November 18th - "My life was mostly good - I'm thankful for that."

The story...

A close friend of mine met my mother in her independent-living home in November 2023.  I introduced him to her and they settled down to a one-hour conversation about her life past and present - him in a chair and her laying comfortably in bed.  It was a great joy listening to my mother describe her life - mostly good but there was bad stuff too.  She shared her hope that her kids, grand kids, and great-grand kids would go to church.  Her greatest pain was the loss of her husband in 2011 - she described how she missed him every day.  They lived a good life and that made her happy.  The surprises and joys, in her current life, were centered around the different people that cared for her and met her needs.  "I never was around people like that, I really like them and some of them feel like friends."  That was her unexpected joy - she thought that relationships like those might be why she lived so long.

The only church in town will ideally be kinda like that independent-living home.  There will be some paid staff doing their jobs yet most of the caring and loving will be shared between each other.  People living out their lives and faith, aligned with God's Word, together.  The love my mother felt at the independent-living center surprised me every time I visited.  

What if we spent more time with the folks at church?  We might be surprised at the love we witness, receive and even offer to others.  Many of us are clunky and different so it might appear in unexpected and surprising ways.  Love experienced is worth it.

Just for today...

"If I can see nothing but my troubles, I am seeing with limited vision. Dwelling on these troubles allows them to control me. Of course I need to do whatever foot-work is required, but I also need to learn to let go."  Courage to Change (p. 323)

"When I'm uncommunicative or dishonest in my interactions, I set myself apart and feel rejected. Conversely, open, truthful communication nurtures feelings of trust and encourages me to participate fully in life. However, as I begin to change my old habits, fear of rejection sometimes tempts me to respond in old ways."  Hope for Today (p. 323)

August 13th - A good-to-great life story

The story...

This is my favorite day of the year, it,s the birthday of my life partner.  I find great joy in celebrating her and her life - we've both come far together.  I truly love her and am soo... thankful for our marriage relationship.  We've learned and loved much together.

The elements of a good story - Donald Miller

The only church in town well love telling and retelling the greatest story ever told.  The Son of Man and Creator who walked this earth and disclosed much of Himself to His creation.  They will celebrate His birth, death, resurrection, and offer of salvation to all who believe in The Gospel.

Just for today...

"...examine all the things that are hurting me at the moment.  I will challenge their validity to see if there is any basis for my bitterness - or for that dread and fear. I'll probably discover, to my delight, that I have, right at this moment, more than enough reasons to be happy and contented."  One Day at a Time (p. 226)

"Have I put someone on a pedestal? Am I encouraging anyone to have an exaggerated view of me?"  Courage for Change (p. 226)

"I was still clinging to the notion that Something - in this case a sum of money - was going to allow me to manage my life in my own way and on my terms . . .  When I rely on self-will, I severely limit all of my resources.  When I turn to God, those limitations fall away."  Hope for Today (p. 226)

June 2nd - Feelings of Unfairness "Morphed" into Thankfulness?

The story...

I'm sitting hear trying to think of an example of when I was treated unfairly.  I can think of a continuous stream of them yet I can't work up that one good example.  Maybe it's because thankfulness has pushed out the space where I stored resentments?  I hope so.

I'm so thankful today.  Pain and suffering are sure to come yet my hopes for the future are positive.  I look forward to continual growth and am thankful for life.  Yes, I'm thankful for that last full breath of air as it entered my lungs as cool air and left as a warm exhale.

The bread of life...

The people within the only church in town would be thankful and generally okay.  The grace of God witnessed in action through people with skin on them.  They'd be more capable of loving God, themselves, and other people too.  Unfairness would meet up with grace - grace would win.

Just for today...

"No amount of self-discipline can heal us from resentment.  Sometimes it seems the more we struggle against it, the more it sneaks up on us, surging like a dark sickness into the mind, plunging our emotions into turmoil."  One Day at a Time (p. 154)

May 19th - Fear and Hope - Opposites

The story...

I'm sitting in a pew listening to the call to fear and worry.  "Expect to be persecuted . . . this is no longer the nation where we grew up."  "Batten down the hatches - a storm's brewing!"  This seems to be the opposite of hope in God, the Creator, and His revealed plans for His creatures.

I'm not prone to fear; yet, I've been afraid.  I don't know what it's like to face the world with expectations of doom and gloom.  Sure, I've always enjoyed good health and insurance too.  More of my investments have been profitable than unprofitable.  I've never gone hungry or been homeless unless I placed myself in a situation where that was part of the plan.  I'm thankful that, but for the grace of God, I'm not the worrying, less hopeful, sort too.

I'm truly thankful with great hope for the future.  I appreciate the eternal life perspective that I was taught and worked into my reality by faith - faith in the only One who can save His creatures.  I think that my inner-man, heart, is secure yet storms and trials will come...  This post seems like a long string of "I" statements.  I'd rather be in a place where "I" focused more on others and the communities that we actually live in.

Manhood - by Thomas Cole

The only church in town would be a group that's sustained by hope within the promises and upheld Hand of God.  Yes, Alan Jackson would be welcome to sing of the power in the blood of the Christ in the only church in town.

Just for today...

"The future - even as close as tomorrow - is a closed book.  We cannot know what it holds, and the more we look for disaster, the more we invite it . . . This is something only God knows..." One Day at a Time (p. 140)

"Wasn't I comparing my insides to other people's outsides . . . If I compare, I lose.  Maybe I'll come out feeling better than somebody this time, but next time I'm bound to feel worse."  Courage to Change (p. 140)

January 17th - Working out life from a new tool box...

 The story...

Long ago over dinner in Bethel Maine, a woman from Xerox gave me advice - it stuck.  I've shared this advice with 100's of people and I don't even remember her name.  Everybody seemed to understand the advice and its application too.  I'd recently been promoted from engineer to engineering manager.  She explained the difference between the two tool boxes that I had at my disposal.  The old set that served me well and the new set that I'd need to better "lead" and "manage" the group.  Surely, it was wise to oil, and occasionally apply, the tools in the old box; yet, the new set must be developed and augmented to leverage the group towards...

I tried leading this group long ago - thank you "Murray House" 

Strangely, I sense a need to cleanup and change the tool box that I've been using for the last ten years.  Here are seven tools that I think I need to add or dust off, oil, and use more frequently:  

• Uber Driving: Help people get where they're going and share life along the way.
• "Bigger" Ears:  Listen to others without opinion or thoughts of fixing, managing, or controlling.
• Get Out the Door: Move from thinking about to doing more readily - take that first step.
• Thankfulness:  Within my prayers, activities, & relationships - on both "Light" & "Dark" days.
• Exercise & Stretch:  Enable my body to go where He and I will to go...
• Invest:  Build up others & thoughtfully transfer what I have to 'em too.
• Keep the End in Mind - Be eternally focused and earthly good too.
• Honest in Self Assessment: Remain humble - focused on the glory of God.

The only church needs you to work out your life with 'em.  You need 'em too even though it may currently be a latent need.  Bring your toolbox and be ready to work out your life with 'em.  Once there, you may find the need to add a tool, pick up an old tool, or replace your tool box with a new one that...

Just for today...

"I will make myself learn to use a new set of tools: tolerance, kindness, patience, courtesy, love and humor - and a firm determination to do what is necessary to improve my life."  One Day at a Time (p. 17)

"I often restrain myself for fear that others will misunderstand and criticize me."  Hope for Today (p. 17)

January 1st - Journey to Better Times

The story...

I've made a new years resolution that signals hope for more and better fruit to be born from my life and from those within my circle of concern too.  The resolution is doable, builds on truth validated within my earlier years, and is likely to build personal character traits that'll better support change opportunities in 2024.  I'm in a good place on the morn of this first day of ...

You gotta leave this to go for that.  "This" is normal even if it ain't comfortable.  "That" is like "two birds in a bush" - we may want to hang onto "this" in our hand.  For me, it's been easier to change after I've had the opportunity to verbally appraise the current situation with a friend.  Maybe this kind of life assessment happens for many on the last day of December prompting new-years resolutions on January 1st.  A quick internet search estimates that <10% of Americans follow thorough on their new-years resolutions.  Given my resolution choice, I expect an 80% probability of success.  Why not?

For me, my resolution will help me grow my personal character, relationships and faith.  And, the "doing" of my resolution should result in my holding "things" and the "cares of this world" more loosely.  How about your change resolution?

The only church in town will "generally" be a God's Word knowing, faithful, honest, helping, and loving group of people.  Our idealistic picture of what that one church might be will be wrong.  Why?  We'll find the wide range of personalities, capabilities, knowledge, coping mechanisms, life stories, shame, guilt, pride, and fruit-bearing capabilities there.   The relationships that you might find there are part of the good stuff in life where real personal and spiritual growth might be cultivated.  I hope that you make a resolution to become more involved within your church community, while expecting little, and being thankful for what you do receive.  Please accept my happy new-years wishes.

Just for today...

"We all have dark times in our lives, but the journey to better times is often what makes us happier, stronger people. When we stop expecting instant relief, we may come to believe that where we are today is exactly where God would have us be."  Courage to Change (p. 1)

"They see themselves in me, I see myself in them, and we learn to love and accept each other and ourselves."  Hope for Today (p. 1)

"I have authority over no life but my own."  One Day at a Time (p. 1)

December 19th - Is being thankful the best way to live?

The story...

In 2000, I chose the long-hard path of education and research to be awarded a PhD in engineering.  Thankfully, I found ways to integrate the PhD work and travel within an already busy schedule of work and family life.  The studies were related to my job; so, the course work and applications came relatively easy - the travel, missed activities, job changes, and dissertation didn't come easy.  I've never been much of a quitter and persevered to be awarded the degree of PhD in Industrial Engineering in 2010.  The journey took faith, passion, and discipline.  My eyes remained on the prize as I stepped forward.  I don't remember many people offering encouragement along the way - there were a lot of doubters and naysayers who advised caution and retreat.

Thankfully, I found a first-year teaching job at the University of Minnesota - Duluth (UMD).  It was a wonderful experience for which I'm extremely grateful.  The graduate-teaching job seemed to be a good person-job fit.  After my first year at UMD, I was offered a job as "Professor" at my alma mater - Iowa State University (ISU).  The job offer felt good yet it was too far from home.  After 10pm one April night, I talked to my son about his job search; described my own career dilemma; and relayed how I was trusting in God's provisions and not my own.  After our conversation, I left my apartment and walked to my campus office - I found the one job that might work at Eastern Michigan University (EMU).  I applied that night, interviewed the next week, and accepted the job the following week.  The professor and teaching career worked out - the journey required much faith.  I'm so... thankful for every step along the way.

What word would you choose to describe you?  I've settled in on the word "thankful."  I'm thankful for each: breath I breathe; day's weather; hot cup of coffee; expression of love; faithful friend; act of kindness; person I meet; memory of how life worked out; faith realized; and the wonderful surprises along the way.  

The only church in town can help each of us be more thankful.  How?  First, you can learn what your Creator revealed about who you are, where you came from, how to best live, and where you'll spend eternity - the "real" good stuff.  Second, you can learn how to be rid of the shame and guilt that may weigh heavy upon your back.  Third, you can learn to live more honestly within relationships characterized by love.  Fourth, you can witness other lives worked out within the reality of their faith in God's Word.

Just for today...

"Is any of the attention I once gave to negative thinking now focused on gratitude?"  Courage to Change (p. 354)

"I was told what to believe and how to believe. If I deviated even slightly from the chosen path, I was reproached and corrected . . .  They wanted to show the world a perfect family. Needless to say, I didn't develop any individuality . . . I had no idea what were my likes, dislikes, needs or desires."  Hope for Today (p. 354)

December 13th - Be thankful

The story...

I grew up in a small USA town with two parents, four siblings, all my needs taken care of, regular involvement in a church, vacations away from home, a learning environment, and expectations of graduating from high school and going to college to become whoever I wanted to be.  Wow ... what could I possibly have complained about?  Well, there was always somebody glorying themselves -polishing, displaying and proclaiming the glory of their attributes that they imagined to be true. - ongoing attempts to glorify self.

As I ponder eternity past, eternity future, and an expectation of living but one life on this earth; each breath is an amazing reality - something to be thankful for.  And, I'm so thankful that God provided the answer for that self-absorbing darkness that seems to drif around and through people too.  

The only church in town might share a video like "There's a Dragon in my Nativity." They'll share the story of when our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ came to our earth to redeem us from the darkness that's so offensive to our most Holy God - His attributes are obviously worthy of glory.  The congregation will share a better more fruitful way to live out this life and eternity in Christ  - man . . .  that's good news!.

Just for today...

"At no point in my life will I achieve perfection; there will never be a time when I will not need the joy and satisfaction of helping others."  One Day at a Time (p. 348)

"What would happen if I started thinking God when problems occurred?  At first I had to force myself to say 'Thank you, God,' through clenched teeth. By and by, my teeth unlocked and I replaced self-pity with gratitude. I truly began to live."  Courage to Change (p. 348)

November 27 - Top 10 Reasons I'm Thankful

The story...

I'm so thankful to be thankful because I am thankful.

Here are my top ten reasons for being thankful:

1. God's word that confirms I'm right with God due to faith in Christ's redeeming work alone.
2. Each breath I breath - to be alive.
3. My life partner who promised to stick with, and love me, no matter what.
4. Family members who I share life and love with.
5. Ability to receive, understand, store, recall and apply knowledge.
6. Close friends with whom I walk through life towards a common aim.
7. A warm, comfortable, safe home within the security of the USA.
8. Mobility to go where I want to go and care for myself.
9. Wise, "Yes," choices that help me grow and be.
10. Medical system that enables me to be active and relatively pain free.

The only church in town will teach, preach, and proclaim good reasons for being thankful.  In a community, there will be circumstances where the comforts of this life don't seem within reach.  Yet, their souls often sing with joy - faith worked our it reality.  Community living like this should have been in my top ten list - I wonder where I should have inserted it and what it would have replaced?

Just for today...

"If I so choose, I can regard everything that happens in my life as a gift from which I can learn and grow."  Courage to Change (p. 332)

Were you looking for someone who meets your needs yet expects little of you?  That's a pet - like a dog.