Seizing Opportunities

Prayer has always fascinated me although I have to admit I have not always been as prayerful as I need to be. It is a practice that many rely on only when they have come to the end of their lists.

Reading this week I came across a point of view of prayer that I had not seen before. In reading the book “Chase The Lion” by Matt Batterson, he writes that the aramaic word for prayer is ”slotha” and it carries the meaning, to set a trap.That is an interesting word picture. Prayer is more than just acknowledging God and sharing with Him our desires and needs. It is preparing the path before me to set out traps to capture the blessings and opportunities that are before me.

Through the act of prayer we are preparing our steps along our daily path to capture and experience each blessing God has, each turn of the path that comes before us, and each opportunity that is there along the way. Those things are trapped by God and are waiting for us in our journey.

God says, “I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full”. Part of that means that there are blessings and opportunities He has placed on our daily path and we can only seize them or capture them through prayer.

What does God have for you? Time can only tell but one thing I know many of them can only be experienced when we pray. 

Excerpts from 12:05 On Sunday Morning And ….

You will discover through your reading a close kin to some of these. Some of these experiences will bring a nod and a smile. That is my desire. I want to share these memories with you in hopes of stirring your past. As you read you will probably remember your own experiences. I believe this is part of our inheritance that we need to leave with others who perhaps were not as fortunate and can come along side and join us as we turn back the pages of our life. It is my prayer that you will enjoy seeing yourself and your childhood.

 Special Clothes

As far back as I can remember there were always a special set of clothes I had that had been designated as “church clothes”. I have shopped many stores in my life and been in the different departments within the store but I have yet to discover the “Church Clothes” department. Yet growing up I had them. They were like the official church uniform. Just like a soldier has a certain style and look about their uniform, growing up I had my church clothes.

They were for church use only. I can hardly remember wearing these clothes any other time or occasion. They were designated my Sunday church clothes. This would be another reason I didn’t like Sundays. It was not just the going to church, but it was wearing those clothes.

We can begin with the shoes. They were dress shoes and boys and dress shoes were not a good combination. They always were tight on my feet and since they were hardly ever worn, they never go “broke in”. They were stiff and by mid morning my feet were always hurting. Those shoes were where I learned to polish your shoes. My dad would hand me the shoe polish, a rag that looked like it was ready to be tossed, and a shoe brush.  Later on I learned how to add a wad of spit to that acquired skill. They might have had a nice Sunday morning shine to them but there were not anything to compete with my keds or my converse canvas high tops.

Next were the britches. I can’t think of anything nice to say about them. As a kid growing up I would outgrow things quickly. Since my mother had a sewing machine and knew how to use it, those britches could hang around a long time. The worst thing was to wear them for the two hours on Sunday morning. I would have rather had a tooth pulled. Anything was more pleasant than this torture. The inside of the pants leg felt like tiny bugs chewing on my legs. I spent most of my time in church scratching them. After enough complaints my parents discovered a solution to the itching – lining. This of course consisted of wearing my pajamas beneath my britches. They would act as lining. This did solve the itching problem but brought along with it a couple of new irritations. First they would always bunch up and my legs looked liked someone who should be on display at the county circus. The other irritation was that I grew up in Texas and wearing two pair of long pants on Sunday in the Texas summer was horrendous. I probably lost weight from wearing those layers of clothing.

Learning To Read Continue To Pay Off

There are so many things you have to learn when you’re in school. In High School I can remember asking myself, “Will I ever use this stuff in real life?”. A skill we were taught in the 1st grade,  which by the way was truly the first grade [only a few rich kids went to private kindergarten] was reading. I read about kids today graduating from H.S. and not being able to read. I wonder out loud, “how does that happen?”. We would have felt the sting of a ruler or worse if we tried getting through the first grade without that skill. Recently on our vacation I was able to plow through a couple of books. ”11″ by Leonard Sweet was based upon the importance of having key people in your life. It was about “indispensable relationships you can’t be without”.  It’s a good read and is great to know that something you learned in the first grade is still paying-off. Here is an excerpt from the book, no, actually it is an excerpt in the book from a movie,

Rusty: You’d need at least a dozen guys doing a combination of cons.                                                                                                                                                                                                  Danny: LIke what, do you think?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Rusty: Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re looking at a Boesky, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros, and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever!                                       —Ocean’s Eleven

Using Your Time Unwisely

TUESDAY - THE COURT SYSTEM. A few weeks ago two things occured relatively close together. (1) After 10 years of working outside the church I was laid off from a job I really enjoyed althought it asorbed alot of my time. (2) I got a traffic ticket for parking in a fire lane. These two are connected because if I had still been working the second job I would have paid the $42 and gone on my way. However, since being laid off I have more time on my hands so I choose to take this to the court. I was convinced I was innocent [if you need details, write and I will give them to you]. Tuesday was my court date. I came loaded with a folder full of pics of other trucks and customers parked in the same spot I was when I got my ticket @ the Euless Home Depot. Never having been to court before [only as a witness] I was not aware what was waiting ahead for me. After unsuccessfully trying to pass through the metal detectors [an impossibility with 3 artificial joints] I joined about 60 -70 others who shared the same court date/time as I. Having the last name beginning with “A” I figured I would be one of the first to appear before the judge so I took a seat on the front row [never my style -it's usually near the door]. Two and 1/2 grueling hours later I was called. I was the last one to appear. I talked with the prosecuting attorney and pled my case. I told him it was not the money but the principle. [I fantsized how proud my family would be of me for standing for principles] It was when I requested a jury trial that he told me it would be very time consuming process and there would be the potential for being liable for court costs. Before setting a date he offered me a plea bargain to reduce the fine. I had already invested 2 1/2 hours of my time and now I was facing more time and possibly more costs….I nearly broke out in sweat…principle versus paying $30 and walking away…….I thought of those men I had read so much about in history who stood strong for their principles……as it all turned out…… well let me just say you won’t be reading about me in any of those books and I am now accepting donations to offset the $30 extra expense for a laid-off employee. 

THURSDAY. A FLAT TIRE. I am trying to use my unexpected extra time wisely so when my truck got a flat, I went to Discount Tire and chose to wait while they repaired the tire. I took a book with me to utilize my time. I had been seated for about 10 minutes and was involved deeply in reading. A lady came and sat down two seats from me. I noticed she had her laptop and her bluetooth in her ear. A paragraph later she begain talking. I paused and looked her way thinking she was speaking to me. Wrong! She was, you guessed it, talking on her phone. I quickly noticed how loud she was talking. Her phone looked like a blackberry and not some tin can with string. I didn’t understand why she talked so loud. I tried to get back to reading my book but her voice kept distracting me. I was actually more interested in ready than listening to a 1-sided phone conversation [amazing]. I fought hard against two temptations [1] asking her to lower her voice or [2] start reading my book out loud and compete with her for noise pollution. I chose neither as my truck was quickly fixed and I was able to leave.

Looking back on my choices of time this week, I am not so sure I succeeded at using it wisely. 

Have We Lost Our Minds ?

I have recently added a new category that I will probably use frequently. It’s the category of “Soapbox” and this is my first post assigned to it.

It seems like a daily ritual lately hearing about the economy and everyone’s idea on what needs to be done to fix it.

Maybe it is just me but the more I hear the more I feel like I need to do something or lose my mind. I was driving home tonight from Prayer Meeting and I kept asking the question to myself, “I feel like I need to do something but what?” It wasn’t a prayer but when I got on the computer tonight to work I first checked my email. I noticed some files in the spam box so I went to delete all. I stopped and then opened the files and came across an email from a conservative values group. After reading some of it I searched for my U.S. Senators and Representative emails and then sent off some emails expressing my concern that we were losing our minds and encouraging them to vote against (as they have done) the “stimulus package” and other bills I was interested in. I felt immediate mental relief and a renewed hope for sanity.

I know this may seem controversial to some and perhaps you are right that a pastor should stick to preaching the Bible but if I don’t do something as an American citizen, I am going to lose my mind!

I’d be happy to share with you that website if you are interested and if you disagree, that is alright too.  I believe there are some extra soapboxes we can find for you.

Outstanding Retreat

We’ve just returned from our annual church retreat in Glen Rose. This year was exceptional. Judy and I arrived early enough to get right to the first thing our agenda, a “nap” to prepare for the marathon later that evening.

I found a spot on our balcony overlooking the river valley, kicked off my shoes and in just a short time fell asleep in the afternoon breeze.

As everyone was getting settled into their rooms later, others were gathering in the great room. This was our first year in the new Cedar Bluff Lodge. Kudos to the staff at Riverbend for the first class service and facilities; they’ve thought of everything. This certainly made our stay very enjoyable. A personal thanks to Roy for taking care of all the incidentals for our retreat this year.

After rounds and rounds of games and every kind of food imaginable we finally turned out the lights and got to bed sometime around 3 a.m. Our rest was sweet because of the great fellowship and fun we had shared with friends.

This morning we arose to the smell of bacon and biscuits. We all agreed Chef Rodger missed his calling. We are grateful to Rodger for getting up early and preparing the great breakfast. For our devotional

we were reminded of the great promises God has given to us as Missie presented a teaching on the covenants of God. It’s assuring to know that our care and keeping is in God’s hand and based on His promises.

We gathered mid morning again to “buzz” over our past year and to focus on the coming year at Calvary.

Following lunch we all just hung out and reminisced about past retreats and shared memories. Before long we packed up and left for home…..with thoughts of our next retreat together. By the way if you’d like to go ahead and make room reservations the dates are Jan. 29-30, 2010

Praying, Presidents, & Pleasing God

Today’s the first day for our new president to be in office and serve us as our president. Regardless of your political persuasion, believers have been instructed to pray and lift up those who have authority over us.

I Timothy 2:1 tells us that it’s our duty and responsibility to offer prayers for kings and all those in authority. It goes on to give us a reason or purpose – that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  Finally it tells us that when we pray for those in authority over us that it pleases God.

Imagine as you pray for our new president now that you are not only acting in obedience to God, you are putting a smile on His face.

A Great Time For A Mulligan

Tomorrow marks the first Sunday of the New Year of 2009. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to get the right start on the New Year. From time to time we need a mulligan (for those golf-challenged it means taking another swing at the ball - a do-over) in our life. I’m glad to know that God is a God of 2nd chances. He is more willing to give us a 2nd chance than we are to take one. He is willing to forgive us of our sins, pick us up when we fall down, and put our feet back on solid ground.

Whether you need a mulligan or just want to keep on the right track, I hope that you will make 2009 the year that you experience great progress in your walk with God.

Merry Christmas

Judy and I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. We hope that you will have the opportunity to share these special days with family and friends.

It’s amazing to look back this past year and see what God has done for us and for our friends. It is our prayer that your relationship with God will continually grow strong in the coming year.

Please remember my Mom in your prayers. Hal passed away Thanksgiving eve this year. Even though she is spending some time over the holidays with us and my sisters, I am sure it will be difficult for her without Hal.

Happy Turkey Day - Food, Family, & Football

Of course not necessarily in that order but these are the ingredients for the best holiday of the year, Thanksgiving. There are no yard decorations, no decorations to hang in the house, no gifts to buy (to have them returned), no special songs to play, and no endless commercials putting you on a guilt trip because you didn’t put a new car in the driveway with a big red ribbon on it. Nope, none of that stuff is necessary.

Those pilgrims and Indians knew how to celebrate. They just stuck a ton of food on the table and gathered with their friends and family to give thanks for all the blessings God had given them. We have come along and upgraded it by adding a football game or two.

We’ll be traveling to Paris and spending the day with everyone in my family and visiting with my step-dad at the hospital. He’s long been battling several medical complications and the doctors offer little hope.

Friday we’ll be heading to Texas Stadium to watch some more high school football playoff games.

Wherever the day finds you, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving! We are a blessed people.

See you Sunday….