Busy Interstate ... busy life!

Proverbs 14:12 teaches, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

I am reminded of the funny story about a man that was driving along on the interstate when his cell phone rings and he recognizes it is wife. He answers the phone to hear her frantically saying in the phone, “Honey, be careful, I just saw on the news that a car is travelling the wrong direction on the interstate!”

The man responds, “Are you kidding? There isn’t just one car going the wrong way, there are hundreds of cars going the wrong way!”

John recorded in John 14:6, “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus has given us a clear path to God by following Jesus and allowing him to bring transformation to our lives. My Friends, get on the path with Jesus and live life to the fullest.

You know I love ya, Don

Requirements of a busy life!!!

I love this picture...ever feel like the woman at the desk. I am starting my Graduate Degree Project and at this moment, I am feeling a little like that woman at the desk....

I have several irons in the fire... raising the four children, being a husband, Grad School, preaching next Sunday, Worship responsibilities, getting ready for winter, DADS group, and trying to maintain this blog. Lots of things in the works and some more important than others, yet there is a special need in each one. It has become more and more apparent to me that in order to maintain a good schedule for each of item I must maintain my relationship with God. H. Cecil Pawson in England wrote:

FEW are called to be leaders like Moses, but all are called to make things; for God who is our maker gave us this instinct. And soon we begin with bricks, sand, and blocks to express this desire.

We were made for full employment. Some make laws; others ships, cars, homes, and gardens. More important, in all our making of things, we are being made ourselves for better or for worse.

Are we consciously working, day by day, in accordance with God's design? In obedience to God's command, Moses rose up early in the morning to be alone with God. The result of his keeping that appointment was the glory of God upon his way and upon his face and knowledge concerning his life's work.

God made this world and saw that it was good. We seek, through Christ, to find and to do God's will in all things in this world that God created. In this way, we help fulfill God's redemptive love and purpose, both in us as individuals and in the world around us.

Even Jesus as God new how important it was to pray and to have connection with God, the Father. In Mark 1:35 we read; "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Being connected to God is what I am made for. It is also essential in order to complete the purposes and the goals that are laid out for me.

Striving to be connected to Jesus...you know I love ya, Don

The treasures directly ahead!

The LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. -1 Samuel 16:7 (NRSV)

There are so many things in life that we choose to reject. We do not want to be bothered or to allow our busy lives to be interrupted. I was outside with the children last evening. It had been an unusually warm October day in Indiana yesterday. So, we were out playing as if it were summer.

We have a rubber tree on the east side of the house and the leaves are starting to turn different shades of yellow and orange. Alice, Matthew, and I noticed the veins and the beauty of these leaves. The tree is nice all year long, yet we never truly noticed it until tonight. Our strawberries are planted underneath and most of the time we are looking for the strawberries, while the tree watches from above. Tonight was different. The tree was the recipient of our affection...or should I say, "its leaves were."

It reminded me of a story written by Rebbecca Roberts. She writes:

No one wanted the monstrosity which had spent so much time outside in the weather that it was layered with years of grime and filth. My husband raised a finger. "One dollar," he yelled. "Sold!" the auctioneer said quickly, "to number 53." Once we got our 250-pound backbreaker home, I scraped and scrubbed for four hours until the snow-white porcelain of the 1948 Tappan™ gas range showed through. Underneath all that dirt, it was beautiful. Years later, my husband bought an old kitchen sink covered with filth and full of rotting oak leaves. After a short time of scrubbing, we found our jewel to be a 1928 Kitchen Queen™ without a single chip in the porcelain. No one had wanted it because of the visible grime.

Through these pieces God spoke to my heart. The Lord sees people the way my husband saw that sink and stove. We may be covered with all kinds of sin. Yet, God looks inside us where no one else can see and finds our worth. Now when I look at the many faces before me, I try to see past the outside to find the jewel within.

I learned a lesson from our rubber tree this evening. It is to find the treasure in the everyday life signs around us. We are given these gifts everyday. Many times the gift is hidden in the grime of life, but the gift is there. I need eyes to see it. So, my prayer has become, "Lord, help me to avoid being so busy working and striving to achieve the treasure, that I neglect to see the true treasures directly in front of me. Amen."

You are a treasure and you bring me great joy. Thanks for reading and keep looking for the treasures directly in view! You know I love ya, Don

Being Made ...

I have several irons in the fire...family, church, Worship Choir, Orchestra, trying to adopt our little guy in Chicago, Grad School, getting things ready for winter, the Greenfield Community Chorus new director position, JBC Alumni Association and trying to maintain this blog. Lots of things in the works and some more important than others, yet there is a special need in each one. It has become more and more apparent to me that in order to maintain a good schedule for each of item I must maintain my relationship with God. H. Cecil Pawson in England wrote in my Upper Room devotional this morning:

FEW are called to be leaders like Moses, but all are called to make things; for God who is our maker gave us this instinct. And soon we begin with bricks, sand, and blocks to express this desire.

We were made for full employment. Some make laws; others ships, cars, homes, and gardens. More important, in all our making of things, we are being made ourselves for better or for worse.

Are we consciously working, day by day, in accordance with God's design? In obedience to God's command, Moses rose up early in the morning to be alone with God. The result of his keeping that appointment was the glory of God upon his way and upon his face and knowledge concerning his life's work.

God made this world and saw that it was good. We seek, through Christ, to find and to do God's will in all things in this world that God created. In this way, we help fulfill God's redemptive love and purpose, both in us as individuals and in the world around us.

Even Jesus as God new how important it was to pray and to have connection with God, the Father. In Mark 1:35 we read; "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Being connected to God is what I am made for. It is also essential in order to complete the purposes and the goals that are laid out for me.

Striving to be connected to Jesus...you know I love ya, Don