Archive for November, 2008
Simple Things
This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for simple things. We tend to make life too complicated sometimes.
For example…We bought our house in Levelland in June. Since day one we’ve had a really slow running drain in the bathtub. I’ve poured countless gallons of Drano and Liquid Plumber down that drain. We have waited up to an hour after one shower for the tub to drain. I’ve consulted with plumbers and other “handy” guys on how to deal with this issue. On Monday the drain stopped completely. I used a “snake” to auger the pipes. I bought a miniature snake to clear hair and other nastiness from the drain. I borrowed a huge power auger thinking that would help. At the end of the day the drain was still completely clogged. I was just about to admit defeat and take Isabel to the back yard to hose her off before bedtime. As I was taking the walk of shame through the house I decided to take one final desperate attempt. I went into the garage, grabbed the plunger and shuffled back to the tub with my head hung low. After just two plunges the water swooshed down the drain in a matter of seconds. The plunger!!! Why didn’t I think of that in June? How could it be that simple?
Yesterday afternoon we drove 700 miles from Levelland to Topeka, Kansas to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. We loaded the car down with toys, movies, a grab bag of surprises, and snacks for Isabel. After all the strategic planning and packing do you know what it was that grabbed her attention and kept her the most entertained? Those tiny looking airplanes that leave a thin trail of smoke behind them all the way across the sky! Simple things!!
We really do a lot to complicate life. Sometimes (for me, most of the time) we forget the simple things. So this Thanksgiving I thank God for the simple things…The simplicity of a smile or a hug from Isabel, time to sit and relax for a couple of days with my family, and the simple and free grace of God.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Youth Ministry Opportunity Tonight
Tonight our students have an incredible opportunity to minister to our senior adults by serving at the Adult Harvest Banquet. I love seeing teenagers serve…and I especially love seeing them serve in a multi-generational setting. Our students need to be around our senior adults. And our senior adults need to be around our students! So tonight will be a lot of fun for everybody involved.
If you teen can help serve we need him/her here by 5:30 dressed in their Sunday best. We will be serving plates and filling cups. We should be done by 6:30 or so.
E3 Youth Ministry This Week
On Thursday our Senior Adults will have their annual Harvest Banquet. Our youth will serve plates and fill cups for this banquet. We need 10-15 students to be at the church Thursday at 5:30 in dress clothes ready to serve our wonderful senior adults. They will be finished at about 6:30.
On Saturday our youth group will be at Mardel Christian Store in Lubbock loading Operation Christmas Shoeboxes onto 18-wheelers for transport. We will be leaving the church at 8:15 Saturday morning. We will be at Mardel from 9:00-noon. Then we will eat lunch together (everybody will need money for lunch) and go to the mall for about an hour for Christmas shopping. We will be home by 3:00.
Family Devotion Ideas
This is by no means an all inclusive list, but here are a few ideas and resources for family devotion and worship times:
A book for Parent/Teen Devotions: Fuel: 10-Minute Devotions to Ignite the Faith of Parents & Teens
Creative ideas for Parent/Teen Devotions: Teen-Proof Devotions
A guide to help parents facilitate discussion with teens about their media choices (I am ordering these and will have them available soon): How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: A 3(D) Guide To Making Responsible Media Choices
Take the John Newton Challenge
Probably one of my favorite ideas for having devotional times with teens is to throw out a current news topic or controversial theme (i.e. Proposition 8 in California) and use that to start a discussion. I would warn parents to make sure that teens know their thoughts and comments are going to be heard and valued. Teens need to know that they are “safe” before they truly open up. Make sure the discussion ultimately points towards understanding what the Bible says about the issue. Sometimes the Bible doesn’t directly speak to an issue…do your best to discover what biblical principles apply. This type of discussion provides an avenue for open conversation with your teen, provides an opportunity for you to get to get a glimpse into the worldview of your teen, and provides a time of digging into scripture together with your teen.
What other ideas have you used for your family devotion times?
My soul, wait
This has been a hard week for me. This morning as I was reading in the Psalms I came across an old favorite of mine: Psalm 62.
My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only in my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will you assail a man, That you may murder him, all of you, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position; They delight in falsehood; They bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse.
My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
The first couple of verses are really easy to say…”My soul waits in silence for God only…” In the course of my day to day life, when things are running smoothly, when life is easy, I can say with confidence that my soul waits for God.
But if you keep reading through this Psalm to verse 5, David writes, “My soul, wait in silence for God only.” He wrote about the difficulties he was facing in verses 3-4, then he repeated his statement from verse 1 with one significant difference: He had to remind himself…to tell himself (his soul)…to wait for God.
It’s in the middle of a hard week that I find it more difficult to say with confidence, “my soul waits” and I have say to myself, “my soul, wait in silence for God only.”
How Would You Feel If…
I just found this story called A New Vision for Biblical Parenting on one of my favorite blogs to follow, and I couldn’t help but to share it with you. It’s worth a look!
Carpe Diem
As I am writing this, I’ve got about 4 more hours left. That’s right, in just 4 short hours I’ll be another year older. Where has all the time gone?!?
I am a huge fan of Facebook. I keep up with friends from all over the world with a simple click of the mouse. I have a lot of my friends from high school on my Facebook. They are all so old! It’s like I should still be 17 and they are all old. What happened?
And the problem…the older I get, the faster time goes by. Isn’t it weird how that happens, but when we were young time would move like a slug covered with an entire salt shaker full of salt (seriously, try it sometime).
OK…here’s the deal. My daughter is 3. In 15 years she’ll be 18 (that’s the extent of my mathematical expertise). If those 15 years go by anywhere near as fast as these past 15 years…Wow! I don’t want to come to the end of these next 15 years and have to sit and write on my blog about how fast that time flew by. And I don’t want to have to think about all the missed opportunities I had.
I’m not talking about just the time to be with her and do fun things. I love those thing and I want those things, I really do! But more than anything else in the world I want my daughter to know what it is to be a godly person. I want her to be deeply and intimately in love with Jesus…even more–a lot more–than I want to do fun things.
God, may I use the time You’ve given me with Isabel wisely.
How about you? Are you seizing the day?
Are Teens Listening
I found a great articled today titled “Are Teens Listening.” There are other articles and resources at this site as well. Take a look at the article and let me know what you think.
Christmas Shoeboxes
Wednesday at Escape our students will be preparing Christmas Shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Shoebox Ministry.
I hope your family will plan on preparing a shoebox together as a family also! What a great (and simple) family ministry.
Our youth group will be going to Mardel in Lubbock on Saturday, November 22 to load trucks with the shoeboxes. We will take vans and leave at about 8:15. Then work from 9-12. We’ll stop for lunch before we come home.
More on My Daughter’s Youth Group
I have a pretty lengthy description of what I want my daughter’s youth group to look like (even though she is only 3 now). Last week I shared that the main theme in my description of the ideal youth group for my daughter was the idea that it heavily involves and includes parents. Another theme that I noticed was this:
It can not be just another activity.
Teenagers have enough activities…in most cases, more than enough. If the youth ministry is just another activity, then it holds no more value than basektball, dance, boy scouts, chess club, student council, little league, piano lessons, cheerleading, under-water basket weaving…whatever. Don’t get me wrong. Those activities all have value. When I was a teenager I was involved in a lot of activities: Baseball, cross-country, track, student council, national honor society, orchestra, tennis, plus I had a job and friends to hang out with. I loved all those things. But none of those things really have any eternal significance.
It was within the context of my youth group that I learned to see the world from a biblical perspective, I learned to treat people the way Jesus would treat them, I learned about salvation and becoming like Christ, I learned about how to make wise decisions, I learned that God has a plan for my life that stretches way beyond me.
My youth group was not perfect…no youth group is. But I am so thankful that my youth group was not just another activity. And I pray every day as a youth minister that our youth group is not just another activity…and I pray as a dad that my daughter’s youth group will be more than another activity.
