Category: Faith

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Separated…

Last week I was watching the local news and there was a story about an experienced diver who was out in the Gulf of Mexico diving and got separated from his boat. (Read the story here). The resulting ordeal led to the man treading water in the open Gulf for 24 hours until he was eventually rescued. I’m sure when the diver went out that day, he never intended to become separated, we never do, but sometimes it just happens…

The story hit close to home with me… It reminded me of the time I went lobster diving with my friend Hal Flowers in Key West. (Yes, another Hal story…) This time we were out in the Gulf checking on some of the lobster traps he had previously set the weekend before. It was just he and I and we had been working the area for several hours already and it was getting close to the end of our day.

We had just anchored the boat over the spot our coordinates had indicated the traps were located. We both geared up with our dive masks, fins, and tanks and both went over the side of the boat.

Once in the water, I immediately noticed that the current had picked up significantly and was making it difficult to swim. Our plan was to swim against the current out past the trap locations and then turn back and swim with the current back to the boat as we checked on each trap.

As we moved out away from the boat, about 30´under the water, the current was not only making the swim difficult, it was making the visibility very difficult. Hal and I swam together and at times he would venture off and explore the underside of a rock ledge for random lobster gatherings as would I. But despite the decreasing visibility, we tried to keep together…or at least where we could see each other.

As I continued to swim, I was also keeping tabs of my remaining oxygen. The struggle against the current was causing me to work harder and as a result, I was using my oxygen at a rate much faster than I wanted. In fact, I was worried. It was that low…

As I continued to swim and check my gauge, I soon realized that Hal was now out of sight. I couldn’t see anything past about 5 feet in front of me and the current had changed directions and was really swirling and kicking up the sand. I felt like I was swimming in a snow globe!

I looked at my gauge and I was now in the red zone. I was running out of air. So I swam to the surface hoping to get a bearing on the boat and just swim back to it and wait for Hal. But when I reached the surface, the weather had also changed drastically. A storm had rolled in and the wind and waves were kicking up and the boat was nowhere to be seen. I looked in every direction and as the 5-foot waves bobbed me up and down there was no boat to be seen.

So I reluctantly went back down to about 20 feet and started swimming with the current. I had absolutely no idea where the boat was…I was in trouble…I was just riding the fierce current and wondering when I would take my last breath of air.

I couldn’t see a thing and just continued to swim with the weight of increasing panic closing in on me as I readied myself for what I was going to do once I ran out of air…which would be very, very soon… I thought that I would surface and inflate my buoyancy vest and then just wait it out…whatever “it” was going to be. I wasn’t panicked…but more of a feeling of dread was coming over me…

I looked at my air gauge and this time it was empty as I tried to limit my breaths to only short ones when I absolutely needed them. I continued to ride the current in a direction, not of my choosing…then…through the swirling green water… I saw something…

Off in the distance, I saw what looked like a rope extending from the surface down towards the bottom to an anchor. I anxiously reached the rope and took hold of it just as I took the very last breath the tank had for me…and I ascended to the surface not knowing what was on the other end of this rope…

When I came to the surface…there it was…OUR boat. The greatest sight I’ve ever seen in my life and of course, there was Hal on the boat asking…”Hey man, where did you go?”

I didn’t answer…I just pulled myself back in the boat…now…a very different person.

When I look back on that day, I realize several things…

1. I wasn’t a “believer” then, but I knew right then and there…I was carried back to that boat by something much stronger and much more powerful than that current. 2. I knew that I had screwed up by losing my dive partner, but I also knew that had not been alone. 3. I was still a long way from accepting my Savior, but that didn’t stop Him from saving me.

Years later, and now a Christian, I was reading the Bible for the first time, and I came upon this verse…

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” – Deuteronomy 31:8

I may have been separated from Hal on that day…but now I know, I was never alone…and knowing this truth… has made all the difference …

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I will not have a spirit of fear…

This morning I was thinking about all that is going on (and wrong) with the world…senseless shootings, deadly flu outbreaks, worries about the economy, about our government and about our future in general…lot’s to fret about…for sure…

Then I thought back to an event that happened to me many years ago…

I had been invited by a good friend, Hal Flowers, to accompany him driving his boat from Naples to Key West. Not that Hal asked…but I was not an experienced captain… As a matter of fact, as a kid, my grandfather let all my cousins sit on his lap and drive his boat and year after year… my turn never really came around… I guess he knew something…

Anyway…on the appointed day, Hal and I filled the boat with gas, checked the weather and left the marina in Naples and soon got out into open water and headed south. It seemed simple enough…just keep the land on your left! As we moved south, eventually we passed the southernmost point on the west coast of Florida and eventually lost sight of land entirely. Welcome to the Gulf of Mexico!

After hours of driving and several hours left to go, Hal was tired and wanted to take a nap. So he set the Loran (which is basically a GPS for boats, but it didn’t have a screen, just coordinates, and an alarm was programmed to sound if you got off course). Once the coordinates were set, he handed me the wheel and gave me these brief instructions, “just keep the boat within these coordinates. I’ve programmed the Loran to the tower at the entrance of Key West harbor. But if for whatever reason we miss it, we want to miss it to the East, because if we miss Key West Harbor to the West, we’ll end up in Cuba.” And with that, he went below and went to sleep.

So there I was, in the open Gulf of Mexico, no land in sight and trying to stay between two invisible coordinates that made no sense to me. I looked behind me and the wake of my boat was not in a straight line, in fact, it looked like a drunk driver was at the helm. Then moments later, the alarm of the Loran went off! I adjusted course and the alarm went off. Then a while later, it happened again, and again I adjusted course. This kept going on for almost an hour and each time the alarm went off, it took me longer and longer to course correct and silence the alarm. This continued until finally, I could no longer find my course! The alarm sounded constantly…I was freaking out!

So what did I do…? Did I wake up Hal? Nope. I turned off the alarm and kept driving.

I drove for several hours on my own, no Loran, no direction, no sense of where I was going and all the while, desperately looking for land and praying I wasn’t headed for Cuba. I had goofed up…big time. I knew we were in trouble…then Hal woke up…

He came up top and said, “Everything ok?” I took a deep breath and readied myself to confess the fact that we were lost and I was a horrible captain, and admit I was an idiot to turn off the Loran, and that I can never be trusted to do anything like this again…and as the words began to come out of my mouth…Hal looked over the bow of the boat and directly ahead of us and said, “cool!” And directly in front of us, I could just make out on the horizon… what looked like a tower… The tower at the opening of Key West Harbor!

So why did I think of this story this morning?

I guess I was thinking about all the things that have been on the news and in conversations with people everywhere I go. People talking about things to be afraid of…and I guess I’m just tired of it.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

When I think about this verse…one thing comes to mind…God didn’t give me a spirit of fear…and I don’t want anything that God didn’t give me…period! So that begs the question…if God didn’t give me the spirit of fear… who did? Hmmm?

I believe fear and worry pull us away from God. When we are afraid of things, we feel helpless, isolated and powerless…it renders us useless. Unfortunately, this has become a common message of this world…to be afraid.

The reality is, each time we find ourselves feeling fearful or worried, the alarm bells should be going off in our minds that we are moving away from God and the course He has planned for us…and that’s not a good place…for sure!

That doesn’t mean we should throw up our hands and leave it all to God! No, we should certainly be wise in thinking ahead and planning ahead…we just don’t need to be worrying ahead!

This quote sums it up perfectly by an incredible woman named Corrie ten Boom:

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrow, but it empties today of strength.”

So, when these feelings of fear, anxiety, and worry begin to sometimes take root in my mind, I need to discipline myself to immediately ask myself, “Where is my focus?” Am I thinking about God? If not…I need to…

I need to “fix my eyes” and “cast my worries” on the only person that can do anything about them.

Whether it’s guiding my life…or guiding my boat… to the opening of Key West Harbor.

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Submitting…

As a kid, I used to watch a TV program called “Kung Fu” with David Carradine. I watched every episode in the early 70’s… “my impressionable years.” I remember one particular episode when Kwai Chang Caine (the Shaolin monk played by David Carradine) said the following:

“One should always be the willow that bends with the wind rather than the mighty oak that breaks in the storm.”

Evidently, that episode made an impression on me because that act of “bending” or “submitting” is what has been on my mind over the past few months…so I guess it’s time to write about it.

In our culture, “submitting” is not something that we celebrate as a strength. When I think about it, I believe our resistance to submit is the basis for the majority of the problems most of us wrestle with today in our relationships. We are taught at an early age to “stand up for ourselves” and to “speak our truth” and “not to back down”, and I believe all those things are true and valid. I also believe many of us have associated the act of submission with giving up…and it’s not…it’s simply “giving in.”

Giving up is much different than giving in. Giving up is admitting defeat. Giving in is yielding to someone you care about in order to reach a higher gain. It’s losing the battle to win the war.

Pastor Andy Stanley gave a sermon on marriage a couple of years ago. He said that a strong marriage is marked by mutual submission. Each person yielding his or her preferences for the benefit of the other. It’s taking the focus off of my wants and acting on what they might want. Not defending my point of view, but really trying to understand their point of view. That’s great advice but it’s incredibly difficult!

At times we all act like 2-year old’s defending positions that in the grand scheme of things…mean way less than the value of our relationships. Yet we still fight on!

Being married, I’ve practiced the art of “submitting” just about every day. From TV program choices to furniture placement in the home to how the toilet paper goes on the roll right down to where to put the sponge in the sink. All these things are opportunities for me to suspend an opinion and just focus on on the betterment of the relationship. You know… it works…it makes me a better husband… and it makes our relationship better.

Giving in is not giving up. It takes way more strength and love to suspend your wants just because you love someone else more.

If you don’t believe me..read Matthew 26:42.

“He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

Submitting changes everything…for the good.

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Anticipation…one of my favorite feelings…

I love this time of year! But not for the reasons you might expect. It’s not for the lights, the music or Santa…for me it’s the Anticipation! You see, I love that feeling! If Christmas were up to me…I would never open a gift…I would just leave it there…all wrapped up so I could look at it and wonder what was inside. I wouldn’t shake it or gently peel off the tape from the wrapping paper…I would just look at it…and that would make me happy.

Well, it’s Christmas time here in Antigua, Guatemala and the churches are celebrating Advent, which means “coming” in Latin. Each Sunday leading up to Christmas, the streets are filled with people, bands and processions carrying statues of Mary, Jesus and various Angels. They shoot off fireworks in front of the procession as well as after it passes.

The anticipation of the birth of Christ and the celebrations that are to come in just a few weeks cannot be ignored. I catch myself being both joyous and humbled as the crowds of people pass by my door in celebration that God came thru with His promise.

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Thinking about the fact that 400 years passed between the promise of the coming Lord (Malachi 3:1) and the news of His arrival (Matthew) humbles me on several levels. First of all…that’s a long time to wait… and secondly…it’s a long time to hold hope. I’m not sure I could have done it. But as always…God was true to His word.

So, as I think about “Anticipation” being one my favorite feelings, I begin to wonder where that feeling originates. I believe it originates with “Hope.” This may not be the correct definition, but this is what I believe. I believe Hope is the belief that something is good is coming and Anticipation is the feeling that is caused by Hope.

We don’t hear too much about Hope these days. Maybe it’s because many of us feel like we are in control of our life and circumstances and we feel like we don’t need it. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Everyone needs Hope! I love this quote:

“Man can live about 40 days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.” – unknown

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I believe it!

I have been working here in Guatemala for several years and living here for almost two. During that time, I’ve been involved in training pastors and business people, working in medical clinics and building stoves. All of that has been wonderful and I think we have made a positive impact on the community to some degree. But what I think has made the greatest difference is just being here… and lovin’ on people.

I think that just lovin’ on people gives them Hope. Hope that they are ok and that they will be ok. I think it provides a spark where Faith can grow. Faith that might lead them to do something that will improve their life, Faith that tomorrow might be better than today. Faith that God has not…and will not…abandoned them.

Yep, I think Hope is the spark to everything that is good. We need it…and we need more of us dishing it out to others in massive proportions.

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So my prayer for all of us this Christmas season is to make a concerted effort to “love on people.” Anybody you can, wherever you can. Love on them with a smile, a pat on the back, a “good morning” or a “thank you.” Everytime you pass by that man or woman ringing the bell for the Salvation Army, drop some of your spare change in the bucket…not necessarily for them…but for you.

Everyone you can…wherever you can.

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Give Hope this season…it costs you nothing…but its affect never goes unappreciated…or unnoticed.

Merry Christmas.

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Two Trees…

I’ve been thinking lately about the following Bible verse:

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.” -Matthew 12:33

When we look at a fruit tree, what do we see? We see the trunk, we see the branches, we see the leaves and in certain seasons, we will see the fruit. But is that the entire tree? No! We fail to see the most important part of the tree…the roots!

The roots of the tree not only provide stability for the tree within the surrounding soil, it also provides all the nutrition that will sustain the tree, the branches, the leaves and ultimately the fruit. The ultimate health of the roots (the overflow of nutrients) are what determines the overall health of the tree and everything it produces…or doesn’t…and we can’t even see them.

Back to the Bible for a second. The very next verse in Matthew states,

“For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.…”

Meaning, that everything we say or do, (our fruit) comes from the overflow of whatever is in our heart. Like the roots of a tree, people can’t see what is in our hearts. But they can make a determination of the condition of our heart by what is evidenced in our lives.

So let’s look at two trees:

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The “fruit” of this tree is all the bad stuff we see in our world. Things like pride, immorality, rage, drunkenness and overall discord are all the result of what we call sin. These sins seek to destroy everything it touches, and many times, the very tree itself!

But what is at the root of sin? What is feeding it?

In every case, I believe the root cause (no pun intended) of all sin is Selfishness. Simply stated…it is putting “your” needs and wants ahead of everyone else’s.

Ok, now let’s look at another tree.

On this tree, the “fruit” we see are things like love, compassion, generosity, joy and unity. All of these fruits are blessings to others. They uplift and give life to others and in every case, they are “gifts” to the recipient and, as a result, the tree thrives.

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But why? What is at the root of a tree like this?

I believe what nourishes such a tree is Selflessness. Selflessness is literally thinking of your “self” less. It is putting “others” needs and wants ahead of your own.

Two very real trees with two very different types of fruit. Unfortunately, our lives are filled with both types and what is more disturbing is that at times…we too can exemplify the same.

So what do we do?

I like to simplify stuff…so here ya go…

Focus on the root.

Which are you? Which would you like to be?

Pick one, feed it daily with your thoughts, your words, and your actions. Nurture it and then let the fruit of your life speak for itself.

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Unexpected Gifts

 Nothing is better than an unexpected gift. It can be anything, an actual item, a service, or just a listening ear at an appropriate moment.

This has been a week that was full of them.

Like most guys, there is usually a local “dive” restaurant that serves good food…at even better prices that men love to frequent for lunch or for a snack during the day. We stopped at such a place. He says that “one day” I come to love the place because they serve great food…but as I looked around at the open-air cooking stall, the thousands of flies that seemed to love the place as well and the…well you get the idea… Anyway, we stopped for a quick bite (I just had a coke…in the bottle) and we were off.

We went to a warehouse where several local ministries receive all sorts of goods from the States and sometimes they share their excess (whatever that may be) among themselves. So today, we were given several huge bags of dried red beans and dried black beans. We loaded them in the back of the truck and off we went on our errands for the day.

We stopped back by the restaurant that we had just left and Oscar filled about a dozen plastic buckets full of beans and gave them to the women that ran the restaurant. It was the most “natural” thing that I have ever seen. The look on their faces was so joyful…and once the buckets were full, we simply climbed back into the truck and went on our way. Not another word was spoken about it…it was a “natural” thing to do.

Yesterday, Amy brought about 11 women from the village over to their house and she was going to teach them how to make quiche! Not something you might expect…but evidently it’s a big deal…40Q for a small slice in restaurants = $5.21. So around lunchtime, here come the women and I got to sit back and observe Amy work with these women and teach them new cooking skills that they could have never imagined. I watched their faces and they were so joyful… Then…just like Amy…while the quiches were in the oven, Amy and her Sister-in-law taught the women how to make baby blankets. It was amazing! When it was all over one of the pregnant women when home with the blanket and the women all took quiche home to their families.

In the middle of all this, Oscar and I jumped in the truck and went to visit Jose Angel (the man with one leg) that we built a stove for in April as well as installed several solar lights. It was an impromptu visit that allowed us to see how he was “really” doing. I was disappointed to see that his living condition was not good. The place was dirty and unkempt. There were empty bins of food all over the place. He had not used the stove and his roof had leaked in several places around the lights we had installed. No Bueno.

We learned that Jose Angel was having problems figuring out how to keep a fire going in the stove and ultimately gave up. He was also out of wood. The leaks were not in the lights themselves, but in the surrounding tin roofing where they had been installed. The rains had also come in where he was sleeping and he had to move his bed to another area of his small home.

I guess what hit me was how difficult it must be for an elderly man, living alone in a wheelchair, dirt floor, and no job or income to get by on a day-to-day basis. When we were last in his home, it was clean and we had all left feeling pretty good about the work we had done by building him a stove and new lighting and how it would change his life…but that is not reality….this was reality. It was a good lesson for me and one that I need to remember. This work is not a “one and done” effort…it is an ongoing effort…

We left Jose Angel with several bags of beans, rice, and flour and Oscar said he would send some workers to his home today to repair the roof. We are also going to stock him with firewood and work with him to teach him how to use the stove. Oscar said he would also have one of his workers regularly visit Jose Angel to clean and to just provide him some help as he needs it.

Unexpected gifts…that is what today was all about. Nobody made a big deal about anything…it was just “natural”…it was just being human and taking care of people…just because we could. It was the Gospel lived out and I am so grateful that I got to experience it.

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Choose Love…

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Sometimes this world seems just a little too difficult.

The things we see and witness, the pressures of family, finances and friendships, the differences in world views that are literally trying to rip us apart as a society are all constantly playing in out in our lives like a looped video. As a result, we often feel powerless, hopeless, frustrated and sad when we think of the days that are ahead of us. That feeling of “I can’t do anything about it” is the worst feeling we can have and it is the one thing we can’t allow ourselves to believe! We CAN do something! We ALL can do something! What can we do? We can choose to love!

We can choose to love those we don’t understand. We can choose to love those we don’t agree with. We can choose to love those that have wronged us or we fear will wrong us. We can choose to love those that have different beliefs. We can choose to love those that have different life experiences and expectations out of life. We can choose to love those that are struggling and those that boast. We can also choose to love those that may never know we love them. All of this is within our power…

There are many people here in Antigua that are struggling for one reason or the other and as a result, they sit on the sidewalks and beg for handouts. These people have become “invisible” to most of the tourists and even mission teams that visit the city. They are routinely walked around, looked over and avoided at all cost. But the funny thing is…they have become “my peeps.”

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Over the past few months here in Antigua, I have developed what is now becoming a little “street ministry.” Each day I’m in Spanish class from about 9am to 3pm. Then I hit the streets to get my workout in. (10,000 steps/day…thanks to the ever present reporting of fit-bit.) During my walk, I’ll go by and see “my peeps.” They are usually located at certain places in and around the city. Some are in the park, some sit on a sidewalk on a certain street. Some are on a street corner and some are just wandering around.

Once I find them I’ll just sit down with them and talk. Sometimes we’ll pray together, sometimes we’ll just talk about their day or their family or life, and sometimes… we’ll just sit. But the important thing is…they are no longer “invisible.” They are seen and we are friends. I truly love these people! Nothing makes me smile more than the time we get to spend together each day. They are a gift to me.

So I guess my point is this…there are people in our daily lives right now that deserve our attention…they deserve our time and they deserve our love. But they are not the easiest to love. Choosing love empowers us and puts life back into proper perspective. Sometimes it is not easy. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable and it can sometimes be inconvenient…but it’s one of our only…and I believe our best option. It also provides a healing that this world most desperately needs…

We all can do something. We can all do this… Choose to love.

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Being lost vs. Feeling lost…

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I spent last weekend with Oscar, Amy and Diego at their home in the mountains of Las Anonas, Guatemala. Their home is located within a beautiful compound and just behind their home are beautiful mountains, trees, and fields.

Late in the afternoon on Saturday, Diego and I decided to hike in the mountains behind their home. He had done it many times and called it a “small walk.” So we took off on a “small walk.” We climbed over and under several barbed wire fences and eventually found ourselves in the most beautiful pasture land and rolling hills that I have seen.

As we took a moment to take in the beautiful scenery, he pointed out to me where he had previously hiked. He pointed up to a mountain where there happened to be smoke about two-thirds of the way up the mountain and he said that once he had almost climbed that high. So we headed off in that direction.

Now the terrain was a mix of trees, open pasture and then a large section of brush. We hiked up navigating over dry stream beds, climbed over rocks, and danced around all types of thorned bushes. But through it all…it was straight up…like steep up!

Both of us realized just how bad we were out of shape as our hearts raced and we were gasping for our next breath. All the while continuing up and continuing to push our way through brush, thorns, and no visible path.

We finally reached a point to where Diego said, “Wow, I’ve never been up this far before!” So we took a moment to take in the view and then tried to decide our next move.

  1. Do we go down the same way we came up? That answer was no. We were not going to forge our way through all of that brush again.
  2. Do we make our way to the treeline and hope we can go down with less effort? We tried that and were soon faced with a large deep washout that was surrounded by brush.
  3. Do we continue to go up and then try to find a road or another way down? That sounded like a plan and so we continued up.

We finally reached and open field on the side of the mountain where people were working the soil planting corn. This is where the smoke was coming from that we had seen from the bottom of the mountain. We continued up to the top of the mountain. The view was spectacular, but it also proved to us that we were very far from where we had begun our hike.

We took a moment to consult Google Maps to get a look at where we were and the easiest way to get “home.” The sun was beginning to set behind the mountain, and soon it would be getting dark. I began to feel the tightening in my chest of the oncoming of some anxiety as I realized that our options to get home before dark were going to be limited to:

  1. Going back the way we came. Yuk.
  2. Hiking towards another mountain, thinking we would hit a road that would then take us back to Las Anonas.

I stood on top of this mountain and just looked at my options…none of them felt right. Then I did something random and completely by mistake…I walked about 10 feet to another area on the mountain…

What I saw in this new location was a clearing that led down the mountain to a treeline that would take us in the right direction…towards home. So that’s what we did. We took that path.

The clearing was an easy downhill walk to the treeline. I picked up a beautiful trail under the trees that led us down the mountain and dumped us back into the pasture where we had started our uphill climb.

10 feet…I just moved 10 feet…and everything changed.

I thought about the “life lesson” I experienced on this hike. Sometimes we find ourselves in a “proverbial pickle.” A situation that seems hopeless or filled with anxiety and risk. Our options at this point may seem limited. But what I learned to do was to change my perspective. Do something. Not big or drastic. Just do something I haven’t done yet…like walk 10 feet to get a new perspective.

How this might look in real life could be doing things like taking a drive, going a new way to work, getting up an hour earlier, journaling, working out, calling an old friend, taking a class…something…anything new and different.

We all get lost from time to time…but we don’t have to feel lost. We have a way home, and we may simply need to move a mere 10 feet to see it.

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How do we deal with the tragedies of life?

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When I was a kid growing up, I never questioned my parent’s decisions.

For instance, when I was six years old, I would have never thought to walk into my parent’s room and demand for them to tell me how they filled out their tax forms for the year and question the deductions they did or didn’t take. I would have never challenged my Dad on his choice of routes that he was going to drive on our annual vacation. I would have never demanded an explanation for decisions that he made at work. Because, as a six-year-old, I had my hands full with my own stuff.

My job was to play nice with my friends. To take a nap each day and to eat everything on my plate. My job was to pick up my toys when I was through playing with them. My job was to say “please and thank you” and to hold my parent’s hand when we crossed the street. Life was simple as long as I focused on my stuff…

So in the wake of the recent mudslides in Guatemala, the shootings in Oregon, the floods in the Carolinas, the craziness of Syria and Isis…I often hear people questioning the goodness of God. They wonder…why God would “allow” such events to take place…and in some cases, they demand an explanation!

The problem I have with such thinking is that by demanding an explanation…they are willfully distancing themselves from God…the very thing they NEED when struggling with such a question. By them failing to get an answer…they walk away…from Him and from the very thing they need the most during this time…unconditional love despite the ever-present storms of life.

The act of questioning and challenging God is not a new thing. It is a pattern of human behavior going back to the dawn of man. I read in the Bible about Job having it out with God and demanding answers for his tragedy. I think he is the only person that ever got an explanation from God and in reading God’s response…I learned not to question God…just go with it!

So what do we as humans do when the storms of tragedy fall down upon us and disrupt our lives, tear at our hearts and consume those we deem as innocent victims…what do we do?

We should do what may seem “unnatural” for many of us…we should run towards God. That is the best place to be. As the saying goes, the safest place in a hurricane is the center of the storm. Once there, feel free to share what is in YOUR heart. Share your fears, your pains, and your uncertainties… He shares all you feel. Then when you’re out of words…just reach up and grab his hand… and don’t let go. Trust me…you’ll be fine.

I know it may sound simple…but it worked when I was six.

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Frozen Dinner Christianity

In the Bible, Jesus spoke in parables to highlight a message that we could understand and apply to our lives. I believe He still is doing that today. 

 Being a new Christian, I am hungry for knowledge of how He wants me to live and act and think. When I read the Bible, it is almost like food. It fills me in ways unlike anything else I have ever experienced. It’s so simple…all one has to do is read the directions…just like a TV dinner. 

Look at the package of a TV Dinner. 

  1.  It’s an image of perfection. Everything is in its compartment – in perfect order. 
  2. It tells you how good it is for you. 
  3. It gives you rules or directions to make it as the maker intended. 
  4. It has been inspected – so you know you can trust that it is safe. 
  5. It gives you details of everything that went into making it. 
  6. It tells you how long it is good for. 
  7. It tells you what to do if you have questions.

 Pretty exciting huh! Now let’s open the box and see how perfect we look! 

The first thing we notice is the transparency layer that separates the food from the box. 

You must wonder why the maker wanted us to see how ugly the food was! 

The reality is… 

  1. It’s cold and hard. 
  2. It looks nothing like the perfect package did! 
  3. Things aren’t in order like the photo 
  4. It’s not appealing at all 
  5. It almost looks sinful – it’s hardly what the photo looks like. 

Our first response is… “I want the package! I want to be like that!”  

If I saw this frozen lump in the market, would I have bought it? Probably not… I needed the box to show me what it COULD look like if I follow the directions. 

I needed the box, I needed the directions. 

If I just leave it alone to thaw out will it taste good? Probably not… I need the HEAT! 

The directions tell us to first vent the transparency layer. In some cases, it requires us to remove the transparency layer completely! Won’t it burn? 

The makers know that when the heat is applied to the cold, pressure builds because the steam that previously kept the food frozen must escape. As more heat is applied to the dinner, it slowly becomes more and more like the photo. 

The promises that were made on the package have been kept. However… is it as perfect looking as the photo? 

No – but it still gives us the nutrition that it promised and it fills us like we needed. 

And even after it has served to fill our stomachs – it provides a sweet dessert for us to enjoy! 

How sweet THAT is!