Proverbs 31:10 says, “Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?” My answer is, “I can, and I did.” 32 years ago today Gloria and I got married. I can’t believe it has been that long and that good! Happy anniversary, sweetie. I’ll pick you up at 4:00 for an evening at St. Joe. How does that sound?
Love, Tim
Did I ever get a treat last evening! I didn’t get home last night until around 7:30 but Gloria was waiting with a great plan up her sleeves; a picnic at Ox Bow Park! We quickly loaded the picnic basket and bocce ball game into the car and took off. Unfortunately, no sooner had we begun eating, a Park security officer arrived informing us that the park was closed and we had five minutes before we had to leave. Undeterred, we finished our picnic at home on our back porch.
I’m so grateful to God for a creative and fun wife. And maybe next time we’ll actually have time for that bocce ball competition!
Tim
This morning I read Luke 6-10. Man, is there ever a lot to chew on in those five chapters! Interestingly, the section that gave me more pause than any other was the story of Martha at the end of chapter ten. She and her sister Mary were hosting Jesus and his disciples for dinner. Mary was captivated by Jesus and his teaching, while Martha was running around cleaning and preparing food. She became frustrated with her sister for not helping her and let everyone know it. Jesus gently rebuked her and said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better.” (Luke 10:41).
Today I have ‘wall-to-wall’ meetings; lots of issues to address, problems to solve, deadlines to meet. My prayer for me today is to not be ‘worried and upset about many things’ but to walk through the day captivated by Jesus and to reflect his grace and gentleness along the way.
Tim
I know there are a lot of disappointed Colt’s fans around here today after last night’s loss in the Super Bowl to the Saints. Personally, I thought it was a fun game to watch and you have to feel good about New Orleans getting the win after all that city has been through. My biggest disappointment of the night was the realization that NFL season is over. I’m already counting the days until the pre-season kicks off in August.
As for the commercials that were aired during the game, my favorite one was Budweiser’s, “Fences”. My reason has nothing to do with the product, but the message of the commercial: “Nothing comes between friends; especially fences.” Since my current sermon series is on friendships, I appreciated the commercial even more. If you didn’t get a chance to see it or want to see it again, click here.
I hope there are no fences between you and your friends and if there are, I suggest breaking them down!
Tim
It’s no secret that as a Green Bay Packer fan I am no fan of Brett Favre (that ended 2 seasons ago). Therefore I would be less than honest with you if I told you that I was sorry to see Favre and the Vikings lose last night in the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints, I was not. In fact, I was thrilled when Favre threw an interception (his second of the game) at the end of regulation that stopped what would have been an almost certain field goal and a trip to Miami to face the Colts in the Super Bowl. And I jumped for joy when New Orleans kicked the winning field goal in overtime.
However, I must say that I am very impressed with a guy who was almost twice the age of most of the other players on the field (Favre turned 40 last fall) and who got pounded by the New Orleans’ defense but still continued to play his heart out with fire in his gut to win. Whether you are a Favre fan or not, you have to admit that he really is something special!
Favre reminds me of another old man, this one in the book of Joshua by the name of Caleb who said, “So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” –Joshua 14:10-12
Perhaps today we should all pause and ask ourselves if we have a passion anywhere near Favre’s or Caleb’s for what God has called us to do; whether it is to be a factory worker, manager, husband, wife, father, mother, bus driver, student, secretary or pastor. Don’t coast at your calling.
Tim
Monday evening, Gloria and I went to a Notre Dame basketball game because a friend gave us his two tickets. We had a wonderful meal together at Olive Garden and then drove to the ND campus to watch No. 5 Syracuse play the Fighting Irish. It was a great game even though Notre Dame lost. For me, it was just fun to watch both the game and Gloria taking pictures. She has taken up photography as a new hobby and took some great pictures. Nothing big to report about the evening except it was a whole bunch of fun. I’m so glad that I’m married to such wonderful woman and that I have a friend who was kind enough to give us his tickets. Life is good.
Tim
I want to thank everyone who sent me, and continues to send me, sympathy e-mails and text messages regarding Green Bay’s overtime loss yesterday to the Arizona Cardinals. I suppose I was asking for it when I mentioned yesterday in my message that Aaron Rodgers, the QB at Green Bay, and I are friends. Oh well, I have bounced back from the devastating loss and am definitely on the road to full recovery.
I will leave you with one more impression from yesterday. At the end of my message, I challenged the body of River Oaks to linger a little longer than normal before heading home. Truly the atmosphere in the lobby after both services was incredible! I only wish that what happened yesterday would happen every Sunday! And for those of you who attend River Oaks, remember the challenge for this coming week; don’t sit in the same place that you normally do in the service and meet some new people.
Have a great week and be sure to make time this week for your friends. They are some of life’s greatest treasures.
Tim
It is 4:30 in the afternoon and it has been one of those days. I came into the office this morning around 8:30, following an early morning meeting, and looked excitedly at my schedule for the day; work on my sermon for Sunday and write my monthly elder report. That was it! I was so excited. I even remember thinking that I might have an hour or more to do some reading. So much for good intentions. The details of my day are not important and everything that happened today was necessary and important – I even used my 4-Runner to pull a van out of the snow that had slid off the road into the front yard of the church - it’s just that it’s 4:30 and so far I have spent about 30 minutes on my sermon and have not finished my elder report (which is due at 4:30)!
But here is what I know; God knew what this day would be like and that it wouldn’t look anything like what my calendar looked like. It says in Psalm 139:16, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” So I take a deep breath and tell God that I trust him and I thank him for giving me his wisdom and grace for the events of this day. But honestly, I hope that his plans for me for tomorrow include a lot of sermon preparation time because Sunday is coming soon! Just in case, I think I’ll work on it some before I go home.
Tim
We are a few minutes from leaving for Indianapolis to spend New Year’s with my side of the family. I’m looking forward to seeing my brother from North Carolina as well as my parents and my older brother and his family. And I’m hoping that the lake effect snow that is predicted for our area won’t be a problem as we return home Friday night!
I want to wish all of you a blessed New Year and trust that all of us will continue pursuing God and becoming more like Jesus in 2010. I know I have a long ways to go, but with the Spirit’s help, I pray that the image of Christ will be increasingly reflected in my life. As Paul wrote in Philippians 1:11, “May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”
Tim
Are you looking for a New Year’s resolution? I’ve found mine and I want to challenge you to join me. I am going to read through the Bible in 2010. I have read the Bible through several times in the past but I have not done so for a few years and so I’ve decided that I will in the coming year. I am going to follow the schedule in the back of my Life Application New Living Translation, but there are many other options available to help you stay on track. For those of you who want to read the Bible on-line, check out BibleGateway or YouVersion; both offer different versions, plans and even the option to download your plan to your mobile phone. If you want to use a One Year Bible there are many to choose from.
God’s Word is a ‘lamp to guide our feet and a light for our paths‘ (Psalm 119:105). Want to join me in lighting up 2010 with the Word? Any takers?
Tim
