Happy 14th Birthday, Jonah!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Jonah, you are a blessing from God!  We love you so much, and we are so proud of you!  You make us laugh...a lot, and your smile always melts our hearts.  Year 13 has been an awesome ride...basketball, track, trips to the beach, and to NYC.  We can't wait to see what year 14 brings you!  Our prayer for you is found in Proverbs 3:5-6.  Keep on trusting in the Lord.  Keep on submitting to the Lord.  He created you in His image, and He has the perfect plan for your life.  We hope you have an awesome 14th birthday!  We love you - dad, mom, Francie, Jacob, and Katie!

Conversations Full of Grace

One of my favorite books of the Bible is the book of Colossians.  Paul wrote this letter to the church at Colossae while he was imprisoned in Rome.  He had heard that the church members were fixated on rules and ceremonies and that they were not treating one another or speaking to one another with love.  Paul pointed the church back to God and to the grace of God given to them through Jesus Christ.

Paul says in Colossians 4:2-6, "2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.  4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.  5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  6 Let you conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."  As Christ followers, our PRAYER LIFE WILL DIRECT OUR TALK AND OUR WALK.  Paul says, "Devote yourselves to prayer."  He goes on to say two more times in this short passage, "Pray!"  What are we devoted to in this life?  We might be devoted to a spouse or to a child.  We might be devoted to a job or to a hobby.  Whatever we are devoted to is what we sacrifice time and resources for.  Whatever we are devoted to is something that our hearts and minds are invested in.  Are we devoted to prayer?  Paul goes on to say, "Be wise."  If we are devoted to prayer, then the Lord will lead us and guide us in the way we are to treat other people, especially strangers or those who are not in our circle of family and friends.  We need to take advantage of every opportunity God gives us to treat people with love and compassion, treat people the way Jesus treated people.  And finally, Paul says, "LET YOUR CONVERSATION BE ALWAYS FULL OF GRACE."  The words that we use when speaking to others, whether family and friends or outsiders, matters.  If we are devoted to prayer, then the Lord will help us stay focused on the grace God has given us.  Then we can become vessels of God's grace to others in the way we listen to them and the way we talk to them.  We can listen like Jesus and talk like Jesus, bringing glory to God and showering grace on others.

I don't know about you, but I want to be a part of CONVERSATIONS FULL OF GRACE!  I want to listen with grace and to speak with grace...to everyone!  If this is what I want and if this is what you want, then we need to be devoted to prayer.  We need to spend time in prayer with God, not just talking to Him but, most importantly, listening to Him.  He will give us grace and wisdom and love, and we can be funnels of God's grace, wisdom, and love to others.  And God can be glorified in my life and your life, which is what we are called to do in this world! 

Happy Mother's Day - 2022!

"As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." - Isaiah 66:13

I have been so incredibly blessed in my life to have ladies like these in my life (my wife Marty, my mom Pat, my mom-in-love Trudy, and my Aunt Nancy)!  God is so, so good, and today I celebrate His goodness to say, "Happy Mother's Day," to all our moms out there!  Your children and your communities love and appreciate you so much!  In my own life, these ladies have shown me unconditional love, sweet love, tough love, and many other forms of love that I desperately needed.  But most importantly, these ladies have shown me godly love...love that is faithful and comforting.  Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving us moms who both RELY on Your love and RELAY Your love to us!  Bless all of our moms today, and may You receive all glory and honor through their faithfulness.  Amen!

Happy 24th Birthday, Francie!

 

Oh, my Francie Caroline!  You have been making us smile and laugh for a long time, and we are looking forward to more smiles and laughter!  Happy 24th Birthday, Francie!  We love you so much, and we thank God for you!  It's hard to believe you are really 24!  We are so thankful for all the trips we have taken with you, so thankful for all the people who have poured into your life, and so thankful for even those lazy moments of sitting around the house with not much to do.  Your life is a blessing to us and to many others in numerous ways!  Our prayer over you and for you today is from Psalm 37:3-4, which says, "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

God Loves You!

If I was only able to share one truth with you today, it would be this: GOD LOVES YOU!  It is the one truth that can and will change your life forever when you embrace it in your heart.  God loves you so much that He gave His one and only Son for you...to live for you and to die for you.  Jesus rose from the grave to defeat sin and death so that you might live fully and eternally.  In Romans 5:6-8, Paul says, "6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone mighty possibly dare to die.  8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Wow!  That passage should overwhelm you!  Christ died for you even while you were a sinner.  In your sin, an enemy of God living in rebellion, Christ still chose to die for you.  This is love; this is the way GOD LOVES YOU!  In fact, John tells us in 1 John: "God is love."  Paul goes on to say in Romans 8:38-39, "38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  No one nor nothing can love you the way GOD LOVES YOU!  His love is a sacrificial and costly love, demonstrated and made available to you through the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.  

I don't know what struggle or struggles you have been through in this life.  I don't know what struggle or struggles you are going through right now or will go through in the days ahead.  I do know that your enemy is Satan, and he is a liar.  He will lie to you and tell you that no one cares and that no one loves you.  He will lie to you and tell you that you are all alone.  Know the truth today: GOD LOVES YOU!  And know that no one and nothing can separate you from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus.  Embrace this love today!  Embrace God today and live!