Twitter Thanks

For some time I have been writing down my prayers in notebooks and journals.  It has been a great way to look back over time and see how my life has been blessed, changed and redirected from one season to the next.  Many of these prayers are quite private and who make sense only the one who wrote them.

In order to be able to make some of my prayers of thanksgiving easier to access and search, I decided to set up a Twitter account for the sole purpose of thanking God for the various blessings I encounter on a daily basis.  You can follow this account if you have Twitter (@AllMyThanks) or check out my most recent thanks in the top right hand corner of the home page of this blog.  I pray that by sharing my thankfulness you will be reminded of all the blessings you also have in your lives.  Take some time and thoughtfully list your blessings, big and small.  I think it will change our attitudes and definitely our perspectives.

May God help us to be more thankful each day as we try to live for Him.

Birthday blessing

As of early this morning, I am now 28-years-old.  My life is a mixture of family, education, church activities, sickness, blessings and regrets.  Over the years, I have done many things I take pleasure in remembering.  At other times, however, I have done much to regret.  What I must always try to remember is that now is the only time I can come close to controlling.  I cannot go back and undo my mistakes anymore than I can continue to live in my past successes.  Each day, each hour, each moment of the present must be spent in growing and maturing as a person.  I want to be the type of person that other people can follow to a more Christian way of life.  I want people to be able to imitate me and, in doing so, become more like Christ.  I pray that we all will continue to grow up into the image of Christ regardless of what age we are.  May God continue to bless us as we continue to grow in Him.

From Andrew Peterson...

He came back.

And after that brutal Friday, and that long, quiet Saturday, he came back.

And that one intake of breath in the tomb changes everything. It changes the very reason I drew breath today and the way I move about in this world because I believe he’s coming back again. The world has gone on for more than two millenia since Jesus’ feet tread the earth he made. What would they have said back then if someone had told them two thousand years later we’d still be waiting? They would’ve thought back to that long Saturday and said, “Two thousand years will seem like a breath to you when you finally lay your crown at his feet. We don’t even remember what we were doing on that Saturday, but let me tell you about Sunday morning. Now that was something.”

These many years of waiting will only be a sentence in the story. This long day will come to an end, and I believe it will end in glory, when we will shine like suns and stride the green hills with those we love and the One who loves. We will look with our new eyes and speak with our new tongues and turn to each other and say, “Do you remember the waiting? The long years, the bitter pain, the gnawing doubt, the relentless ache?” And like Mary at the tomb, we will say: “I remember only the light, and the voice calling my name, and the overwhelming joy that the waiting was finally over.”

The stone will be rolled away for each of us.

May we wait with faithful hearts.

Pi Day

It is March 14, 2012 (3/14/12).  

Some of my more academic (dare I say, nerdy) friends call this day Pi Day based on the mathematical figure that begins 3.14 and carries on into infinity.  Other friends will be marking today as the halfway point of Lent as they are on their journey to the cross.  For me it is Wednesday, the day in the middle, never my favorite day.  Wednesday seems so far from the social times and fun of the weekend ahead and also so distant from the refreshment of last Sunday's worship.  The vast majority of our lives it can seem are spent in the middle...looking back on past failures and successes and dreaming of future adventures yet to come.

Learning to live well on days that in all ways seem ordinary is a skill that it is wise to develop.  Not everyday can bring excitement and if we had excitement everyday it would no long excite us.  Not everyday can lead to breakthroughs and beginnings for us.  Some days are just in the middle of life and have no outward specialness of their own.  We don't grow most though on our birthdays, but rather we grow on the 364 days between the lighting of candles and eating of cake.  Never forget that even in the most ordinary of days you have an opportunity to grow.  Whether it is in renewing a friendship, expanding your mind or being good to your body, the small acts of kindness you pay to yourself will in the end define your days.  Be gentle with yourself and use the ordinary to grow better and bolder.

MLK Day 2012

When I was just a child, I began to study the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Like all of us, Dr. King had faults, but unlike so many of us, he also had vision.

A vision of a society where people are judged not on their race, income, or place of birth, but rather on their ethics, compassion, and character.

We still live in a world where this vision has yet to be realized in the lives of countless millions of people, yet because of people like Dr. King that vision is a little closer to reality.

Dare to Dream.

(Dr. King in jail in Birmingham in the 1960s.  His famous letter written during his incarceration stirred the conscience of a nation.)

A Poem for New Year's Day

Another year is dawning,

Dear Father let it be,

In working or in waiting,

Another year with thee.

Another year of progress,

Another year of praise,

Another year of proving

Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies,

Of faithfulness and grace,

Another year of gladness,

The glory of thy face.

Another year of leaning

Upon thy loving breast,

Another year of trusting,

Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service,

Of witness for thy love,

Another year of training

For holier work above.

Another year is dawning,

Dear Father, let it be,

On earth, or else in heaven,

Another year for thee.



-Frances Ridley Havergal

I hope everyone is enjoying the last week of the year.  I am looking forward to 2012 as a year of possibilities.  Possibilities in improved health, better relationships, more fulfilling ministry and general happiness.  I look forward to spending part of 2012 here with you on this blog.  I appreciate all of you who continue to read what is posted here and to offer me feedback on this site's content.

Everyone be sure to be safe celebrating the new year and I will see you all in 2012!

Happy 24th!

Happy 24th birthday to my sister, Sarah Beth! 

I am so proud of my sister and the person she is. 

Looking forward to celebrating tonight with our family. 

Happy 40th!

My dear friend, Bobby, has turned 40 today.  Bobby continues to work with the congregation I grew up in both with youth and now as the pulpit minister. 

When I was a young teen, Bobby was a great encouragement to me by taking me to youth events, church camp and allowing me to help with the ball teams he coached. 

Since those early years of our friendship, Bobby and his wife have two sons of their own and they have influenced countless numbers of people, young and old, for Christ. 

Bobby and his family have truly been a blessing to my life and the life of my hometown. 

I pray that God will continue to use his life to lead others to a more abundant way of living.