Signs of the Times

Over the past few years I have finally had to come to grips that my body is finally catching up to my age. At age 40 I am still young at heart. I like to work in the yard (when its not over 100 degrees out). I like to dance around the house to music I like. I like to swim with the kids and play racquetball (when I get the chance). I am, by all means not an old man! Yet there have been some signs of the aging process, and how I am perceived by the "younger" generation.

The first sign that I was not as young as I thought came to me when I was teaching an 8th Grade class of kids. I was listening to my "80's Music" on my stereo in the room. The kids came into class, and they stopped. They looked at me and told me to "turn off the oldies music." Turn off the oldies music! My music is not oldies...or is it. I thought for a minute and finally figured it out. My parent's generation of music from the 60's was "oldies" to me, twenty years later. That must mean that my music from the 80's is "oldies music" to the 2000's generation. Wow! I listen to oldies music. My parent's music is classic. Hmmmm!

The next step came when was sitting on the floor with my kids and I realized my knees hurt pretty bad when I tried to get up. I'm to young to have knee problems. Still today, my knees get a little cranky with me if I fail to get up and walk them around often.

In college I used to run/jog all the time. It was a requirement for the military and I just liked to run. I would run at least two miles every other day. Earlier this year, my daughter was preparing for her belt-test for karate, which requires a one-mile run. I wanted to help her prepare so I mapped out a one mile course through our neighborhood. We took off one afternoon, and I almost died! I made it through the jog, but it was tough. Not the fun run I had when I was younger.

Finally the weight gain! When I was in college I could eat like a hog, and never gain a pound. But over the past 10 years, I have gained almost 20 pounds. It might not seem like a lot to some, but for me that is huge. I am a small framed fellow, and all the extra weight went right to the gut. Which in turn makes it tough to jog.

Ok, so my body is protesting a little as the years go by, but my mind is still young, and I am only half finished with my life. I plan to live to be 100! So crank up the 80's music and have a good dance!

New Words

This morning our family is getting ready to go to WaterTown U,S.A., a water park near Shreveport, LA. It will be out last "big" outing for the Summer before school starts up again. Last time we went to a water park we all got sunburned, so I'm a little anxious about our trip. Please no sunburns today. The weather forecast is cloudy with scattered thunderstorms, and 93 Degrees. Onward to fun!!

Also this morning...our family decided to make up some new words. Hopefully you will see them in dictionaries soon. (Ha-Ha!)

My word is snootwump: It is a noun, that refers to a person who acts "preachy" and "a little snooty" by accident! For example; It was pointed out to me last night by my family, that my last couple of blogs have sounded a little preachy and I made my blog sound like I was acting a little "holy" or "snooty". I had no intention of being a preacher, I was just blogging about what I happened to read about in my morning Bible studies. So I was being a snootwump.

My wife's word was Obonobo!: An interjection said when you make a mistake or discover something that has gone wrong, such as "Uh Oh! or "Whoops!" For example: When the waiter dropped the plate, he blushed and said, "Obonobo!"

My son's word is dirdirdirt (Can also be pronounced Deet Dee Dew) ?: Also an interjection, said when during a moment of excitement or confusion. For example: When the clowns first came out at the circus, the child started yelling, "dirdirdirt!", because she was excited to see them, yet confused about her feeling of fear towards them as well.

My daughter's word is blethelshabble: a noun, meaning a large imaginary deformed looking bird, that looks scary, but is very gentle, on which you can ride. For example: The deformed image of her blethelshabble did not bother her as she rode proudly on his back over the town.

Breakfast is ready so I must eat! WaterTown awaits! See ya, next time.

Sinners Who Need a Doctor

"While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and 'sinners' came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?' On hearing this Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9: 10-13.

Who really needs to hear the good news of Grace and Salvation more than anyone? It is those who are lost in sin. Those of us who are already Christians and believe in the deity of Christ and have already accepted Grace, shouldn't have to be reminded over and over again of how we can be saved from sin. We should already believe in Grace enough, that we should be willing to share that good news with everyone. Sadly, many of us are like the Pharisees. We see people wallowing in their sins and suffering because of their sinful behavior. Rather than see them as the sick sinners they are and offer them the healing mercy that Jesus offers, we look at them in disgust and judge them as not being worthy or ready for Grace. How sad! More often than not we deny the sick access to the one "doctor" who can heal them.

Later in the same chapter, in Matthew 9: 36-38, the Bible tells us, "When he (Jesus) saw the crowds he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he (Jesus) said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.' " The sinners are out there helpless, sick and harassed, and they need a doctor. Will you be a Pharisee or will you be a Harvester?

The Golden Rule

Matthew 7:12, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Ahh, the Golden Rule, burned into our memories from childhood. But do we really understand its significance. According to the study notes in the New International Version: Study Bible, "In many religions, the Golden Rule, is stated negatively: 'Don't do to others what you don't want done to you.' By stating it positively, Jesus made it more significant. It is not very hard to refrain from harming others; it is much more difficult to take the initiative in doing something good for them." This is true! It is easy not to steal from someone, or beat someone up, or insult a person; but it is very difficult to take a homeless person and buy them some food, take them to a shelter, or even volunteer to work at the shelter yourself. It is easy not to sell drugs to people; but to actually take an addict off the streets and love them takes an act of commitment to the very words of Jesus Himself. The Golden Rule is the kind of love that God shows us every day, we need to be merciful to others and do good to others today!

You Complete Me

Several years ago Tom Cruise uttered the now famous line of, "You complete me!" as part of the movie Jerry McGuire. I always though this was a corny and somewhat mushy line to say to a girl, but it worked in the movie. Today as part of my church's worship services, I read a passage of scripture I have probably read many times before; yet this time something about the scripture finally took on a new meaning for me. The scripture was 1 John 2:1-5. It says;

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in Him."

Did you get it? God's love is made complete in us, when we obey His commands. Jesus', the Righteous One's, atoning sacrifice is made complete when we choose to follow Him. Wow! God is saying to us, "You Complete Me!" I know it sounds corny, but it is true!

What commands do we have to follow? Jesus tells us what the two greatest commands are, all other commands stem from these two. In Matthew 22:37-38, Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is your first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." That's it! If you follow these two commandments all others fall into place. Repentance, Baptism, Individual Bible Study, Devotion and Worship all fall under the 1st Commandment. Forgiveness, Charity, Not Killing, Not stealing, Avoiding Adultery, Not Gossiping, Evangelism, etc...all fall under the 2nd Commandment.

By Loving God first, and Obeying His commandments to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," We complete the circle of love that connects us to our LORD God. First we were created to be with God, we then separated ourselves from God when we sinned, Jesus offered Himself as a blood sacrifice to offer us Grace so that we may return to God, and then, by choosing to follow His commandments, we complete God's circle of love for us. Cool huh? To bad many of us cannot say to Jesus, "You had me at Hello!"...But that's another story.

Glad to Be Home

Yesterday I returned from a continuing education training in Huntsville, TX. I attended some classes about Math Strategies, Reading Strategies and How Poverty Relates to Retention and Perseverance among adult students. All of these classes were designed to help teachers in Adult Education and GED programs. They were great classes. I stayed in a nice hotel room, but I missed my family. A big room can be very lonely without someone to share it with.

My wife returned from a training in Austin the day before I left for my training so we haven't had quality time as a family for about 4 days. I was so glad to be home last night and was looking forward to cuddling with the cute wife, when my daughter came into our room feeling like she was going to throw-up. She ended up sleeping with her mother, while I slept on the couch, (with the dog who joined me sometime during the night).

Despite a night on the couch, I am glad to be home with my family. I hate being away from them, overnights. I do enjoy an occasional movie or baseball game with friends, and I do like to spend time alone sometimes, but I like to come home at night. My family is second to me after my God, and I love spending quality time with both.