I've been taking a few moments to look over the Wide Scope blog entries over the past year, taking the time to reflect and review the past year. What did I find has happened over the past year?
As usual, a lot.
Does this year in review blog have the potential to be as good as last year's year in review? Hardly. I don't have a song prepared off of Youtube. But keep reading- I did learn something.
I learned in January that even if I wanted to blog every week it is nearly impossible to do it. I also got acclimated with my new job after being laid off since April. I ended up with the same number of posts in 2011 as 2010. In February I learned that sacrifice is hard but sometimes necessary, and that if done in obedience God will reward it. March was a lesson in embracing my place, wherever it is, no matter what changes come.
April saw me turn 34 with the usual bit of reflection that I like to do and saw the first reports that apparently the world was going to end in May. Strangely, we are still here. May was admittedly a hard month, as the realization came that changes that would soon have to be made. It was also a month more than any this year I dealt with depression.
That's kind of sad- I think we do need a song break, after all:
June was a blur, and I only blogged a paragraph. July saw us move to the mountains. August saw us settle in to the new routine, my son start Kindergarten, and I started my new position at work.
September saw me revisiting several things; old topics, old sermon topics from church, and my old high school. My blog from that visit, "Can You Go Home Again? I Did," dated October 1, was the most popular post of the year. November saw my son turn 6, my daughter turn 2, and my family was truly thankful.
There was the sickness of my daughter in December, which I am proud to say she is herself again, thank God. I dealt with a toothache for most of the last of the year, which I can say God touched and healed. Some of the pain has returned with the bitter cold wind of this mountain life.
I learned to stand up for the word barbecue. I learned that church signs can be funny, and decided to share that with each of you. I learned there isn't a lot on TV on Wednesday night.
Mostly, I learned that the best is yet to come. 2012 brings still more uncertainty and the feeling that there is something more out there. What that is, and when I discover it, anyone that reads this blog will be the first to know. I promise to keep posting. Stay with me, will you?
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Hard Time
Here I sit, Wednesday night as I type this. It is four days before Christmas. I have really been at a loss of things to blog about these days, as work
and the strain of everyday life drag me down and inspiration does not flow as freely as I used to. So I will tell you about life.
This is the sixth day that my little girl has had a fever. She has been to the emergency room two times, had every test possible to determine the cause, and I have even made a special trip back to the hospital to deliver a stool sample. That's right, I have literally hand-delivered poop. My life has gone to crap. I would like to thank my wife from shoveling it from the diaper to the container. At least there wasn't a fan for it to hit. Take a second to come up with your own pun before going to the next paragraph.
The hardest thing I had to do was on Saturday night. We were desperate to get this temperature down. So my mother-in-law and I tag-teamed to take ice-cold washcloths and place them on different parts of her body to try to lower her temperature. To say she did not like this is mildly understating it. For the next eternity (or so it felt) she screamed, cried, and told us "NO! NO THANK YOU! I DON"T!" All this time I held her, trying to assure her it was for her good.
See the instant correlation?
In my own reading of the Bible I have come across the story of Joseph for the second time this year. Think of all he went through: being dumped into a pit by his brothers because of their jealousy (and Joseph's need to tell his dreams to them); Being sold into slavery; being falsely accused of rape and imprisoned; and being forgotten in prison.
On the other end, think of his father Jacob. He was named by God Israel and told he would be a great nation. Yet for years he carried around the grief of a favorite son he thought was lost and dealt with the agony.
In this situation God held both of them in His hand. I am confident that neither were happy about their situation, and that Joseph probably let out a few screams of terror when being thrown in the pit.
But just like the cold compresses had a purpose to lower my daughter's temperature and give her comfort in spite of the temporary discomfort, the struggle of Joseph was to save Jacob and the family that turned on him. Of course, after his imprisonment Joseph goes on to become governor of Egypt and devises the plan to save people from a coming famine and provide for his family in the process. Of course Jacob's pain subsides when he sees his son again and is sustained by him.
No, we don't understand the hard time that we deal with right now. But whenever we go through them I can rest assured that there is a greater purpose that is being intended for us in them.
Think of Mary last of all. It is December, of course. She had to deal with the ridicule and shame of being an unwed mother, the possibility of being shunned by her Joseph, and the impending pain of childbirth. Her Father found favor in her, and had a greater purpose for her pain: the redemption of the world through the coming of His Son.
and the strain of everyday life drag me down and inspiration does not flow as freely as I used to. So I will tell you about life.
This is the sixth day that my little girl has had a fever. She has been to the emergency room two times, had every test possible to determine the cause, and I have even made a special trip back to the hospital to deliver a stool sample. That's right, I have literally hand-delivered poop. My life has gone to crap. I would like to thank my wife from shoveling it from the diaper to the container. At least there wasn't a fan for it to hit. Take a second to come up with your own pun before going to the next paragraph.
The hardest thing I had to do was on Saturday night. We were desperate to get this temperature down. So my mother-in-law and I tag-teamed to take ice-cold washcloths and place them on different parts of her body to try to lower her temperature. To say she did not like this is mildly understating it. For the next eternity (or so it felt) she screamed, cried, and told us "NO! NO THANK YOU! I DON"T!" All this time I held her, trying to assure her it was for her good.
See the instant correlation?
In my own reading of the Bible I have come across the story of Joseph for the second time this year. Think of all he went through: being dumped into a pit by his brothers because of their jealousy (and Joseph's need to tell his dreams to them); Being sold into slavery; being falsely accused of rape and imprisoned; and being forgotten in prison.
On the other end, think of his father Jacob. He was named by God Israel and told he would be a great nation. Yet for years he carried around the grief of a favorite son he thought was lost and dealt with the agony.
In this situation God held both of them in His hand. I am confident that neither were happy about their situation, and that Joseph probably let out a few screams of terror when being thrown in the pit.
But just like the cold compresses had a purpose to lower my daughter's temperature and give her comfort in spite of the temporary discomfort, the struggle of Joseph was to save Jacob and the family that turned on him. Of course, after his imprisonment Joseph goes on to become governor of Egypt and devises the plan to save people from a coming famine and provide for his family in the process. Of course Jacob's pain subsides when he sees his son again and is sustained by him.
No, we don't understand the hard time that we deal with right now. But whenever we go through them I can rest assured that there is a greater purpose that is being intended for us in them.
Think of Mary last of all. It is December, of course. She had to deal with the ridicule and shame of being an unwed mother, the possibility of being shunned by her Joseph, and the impending pain of childbirth. Her Father found favor in her, and had a greater purpose for her pain: the redemption of the world through the coming of His Son.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Those Three Little Words
I have learned over the years, well, several lessons. Among them is to never ask the question "What else can happen?" when I am in a situation or when I am having a bad day. I know- so many of us have been there or are there right now.
You might be wondering why your job is so difficult these days and feel like you can't do anything right.
You may be wondering why you've been out of work for so long and wonder how you will pay the bills and if Christmas is a possibility.
You may be wondering if you're going to have a job tomorrow.
A family member might be facing the fight of their life.
Well, a couple of days ago, God reminded me of three little words. I know when you see that title on the blog, you might be thinking of "I love you." Those are good words, and yes, He does love us. But because of that, He has three other words for us:
HOW MUCH MORE.
True, you may be saying these words yourself. But if you look in the New Testament, eleven different times you will see these words.
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7: 11)
"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" (Luke 12: 24)
"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried." (Luke 12: 27-29)
"For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9: 13-14)
(All references ESV)
Those are just some of the examples. God has this word for you. He knows you are struggling, and he understands that you may have questions. But He has tremendous plans for you, and you have not left His care. He is not ignoring you and has not left you. Seek Him in your situation with your whole heart, and you will find Him.
Just wait and see HOW MUCH MORE He has in store for you.
You might be wondering why your job is so difficult these days and feel like you can't do anything right.
You may be wondering why you've been out of work for so long and wonder how you will pay the bills and if Christmas is a possibility.
You may be wondering if you're going to have a job tomorrow.
A family member might be facing the fight of their life.
Well, a couple of days ago, God reminded me of three little words. I know when you see that title on the blog, you might be thinking of "I love you." Those are good words, and yes, He does love us. But because of that, He has three other words for us:
HOW MUCH MORE.
True, you may be saying these words yourself. But if you look in the New Testament, eleven different times you will see these words.
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7: 11)
"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" (Luke 12: 24)
"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried." (Luke 12: 27-29)
"For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9: 13-14)
(All references ESV)
Those are just some of the examples. God has this word for you. He knows you are struggling, and he understands that you may have questions. But He has tremendous plans for you, and you have not left His care. He is not ignoring you and has not left you. Seek Him in your situation with your whole heart, and you will find Him.
Just wait and see HOW MUCH MORE He has in store for you.
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