Over the past three days I have been in Lansing training to become a facilitator of a program called Proud Fathers and Proud Parents. It is a good program that I believe may open the door to a lot of possibilities of reaching men and helping them to become the fathers they want to be. In part of the training a video clip was used. In part of the video it showed a judge from the Flint area that asked the same question to every person that comes through his court...(along the lines of) Was your biological father in the house? Did you grow up with both parents? All that this judge sees in his court are felony cases, and he has asked this same question for years. An astonishing 99% of the men he has asked in his court did not have a father present in their home growing up.
I am grateful for the new information and training I have received over this week. I am excited to see how God will use it to touch people's lives. There is such a need for the church to be bold in it's pursuit of helping families in this day (as always). This is the direction I believe God is leading our Congregation.
Today I will be in Lansing as a part of the Leadership Livingston to tour the state capital... Field Trip!
My reading took me to Genesis, chapter 27. In this passage is a perfect example of parents working against each other, which in turn led their children to sin. It's the story of Jacob stealing Esau's blessing from their father Isaac. The mother, Rebekah, in this event was the manipulative mother. One thing I take away from this scripture is how God does not need our manipulative behavior of lying, cheating, stealing to bring about what He wants. What do I mean? Well, let's see... I have, in my lifetime, resorted to lying to bring about what I was sure was the "right thing." I thought that if I didn't manipulate the situation in my favor... I mean in the "right way" that it would not happen the way it was suppose to. What kind of thinking is this?...

Wow!... How one penny can make a big difference. I shared with the men's group at our church this evening how my entire afternoon seemed wasted when I went to buy a stamp at the post office and had to stand in line for the counter because the stamp dispensing machine did not take pennies. I had exact change... 41 cents. Short of buying more stamps than I needed (after all the price of stamps goes up next month) I chose to stand in line... a long line... which threw off my entire afternoon. How frustrating!
My reading took me to Genesis, chapter 18 today. The chapter tells of basically two events that occurred the same day as three heavenly visitors visited with Abraham and Sarah. In both events the Lord has the last word. This does something within me as I think about my afternoon.
My well planned afternoon was blown out of water by something as small as having exact change (now why couldn't these machines accept pennies too... guess I'm still not over it!). What is it Lord that You would have me glean from this experience today? Could it be that after all is said and done You have the final say?... that nothing happens apart from Your knowledge? Your word stands strong and forever? What is it...? Could it be that I have blown this afternoon's events out of proportion and I shouldn't be such a whinny baby, and be thankful that I had enough change? After all, it could have been worse to be a penny short!
Forgive me Lord... Your word will endure forever. At the end of this day I'm drawn to reflect on how good You are to me. Thank you for caring so much to make Your grace about me... when it's really all about You. May You have the last word in my life this day! -Amen.

Something my oldest son and I have begun doing is reading through the old Hardy Boys books. We've had a blast doing this! One thing that my son can't stand... actually he thinks it's pretty cool... is how the author ends each chapter with real excitement. The suspense in my son is fun to watch. He is constantly asking me to read just a few more pages. The book we are reading now is "The House on the Cliff."
Today my reading took me to Genesis chapters 1 & 2. I get a sense of suspense as I read about God's creation. Each day of creation was made with the next day in mind. Everything had order and a reason for it's creation. Finally, God made man and woman... the apex of His creation. Everything else was created in such a way building up to God's greatest creation. It is humans that He breathed the "breath of life and the man became a living being." Living... that's a cool word as I give it even greater thought. What do I consider living? I guess very often I settle for living for so much less that what I am created for. After all, everything in God's created order was done so that I may have life... Jesus came that I may have life, and have it more abundantly. It really does seem like God wants me to "live" and not take that for granted.
Today I made a call to a very young family that I know well. The young lady was in my first youth group back in Harlan, KY. She married young, and she and her husband made it through some pretty shaky stuff. She became pregnant right away and by the time she was in her early twenties had four children. They moved to various places seeking work... there for a while I lost touch with them. Then out of the blue I received a call from them asking me to hold a wedding vow renewal on their tenth anniversary. They had grown up a lot... life has a way of doing that for most people. I was real proud of them... especially for this young lady. She had stood faithful beside her husband and seemed so excited about the future.
About a year later I received another call from them. This time not on happy terms. Their oldest child had been struck by a car while she was attempting to cross a road and had died. I was asked to preach her funeral... words can barely describe the pain that was felt by these parents. Even now as I write my heart grows sad.
That was almost two years ago. The date of this young girls death approaches and I long to know how they have managed over another year.
Life... O God, may I not take it for granted. May I live each day with the life You give, O Lord. May my tomorrow, if it comes, be lived in suspense of what You will do... may I rest in your presence.