Trust The Lord

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

The message on the coffee cup said, “Take a deep breath and trust the Lord.”  That sounds a lot better than what I said recently to a friend who is facing some difficult decisions in his family.  I said to him, “Swallow hard and deal with it.”  What I meant was, take a deep breath and trust the Lord.  Really. I promise that’s what I meant. 

Have you been there?  Are you there now?  Facing a difficult decision?  Worried sick about what might happen?  Someone you love is living dangerously?  Are you heartbroken?  …While I know the words I spoke to my friend were a little blunt, for me personally, they work.  Swallow hard and deal with it.  Believe God.  Make the decision that your decision is not going to be swayed by the decisions of others. 

And then, take a deep breath and trust the Lord.  I mean, what else are you going to do?  Take matters in to your own hands?  Worry yourself sick?  Panic?  None of that will work.  If you believe what you say you believe, trust God.  Swallow hard and deal with it. Take a deep breath and trust God. And, enjoy your coffee.   

Count Your Many Blessings

Psalms 103:2 – “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…”

I remember singing the hymn in church when I was a kid, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done…..Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.”

I’ve been humming and singing that song the past few days.  So, instead of trying to get it out of my head I’ve been doing what the song says.  I’ve been counting my blessings…and it is absolutely amazing what the Lord has done. 

Evidently it’s easy to get in a rut and “forget His benefits…”  When you’re discouraged, count your blessings.  When you’re frustrated, count your blessings.  When you’re worried, count your blessings.  When you’re ready to give up, count your blessings.  When you’re envious, count your blessings.  When it’s a bad day, count your blessings – And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.  “Bless the Lord O my soul!”

Love Loves

1 Corinthians 13:13

“And the greatest of these is love…”

I sat and listened recently, along with a crowd of others, as a bride and groom repeated those familiar words – “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” 

Love loves whether things are good or bad, whether life is better or worse, if you’re rich or poor, sick or well…  Love loves when there’s no reason to love.  Love loves when there’s nothing in it for you.  Love loves when it has every reason not to. 

Love loves whether you’re walking on the beach with your new husband, or saving his face in his mid-seventies because his memory has been erased by Alzheimer’s.  Love loves whether you’re carrying your new bride over the threshold, or carrying her from the wheelchair to the bed because arthritis has robbed her of the ability to walk.  Love loves when she has a head full of hair…and when it’s all gone because of chemo.  Love loves when he’s strong and athletic…and when he can’t lift a finger because of ALS.  Love doesn’t love because…love just loves.

My dad said he stopped at talked to Mother this week.  She is buried near his home.  He goes to see her several times every week.  I asked him what he said to her…  He said, “I told her I love her and that I miss her every day and that she’s the only girlfriend I ever had.”  Love loves.

Every Name Has a Story

Proverbs 22:1 

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches”

I visited with my dad this past Sunday morning at a familiar and often uncomfortable place…the cemetery.  It was “decoration day” at Center Springs Methodist Church where my mother is buried. We chatted as we waited for others to arrive, then decided to take a walk among the graves.  Every tombstone was engraved with a name that brought back so many memories. 

As we walked, we talked.  “Remember him?”  “Remember her?”  Daddy is 84 and is having trouble remembering what happened yesterday, but he hasn’t forgotten names from 40 and 50 years ago.  Every name engraved on the tombstones had a story.  Some of the stories were happy, some were sad.  Some died wealthy, some poor.  Some lived to be a hundred, some died as infants.  Some were remembered for all the good they had done.  Some were remembered for the bad they had done. Every name had a story.

That’s true, not only after we die, but while we’re still alive.  Everyone is known for something.  Everyone has a reputation of some kind.  What are you known for?  When people hear your name what do they think? 

Yes every name has a story.  While none of us have arrived, and every day is a challenge - God help each of us strive to have a good name.  I will be OK if you remember that I was a preacher…that I was married to Crystal… that I was the father of Alyssa and Garrett…that I was the son of Lewis and Ellawee and the brother of Diana…But I really want to be remembered as a Christian. 

Every name has a story.  What’s your story?

The Day She Slapped Me

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was fifteen years old and was standing in the kitchen having a discussion with Mother.  Actually, I was being disrespectful, yelling and telling her what I thought.  Then she slapped me.  Right in the face.  I was dazed.  I couldn’t believe what had just happened.  Mother had just slapped me.

I have re-lived that day many times.  I have wished I could go back and have a do-over.  I wish I hadn’t talked to her like that. She slapped me.  I deserved it.  And I needed it. 

Mother always waited up for me…during high school, all the way up till I got saved.  Whether I came in at nine or midnight, she was sitting in her rocking chair waiting on me.  She had the chair positioned so when I walked in the first thing I saw was her.  She always hugged me…which now, some thirty-five years later, I realize she wasn’t just hugging me – she was smelling of me.

She prayed for me and believed in me.  When I was running from God she’s the one who told me, “You’ll never get away from the convictions of the Holy Spirit.”  She was right.  And neither have I gotten away from her influence. 

I’ll never forget the day she slapped me.  I’ll never forget the way she loved me.  She was made to be the mother of a preacher.  I am grateful.  Thank you Joy Ellawee Mason (1933-2006).