1. I recently went out and bought a new pair of shoes (I actually bought two because the store was offering buy one get a second pair half off). The day after I bought them, I wore one of the pairs. By the day's end I was more than ready to take them off (my "dogs" were really barking!). As you well know, it takes some time to break in a new pair of shoes. So you have to put up with the stiffness and discomfort for a time. This week my wife has been working on "breaking in" her new knee (which looks really cool on the x-rays she had done at her post-op visit). And after watching my wife go through this process, I have added to my prayer list, "Lord let me keep my original knees!" It has not been an easy path for her to walk (as some of you know from your own experience). So ... when you think of my wife, please pray for her! And pray that I will be the cheerleader she needs me to be!
2. Back in 1975 I purchased a book that would revolutionize my view of God. The book was written by J. I. Packer, a man whose writings I have come to highly value. I can still picture myself sitting at my security desk in the lobby of the Robert Morris Dormitory in Center City Philadelphia (17th and Arch Streets to be exact) - reading Packer's classic, Knowing God. Even though the hour was late (or early - I worked from 1:30 - 5:30 AM), I had little trouble staying awake as I explored the person of God through Packer's book. If you have never read this book (and I would hope you would do so!), here is a taste of Packer's thinking about God:
"What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it-the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters. This is momentous knowledge."
I couldn't agree more! This is momentous knowledge ... and it is knowledge that will change the way we look at life and live it out (Jeremiah 9:23-24)!
3. A month ago we had just finished our family week at the beach. During our time on the beach, I decided to take the little kids for a wagon ride. What seemed like a good and fun idea ... was anything but. I pulled a muscle in my back that has been cranky every since. Some days are better than others. In fact, there have been a few days on which I heard little from this cranky muscle. But most days it has been letting me know its around and I had better behave myself! Well, not only do muscles get "cranky." So do people! And I would guess that if you are anything like me - you are sometimes among the cranky people of the world. The other morning I got up and was thinking about my day and certain challenges I/we are facing at the moment. I felt myself growing cranky. About that time, I pulled a loaf
of bread out of our bread box, removed a piece of bread and dropped it in the
toaster. That's when it hit me. "Hmmm," I remember thinking to
myself. "There are some people in this world that would do anything to be
able to do what I had just done with this bread - because they have none!"
All of a sudden, the crankiness that was growing within me was now being pushed
out by feelings of gratitude. Wow! What a difference perspective can make! Yes?
So the next time circumstances are pushing you toward crankiness ... count your
blessings! You are more blessed than you know (Psalm 103:1-5)!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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