connecting individuals to Jesus
I fell into a rut a few weeks ago – perhaps even many weeks ago. I think the minimal face-face contact with people was getting to me. I started contacting a few people to make a couple home visits but had to really push myself just to “dial” the phone. This week, however, after the third straight visit ended with the individual saying to me, “Thanks, I really needed this,” I felt God raising me out of the rut.
It is dangerous – I know – to comment on a book, but I am over halfway through it, so I am willing to take the risk. The book is “Christians in the Age of Outrage – How to bring our best when the world is at its worst”. The author is Ed Stetzer, the dean of the School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership at Wheaton College – and the holder of the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of the Church.
New month – new topic – new approach – searching for a renewed attitude! Tuesday was one of the more frustrating days I have had in a long time. It felt like I ran into roadblocks at every turn – most (but certainly not all) coming during my efforts to navigate the system of being in contact with an individual in jail.
There are usually a few snickers in the room when I tell people that I played varsity football in high school. The laughter becomes much more pronounced when I say that I was a starting offensive lineman on a Class B team with a winning record (2-3 years removed from being two-time state champions). It was in that locker room that I believe I first heard some really “tough talks”.
The repairman arrived at our condo, ready to replace the broken cord on our verticals, but the cord he brought was not the right one – so we are still struggling with opening and closing them on a daily basis. … Even though the number of hunters in our state keeps dropping every year
We walked past a cottage the other day. The name the family had given to it was the “Shady Nook”. While it is most likely that they chose this name because they view their place as a cool corner where the family comes to escape the summer heat, my mind immediately nuanced the name in a different direction. The next time we walk by, I will test my definition by stopping in to see if anyone in the family has a half-dozen “genuine Rolex” watches for sale from their wrist.
37 years ago today, my day started out at St. John Hospital on Moross. Somewhere around 7:00 a.m. our second son, Joel, was born. A few hours later I was at the Belle Isle Conservancy officiating a wedding. In between I picked up our older son, Matthew, from one home and dropped him off at another.
I am not sure how many of you are old enough to remember Charlie Brown (or is this similar to asking if you remember Ernie Harwell?) – but he was famous for saying, “Good grief!”. While I am not quite sure what Charlie Brown meant whenever he said, “Good grief,” it seems like it was more out of frustration than joy. However, today I am writing these words with joy.
I am what you might call the antithesis of a mechanical wizard or small engine expert. I have no clue as to what causes an engine to backfire or how to remedy the situation. However, when my lawnmower or anything else run by a small gas engine backfires as I turn it off, I believe it is not a good thing. My problem is that I generally then forget about it – until it happens again the next time I use the machine.
Many years ago, a wise old gentleman said to me, “Faithfulness is a long journey in the same direction.” My, how I have been thinking about that over these last few months. I was all geared up to handle the pandemic through June – even July, but now it is getting tough – and the end doesn’t even seem to be in sight! What is a person to do?