Archive - February, 2012

Leap Day – How are you using this day?

February 29, 2012 in Christian Living, Goals, The Kitchen Table with 0 Comments

Tomorrow (or today if you are reading this on Wednesday) is February 29th – Leap Day. This day occurs every fourth year (in years divisible by 4, unless the year is divisible by 100, then there isn’t a leap day – unless it is divisible by 400 – ugh!). I guess it’s a day added to our calendar every four years to keep things consistent season-wise. If it weren’t added, then in time, winter would happen during June, July and August – and we certainly wouldn’t want that.

I oftentimes wonder who was smart enough to figure this out. It appears that Julius Caesar gets the credit. In 45 BC, Caesar changed things from the 355 day calendar year to our current model (365 with the lead days thrown in). Caesar didn’t actually figure it out, but his astronomer, Sosigenes did. He must have been very smart!

I found myself thinking last week about what a bummer it is to have this day every four years. I thought that basically it is a day that you donate to your employer. If people are on salary, it is a day for which they don’t get paid. I thought, “What a rip off!” I felt I was being taken advantage of! I was ready to call the workers of the world to unite and take the day off work. No, I am kidding you. I did think it is a give-away day, just not to the degree of being taken advantage of – after all I am a pastor and we would work for free if we had to. I am kidding you again!

The last couple days I have changed my thinking on this matter. Now I am thinking that this “Leap Day” is a day to be taken advantage of. We have an extra day this year to accomplish something great! 24 hours to get something done that you don’t get the other three years! That is pretty amazing. For people who always complain they are too busy and that there are not enough hours in the day, this year we get 24 extra! This is awesome!

So, the question is, how do you plan to use those extra 24 hours? You don’t have to use them all tomorrow. Maybe you will want to use them 2 or 3 at a time throughout the year. I could play a round of golf this summer and still have 20 hours in my tank. You could sleep an extra half-hour for 48 days or 15 minutes for 96 days! Now, realize your employer probably won’t allow you to take these hours off work, but we do have extra hours this year to do with as we please. Makes me wish every year had a Leap Day!

Perhaps you should seek to serve God with those extra hours this year. Donate an hour a week to a cause outside yourself. Feed the homeless. Help others. Take an evening class. Learn something new. Spend time with your family. The options are limitless.

How do you plan to use these extra 24 hours?

Lessons from Sam – Waiting for the reward!

February 27, 2012 in Christian Living, Lessons from Sam with 0 Comments

This is how we spend most meals. Sam sitting at his normal place and Lacey (aka “the Black Dog”) with her head in his lap. Now, lest you think, “Oh, that is so sweet of Lacey” or “Oh, look, a boy and his dog!” or some other thought that makes this black furry creature look so sweet, the only reason Lacey’s head is on Sam’s lap is she is waiting to seize the opportunity when Sam spills some food, then she gets her reward! What a smart dog! Her wait ALWAYS pays off as Sam spills something every meal.

Waiting for the reward, patience and persistence. These words sum up the life of raising a child with special needs – especially patience and persistence. There is not a day that goes by where we don’t have to have an extra dose of patience with Sam. Change is hard for Sam. Not just big changes like going to a new store or having a new experience, really any change. If Sam has his mind set on something, it is extremely difficult to get him off-center – almost impossible.

For instance, Sam is extremely possessive of his backpack and videos that he stores within that backback. When I say extremely possessive, those words are an understatement. Very rarely will he not have his backpack in his possession. When he goes to the bathroom he even takes it in with him. If we want to search his backpack for anything – or convince him to not have 30 or 40 movies in it, we have to start talking about it several hours in advance. Sometimes, after much talking and reassuring and trying to explain things, Sam will allow us to look in his backpack. If we just went in and grabbed it from him, we better be ready to do some battle!

Waiting, patience, persistence … sometimes life is difficult. Sometimes it seems all we do is wait, forcing us to have patience and testing our persistence. Waiting for that positive behavior, that change, that hard time to be over – waiting for that reward. With Sam, rewards comes every day in some degree. It comes when he spontaneously gives one of us a hug – or joins the family by sitting on the couch – or tells us by answering yes or no with his left arm, what he wants for breakfast – or when his bed is dry in the morning – or when he joyfully comes with us into a store – or when he lays on the ground using Lacey as his pillow (that is when she is a good dog!) – Every day we experience rewards with Sam!

Life gets hard sometimes – for all of us. Relationships are challenging, the job situation is not the best, a health issue creeps up, money is tight. It is when life is hard that sometimes we just need to wait and have patience and persistence. Give the situation to God and wait. Sometimes we have to wait longer than we would like, but that is life. It reminds me of Romans 5:3-4, “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character hope…” What a great verse to remember as we go through difficult times!

In what areas of your life are you experiencing waiting, patience and perseverance?

What is a successful outcome?

February 23, 2012 in The Kitchen Table with 0 Comments

I read something this week, part of which has stuck with me. I have no recollection of where I read it, so my apologies to the author. The issue they were addressing dealt with public speaking. The point I remember was that when you put a speech together, you need to have an understanding of what a successful outcome of the talk would look like to your audience. For example, maybe a successful outcome in a talk to a community organization would be that people would sign up to volunteer for a particular cause or if you were speaking to a group of boy scouts, maybe the desired outcome would be that they would have an understanding of a particular form of governance – or whatever. You get the point.

This is important for two reasons. One, it can help you tailor your talk to point towards the stated outcome. Secondly, it gives you something tangible that you can measure the success of the speech. I spoke to a group of Junior High students yesterday. I asked what the leader what a successful outcome from my talk would look like. She said that if it would cause the students to treat each other better and to treat others within the school better, then that would be success. As a result, I tailored my devotional to focusing on living out one’s faith and that it is seen in how we treat and love one another.

I think this idea of looking at desired outcomes can help us in any area of our lives. It is really a facet of “Living with the End in mind”. You look at what results you want – in a project, in a health goal, in a Spiritual goal, relationally – and you develop a plan working backwards to accomplish that goal. If I want X to happen, then P, D, Q must happen … to make P, D, Q happen, then E, F, G, H must happen … Sometimes there are many levels to this, other times just a couple.

For instance, I have been doing the Daniel Fast the past week and a half. When I started the fast, I had a few goals in mind, ideas to me that would make the fast successful. One of these goals was to connect with God on a deeper level. I then thought, if I want to connect with God on a deeper level, what do I need to do? One answer was that I needed to spend time with God in prayer and in his Word. If I wanted to spend more time with God in prayer and in the Word, how could I do that? I had to find time each day to do that. How? I had to actually schedule time to make sure it happened.

As I said, I believe this method can work for anything … beginning with the end in mind! It really is simple, but I found the idea enlightening this week!

What are some ways you have been successful in planning things – be it speaking engagements, projects, goals, etc…

Ash Wednesday … the beginning of Lent

February 22, 2012 in Christian Living with 0 Comments

Today is Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of the season of Lent. Traditionally, Lent has been a time for people to prepare themselves for Easter. There is no mention of Ash Wednesday or Lent in the Bible. It appears they came into existence sometime in the 8th Century.

Many traditions around the world commemorate Ash Wednesday by attending a church service and having ashes applied to their forehead. This is done to signify inner repentance, acknowledging sin and one’s desire to turn from those sins. As an aside, the ashes are oftentimes the ashes from the previous years Palm Sunday palms.

As many enter the Lenten season, it is very common if you belong to a traditional church, that you give up something – or add something – to your life to help remind you of what Christ has done. In the Catholic faith, people give up meat on Fridays. Other traditions will encourage you to fast or to add Scripture reading or to seek to abstain from something. These acts in and of themselves are worthless and meaningless – unless there is an inner spirit of repentance and connecting with God.

Through the years, our family has done things during the Lenten season to remind of what Christ has done for us. We have given up soft drinks, chocolate, desserts, etc… I don’t know what, if anything, we will do this year. I am guessing this will be an individual decision for each of us.

One of the ways I really connect with God is through getting out and exercising – walking and/or jogging. I am going to strive to move my body at least 2 miles each day during Lent. I will use this time to connect with God by praying, listening to praise music or listening to sermons. I am going to strive to do this at least five days a week. All seven would be awesome, but five may be more realistic.

What about you? How can you use the Lenten season to connect with God and remember Christ?

Brain Food

February 21, 2012 in The Kitchen Table with 0 Comments

This morning I listened to Michael Hyatt’s podcast. In it, he shared about ten things you can do to boost your energy. I would recommend that you take the time to listen to it as there are lots of good ideas.

His sixth item on the list was the importance of stimulating your brain, specifically through reading. It has caused me to wonder and reflect on how much I read – and how much or how little the general population reads.

I am continually amazed by how many people never read. I am also continually amazed at how easy it is for me to stop reading sometimes!

The fact of the matter is, it is far easier to sit down and watch tv at night than it is to pull out a book and read – even if I know reading is better for me than television is. I challenge you to google “benefits of reading” and read through some of the pages – increased vocabulary, better brain function, improves concentration and focus, improves memory, boosts self-esteem, improves creativity, decreases boredom. The benefits listed are amazing and things I want for my life.

So, again, it’s the issue, if you know something is good for you, why don’t you do more of it?

I am going to propose to our family that we designate 2 or 3 days a week as “no t.v.” days (I first typed 3 or 4 days, but went back and changed it!). Days spent with the intention of reading and/or spending time as a family. I realize that this day may need to  move around each week – as who wants to miss that great sporting event, but I think we need to be intentional with it. Perhaps it may be better if you deemed, no television after 8:30 – or 9:00 – 0r 6:00? Find what works best for your family. Ideally time should be devoted to reading every day. Is this even doable in today’s culture? I think so!

What can you do in your life to read more?

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