Corna-Easter

Day 40 Doxology: Wow!  I don't think I deserve a B+ for my ability to finish strong thru this year's Lenten Discipline, but as usual I've learned a lot along the way.  I guess the greatest teaching moment for myself was that I can never be perfect, and that there is only one who was, and is, perfect and that is Christ...which allows us to come full-circle with the close of Lent and the introduction of the Empty Tomb.

Today's image is brought to you by the Coronavirus...a picture of the island in my kitchen with so many of my family's flavors represented.  A hurtful thought is that J-1 is not with us to share in the caloric multiplication -exponentially!  We miss our girl!  With that thought, how blessed are we, not because we have food but for other reasons usually not understood!

What we've determined through this season of quarantine is that we are a family that love chips!  So, maybe not chips but different flavor of chips.  I guess what I've learned through this year's Lenten Discipline is we are all different, but connected!  And, more than ever, it is our connection that separates us from anything else in the world.  So, I'll include another picture that takes my breath as we continue to celebrate out dependence on each other as we close out another year together...Let the image speak for itself!

Holy or Spy Wednesday?

Day 37 Doxology:  To be clear the personable post garner the most clicks, and those post that have a creative image to project even do much better.  In full disclosure, I don't have a creative image for today's doxology.

Today is the heart of Holy Week.  In fact, today is labeled as Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday depending on your perspective.  It seems odd that the two polar opposite decryptions of today could incase what today means for the world, or at least you or me.    I guess that is at the heart of today's picture-less doxology.

If you lean toward Holy Wednesday then you are in good company.  Then maybe you remember that Jesus met with the disciples for meal while Mary anointed his head and feet with very expensive oil.  This started a chain-reaction of events that led to Jesus' betrayal.

If Spy Wednesday is your choice then you lean to the attention of the latter part of the story -Judas making plans that would cement the rest of the week in world history.

In either case, Jesus is the main character and the center of our focus!

In thinking about our (my) different perspective, I couldn't help but to think that how we understand issues based on our point of view in addressing them.  For instance, if I identify as liberal..then I look at how this current administration is failing the public that would never had voted him in office to begin with.

If I am republican, then my attention is on how the current administration is never given a fair shake.

Here is what I am certain...Jesus was never a Republican or Democrat, and hatred is not bias!  Howard Thurman called it the "Hounds of Hell" that would not discriminate.  Thurman's meaning is angered prejudism will forever hunt you down and infect all areas of your life.

So, during a time of Church and Christian revival, how can we follow Christ's example of the love for God and neighbor?

Maybe that makes us lean toward Holy Wednesday rather than Spy Wednesday, but really it's up to you!

More Than You Could Ever Know!

Day 36 Doxology: Ok, I didn't get the response to yesterday's doxology I was hoping for, but no fear...My thoughts wear simple...the future is often blurred!  The only clarity we have is either our faith or the present, and only in that can we direct our response!  Great job for this that shared!  Now what about today?

Today, God has blessed me time again with many opportunities to stop, drop, and roll in some God goodness!

First, my house is full!  Although, I am missing J-1, she blessed me with a text first thing this morning!  Then the house came alive with all the other J's!   God is good!

Dos, I enjoyed office-fellowship with P.M. and her sister L.P.  Needless to say, they are two lively ladies that love to laugh!  It was amazing to have non-family company, and I was reminded how much I miss people!

Lastly on today's list that I will share, while at the church I got the mail and received a huge surprise.  Serving as a pastor in the UMC, I've had the blessing of increasing my family through itinerancy.  Today was an example of the love and loyalty of that increased circle of friends and family that I've made over the past several years!  God is so very good!

Since worship has been put on pause, you can imagine how great a strain it has been financially on the Church that is solely dependent on contributions each Sunday.  So, great effort is taken to be even more frugal with expendiatures.  In the mail today was a great example of love and how much love trumps anything else in the world...A financial gift in the middle of a blurred future!

I have marked out the name because I don't want to embarrass this family that I love so much, but you've got to know...you are Christ to me yet again!  I love you more than you could ever know!

Your Thoughts?

Day 35 Doxology: Wow!  What a day of many blessings while I had the amazing opportunity to experience God's blessings for myself.  In fact, while I was going through today's doxology moments I had a thought...what if I heard from you regarding your thoughts about the image that demanded my attention.  We are connected, and after all we've been doing this for 35 days now!

Here is an image that I would love to offer for review and reflection as to how God might be speaking to you for a doxology reflection!  I may, or may not, offer my synopsis tomorrow!

All I ask is that you be sincere, but creative!  Listen to how God is speaking to you then share with us...God is always speaking, but do we hear?

A bit of background is this: I was installing a clothesline outside underneath the tin roof on the back of the parsonage.  This image is just one end.  Each end of the clothesline is a coupling so one can tighten the line as needed.  Hmm, what is God saying?

A bit of info, but what are your thoughts?

My Last Day

Day 34 Doxology: What a beautiful day doing everything we could do like we wouldn't have another day to do what it is we do...Confused?

Shannon and I have a admit-able sickness.  Sometimes we just throw in the towel and go get a Milo's.  For me it's the food.  For Shannon it's the regular cheeseburger, extra onions and both mine and her lemon pie.

It made me think about what would we order for our last meal and how would we spend it.  Today, it felt like life would end at 5pm...So, Milo's was in order.  Like two teenagers we went through the drive-thru and ate our lunch in the sun on the tailgate. Two young kids in love admitting that 5:01pm was coming.

Which makes me think...today's doxology was not the food but enjoying my last day with Jonesy, and almost matching shirts it appears.

My Lord, My Family, and My Friends!

Day 33 Doxology:  What a day of "Praise" this has been.  All the phone calls and text messages about the crosses, and there are more to hammer in tomorrow.  However, "This is the day that the Lord has made.  So let us rejoice and be glad of it!"

Yesterday's doxology were the crosses that Shannon and J-2 assembled, and then today's doxology is the sharing of those crosses!  A bit of a back story, we snuck out last night late (9pm) like two little kids to put crosses up in our neighbor's yard.  You'd thought we were rolling their yard the way we snuck around, cutting out the lights, and speeding away so that we wouldn't get caught.

Then today we received the first fruits of our labor...pictures with children near this year's Easter crosses. What a joy!  That is amazing in and of itself, but the greatest blessing was part-two of a previous doxology (See Day 9).

Words can't express the joy that I received when a successful friendship was solidified after hours of work and prayer.  Who knew that Rags loved Ro's Grill Jack Jack Burgers as much as I do, and what a treat it must have been over the countless number of Jack's sausage and biscuit.  Some things of great worth take time!  Because of the crosses, and because of my new friend Rags and even stuck at home this might be the best Easter ever!  "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."

How can you make it your best Easter under these circumstances?  This year could be our best year ever because we stand to realize what truly is important!  For me it's my Lord, my family, and my friends -old and new!!  Now, what about you?

Yes Lord!

Day 32 Doxology:  It's crazy! I missed yesterday...I simply ran out of day, but today I think I got something that will make you pause and say, Yes Lord!

I've been working on my daughter and Son-n-law's bathroom and each evening I try to finish the list of to do's to stay on track before Gov. Ivey shuts down the state.  While I was doing yesterday's "to do" list Shannon and J-2 where putting together crosses for our church families!

With my "A-Type" personality I inspected each cross and found a list of things that made me shiver, but...when I realized how they were a perfect symbol of the love they have for a church family they couldn't hug or even be in company of during the oddest of times they made me pause and think!

I thought how this imperfect object was used to right the world.  The cross used to cause death in the harshest of ways created a path for me to be made whole.  With the new conditions we are facing for Palm Sunday and Easter, my wife and daughters passion for each of you is overwhelming.   My hope is that it becomes contagious!

You just don't know...You might wake up one day and have a cross outside your door...and not from the Joneses!

I Am So Dead!

Day 30 Doxology:  Well we've started the countdown to the last 10 days until Easter even though this year's Easter will look much different that any Easter in my past 50 plus years.  Just how different depends on you.

Today's doxology is a "praise God" moment that I've experienced many times in my long friendship with this person.  In fact, years ago I used to keep a list of the acts of kindness from this person; thinking that I would repay in some way, but over the years the list grew so long that it became overwhelming.  So, I stopped, realizing there was nothing I could do to justify his kindness toward me and my family.  I will fight the temptation to start listing his random acts of generosity for fear of embarrassment to us both.  Needless to say...this person has one of the best hearts a person could ever witness.  Ok, enough blubber!

Today's doxology is yet another example of his huge heart.  At a time when people are being laid off or asked to cut hours because of the current crisis, the owner of OEC's passion for those that have felt and continue to feel the pinch of everyone being forced to stay home.  He decided that he would purchase lunch locally for his office from a different restaurant each day of the week to help where he could. That's what he does!

So, without embarrassment, losing my man card, or even worse retaliation from his mom or his wife...today's doxology highlights a person that is Christ to me in so many ways over so many years!  Now, I just have to share him with others.  I am so dead!

Now, how will you be Christ to others...Jesus Himself said, "Now, go and do likewise."

On Me!

Day 29 Doxology: Sorry that today's doxology is so late.  Shannon and I were at J-2's yet again for the completion of today's to do list.  What I got was more than I bargained for.

I was finishing up with a final wall soon to become the outside wall for the tub.  In short, it was a wall to be tiled not long down the road.  The wall, as it stands, was part plaster and part cement block with many different raised areas that made it impossible to attach tile.  So, a false wall was a must.

While I was chipping away some of the remaining cement that would prevent our false wall from becoming plumb, Eben (J-2's bo) handed me a chisel to use.  It made me pause and think.

All my life I've heard the story of Jesus' resurrection.  All my life I heard the words of Jesus, "Forgive them for they know not what they do."  It wasn't until today did I understand it to depths that I cannot explain.  I was the one that didn't know what I was doing.

An undisputed fact in scripture is that Jesus was crucified -nailed to a cross.  Scripture tells us that he was crucified for my sins.  I've always believed that.  I have faith to believe that, but until today it never dawned on me that I crucified Jesus..really crucified him, not just metaphorically.  I nailed his hands and feet, and the chisel I used today was a larger version of the nails that were used.

This Easter, because of the coronavirus, will be different than Easters in then past.  However for me, this Easter will be more different than any other, because I nailed the nails that caused this hurtful celebration.

Enjoy your Easter, on me!

Christ Shops Here

Day 28 Doxology: Have you noticed a change in people since our world has come to a screeching halt?  Like after 9/11, the world's attitude toward one another seems on the mend.  Look, I realize we are not there yet, but we've been offered a mulligan, and why not use it.  Let me tell you about my Friday.

I started off my morning with left-over sausage balls -Which I love!  Then J-2, Shannon, and myself headed to Pulaski to work on J-2's bathroom remodel project.  After finishing up their new floor system and putting down the subfloor we called it quits and headed home.  On the way home we talked about getting some groceries so I checked in my console for my wallet...Oh no! WHERE"S MY WALLET!

I didn't stress and was certain it was home.  Once home, I tore up the house looking for the wallet with no luck.  It's funny how certain you are at first your previous day's routine, but only to start questioning everything before your search turns up null and void.  Regardless of where my wallet was, neither it nor I slept last night.

This morning I remembered that Thursday evening I had gotten gas while I was out, and thought what the heck...I called the number.  To my surprise, my great-joy, to my :"rip off my shirt and run down the street kind of excitement" the man said I had dropped it and "it's all here."  "It's all here"...Hmm!

If you've ever lost your wallet, or your purse, you realize how amazing it must have been to hear, "It's all here."  Today, when everything is sideways...when everyone is broken and refuses to get help...the gospel that we as Christian have the privilege to share is both the "Here" and now, but also to come.  Thank the LORD for the amazing person that felt the pain of humanity during this time and offered up a very good deed!  May God richly Bless your home in abundance!

Christ shops here!

Social Distancing

Day 26 Doxology: Sorry about. missing yesterday's blog post. I am torn between posting something quickly for yesterday, but then I think yesterday is in the past. I thought maybe I could use my thoughts for yesterday today, but that seems like a violation.  So, I'm posting yesterdays out of love, and if I do two today, then so be it!

I have several reason for not getting around to posting yesterday, none of which are worthy of missing our time together.  Time together, hum...maybe that will be the op-ed of today's thought.  How much time are we spending together in the wake of our current situation?  Furthermore, is our time together spent in the same way we act when we are snowed in?   A time when we eat bread and milk in as many forms possible (because we bought out the stores), or we play with family members for hours exhausting our reservoir of card games.  It's like we treat it as a huge sleep-over with one thing in common...we are glad when it's over.

I choose to work.  Maybe not work as usual like going in to the office sitting at my cubicle with hundred others, but work on projects that have been needed to be completed for some time.  I'm checking projects off my list. Like finishing J-2's floor system for her new bathroom.

The amazing thing is I'm still staying safe.  Because there were none of the usual dust mask available, I had to get the mac-daddy of all mask.  I included it for your viewing pleasure.  So, even though we are quarantine, and Shannon and I couldn't go sailing, we get an opportunity to check things off the list and doing so in a healthy way.   Maybe this is good time to mention Proverbs 14:23, All hard works brings a profit, but mere talk leads to only to poverty.

Regardless of your stance of using this time to get things done, it is at least a time to distract from the over-focus on the state of the world.  I mean, I pray continuously that God will heal this world, but work does not distract from huge blessings.  I will continue to do that, but I have to stay busy.  Besides it's cool to spend most your afternoon sounding like Darth Vader..."LUKE, I am your father!"

Whether, your time is spent with family in play, with one another working...one thing is for certain. there is but only one Father, and He does not follow Social Distancing!

This World, or Beyond

Day 24 Doxology: Many parts of life get drowned out.

On a personal note, I struggle with tinnitus. I have in my ear the sound of an outboard motor buzzing near my head, or at best the sound of crickets in the dark of the night all the time.  I sleep with a fan for the sound not for the air.  So, one could imagine the reason why I say, "Huh?"

This morning while enjoying my morning in the hot tub, the rain was very noticeable.  I loved the sound of the rain against the tin roof that Shannon and I erected this year.  At times the sound was deafening, but other times it was the right balance to ward off the tinnitus demon that haunts me too often. So today's doxology was about sound...blinding, deafening sound!

I sat there and thought about the sounds of life.  How we search to drown out life's sound with anything and everything.  We search for anything to drown out the parts of life that give us a huge amount of discomfort.  However, there are times of life when sound and action are in balance with one another and we don't recognize the noises of life.  God has done that for me on a spiritual level.

God's love and acceptance was enough to drown out the world's noise.  I think the balance would be how can we continue to tune into God's frequency that the outside world doesn't distort.  Sometimes what we think we hear to be right and perfect in this world is not that which is real...it's just tinnitus.

What part of this world, or beyond, do you hear the most?

Community/Connection

Day 22 Doxology: I had several moments today in which I stopped and praise God.  I could start a laundry list of excitable moments that I was walking in God's shadow and it never felt better.  Of all the highlights of the day none moved me like the enormous and overwhelming support of my recent protest.

Yesterday, I was kicked off Facebook for in their words "Violations of Community Standards."  One dear friend replied, far be it for me to raise their standards.  It's almost always true that misery loves company, but in their case it wasn't about the misery...it was about the community/ connection.

I've been writing my doxologies for every season in Lent for years without fully grasping the knowledge of what it meant to others.  I purposely wrote these blogs to align myself with God more each and every day as I moved closer to Easter and it works. By the end of Lent I can more easily see moments to praise God.  They appear in the face of a child, in the smell of the rain, and in the last light of the day.  They are, as it turns out, all around...like the reply on, yes...even Facebook.

I cannot thank everyone enough for your love of community/connection.

Quick Change

Day 21 Doxology:  How is the self quarantine going?  What seemed novel at first seemed to quickly fade.  However, I am happy to make this short investment for the future of many I will never know or meet.  I know that it won't last.  Which takes us to today's doxology.

Today was sunny at times but for the the most part cloudy.  We haven't had rain in a couple of days which has been a doxology in and of itself.  However, there was this one brief-very brief- period where the rain was extremely heavy.  I made me think about how quickly things can change.

With that marinating in the back of my mind, I made a trip to Publix.  While on Pepper Road when I came to the bridge I noticed the river was extremely high.  I had been out this morning to get gas and it was nothing like it was after the very brief rain.  Wow...how quickly things can change!

We've all heard about a family whose life was forever changed in a second.  They hear a son was killed in service or a family hears bankruptcy is certain.  Children hear their parents are getting a divorce.  Sons and daughters hear their mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Or, a parent gets a call from a police officer to inform them their child was in an accident.  It is our response to moments in life that defines us. Things can change so quickly.

But, here is the deal...if things can change in a moment in a negative way then why can't they change equally in a positive way.  We can affect our lives and the lives of those around us in a moments notice.  We can choose to stand up to a bully.  We could over-tip a waitress.  We could listen to someone's problem.  We could take groceries to a friend.  We could stop avoiding love and embrace it.  We could decide that addiction is not going to dictate the terms of our life.  We could choose Jesus as Lord.

I always loved the story of Joseph when he confronted the brothers that had sold him into slavery.  You might remember what he told them when they had discovered that it was their brother that was in this position of power to save everyone from the famine.  Remember?  He said, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."  To translate -What you intended for evil, God intended for good.   

Life is going to change, sometimes in a instance, but we can take the change that might seem like the rising river to irrigate the dry areas of our lives.  At the end of the day, I believe God wants us to see how we can use all things for the greater good...things can change so quickly. 

Raise The Roof

Day 20 Doxology:  Wow, today marks the half-way mark through our Lenten Discipline of doxologies for 2020.   Maybe that should be today's doxology all it's own?  But, I think I have a better moment of deep contemplation that ended with a hardy "Praise God."

J-2 and her husband (who looks like an extra on the set for the Game of Thrones) decided to remodel their almost 100 year old home's bathroom.  The blue and white dime-size tile screamed for updating.  Their plaster ceiling and walls looked cool, but once you started to try and remove the spider-web cracked material it proved to be more durable than it seemed.  The large amount of physical labor makes one question, Remind me why did we decide to do this?  Finally, you are through the layers of timed material to discover a Good-Golly Miss Molly kind of trouble.

When they unearthed the layers of cement and tile they discovered an interstate of very rotten floor joist.  Once the boards came in contact with the breathable air they crumbled under the weight.  In fact, before the floor could be removed more bracing was paramount.

As I rubbed my arthritic shoulder, I started to compare the deteriorated floor to our own lives.  So many times we have hidden so many things deep down that we need so that we can be structurally sound.  We hide the rot hoping that it is never uncovered.  But, when it comes to light, it crumbles.

I had a good friend that once said, "We should come to church naked."  As many of you that are reading this may pause and shutter at the thought, I understood his point.  We come to church with years of plaster and tile hiding the rot and decay that we hope is never seen.  We act as if we've got this, but in truth we are one floor joist away from ending up in the basement.  What if we didn't try to hide all of our imperfections?  What if we had nothing to hide them behind?

So...my daughter's bathroom may look nasty and a complete mess right now, but before long it will be rebuilt from the ground up better than ever.  Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  It seems to me that good things come to those that are willing to endure the hardship of revealing the rot and decay, it seems like that is how you can raise the roof!  Whoop! Whoop!

A New Thing

Day 19 Doxology: Again, just as the last two days, when you don't do much; don't go anywhere; don't see many people there are limited opportunities to have a praise God moment like the many options that have surfaced in the years and days past.  Maybe that is the "tell" of this whole season of Lent.  We get to reset our focus and realize, as we prepare for Jesus' resurrection, the importance of one another. Sometimes the greatest doxologies are unknown to most, especially myself.

We were blessed to have a member step up and rekindle their love of teaching.  This person decided they would take their discipleship seriously and teach our children during Sunday school.  One of their many plans was to repaint the main children's room with a new theme.  This meant that the old theme needed to be painted away.  So, a plain-white base coat of paint for the main children's room was requested.

While the world was watching endless cycles of the news about the coronavirus, an elder church member took the time to move furniture and repaint a room that would demand several coats.  The old cloudy sky-blue room with camel murals is now a thing of the past, and all that is left is a blank canvas in a room with endless options.

The blank canvas is only one of two parts for today's doxology.  The first part of today's doxology is the willingness of the elder church member to invest in our children.  The second part of today's doxology is the blank canvass which is a must not only for recreating a new theme for the children's room, but it is the same for us.

Many of us spend a lifetime living as a selfish version of ourselves, but it isn't until we start over are we ready for a new theme for God to create something magical.  The prophet Isaiah reminds us the words of God, "See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

Maybe a new thing is what we all need right now!

Gotta Keep Singing

Day 17 Doxology:  If you've done the right thing today and stayed home per recommendation of...well everybody, then you've become a sponge for all of the news relating to the Coronavirus.  You've probably heard so much about the threat that has invaded our every-day routine that you were hoping for some relief or distraction by reading this blog...well, let me the first to apologize.

It seems that everywhere we turn it is COVID-19.  I caught myself feeling down and out, wondering where is the good news. I honestly had given up on the thought of sharing a doxology for today, then God gifted me, "Love lifted me.  When nothing else could help, Love lifted me!"  That was supposed to have been sung even if you really don't feel like singing.

While I was force-feeding myself good cheer, I remembered a song from years ago by MercyMe.  I can remember listening to this song over and over at certain times in my life.  It always made me feel better.  So out of love, I share it with you today and offer it as today's doxology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nftzdsaQPR4

While everything around you may be shutting down and it feels like you are being shut off from others...do what I do.  Change the channel, read a book, phone a friend, and praise God so that when we come together our hearts will be ready for what God has planned for us, and remember what ever you do you've "gotta to keep singing"  

"Jesus sing over me!"

Sing Praises to God

Day 16 Doxology:
Well, there are a couple of moments in a father’s life that are "Everest" type moments…the day you are told you are going to be a father; the day your child is born, the first time your daughter looks you in the eyes and smiles, the times you make your daughter laugh or help solve their problems, and the moment your daughter says yes to a young man that will be responsible for her safety and laughter for the next part of her life. 

For J-1 that happened last night.

My doxology is simple…her happiness.  Many of you have already seen the pictures on facebook and commented about your excitement for her engagement.  Also, in those images you can see and happy girl!  There is nothing that will please a father more than knowing his girls are happy, conversely there is nothing that will keep him awake more than the worry of their unhappiness.  

So, here is to you Jonesy…Deddy wishes you and Andres all the joy and happiness that you can handle, because your happiness is my happiness and that makes me want to sing praises to God.

Extra Joneses

Day 15 Doxology: What does your house sound like?  What noise fills or doesn't fill your rooms and halls?  The noises in your house may have changed so slightly that you haven't even noticed the change.  Today I did.

I was at home today and two of the three "J's" came in sat down and started watching t.v. and the room went from dead to alive in a moments notice.  I had forgotten how much they joked or commented on the movie they were watching.  I'd forgotten how much laughter was apart of their world.  I had forgotten how often they both sat in the same chair for hours at a time while they joked and laughed.

It was great to have the house filled with their voices.  It was even better to have them at arms reached.  So, naturally my doxology would be their being home, but more importantly my doxology is the fact that all my girls have grown to a level of maturity that is healthy for them.

As parents, if we had our way we would never change certain areas of our life which would leave us dysfunctional or incomplete.  I personally wouldn't want to have let my parents go, or worst, I would have kept my 3 girls at 6, 5, 4 years of age.  Maturing in all areas of our life is healthy.

I am reminded of Paul instructing the people of Corinth that they were on milk for a while because they had not reached a level of maturity, but the time would come when they would be expected to eat solid food...once they matured.

Children grow up; parents grow older; life changes; houses become quieter...it is the evolution of life or at least it should be. Right now I'm loving life with some extra Joneses!

I Choose Hope

Day 14 Doxology: How many times have you washed your hands today?  How many times have you thought about washing your hands today?  For the life of me my eyes have never needed rubbing like they have these last several days. The world in which we live has changed.

I am one of those that like listening to talk radio while I drive, and I can't tell you how many times the radio conversation was interrupted by "Breaking News" to report.  New York has issued a state of emergency.  As of 2 hrs ago the Big 10, SEC, and ACC have cancelled their conference championship tournament.  Heck, the Big East cancelled their tourney at half-time.

President Trump has cancelled flights from Europe, issued plans to offer tax relief for workers, and stimulus help for businesses.  Biden has offered his criticism and plan as well as Sanders. MSN, CNN, The Washington Post, Forbes, and Fox have all offered bias reports of everyone involved.

Everyone with a camera, microphone, computer, or typewriter are issuing their opinions in the name of public safety (Including myself).  And the public...we are knee-jerking with great cause.  We are being told the sky is falling and for several families that have already felt premature loss of life it is or has already.  Even the stock market has responded with a "storm the castle" approach.  Today's record loss hasn't been felt since "Black Monday," 1987.  Enough Please!

Through the smoke, I am reminded of the message that Jeremiah tried to relay to those that were in exile: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too might have sons and daughters.  Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also seek the peace and prosperity in the city to which I have carried you into exile."  A few verses later Jeremiah shares this, "Don't let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you."

I like this scripture mainly because I am reminded that God knows how we feel and is offering us hope.  We can feel exiled in a distant land, or we can feel like an exile in our own home.  Regardless where we find ourselves, the feeling is real.  However, God through Jeremiah offers us a reminder that exile is temporary.  He reminds them, and us, that life is to be lived...It won't always be like this.  So, that's enough for me!  I choose hope...even in the midst of my exile regardless of what day it is or which color they use to describe it.

Double Vision

Day 13 Doxology: I apologize for missing Day 12.  However, like all Lenten disciplines when you get sidetrack you receive Grace and start over the next day a lot like today's doxology.  Grace please?

Today's doxology is a bit reflective about everyday life -past, present, and future.  This morning after my 5am workout, I returned home and went straight to the hot tub.  I like to sit in the hot tub in part because it feels great, but a large reason is because I like to brag to Shannon throughout the week knowing she misses it so much!  Ahhhh, the love of a husband.

Back on track...this morning while I sat in the hot tub and marveled at the very dense fog all around. I really felt like I was in another place, or better yet, experiencing something spiritually new. It's difficult to explain, but it was so spiritually mysterious that I knew that although it was early in my day it would likely trump many of the God moments I would experience later (except meeting J-1 tonight coming in from San Antonio).  But, this morning's scenery wasn't all of it.

When I tried to take a picture to share with you, I was surprised at what I would find.  With each picture, the image was distorted because my flash was on.  At first, I thought I was taking a picture of the steam rising from the hot tub or shaking as I snapped the shutter on my camera.  When I got out and closed the cover the pictures were not any better.  I still couldn't capture the true image of the morning until I turned of my flash.  Afterwards, I realized that with the flash my camera was taking a picture of the moisture droplets of the fog that was swirling around me unnoticed. I've included both pictures.

It dawned on me that we can go through life with multiple visions.  We can choose to see only the obvious.  In a distance life looks normal, peaceful, even mysterious, but close to the heart there is this very active part of life that swirls all around us.  Which image do we consider to be more accurate; which image do we pay attention to?  I believe we need them both.

When life gets too difficult and our hearts grieve and crave something peaceful and majestic find a way to satisfy your craving by focusing on the big picture -search for the spiritual.  Conversely, when you get so consumed and hypnotized with stuff that seems so far away possibly even unobtainable know that there are forces at work, very energetic forces, swirling right under your nose.

I believe people that do life well have balance of both, because life is what happens while you are making plans!  I pray you can find your way through life with double vision.  You like apples?

Spiritual H2O

Day 11 Doxology: I had a pretty uneventful Monday in terms of a huge doxology moment.  Which made me think deeper about the little things that I do, or don't do, on a daily basis.  So, many of you may read today's blog and say the ol' boy is stretching it today, or maybe not...it's my prayer that you just might start to think about how God is speaking to you.

After a weekend of driving to Camp Sumatanga more times than one should, I found myself drinking way-more coffee than is recommended and hardly any water per day for body health. Clemson University released their guidelines for water consumption as 1 quart, or 32 ounces, for every 50 pounds of body weight.  That means I need at least 185.6 ounces of good ol' fashion H2O each day. It dawned on me that I seldom come close to their recommendation, but today that was going to change.

So, I bought a huge water bottle and started at it at record pace.  Before long I had consumed roughly half of the 3 liter bottle of water but was slowing down exponentially.  I was determined to succeed!

According to ThoughtCo.com the amount of water in the human body ranges between 45-75%.  The average adult range is 50-65% while the percentage in infants is much higher at 75-78%.  I believe that I never achieve my normal range of water for health, why?

One reason is it takes work!  You know what I mean...water in; water out!  This led me to the point of today's doxology.

I believe that life begins at conception.  That means that before we were born, there is something beyond this world at work.  That makes us spiritual beings first and human being second.  If that is the case, why shouldn't we be more concerned with our spiritual health more than our physical health.  If I would have spent as much time today in Biblical study and talking with God as I did drinking water and going to the restroom, I believe God would have said "Praise Me!"

So...even though I drank all that water in one day for the first time in years, I realize I did achieve some level of health, albeit Spiritual!  Enlightened at about 55%, I think tomorrow I will focus more on the Spiritual H2O than the physical H2O.

Not Getting Stuck

Day 10 Doxology: Good Evening!  I pray that these 10 days of Easter preparation have been as much a blessing for you as it has been for me...I am just now starting to see God's wonders more and more with each day. Which leads us to today's doxology.

While driving I saw this calf, and I couldn't wait to show you the concerned look on his face.  As I stopped to take the picture, I couldn't help but wonder what was he thinking and what was God saying to me through his action.  After a time of prayer, it dawned on me the bigger picture that was being revealed.

Have you ever felt so strong about something that you would risk it all?  That the topic was so sensitive that all kinds of personal-health indicators jumped off the charts when you started thinking about.  Sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of something, and we aren't entirely sure how to get ourselves out let alone remember how we got ourselves into it to begin with.  We look around us and it seems that everyone else has it so together feeding on the green grass, but not us.  We have plenty of manna, but we just feel confined, maybe trapped, by our own doing.

So, we just freeze.  Before we know it we are frozen in time watching the world pass us by and gawk at our situation. It doesn't have to be that way.  Proverbs reminds us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding."

How much do we allow God to direct our paths?

The calf thought the hay looked good, but before he knew it he was right in the middle of all that goodness -stuck.  Personal advancement and/or change is great when it comes to the kingdom of God- if it glorifies God! When it's not so great is when it comes to the advancement of ourselves -for self sake.  I pray that whatever the future holds for you, that it advances the Kingdom of God, and I believe that is a sure-fire way of not getting stuck just doing life.

When We Become Friends

Day 9 Doxology: Do you have people that you are certain don't like you?  Up the street is a young fellow that lets it be known that he doesn't care for me in the slightest.

I've thought about him for a while.  He affects my ministry, my workouts, the way I relate to the people closest to him.  I mean I'm a pastor...who wouldn’t like me?  The truth is from time-to-time we come up against people that for whatever the reason just don't seem to care for us.

I felt that it was time for this to change.  So after prayer and conversations with those that know him best, I am determined to win his heart.  That is why he is today's doxology!  I decided today was the day that I was going to start chipping away at whatever it is that has him all stirred up against me.  It doesn't matter how long it will take...I've got all the time in the world, but I have to move with a sense of urgency because we're not promised tomorrow.  So, today it's on!

Let me introduce you Rags.  He don't know it yet, but one day we are going to be good friends. It was over a year ago that I drove up in Rags' driveway only to never leave the safety of my truck.  I must of looked like a treed coon!  The family said, "Get out and come in; we've got some fresh vegetables to give you."  You know that I will do almost anything for food except get out of that truck.  I said, "No thank you!"  My pride sat and watch as a 5 ft, 70 lb. sweet-heart of a women delivered fresh vegetables to my truck window that I would only crack a couple of inches so that I could barely slide the container of food through.

Scripture tells us to turn the other cheek...There is not a cheek that I possess that I would trust Rags with...today!  However, I am determined to win him over.  I believe that is what we should do with our enemies even the ones that will chew your tires off of your truck!  Work to make them frienemies!

So, today it begins.  This morning I dropped by Jacks and spent $1.73 on a sausage and biscuit -the 1st investment into our friendship.  I drove to Rags' house pulled up in the driveway and watched him look at me like I was a new kid in school.  I bravely rolled down my window and begin to tell him how one day he was going to love me...then I boldly dropped the unwrapped sausage and biscuit to the ground, and before I could even take a picture, the biscuit was gone.  Then he started growling at me again, and I think he said something about my lunch money too!  Yep, it was great start -Praise God!

I think one of the first things I'm going to do when we become friends is work on his eating habits!

Mosaic of Doxologies

Day 8 Doxology:  A fun day comes to an end, albeit much later than usual.  Today's "praise God" moment is brought to you by all the wonderful people that I have had the pleasure to come in contact with today.

My day started at 4:30am waking up next to my wife.  We both got ready for our day -her's to school and mine to workout at Athen's Crossfit.  I can't tell you what a great group of people it takes to help make you excited about working out at 5am -an early start to "praising God!"

Next was cutting up with our church administrative assistant.  She is so conscious to make sure everything is meticulously done right while I continually distract from her perfection...she is worthy of a "doxology" all her own, but today she will have to share.

Soon, I was off to visit some members in the hospital for laughter and prayer -always a time to offer praise!

As the day drew to a close I meet my pilgrim and head to Emmaus which is my first of three pictures.  Every time I sponsor a pilgrim on their Emmaus Walk I am always humbled that someone has the enormous trust in me to commit to a weekend away from family to experience God at new depths.  I believe if you asked, most people would say, "Well, I'd like to experience God like that." But, it's my experience that not everyone will make such a commitment.  The picture I took is of the two of just before I dropped him off for his journey, and a moment for which I will never get tired of "praising God!"

When I arrived at camp I saw many old friends!  One darling in particularly I haven't seen in a while and my heart was reminded how fun she is.  In fact, I think that every time we are at camp together she gets me in trouble. Regardless, she's pretty special and probably has the quickest wit of anyone I know...for that reason I will only say nice things about her here -"Praise God!"

As the day comes to a close, I meet my wife and another special friend that I've missed for quite a while.  About the time we moved to Athens she and her husband moved several states away.  She was home this week checking on her house and had time to drop in to warm an old out-of-shape heart.  We've spent hours working out together over the years talking about the latest diet and how to be healthy.  At times we were more serious than others, but tonight when I saw her for the first time in almost 3 years I realized that her secret to health and diet was to stop working out with me!  That is probably more of a doxology for her than me, but still worthy of praise!


So to sum (which is now your doxology!), our days are full of all kinds of people that are blessings to us if we let them...if we see them as such.  I guess a question to consider...are you just as much a blessing to them as they are to you?  If we are then we have a mosaic of doxologies each and every day to share -Praise God!

Bring It Back!

Day 7 Doxology: For those of you that know me, know that I have an "old soul" that I am rather proud of.  It probably started when I would spend as much of my summer months that I could with my grandparents before football practice began. We would hunt, fish, swim, work, and mostly work.  I remember thinking how much I hated working in the garden, or picking apples and plumbs for pop paw's homemade wine and preserves.  Also, there were statements that I can never un-hear from my grandfather that still amaze and teach me even today.

One day I watched my grandfather get rough with an old mule.  I couldn't believe that I witnessed this side of such a nurturing man.  When I questioned if he had to be so rough....he said, "Any thing with a head and a butt could be taught something; sometimes you might have to start at the butt to get to the head."  I realized later he was from a different time.

There were statements that thrilled me to the bone at least at first.  I had been reading some old Fox Fire books after I heard stories that my dad had built a log cabin when he was young.  So, I asked pop paw, "How do you build a log cabin?"  I can remember him saying without hesitation, "Come on I'll show you!"  We grab and axe and went to the woods.  After we built the first coarse of logs for our walls with only an ax, we paused to get a drink, and I was ready for the illustration to be over.  He then said, that's how your dad did it, but we don't have to.  Then he cranked his chainsaw and we finished what we had started.

So you see I have an affinity for those that I can learn from like our church seniors.  We have a group that attend a senior lunch the first Wednesday of each month.  The food is great; the company is better!  They offer a devotion then pray for those that couldn't make it before they eat together.  I love listening to how their life was a contradiction -simpler but harder!  What I find attractive is they speak of it like it was truly golden years.

Today we've lost something with all the calendars, appointments, technology, and drive thru's.  We can reach anyone at most any moment of the day yet we suffer from loneliness more than ever.  How long has it been since you built something with your hands?  How long has it been since you physically dialed a phone number or hand-made a meal and carried to a neighbor?

Today's doxology is this group of seniors.  Not "seniors" by age but by the shadow they cast over the rest of us.  This group meet each month to give me what my grandparents can no longer give -connection, love, and belonging to a time that seems lost.  How can we bring it back if not for ourselves but for others?

What About You?

Day 6 Doxology: Every year about this time this picture, or better yet this day, turns out to be my day's doxology.  You might get bored with this doxology because of all the "voter selfies" that pile up on Facebook.  So, when you see today's picture you might just move on to something else.  But, I've kept it short...So, hang around a second.

I think we forget why this day is such a "praise God moment" for our nation and ourselves as citizens.    I didn't think about it when I took the picture, but looking back I was reminded about several who raised their ink stained forefinger proudly to show the world they had a voice.  Also, I was reminded about the 2010 Afghan election where the Taliban sent word the night before that they would cut off every finger that was marked with the indelible ink.

Here at home, all we have to do is go locally, show our photo I.D., color in some circles, then feed a machine with our hopes and dreams.  It might be our greatest act as a citizen.  In contrast, it might be our biggest failure if we shrug it off and think it doesn't matter.  For me it matters...what about you?

I'll admit what is really at the center of today's doxology.  I had to drive just under 2 hrs in the rain to get to my voting precinct...did I say it was in the rain most of which was on a two-lane road behind an 18 wheeler safely driving under the speed limit?  So, when I was handed my sticker I said a little "praise God" under my breath and had this sense of enormous satisfaction.  Look, I realize it's not an ink stained finger, but in my own way it makes me just as proud.  What about you?

Adapt and Overcome

Day 5 Doxology: If you're keeping score you'll notice that Lent hadn't even started good before I missed 2 days in a row writing my blog...I have an excuse.  I was at Camp Sumatanga until 10-11pm each night which left little time to write a blog, and I was participating on a Chrysalis which meant pictures are prohibited.  So, I apologize.

With that said, we have a chance today to start over....sort of.  I have a retro picture...this was taken Saturday and has remained on my mind since.  This weekend while there was a break I slipped away for a quick picture of a camp icon.  Near Hutto are two trees connected by what looks like a piece of conduit.  To say that it has been there for a long time is an understatement.  I like to think that Bert Goodwin wanted it there for a very purposeful reason while he built the buildings around it.  Which makes me wonder what was the original purpose of forever linking these two trees together?  Was this a place where countless children did their chin-ups, was it a support for a treehouse floor, or was it used to hang fish to be cleaned?  It could've been anything or nothing at all.  We're just not sure.  Regardless of the intent, I never get tired of looking at this Camp Sumatanga wonder.

When I think about these trees, I think about their ability to adapt.  It's almost like they stand there at attention to remind us that God's nature adapts better than God's human creation.  They were influenced by some outside source and yet they overcame.  So, as I begin this blog with an excuse why I couldn't complete my Lenten discipline, I am quickly reminded that my excuses are not going to cut it in life. All I can do is ask for forgiveness and cinch up my belt one more notch to do better tomorrow! In truth, I believe we humans do have a strength that we sometimes have a difficult time tapping into, but we sometimes need reminding.

When I see these trees I am dedicated to my craft to always adapt and overcome!

Fly With Christ!

Day 2 Doxology: It's only day 2 of this year's Lenten Discipline, and I'm already deep in Spiritual thought -maybe too deep fro day 2.  In fact, I have so many thoughts around today's doxology that I'm not sure I can articulate what it is I'm feeling or thinking....and that's my job!  Here it goes!

Have you ever felt that you are doing what God wants you to do and then something more pressing, more important, more sensitive happens?  Today, I was taken back by an old familiar feeling.

Years ago when I had accepted the fact that God was calling me to the ministry against my mom's advice I said yes. So, I applied to seminary.  The month prior to my leaving for Atlanta, my dad passed away.  I remember thinking...God, is this how you treat me when I say yes?  It took a while for me to reconcile the many emotions that I was struggling with during that time.  This evening I experienced a similar situation that re-connected me to those feelings of old.

I was writing a letter for a caterpillar that agreed to go on their Chrysalis flight.  Ok, I admit that I like writing that knowing that you would have a ton of questions about what I just said.  Chrysalis is a spiritual retreat for ages 18-25, a lot like Emmaus for older adults, and a caterpillar is the person that goes on this spiritual journey that is called a flight.  The thought behind the name is simple...there is a caterpillar stage, a chrysalis phase, that all lead to the beautiful butterfly's mature development.  Clear as mud, right?

Here is my thought...as I was writing a letter to my caterpillar I received a phone call that one of my parishioners was in emergency surgery. I am miles away doing something for the kingdom of God and in a hospital over stale coffee a family that I love is wondering if their patriarch is going to be ok...God, so this is how you treat your people?  Now, before you say just suck it up...let me share my thoughts.

Life is what happens while we are making plans. In Matthew, we are given our marching orders.  Jesus tells the disciples, and us, to go, to make, baptize, and to teach.  Then is says something pretty darn important for those of us that are confined to earthly principalities...."I am with you always."  That's it!  Enough said!  Mic drop!  Our Christianity is not like winning the golden ticket to the Willie Wonko Candy Factory!  Jesus never said that there wouldn't be hardships or stuff come up while you are doing my will, but rather gives us the gift of knowing that He will never leave our side.

So, on our best day and on our worst day we can have comfort in knowing that we...Fly With Christ!

Breaking Routine

Day 1 Doxology:  Hey...It's been a while.  I'm glad you are joining me for another season of Lent.

As you know Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Saturday.  If you do the math, Lent last 40 days not including Sundays.  The reason Sundays are excluded is because we celebrate each Sunday as mini Easters.  Therefore, Lent is a season that Christians prepare for Easter by usually giving something up, but for my Lenten discipline I write a blog each day (I try to write one each day!) about something that I want to praise God about.  I call them doxology moments.  So here is this year's first doxology moment...

It's funny, tonight as I was preparing for our Ash Wednesday Service, I had a thought, or better yet a feeling, that doing stuff that is not a part of the normal routine is more trouble.  Don't be hatin' on me; I'm just being honest.

I love doing special services like Ash Wednesday mainly because they remind me how much of a rut I can get into.  Interestingly, that is kind of why they are so important...they remind us key points about our faith, our selves, and the God we claim to serve.  Ash Wednesday reminds us of our sinfulness and our mortality.  So breaking the routine is well worth the trouble.

So, we pause from the routine of the spring, or the new year, to reset our devotion to God.  Many of us would rather just rush to the Easter Sunrise and the resurrection story, but we can't!  Our path must teach us about sacrifice, just as Christ endured the sacrifice before He was resurrected...so shall we endure the sacrifice that comes with Lent.  Then, only then we can be ready to celebrate an empty tomb!

Easter's coming, but first...Ash Wednesday!