Welcome Home: Your Journey Is Just Beginning

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“Welcome Home: Your Journey Is Just Beginning”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

 

1 week ago Friday, we took my oldest daughter to move into her college dorm and spent the day doing various things.  While in the dining hall for lunch, I noticed a tv on the wall with this saying, “Welcome Home: Your Journey Is Just Beginning”.  This definitely stirred the emotions that were already inside of me as I knew this was now her new home.  I sat there, very excited for her, but very sad that she was now going to be on her own and out of the home.

 

As I thought about this phrase, it gave me a sense of peace knowing that she is in good hands and will be well taken care of at this college.  Her next journey of life and her new home is just beginning.  It makes me think of different journeys we have throughout life. 

 

When we start dating someone, our new journey is just beginning.  When we get married, our new journey is just beginning.  When we have our first child, our journey is just beginning.  When we graduate high school and move to college, our journey is just beginning.  When we start a new job, our journey is just beginning.

 

We start a lot of new journeys in life and they can bring on many mixed feelings.  We’re excited, nervous, terrified, full of anxiety, etc.  We have all been filled with mixed feelings when starting something new.

 

As we walked off campus Friday night and left my daughter there, I kept thinking about her new journey and all the wonderful life experiences she will have in the coming days, weeks, months and years.  I felt very happy for her, but I also felt very emotional leaving as our journey was just beginning coming home with one child gone from home.

 

Sometimes, we don’t want things to change in life and we’re scared of new beginnings for whatever reason.  I was just chatting with a co-worker today that is leaving our company and beginning the same position in a different company.  She mentioned doing it all over again and being nervous about a new place. 

 

None of us are exempt from feeling the mixed emotions of new journeys.  However, we must always remember that, no matter the new journey, God is always with us wherever we go. 

 

There’s such a welcoming feeling reading those words, “Welcome Home: Your Journey is Just Beginning”.  That brings feelings of anticipating really great and new things in life.  We must choose to embrace the unknown at every new journey.  God is with us and will always guide us. 

Filled With Emotions

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“Filled With Emotions”

 

The past years, several months and days have been filled with my oldest daughter preparing for graduation and now venturing off to college.  Since Spring, it’s been a whirlwind of preparing for graduation, her grad party and now getting everything ready to send her off to college. 

 

As I write this, tears are filling my eyes.  I’m just filled with emotions.  I’m thinking of the memories I’ve had with my daughter and watching her grow into the beautiful young woman she has become.  The past few years have been quite challenging in many ways as she navigated some difficult times, but learned and persevered through them.  I am so proud of the woman she is now and who God is going to lead her to be in the coming years.

 

As you can imagine, emotions have been all over the place for my wife and I as we navigate this new season of life.  I don’t really know how all to explain the emotions I’m seeing in our home and the emotions I’m personally feeling.  I’m excited for her, but also sad that I’m letting her go into the world by herself. 

 

I’ve been telling my wife that I’ve struggled with the feelings of “Did I teach her enough?  Did I instill enough Godly values in her?  Did I spend enough time showing her I love her?  Did I take enough time doing things with her?”  The questions just keep filling my mind as emotions run through me.  This is a new season of life and I’m not quite sure how to handle the emotions and……I want to be strong for my wife and, my oldest and my youngest.  But, it’s okay to show emotions.

 

Friday, we take her to college and we come home without her for a while.  It’s going to be hard and it will be a transition for us.  What I know most of all is that God’s in complete control and He will guide her and we just have to trust His timing and protection throughout her life.  As she experiences college, as she finds a Godly man when the timing is right and enters marriage and as she one day has a family of her own.

 

Lord, please protect my daughter as she ventures out on her own.  I pray she will take all that we’ve taught her and develop her own faith and become stronger.  Thank you for these 18 years of watching her grow and blossom.  I’m excited to see what You have in store for her life and where You will lead her.  Please help my wife and I adjust to this transition as well as my daughter as she ventures on her own.  We give her to You and trust Your leading in her life.  Amen.

Be Kind To Yourself

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“Be Kind To Yourself”

Ephesians 2:10 NLT

For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

 

I have a confession to make right off the bat here.  For most of my life, I have had a really bad habit of coming down on myself when I make a mistake or forget to do something.  This is something I have been working on for a while, but I still treat myself pretty bad when I mess anything up.  The enemy feeds me lies every time I mess up or forget to do something.  The enemy tells me I’m worthless, that everyone else would get it right and that I’m just not smart enough.

 

I’ve dealt with a very low self-esteem for so long, but God is helping me work on this.  And, so is my wife and kids.  Daily they hear me say something bad about myself and I get in trouble when I do that.  If I say, “I’m dumb”, “I’m stupid”, “I can’t get things right”, I get in big trouble with them and they tell me to be nice to myself.

 

When I read this passage this week, it reminded me that no matter how sometimes I feel about myself, it’s usually very wrong because the enemy wants me to feel worthless, useless and not valued at all. 

 

Friends, think about the first phrase of this passage, “For we are God’s masterpiece”.  You and I are God’s MASTERPIECE!!!!  How does that make you feel?  When I read that, I am reminded how valued and loved I am by God.  The enemy is so good at feeding me constant lies about myself.  The heartbreak to this behavior of mine is that often I will hear my kids say the same things about themselves.  Of course, I tell them to stop saying that, but that’s exactly how I act and what I say when I mess up.

 

Be kind to yourself!  We are a masterpiece created by the Maker of all things.  There is nothing useless or worthless about that!  If you are reading this and you are finding yourself struggling just like I do daily with self-esteem, remember this passage.  You are created anew in Christ Jesus!  You are loved and valued by the Maker Himself.  He created you and values you more than you’ll ever know.

 

When you find moments where you come down on yourself and say bad things about yourself, take a deep breath and remember this passage and the fact that God values you.  And remember to be kind.  We’re always told to be kind to others, but we also need to be kind to ourselves.

Honesty Goes A Long Way

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“Honesty Goes A Long Way”

Isaiah 6:5 NIV

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

 

As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, I am a fan of police shows.  Watching the reality of what police officers experience is thrilling in many ways, but also touching in some ways as well.  My wife and I will often make comments to each other and our girls how certain officers are really cool in the way they handle things. 

 

One of the things that has stuck out to me lately is when a traffic stop is made and the officer has a hunch there are drugs involved or sees some drug paraphernalia, so then the driver or passengers are immediately asked to step out of the car.  Many officers will then cut right to the chase and say, “Look, honesty goes a long way with here.  If you’re honest with me right now about the drugs you have, we can work something out”.  This doesn’t mean the officer will totally let them off the hook, but with the honesty, the officer will often either destroy it and let them go after delivering a teaching moment. 

 

I’ve had that phrase stuck in my mind for a while now as I watch the shows.  If the people aren’t honest and try to play dumb and the cops find more drugs, then off to jail they go or pay a hefty fine.  The officers value up front honesty and often times, the officers can tell right away if the person is lying.  As I think about this in our lives with God, He values our honesty.  When we come to Him, He wants us to admit the junk in our lives. He wants us to be up front with Him, admit our faults and ask for forgiveness.  We can’t hide anything from God.

 

I would imagine it’s pretty hard to hide things from cops.  They are smart and know how to spot things that aren’t good.  They want people to be honest with them and for it to be a teaching moment.  God also wants to have teaching moments with us and He wants to guide us.  Parents want their kids to be honest with them.  Teachers want students to be honest with them.  Any person in authority desires for another person in a lesser position to be honest.  Honesty goes a long way. 

 

So often, I think we forget this in life.  I have really tried to make this a practice in my life.  Not just to look good to others, but to really have a good conscience and be a faithful servant for God.  I want to be honest in all that I do.  But, there are times I don’t want to be honest and I’d rather hide something because I don’t want to face the music.

 

We can all learn a lot by remembering that honesty goes a long way.  When we’ve messed up, we need to come clean before God and before those we have wronged.

Are We Missing Out?

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“Are We Missing Out?”

Revelation 4:8 NIV

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

 

We have all had experiences in life where we feel like we’ve missed out on something.  Maybe we decided to not go on a trip with others and then we find out all they did and we feel we really missed out.  Maybe as a parent you were not able to attend one of your kid’s events.  For whatever reason, you didn’t go and then something big happened and you didn’t see it in person.  You feel you really missed out.

 

We have all had these experiences in one way or another.  There are times when we wish we could be in two places at once so we don’t miss both opportunities.  However, we can’t clone ourselves, so we have to decide on one or the other.

 

Several weeks ago, we had a prayer and worship night at church during the week.  One of the songs we sang was Chris Tomlin “Holy Forever”.  The chorus really caught my attention:

 

And the angels cry, Holy
All creation cries, Holy
You are lifted high, Holy
Holy forever

 

As I thought of these words, I pictured Revelation where the creatures are bowing before the Throne and saying “Holy” and they never stop!  I thought about how in the past years in ministry life, I have heard off and on people talk about how there’s constant worship going on in Heaven and are we joining that praise?  Or, are we totally missing out because life is just too important here on earth and we are consumed with everything on our agenda?

 

I am one that really hates to miss out on things that are cool to be part of.  There are times that when I miss out on something and I get serious FOMO, it hits me and the emotions are all over the place.  Well, I often wonder how I feel if I am missing out on just giving God praise all day long and joining with the creatures before the Throne. 

 

Friends, if we are so consumed with life, it’s so easy to totally miss out on praising God and getting that focus in our lives.  We miss out on something really BIG when we forget that our lives are to constantly be praising God, every moment of each day.  Let that sink in for a moment.

 

I don’t want to miss out any longer.  I want to constantly be joining the praise that is already going on.  How about you?

There Is No Easy Button

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“There Is No Easy Button”

Luke 9:23 NLT

Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.”

 

Remember many years ago the commercial for Staples store with a button that says, “That was easy”?  We actually have one of those buttons at my work on top of the corner of a cubicle.  One of the IT guys usually walks by and hits it and we laugh.  I remember through the years talking about that commercial and how so often it would be nice if certain things were easy.  Don’t we all feel like that?

 

As a parent, I often hear my kids make comments and complain about how they wish life were just easier.  As much as I lecture them about this, I have to admit I do feel the same way many times.  There are times in life when I just wish things could be easier.  Why can’t raising kids be easier?  Why can’t my job be easier?  Why can’t marriage be easier? Why can’t school be easier?  The list could go on and on. 

 

As I think about how we’ve become so accustomed to comfort in our lives and finding the easiest way to do things, I can’t help but think about how this is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught us about life.  He came and lived anything but an easy life.  Pretty much everything He did was the opposite of easy.  People around Him often complained about how hard things were.  But He taught so often that “hard” is good.  It teaches us and creates character and perseverance in our lives.

 

Jesus was very clear to us about how we need to carry our cross daily.  If we want to follow Him, we cannot expect an easy life.  We cannot live daily wishing that everything was easy.  Even though we would often want this, living easy does not produce growth in our lives.  The challenges I experience in my life are often not wanted or easy, but they definitely help me grow as a person and in my faith. 

 

Friends, we must stop holding on to the “easy button” and wishing so much in life was easier.  We must remember the life that God called us to live should be anything but easy.  God’s call and challenge to us is to grow and be stretched in our faith every day.  Through the pain and trials of carrying our cross daily, we learn what it truly means to live a life that Jesus calls us to. 

 

There is no easy button for our lives in Christ.  We were meant to live a life that is full of challenge and growth.  An easy life will not produce growth and character.

Get Back Up And Go

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“Get Back Up And Go”

James 1:2-3 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

 

Last week, I shared how I was moved by the numbers on the scale and I decided to get it in gear and start walking and jogging regularly again.  Well, one of the days I got home from work and went for a jog, I must have stepped into a groove on the sidewalk at just the wrong time.  Next thing I know, my body shot forward and I hit the ground.  I ended up dropping my phone and breaking part of it (I don’t know why I didn’t just have it in my pocket!), skinning my left knee, left thigh, left elbow and right palm.  It hurt bad, but I got up, took a little bit to regain my composure while limping.  After a bit, I thought, “I think I can still do this”, and I started jogging again.

 

I was actually questioning myself in my head why I chose to continue to jog after I just got injured.  I have motivation to keep jogging and getting exercise and I didn’t want the injury to stop me.  I mean, if I had broken something, I probably would have stopped and limped my way home.  But, I was determined to see how it felt to keep going.  I got home, wiped my cuts off and went on with life.  The next day, I was very sore and it hurt a lot to move my left leg.  I was limping a bit for the next day or so, but got better soon.  I’m still sore and healing from the wounds, but I’ve been out almost every day still jogging and walking.  When I come to that place I fell, I go a bit slower and try to be more aware of the sidewalk so I don’t do it again!

 

Friends, we all have had numerous experiences where we fall in life.  Sometimes, it’s just figuratively speaking with a bad decision we’ve made, or it could literally be physical where we experience an injury to our body.  Either way, when we fall, it’s often scary and difficult in some ways to get back up and go again.  We might think, “What if it happens again?”  Well, the only way to know is try again.  We can either be filled with the fear of it happening again or be confident that we’ll do our best to not let it happen again.

 

We all experience trials and hard times.  God uses these times to strengthen us and help us to continue to live life.  We gotta pick ourselves back up and keep going.  Maybe not the same way we chose before, but we keep going again.  I used to tell my girls years ago about how the gymnasts experience setback after setback and mistake after mistake for many years and you never see that.  And, even though they become professionals in many ways, they STILL mess up!  And, so will we! 

 

We will continue to fall down, but how we handle that means everything!  We gotta make the decision to get back up and keep going and let God guide us.  I hope that we can all strive to move forward, regardless of the falls we experience in life.  We will have them, but it’s our choice how we deal with them.  Let our motivation for life keep us going!