We are home from our Florida vacation and had a wonderful time. Many of the locals were complaining about the weather being cool, but sun and temperatures in the 70’s were just fine for us. I think the highlight of the trip was an air boat ride through the Everglades. Fortunately just before we boarded the boat, Gloria wrestled a fierce alligator to the ground and saved many lives!

We came home refreshed and reinvigorated. What fun to get up every morning and take a walk enjoying sunshine, birds, flowers and coffee. What a treat to spend time with friends walking, talking, eating, playing cards and watching the Olympics. Thanks, Charlie and Nancy Kline, for your kind hospitality and great friendship!

During one of my morning quiet times, I read this verse from Exodus 16:29, “They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you.” The Sabbath was a one-day-a-week rest for the Israelites and it was God’s gift to them. I paused and thanked God for our week in Florida. It was a ‘Sabbath rest’ and was truly a gift from God. I was challenged to do better at keeping the Sabbath back in Elkhart, seeing it as a gift from God.

Tim

Tomorrow morning Gloria and I leave on a mid-winter vacation to Ft. Myers, Florida. I am going to ‘go dark’ for a week. I don’t plan to post anything on my blog. I hope everyone is cool with that. I am going to do my best to get away from my computer, my cell phone, the TV and spend a lot of time with my wife and some good friends. I hope to do a lot of walking and trying to experience as stress-free and technology-free week as I can. Who knows, maybe I’ll have something interesting to blog about when I get back.

While I am gone, you might want to check out some daily devotional readings from crosswalk.com. I think you will find some good encouragement and challenges for your walk with God. Later.

Tim

This morning in my quiet time I read in the book of Genesis about the scene in the story of Joseph when Jacob, his father, came to Egypt to live, along with the rest of the family. You can read the whole story in Genesis 47. When Jacob arrived he met Pharaoh and the king asked him how old he was. Jacob replied, “I have traveled this earth for 130 hard years.” (Genesis 47:9)

It struck me that Jacob didn’t simply answer the king’s question; he added that they had been hard years. I looked up the Hebrew word for ‘hard’ and it can be translated, “bad, evil, wretched or painful”. If you know Jacob’s story, you know that his life was hard, but at this point in his life he had just been rescued from a severe famine by his son, Joseph, whom he thought had been dead for over 20 years! And because of that you would think he would have used a different word besides ‘hard’ to summarize his life.

His son Joseph did. Joseph too had experienced a hard life. I would say that Joseph’s life was even harder than his father’s life. Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers and had experienced terrible injustice and hardship in his life, but when he looked back on his life he had a different perspective. He said, “God intended it all for good.” (Genesis 50:20)

Both men had a rough life, but one was able to express his opinion in a positive, God-focused way. It challenged me to look at every day that way. My day may have been hard. It may have been painful and even have been patently wretched, but if I believe that God is working in my life, then he is working for the good and I should view it more that way.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God ad are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” –Winston Churchill.

Have a good day!

Tim

For any of you in northern Indiana I don’t have to tell you that we got a lot of snow yesterday. I don’t know what the total amount was but most places got at least six inches and some as much as 12, with more on the way today.

Yesterday was a long day for me. I began with a breakfast meeting at 6:30 am and didn’t leave the church until the end of an elder meeting at 10:00 pm. Needless to say I was tired. As I turned out the lights in the church and set the alarm I was thinking of the work that was still ahead: clearing snow from my truck and my driveway. But as I walked towards my snow covered truck one of the elders was brushing snow and scraping ice from my truck! Thanks, Aaron Clow.

I then drove home formulating my plan to clear at least some of my driveway, but when I pulled into the drive it had already been shoveled! Thanks, Gloria and Josh.

I walked into the house and in a few minutes I heard the sound of scraping on my drive and I looked out and I saw a truck with a plow pushing back some of the large piles of snow at the front of my drive! It was another elder. Thanks, Mike Bailey.

I just couldn’t help smiling. I went to bed feeling really blessed.

“When someone loves you with no strings attached and no personal agenda, it’s the most freeing thing in the world.” – John Maxwell

Tim

In my sermon preparation this week (my current series is on friendships) I came across an interesting list from Dale Carnegie on six ways to make people like you. Now, I’m not sure you can actually make people like you, but I am sure you can influence people in that direction. Here is his list. I hope one or two of them might help you further develop your ‘people skills’.

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
   
3. Remember that a person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound.
4. Be a good listener – encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
6. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” Philippians 2:3-5

Tim

Here is another good one for the stressed and anxious among us. It is not a complete philosophy of life, but I believe it should be a part of it. Enjoy this writing from a friar living in a monastery in Nebraska.

If I had my life to live over again, I’d try to make more mistakes next time.

I would relax, I would limber up, I would be sillier than I have been this trip.

I know of very few things I would take seriously.

I would take more trips. I would be crazier.

I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets.

I would do more walking and looking.

I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would have more actual troubles, and fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I’m one of those people who lives life prophylactically and sensibly hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and if I had to do it over again I’d have more of them.

In fact, I’d try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day. I’ve been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute.

If I had to do it over again I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

I would play hooky more.

I wouldn’t make such good grades, except by accident.

I would ride on merry-go-rounds.

I’d pick more daisies.

Don’t wait until it is too late to enjoy the life that God has graciously given you!

Tim

Gloria forwarded this story to me that she had received from her sister-in-law and I thought you might like reading it. It’s not a new story and perhaps you have read it before, as I have, but it’s worth reading again. It is a great reminder of what someone once said: “Every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.” (more…)