SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Month: August 2017

  • Just ONE

    Sometimes it all seems too much…all of the devastation, the hurt, the pain, the hate.  It can all seem like just too much.  When we look at the tragedy of what is happening in Texas, the amount of destruction is overwhelming.  When we consider those who are starving all over the world (including right in our own part of the world)…when we think of the amount of people captured and imprisoned in the torment of human trafficking…when we see the amount of hate and despair all over our world…it just can all seem that the problems are insurmountable.  It can easily cause us to not do anything for the problem of not knowing what to do.  How can we make a difference when the problems are enormous?  What will our small contribution do in the overall complexity of the problem?  Since we don’t know what to do, we are frozen in fear and desperation.  We long for God to act, yet we are not willing to move our own feet.  We want to be the hands and feet of Christ, but we don’t know what that looks like in a world so in need.  What do we do?

    As a child of God, I am called to love others.  If I love, then I cannot sit by and do nothing.  I cannot watch all of the tragedy and sit by while others suffer.  I cannot do NOTHING.  My fears and my despair cannot trap me into a place of immobilization.  I must love.  And if I am to love, what does that look like?  I think it is about loving just one.  My response should be:  In a world that is so in need, I will love just one more person.  If I have a dollar above what I need, I send that dollar to someone who does not have…even if it is just one.  If I can support a cause that is being good stewards and really reaching out, I do that.  If I can provide for one missionary that is serving, I do it.  If I can provide support for one child that is caught in a cycle of poverty, I do it.  The point is not to allow the enormity of the problem to deter our ability to act in love.  We are to love others…one at a time.  When we offer our love to one other, it begins to spread.  One at a time, we really can make a difference.  It all starts with one…will you be the one?  I will stand up and love…and I will love the next one….and the next…and the next.  Love just one today.

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  • The Reset Button

    I crave routine…there, I have written it.  It is out and I can’t help it.  If you asked me, I would probably tell you that I enjoy adventure and the excitement of spontaneity, never mentioning my desire for the routine and mundane.  But, when I am on vacation and out of the normal schedule of my life, I realize that my body and mind need the routine.

    I would think that getting up whenever I wanted and taking my time to get started…not having a schedule of work or a day fully booked…not worrying about making my lunch or where I am to be…all of this would be welcome in an overloaded life.  For me, it’s simply not true.  It still comes back to the fact that I need and crave routine.  I can’t help it and I can’t deny it.

    I miss getting up at the same time every day, working out according to a schedule, having the same breakfast, knowing the structure of my day, and wrapping my mind around it all.  I have also learned that I struggle to write when I am off my normal routine.  I had BIG plans for this vacation.  I was going to get up earlier than everyone else, which is my usual, and write every single day.  I managed to actually pull this off 2 of 5 days.  The words just don’t flow easily like I thought.  I, apparently, need and crave routine.

    What I have also learned is that vacation gives me two new perspectives.  I realize that I need the reset in my life.  That’s what vacation is for me…a reset.  The other day, one of our devices at home wasn’t working.  I couldn’t get it to turn on or turn off.  What did I do?  I hit the reset button.  The same concept as the CTRL-ALT-DEL function.  And, it worked.  The reset button readjusted the settings and the device worked again.  For me, vacation is my reset button.  It allows me to get out of the rush of the 7 day work week.  It helps me to stop and rest and breathe.  I don’t eat the same things or constantly check my schedule.  I let other people decide where we go and what we do without a plan.  It is difficult but it allows me to stop for a moment and reset.

    I have also learned that I am truly grateful for my life.  I am grateful for the early morning exercise, the joy of the smell and taste of fresh brewed coffee, the nutritional food prepared by my wonderful wife, the rhythm of work and church, and the blessing of watching my beautiful children grow.  I am grateful for family and friends that love and support each other.  I am grateful for each new day in all of its glory and all of its struggles.  I am grateful.IMG_1077

    In the end, this week has been an important reset in my life.  I look forward to returning to routine.  And, I look forward to what God has in store.