Hobe Sound Blogs

Reputation is what people think “about you,” character is what you “are.”                 
Sanctification is the beginning of what will not end.                                                         
Contentment is the Christian’s manna.
Pride is a disease of the soul.
If you have all the grace you want, you need to have greater wants.

"I shared in the image of God, but did not keep it safe; the Lord shares in my flesh, so as to save the image and to make the flesh immortal".

- Gregory of Nazianzus (Oration 38)

To reflect Jesus, I need to move out of the picture.
Comparisons to others are the poorest way to measure your progress; only measure against what you were before.
Have no faith in the “casting of lots.”
Truth needs no shade.
The “chosen”are not lucky; but  they are the forgiven!

There are only two negatives in the Twenty-Third Psalm. "I shall not want" and "I will fear no evil". Yet, we're prone to doing just those things the Psalmist says he won't do -- living in fear, and wanting what we don't have. If we are the Lord's sheep we have all we need to live confident contented lives.

What exactly does it mean to "not want"? Certainly part of the meaning is that we'll lack for nothing, but it's more than that. It's easy to miss the plain meaning of the word "want". Here's more from Douglas MacMillan's exposition of Psalm 23 . . .

. . . this word means more than mere lack: it means just what the word 'want' originally meant. It means that I will not be discontented with my lot; I will not be hungering and craving after things that God has forbidden me, because I will find my all, my fulness, in the One who is my Shepherd. My knowledge that I shall suffer no lack will give me contentment . . . . One of the things which is fundamental to the whole business and profession of a shepherd is this: enough passion to see that his sheep will have all that they need, and enough sense to see that they will not get what will harm or destroy them. That is the kind of shepherd, and that is the kind of satisfaction, that the Christian believer finds in Christ. 'I shall not want.'

MacMillan suggests that when we find contentment and satisfaction in Christ lacking -- when we find ourselves wanting -- it's because our eyes have been drawn away from the promises of God's Word. He encourages the reader to "use your Scripture, allow God to fortress and garrison your heart with the great strength of His promises and of His logical grace."

Another way to stay close to our shepherd is to stay close to his flock. Christian fellowship and regular attention to the ordinary means of grace (the reading and preaching of the word, prayer, and the sacraments) are the things that keep us anchored to our hope in Christ (Heb. 6:19).


Quotes from J. Douglas MacMillan, The Lord Our Shepherd (pp. 50-1)

Here's a classic clip to get you in the mood for Groundhog Day. And happy birthday to my mother-in-law who was born in Punxsutawney, PA. No kidding!


Groundhog Day (dir. Harold Ramis, 1993)

Today is one portion of your life that will never be returned.
Service is the activity ingredient of mercy.
The only thing that can be forgiven is what I have chosen; God has already chosen to forgive whaevert I ask.
What I forgive on earth will be forgiven in Heaven...what you can't He won't.
Heaven and Hell are both beyond our imagination... for different reasons.

Filed under: Gospel Center

Grace means you are no longer required.
Open the door of joy and you will find peace.People are not drawn to the church because the church does not suffer well.
What I do becomes the billboard of my life.Grace cannot be comprehended, only appreciated.

Today the phone has rung several times with birthday wishes from family and friends and I've gotten cards in the mail.  Dean and the boys took me out for a birthday meal and had flowers delivered.  I've had dozens of greetings from Facebook friends and I know a yummy dessert is coming later on, but I still feel like something is missing.  I don't have to do much deep soul searching to figure this feeling out.  I know.  I'm missing Dad.  In spite of my feeling of loss, I know that he gave me so much.  I've decided that if I count my blessings that sense of loss might be soothed.

Dad gave me a sense of security.  I never doubted that my parents had a deep love for each other that translated into a deep commitment to their marriage.  It was normal to see them embrace or hold hands and it was their joy to celebrate 52 years of marriage.

He taught me to love nature.  One time during the winter when I was a teenager, a bunch of us were sledding down the hill near our house when we decided that the tree we were passing was causing a grave danger to us.  Some of the guys got the pickup and a chain and we pulled that tree out by the roots.  Just as we were ready to cheer, Dad came walking by.  He very calmly asked what we were doing and let us know that we had just destroyed a living thing.  When we stopped to think about it, we realized that he was right.  It took us about 5 minutes to kill a tree that had been growing for at least a hundred years.

Dad taught me that it's okay to get your hands dirty.  I'm sure there were some jobs that he would have preferred to avoid, but I don't know what they were.  He accepted each dirty job as his own and made sure it was done correctly.  I remember helping him skin logs one summer and how excited I was to get my hands just as dirty as his.  Those logs were used to build fences that are still standing.

Dad valued family time.  He didn't spend money on toys, but he made sure that we spent time together as a family. He laughed at my brother's funny faces and burped my sister.  He sang songs to us and wrestled with us.  He took us on picnics and taught us how to play baseball.  As we grew older, he made sure that he always had time to talk with us and really listened when we did.   His last days on earth were spent surrounded by family and we were glad to be with him in death as he had been with us in life.

  

Dad taught me to take care of everything we owned.  It it broke, it could probably be repaired and if it couldn't be repaired, the parts might be valuable for something else.  Nothing should be thrown away until all the use had been squeezed out of it.

One hard lesson I learned from Dad was about telling the truth.  When I was about five, he offered me a reward if I would get my room cleaned up and I was very eager for that prize.  I went into my room and cleaned it in the most efficient way possible.  I pushed everything under the bed.  I made the bed nicely to cover the mess, and went to claim that sweet treat.  I savored that treat and before it was gone, I was caught in my lie.  I don't remember if I was punished, but I did learn that it's better to be honest than to be caught in a lie.

Dad also taught me to forgive.  Even when he had been wrongly accused, misused or hurt, he never spoke of that person with bitterness.  I don't know how many times I heard him say, "forgive and forget" or "let's keep the peace", but he practiced what he preached and really forgave and worked to bring peace into every situation. 

Probably the most important thing Dad shared was his love for the Lord and the scriptures.  There was no doubt that he loved the Lord and he was ready to talk about him whether he was preaching to crowds or visiting one-on-one.  Dad could always be found early in the morning at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee reading his Bible.  The last time he spoke in a church service, he told how he was homesick for heaven.  He lived his life for the Lord and was motivated by his deep love for him.

My life has been deeply enriched because of the father I had and I'm very thankful for the gifts that God gave me through him.  Even though I won't hear his voice on the phone today, I have much to be thankful for.  The gifts he gave me are ones that will last a lifetime and for that I am very thankful.

Sorry....this was written last week and I didn't get it posted.............

We've spent the past four weeks getting into a routine of homeschooling again....and it's been wonderful! Last semester with everything going on it seemed that we couldn't get 5 days in a row anywhere which made it difficult to create momentum that keeps the pace going. It felt all choppy and clunky. But this month has been different and I'm so thankful.

Our days are spent on "school" from 8:30 -1:30ish (at least for Allan) and then the afternoons are spent doing housekeeping and cooking (for me) and chores and quiet time (for the boys). The evenings have been free to read aloud, play games together and leisurely prepare for the next day. The only thing that could make it better would be snow.

On the days that it's not raining and has been warmer the boys have gotten out their roller blades and have enjoyed riding around various parking lots. Philip and I used some Christmas money that was given to us and bought ourselves pairs that way we can go with the boys. It had been 13 years since I'd been on roller blades and it wasn't pretty! The neighbor lady came out and asked if I'd like to borrow a pair of padded ski pants. Whew! With practice it's getting better and hopefully by spring will be much less painful. Philip on the other hand had never roller bladed before and this was his first "run"......
Hmmmm.....it probably had something to do with him watching some tutorials online before he started.

Last Friday night we had a small ice storm and the boys enjoyed playing on a downed tree. We had been out at my in-laws and left just as it began raining. By the time we got to the big Mac bridge there were 6 cars involved in 3 separate accidents and as we skirted one set of cars the policeman was yelling that the bridge needed to be closed down so we made it home just in time. Our church was cancelled Sunday morning due to the ice so we had a nice day of rest.

I heard the boys having a high old time this week while I was doing some computer work and when I came downstairs I found out that we've progressed from repelling off the staircase to swinging. I would post a video...but it's too scary!

This is also our time of year for yearly physicals. So there have been plenty of visits to doctors, blood work, medications, MRI's, and ultrasounds. The good news is that everybody is pretty healthy right now. Two of our guys have allergy problems and eczema during the winter but nothing that isn't easily cared for. I'm very thankful for healthy children and don't take it for granted. Daniel was not impressed to have three shots this round!

This next week looks to be busy with Philip in revival this weekend, and the last of the Dr. visits and tests.

Life is never boring and I'm thankful that we're now going at a bit slower pace.

War is an example of corporate anger.
Even a just cause needs anger to fuel it.How often you do right may not be known for a while; how often you do wrong will be easier to remember on earth.
A shared blessing is growing love.
Grace helps you live life like you should, rather than how you would.

The Three Amigos

Dooop!!!




Busted Transmission. Good Thing I didn't Buy One Of Those Stinking KTM's.:)



Rockin Robin

This post is way off topic for me, but I thought that some parents out there might benefit from it so here it is...

About one year ago, I woke up to find one of my sons having what I thought was a seizure. Both of us were sleeping in the living room. I was on the sofa because I was a miserable nine months pregnant, and my son had come out in the night and slept across the room. I woke up to some noise and saw him. Since I had no experience with seizures, and I was really scared, we called 911. By the time they arrived things were calmed down, and we ended up taking him to the E.R. where they didn't even seem to think he had really experienced a seizure. I knew what I had seen, but what could I say? We decided to just wait and see what would happen next.

He continued to have similar episodes periodically--but only when sleeping. We made an appointment with a neurologist and since the wait was a couple of months before he could get in, we continued to observe and pray. I had a real feeling that his problem was not a disease per se, but some type of reaction or event being triggered by something he was coming in contact with. I began to carefully observe what he was doing and eating and when he was having seizures. Before we got in to see the neurologist, however, things got worse. He was averaging about three night seizures a week, and one night he had two in the same night.

At this point, I was worn out mentally because these episodes really stressed me out. I began to seriously pray about this problem asking the Lord to show us what to do . One night after everyone else was in bed, I was praying about the problem and as I prayed, I felt clearly that the Lord was going to take care of the problem. A couple of nights later he had another seizure. This was difficult for me because I had felt so sure that God was going to answer my prayer. However, as he was having a seizure I took his hand, and as I did, I saw he had shoe polish stain all over his hand. As I saw it, I immediately felt God speak to me as I have very few times in my life. I can probably count on one hand the times that I have felt God speak so clearly. I felt that he was saying that this was the cause. There is no scientific or reasonable explanation for me to know what I felt, but I felt that this was something I needed to follow up.

Since I knew that he rarely polished his shoes, I knew that the shoe polish itself was definitely not what God was trying to show me. I went in to my computer and began to research and pulled up tons of sites showing the connection between some childhood night time seizures and food coloring. My mind began to connect the dots. I had taken careful observations so now I could reflect on their significance.

That first seizure (which was a more significant seizure) was after eating a significant amount of red velvet chocolate cake. Of course, with Joy's new venture into cake decorating, there were frequently samples of brightly colored pieces of cakes that needed to be eaten by someone...

That day, I decided that whatever we had to do, we were immediately taking him off of all food coloring. I did not think that he was allergic to all food coloring. However, things were in such a state, that I felt that we had to remove all possibilities before trying to single out the culprit.

Beginning that day, his seizures went from averaging three a week to NONE. Weeks went by, and I carefully watched his diet and he had NONE. After about six weeks, we decided to go to Golden Corral for a prize that he earned. Since we still couldn't completely convince ourselves that we had really found the culprit (perhaps it was a really big fluke?), we decided to basically let him get what he wanted. Well, you know what kids get...the brightest colored things--gummies, jellos, etc. That night we paid for it big time and I for several nights afterward. Once we got past that serious of episodes, we just decided that there could be little more debate about the real cause.

We finally got to see the neurologist, and told him our story. He agreed to let us continue with the diet plan although he didn't think it would continue to work, and suggested meds.

Well, to make a long story just a little shorter...it has continued to work. It has been a huge amount of work to eliminate these colorings from his diet. I never could have imagined how much coloring was in our foods, and I think our family already eats a whole lot healthier than the typical family. Even after I eliminated all coloring from his diet, he still had a few episodes after soaking in the tub in cosmetics that were (you guessed it) full of coloring.

Now I know this whole thing sounds really absurd to a lot of people. However, facts show that the day we changed his diet, the seizures stopped. Not only have his seizures stopped, but he's had great changes in behavior. So much so, that someone who didn't know of this situation commented about how much he had matured, and then I told them the story.

Why am I telling everyone our story? Not to start a campaign against food coloring! I have enough to do in life that has more purpose than to devote myself to ostracizing the food industry. I am saying this because there might be some parents out there for whom this information might benefit. My son struggles with the things we have had to limit him from; however, I tell him that I am so thankful that the Lord showed us what was causing the problem. We are blessed because his problem was so obvious. While these ingredients were damaging his body, they could have damaged his body in a silent way and one day we would have woke up to a serious illness or other life threatening situation.

While this one son is completely banned from these colorings, our whole family has adopted a much more conservative approach also to these ingredients. After all, while one child's reaction could be obvious, another child's reaction might not be known for years when it's too late.

There it is...I've put my hat in the ring along with the quacko's and those sponsoring "Food Incorporated." However, thank the Lord, I do have a child that is free of medicine, free of seizures, and in the end has a much healthier diet. Send me your comments...I would love to hear them!

God is in charge of the boundaries of your life.
Humility is the only antidote for pride.
Pride is the greed of character.
If you have all of the grace you need, you don’t understand Grace!
Sanctification has a beginning but has no end on earth.

Truth is for you to live above the pain caused by the false.
Fate is only for the hopeless.  God's will is for the belivers!
Luck only exists in the minds of the faithless.
God provides no luck, only blessings.
Luck is a plan for bypassing God

Ignoring the truth is to apply for ignorance.
Truth does not need your approval.Truth is never absent, only set aside.
Happiness is not necessarily the absence of pain.Joy comes from knowing that happiness does exist.

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