Where Were You?

There are many infamous days in our history.

JFK’s assassination.

Pearl Harbor.

The OKC bombing.

Just to name a few. These are days that regardless of everything else we remember every detail of where we were and what we were doing at that exact moment.

9/11 is one of those days we will always remember every detail.

I was asleep when my mom called from South Dakota and told me to turn on the tv, to any news channel. Normally I would have said, “later” and gone back to sleep but she had that tone of voice that you don’t argue with. I turned the television on to see the smoke billowing from the first tower and just in time to watch the second tower get hit.

My initial reaction and the first thing I remember asking my mom is, “What’s gonna happen to my brother?” There was never a question of whether he would go. It was a matter of when. Just a few years earlier my brother had enlisted in the National Guard. By a fluke of accidental miracles he was never deployed.

 

 

 

Later that morning I headed to work. First day out of training at a new job. I remember people calling in and complaining about President Bush preempting everything. Eight hours later I was so drained from watching the events of the day and dealing with people’s selfishness. I know more than once I reminded people how we felt when the OCK bombing happened and that the attacks on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and the crash in Pennsylvania were much worse than anything we’ve encountered before. They didn’t want to hear it. In the days following, however, things changed. The overall attitude of customers was one of ‘how can I make this better?’ instead of ‘it’s all about me’.

Life changed in that moment.

For thousands of people, lives were flipped upside down. The people lost were mothers, fathers, daughters, sisters, sons, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Each person has a face, a story, a life that was cut short.

To the Soldiers, EMTs, Firefighters, PD’s, other public service agents I’ve not mentioned – thank you for your time and your sacrifice to help those in need. You are true heroes.

Boys vs. Girls.

Not long ago I was in the doctor’s office with ZigZag and was struck by something I’d never truly considered before. Here was my son, waiting for his appointment, being a bit rowdy with the toy trucks and completely oblivious to the fact he’d taken over the waiting room from a quiet little girl who ran to her mom as soon as ZigZag began to play. Fortunately it was a slow day and we were the only people in the office aside from this little girl and her mom.

Maybe it’s because I have boys.

Most of the girls we know have brothers so they can hold their own but boys and girls are so different! I know. I know. That’s kind of a ‘duh’ moment for most of you.

This little girl was so completely shy. She hid under her momma’s legs and played with one of the smaller cars. By the time she was called back for her appointment she had stepped out a bit – she was playing ‘catch’ with ZigZag by rolling the cars back and forth to each other.

But it dawned on me, my son didn’t even notice her until I pointed her out. Not that I’m trying to marry him off at the age of five or anything like that but that he was so wrapped up in his world that he couldn’t spare even a moment to see someone else.

Often times we, as Christians even, get so entirely wrapped up in what’s going on around us – in our own little worlds – that we don’t notice those around us. Those people we love to keep up with on Facebook but only if their status update shows up in our news feeds. Or those who we see only at holidays or birthdays, family reunions or funerals. Or those we talk to only when it pertains to our own dire need right at that moment.

When is the last time you called someone just to say hello?

and truly meant it in a ‘just saying hi’ kind of way?

Or smiled at a stranger?

Or helped someone carry their items?

Some things I’ve learned recently by stepping outside of myself to check on the well-being of others:

Two amazing people are officially parents and bringing their son to his forever home as I type this.

One amazing young woman left her home for Wales to spend the next nine months training in a foreign country to be a missionary to Africa permanently at the end of that time.

Many of my friends are engaged or pregnant – too many to count at this point! (Thank you Oklahoma Blizzard!)

The point is

the world is bigger than you and me

Period.

It’s bigger than all of us and it’s time we set aside our own agenda’s and started actually caring about those around us.

I can hear you now, “but what can I do? I’m just one person”.

So is Jesus.

A Playset Raising.

Back in the pioneer days if a family needed a barn, house, or other necessary building built they’d have all of their friends, family, and neighbors travel out, camp out on the homestead in their wagons and work each day on building whatever was needed until it was finished. We did something similar recently.

Several weeks ago my dad bought this massive playset for my boys. You know the kind, made of wood with a rock wall, slide, swings, a too tall tower, etc. And then we had weeks of seemingly non-stop snow and below zero temperatures. So, building this was postponed until the weather was in a better mood.

It came in 4 boxes that remained stacked on our back porch through many weeks of snow and below freezing temperatures. Finally it was warm enough to build it completely. We thought it would be fairly easy. In theory, each of the 4 boxes was a complete section to be joined with each of the other 3 boxes once they were all together. Not so.

Each box was full of wood. So much wood. And all of it was numbered so we began by sorting the wood into matching piles based on whichever numbers were stamped on them.

Then we started reading the directions. Or rather, my dad read the directions and the rest of us did as we were told. Ha! I want that job next time! Our progress went something like this:

Putting the roof on was … interesting. We laid the whole thing over on its side in order to reach the roof area and to attach those boards. Made it a teeny bit easier to do than trying to stand on tippy-toes at the top of a ladder drill in hand. Once the first roof (yes, first – there were two) was all on we stood it up and called it a day.

On to day two. We started with the second roof – again by laying it down and drilling the roof boards on. One plus to laying it down: made it much easier to undo and redo the boards that slipped a bit out of line. And then came the picnic table. Yes, this thing has a built in picnic table. We were somewhere in the middle of securing the boards that would soon hold the benches when the wind picked up (somewhere around 60-80 mph I’m guessing) and the whole thing started lifting up! So what did I do? I sat on it. Okay, I wasn’t the only one who put my weight on it as there was no way we were letting this thing blow over and potentially destroy all our hard work. Oh, and for the record, the finished project is much more weighted and stronger as well as anchored into the ground really well so it won’t be blowing away any time soon.

Finally, it was time to add the “fun” stuff. You know, the swings, slide, rock wall, and a few small ladders to move between the three levels. Yes, in case you hadn’t see that in the pictures, there are three levels to this thing. The top one is roughly the same height as out attic floor. Aye-yi-yi! That’s tall! Fortunately, I know just how sturdy all of those pieces of wood enclosing the top level almost completely are as I’m the one who secured them all.

The finished product is so much more fun to play on than it was to build. Building it required reading many pages of instructions and sometimes disagreeing with how things went together; meant hitting myself in the head with the drill a few times and scraping my hand on concrete; waking up for a few days with sore muscles in places I’d forgotten there are muscles. It also meant seeing some of the biggest smiles on the boys faces.

Now we just need the weather to cooperate for more than five minutes so we can all go out and enjoy it!

Some thoughts I had while building this:

* Why can’t children come with a manual?! It would be so much easier to raise them if we knew what to say or do and when. Then I smacked myself and said, “that’s exactly what the Bible is”.

* I also thought about how God takes us and molds us to be who we are supposed to be for Him. If something doesn’t line up right, He works on us until we relent to His way and get things lined up again. I consider each learning experience to be the equivalent of each bolt and screw in the playset. Each one holds us to the memory of how God helped us in a particular situation just like each bolt and screw holds that playset together. Individually it seems as though there are just random pieces lying about but when put together they form a masterpiece that only the Master can create.

Image.

Let me ask you something.

• Are you a nice person?
• Do you yell at your mom?
• Hang up on your ex?
• Get cranky with your kids?
• Roll your eyes when people ask what you deem “stupid” questions”?
• Gossip with your friends?

I’m not asking you this to find out if you are truly a nice person or not. Stick with me here, I have another question for you.

If you said yes to any of the above questions, would you still do that if there were camera’s following you 24/7?  If you knew that your actions and your words were being recorded and blasted around the globe in various media outlets, would you still be the person you are today?

Is that the image you want people to see? Is that the person you want to be known as?

If you answered no to those last two questions, let me ask you this; why aren’t you the person you want people to see?

Mountains.

The Climb – Miley Cyrus

Click the link above and listen to this song as you read this.

We tried a new church just after Thanksgiving last year. I’m finding it necessary to have one a little closer to home for several reasons. I was more than a little nervous. I’ve tried new churches before and always get nervous but that’s gotten worse since I have 2 little people who depend on me for everything. Who God gave me and who I feel this enormous responsibility to make sure they are taught about Jesus and who He is and everything He’s done for us. One of the biggest steps in doing this is finding the right church. One that will not only teach my kids in a way I agree with (by teaching them the Word) but in a way that shows them just how real God’s word is AND one that I can worship in and be 100% who I’m supposed to be in Christ.

That’s pretty demanding if you think about it. So often we hear, “you don’t have to make everyone happy as long as you’re happy” and there are times when that applies but this isn’t one of them. It is absolutely imperative that all three of us are getting what we need on the level we need it – especially from church. And no, I’m not talking about the actual physical building we call a church. I’m talking about the Church, as in the people who make up the church. When we go to a church expecting things to be what we need we’re setting some pretty high expectations for those who are leading worship, teaching the kids, running the book store and coffee shop, and preaching/teaching. That list goes on and on.

With that in mind, I walked into this new church with VERY high expectations. And I was completely blown away. My kids loved their classes (although E-Man does say he has to sit still too long sometimes but I think he’s enticed by the pool and foosball tables!). Worship was amazing. And then there was the sermon.

How often do you hear a grown man quoting Miley Cyrus? Honestly, that rarely happens and if it does it’s a single dad who’s trying to impress someone in regards to the time he spends with his daughter. Okay, that’s a bit cynical but you get my point. That’s something that just doesn’t happen. Well, the speaker that Sunday started his sermon, not with words, by playing a clip from Miley Cyrus’ song The Climb (see above link). And then he started talking about mountains.

Now, unfortunately, I don’t have my notes in front of me so I don’t have the scripture references he used but I will tell you what I got out of his sermon.

There’s a verse in the Bible (Matthew 17:20 Amplified Version – italics & bold mine – courtesy of YouVersion)

20 He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

So often the second portion of that verse is taken a bit too literal. Out of context even. We are taught that as Christians we have the ability to move mountains. True. Very true. We’ve also become complacent that just because the mountain hasn’t moved means that we’re meant to be here, going through this trial or tribulation for a time. Just like Jesus spent 40 days being tempted in the desert. And when that time is finished God will removed the mountain before us. But what we fail to see is that not every mountain is meant to be moved. Some are meant to be climbed.

Take a look at the following list (compiled in part using Max Lucado’s book Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear — Chapter 14):

* Noah’s ark lands: Mountains of Ararat

* Isaac as a sacrifice: Mount Moriah

* Moses and the burning bush: Mount Sinai

* Elijah ascending into Heaven: Mount Horeb

* Christ Crucified: Calvary

* Christ’s Transfiguration: Mount Hermon

Some of the most important and life changing events in the Bible happened  on the tops of mountains. Think about that. If the people we grew up knowing from the Bible had to face their mountains and climb them in order to see the goodness God had for them at critical times in their lives, why would we try to remove the mountains in our lives? Why wouldn’t we want to race up those mountains as fast as possible in order to see what God has in store for us?

I admit that I am one who has previously stated something akin to, “God will remove this mountain when it’s time”. Trust me when I tell you I’m not saying that anymore. Yes, I do believe that some mountains are to be removed and cast into the sea but the keyword there is some. Not all.

So many times I have said, “I can’t”. No more. I know that life as we know it is only going to get worse. Let me rephrase that. The world as we know it is only going to get worse – go read Revelation, Daniel, and Isaiah. Why on Earth should we, whose home is in Heaven, succumb to the things of this world? Why can’t I climb the mountains and receive all that God has for me and my family?!

Did you get that? Climb the mountains in your life. Rely on God to be with you and trust him to lead you through paths of righteousness. In the 23rd Psalm, the Bible says; (Amplified – italics mine)

4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.

 

We have to make it through the valleys in order to climb the mountains but when we do so with God there is no fear. God guides us. God protects us. God comforts us.

What are you waiting for?