill it. Or, even if it would ever come to pass.
Well, it has come to pass. As I write this, I am watching the sun rise over the beautiful city of Torreon. What dreams are you holding on to? Has it been a long time in coming? Don't let them die. My dream did not die...it has come to pass...in a way I never could have imagined.
You see, this dream actually began about six years ago. I was asked to dream big for the Kingdom. And I did. I wrote on the card they handed me "Teach at a Bible School outside the United States." That dream was bigger than me. At the time, I did not know any administrators of a Bible School...let alone an administrator outside of the US. However, that dream did not die. I held on to it. I nurtured it. I prepared for it; even though I had no idea how I would fulfill it. Or, even if it would ever come to pass.
Well, it has come to pass. As I write this, I am watching the sun rise over the beautiful city of Torreon. What dreams are you holding on to? Has it been a long time in coming? Don't let them die. My dream did not die...it has come to pass...in a way I never could have imagined.
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