No matter the mess I make, God can fix it!

But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.” (John 11:4-7 NLT)

God is still in charge. I made a mess of things. I offended a dear friend and I don't know how to fix it. I pray that God does. How typical of my life. When ever I try to do something on my own, I can really mess things up. When I do not take "everything" to God in prayer, I  can really make some poor decisions. Many of those poor choices are out of impatience on my part. I want answers now. I want solutions to be immediate. I want conflict to be healed before it happens. So, when I get tired of waiting on God and go on my own, disaster is soon to follow.

Teach me patience Lord. Help me to see your plan and wait on you for it to unfold. I love you Lord and my over zealousness can really get things messed up. It interferes with my witness and can destroy relationships. Please heal the relationships I mess up. I beg your forgiveness for my lack of discipline and patience. I deserve nothing and you gave everything despite my sins. Thank you Lord for all your love and grace,Amen!

Oh to be patient!

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1 NIV)

One of my worst qualities is the lack of patience. It comes in many forms. I am impatient with people. I am impatient with time and events. I am impatient with the Lord. It's painful to admit that last one. I can justify my impatience with others, even wrongly. But, how can I justify being impatient with the most high God. I must be a fool. None the less, I admit God's time table is usually not my own. You would think with 54 years experience with the perfect timing of my savior, I would develop patience. 

Why can I trust God with everything in my life, but not trust his timing? Has he ever failed to come through? Certainly not! Have I suffered greatly on this Earth because God has not met my schedule? Vehemently No, I have never suffered in this world. Do I have example after example of his perfect timing? Yes, yes, yes. He never ceases to amaze me. I worry, I fret, I stumble, doubt, and cry out, but his timing has always been abundantly better than my own. 

Lord forgive me. I know of all your wonderful love and grace, yet doubt. Please Lord continue to teach me patience. Teach me your ways. It's ironic, but I ask you to be patient with me. Instill in me a peace and contentment waiting on you.

"I'm Not giving up on you!"

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2:32 NIV)

I have the great joy working with teenagers. I don't always get the best and the brightest. I love getting these kind of kids. I love taking the kids no one else wants, helpings them see some success, and watching them thrive. It brings so much joy to my heart to see them work hard. I have found, in over twenty years in education, if you can get kids to believe, they can do anything. Most unsuccessful students have a terrible self-esteem. They often have no friends, are socially awkward, and have very little in the way of parental support and leadership. So, when you give them that support and unending patience, they will grow in leaps and bounds.

The key is letting them know you will never give up on them. The you must follow through. Most poor performing students don't want to fail. They have no hope. They have no way out. My job is to give hope to teenagers.

God never gives up on us. He will accept us into his kingdom even until the last days. He will accept us like the prodigal son. He provides hope and a way to eternal life. He will treat me like one of my special students. He won't give up and will be with me forever. That kind of grace is just the grace I want to show others. Praise God for his grace, love, and patience with me. I don't deserve it, but he doesn't care! He loves me anyway. He will never change.

Keep your head!

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5 NIV)

A few months back I was having a conference with a student and parent that was not particularly positive. As happens so often in education, the parents were defensive and protecting their student. Oh, things have changed. Back in the day, my parents would have assumed I was guilty. There would be no plea deal, no hope for me and nothing but appreciation for the teacher who pointed out my shortcoming. The adult always got the benefit of the doubt. I long for those days and parents that support the teacher. After, the meeting, one of my coworkers commented how amazed they were at my ability to keep my cool. I can't really explain it myself because I really felt attacked. My only explanation is God. Whenever I go into a potentially difficult parent meeting, I pray. I pray for wisdom, discernment, patience, and words to properly convey my message. I am amazed at the power of this little prayer.

Teaching is one of my ministries. I am so worried about representing my faith in a positive way through difficult times. I can't say I'm perfect in doing this, but I can say I have had some extraordinary experiences. 

If we work to "keep our heads" even through difficulty, God is faithful. If we turn every little aspect of our lives over to him, he will support us. It's not just the major crisis we need to seek God's help. We need to seek him through all things and in all circumstances. Praise God he loves us so much and cares about us so deeply, he is always with us!

I'm slow!

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8, 9 NIV)

I love running. My family has developed into a running family. My daughters run. Both my wife and I have Coached Track andCross Country. I now have two granddaughters that run. I have started running again for fun. I am teaching a "Couch to 5k" for some of my kids at school. So I decided torun with them. I'm a lot slower than I used to be. I don't care. I am running to encourage the slow ones. For anyone who has started running and train for a 5k race, you know it is not easy. You need constant encouragement. That's my job.

God's sense of timing is like mine. He has slowed everything down to encourage us. If he didn't care for us, he would just race to the finish. He is waiting until we all have the chance to come to him. He is controlling time in a way that is best for us. He wants all of us to finish the race right beside him. He will run alongside us. When we start dropping off, he will give us the strength to continue. If we stumble or fall, he will pick us up. As we struggle up a hill, against the wind, or in a storm, he is there for us.

Life is just like running a race. It doesn't matter how fast we go. We just need to finish and run the good race. We need to keep moving forward. We need to rely on God to help us and urge us on the course of life. Praise God! He is the best coach I could ever have.

Christ is BUILDING my life one brick at a time!

 Ephesians 2 

¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

My school is in the middle of a building project. In December 2010, our Community got behind the school corporation plan to build a new school. This past Spring we broke ground and now we are less than 4 months away from completing the first phase. We should be able to move in to the building before classes in the fall. Last week, i got to take a tour. It's so exciting. 

It has been great watching the building grow from the ground up. This past summer, it seems the contractors wasted so much time preparing the ground for the building. For the longest time, it looked like no REAL progress was being made. Now the building is really taking shape. The builders have laid a good foundation. The bricklayers have taken care to place each brick just perfectly. This building is awesome and I can't wait to put it to use.

Jesus Christ is our foundation. He is a whole lot more patient than I am as he builds my life from nothingness. I am so thankful for his patience with me. I am so thankful for his attention to detail. He is in no hurry, he meticulously builds my life one brick at a time. I am constantly amazed by the grace he shows me everyday. I am really excited for the work he's doing. Just like our new school, I can't wait to see the finished product.

Faith: Letting God be God!

Romans 4

 ¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”^[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

God promised Abraham to be the father of many nations. Yet, he did not even have any offspring of his own. He was 100 years old and he could feel his body aging beyond his ability to have a child. How could he be so strong in his faith? He did not waver. The reason is in verse 21. He was persuaded that God had the power to do what he promised. 

I think it's been clear that I have been very frustrated lately. But, don't think that I am wavering in my faith. In a very small way I'm like Abraham. I am fully persuaded that God has the power to do the best for me. I do not  understand why and I'm not loving what's happening. But, I have complete faith that God is in control. I don't need to know why. I just need to be patient and let God be God. In my 51 years of life, God has done amazing things. He has never forsaken me. He has never left me and I can always look back and see how his hand has guided me on the correct path. He will certainly not let me down now. 

God is my God. I love him and have faith in his perfect power and wisdom. All Glory belongs to God.  

I'm waiting!

Psalm 38 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ¹³ I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,
   like the mute, who cannot speak; ¹⁴ I have become like one who does not hear,
   whose mouth can offer no reply. ¹⁵ LORD, I wait for you;
   you will answer, Lord my God. 


This is a key theme of my life.............Lack of Patience! As I have said many times, I pray alot. But, my patience with people and even the God in Heaven is not good. While I'm waiting on an answer, it is hard for me to keep quiet. But, if the wait is long enough, I finally run out of things to say and I am speechless with God. I finally get to the point and say, "Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God." It seems that whenever I get to that point, it seems like the answer is just around the corner. I think that sometimes God waits for me to get to the point where I can't speak, where I finally figure out that I am not in control, then answer my prayers.

For me, waiting for God is one of the hardest things to do in my life. God DOES hear me and I know he WILL reply. He has promised to answer. He doesn't guarantee when. But, I keep wanting MY answer in MY time. Why do I think I know better? Why do I think I am more qualified than God to say when is the right time? You can look all the way back to the Garden of Eden for the answer. I am not the only one to think I know better than God!

Santa Claus doesn't always bring what you want!

Luke 1 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.


We have an amazing Christmas tradition in the United States. Kids are taken to the mall or some local store, or town square, or many other countless locations at Christmas time. The sole purpose is to talk to a guy in a full white beard, with a bit of a gut, and ask him for a special gift on Christmas morning. This is quite a risky venture for parents, to say the least. What if they ask for some absolutely extravagant gift that "Santa" can't afford or maybe even have access too? Being a parent at one time in my life, I knew how important it was to "coach" your kids in what they should ask for. But, there was always a little tension when they were sitting on the "Big Guys lap".  Kids ask for the darnedest things! 


As Christians we also ask for the "Darnedest" things. We rap our extravagant requests in all sorts of righteousness and just hope that God will come through, just like Santa Claus. Well, this is not the case in this Biblical story. Zechariah and Elizabeth were "righteous in the sight of God", Zechariah was a Priest, they were faithful to God's commands, and yet God had consistently told them NO! Elizabeth wasn't asking to win the lottery. Zechariah wasn't wanting to double the profits in his small business. They weren't praying to win the Super Bowl! They were asking for a Child!  This petition of God had gone on for years with the simple answer of no. There was no explanation, no sign that they just had to wait, just the simple answer, no.


The Christmas tradition we have here in the US does a disservice to God. More often than not, Santa Claus brings us what we want.  I can't ever remember being disappointed on Christmas morning. Santa always said yes. So, if God is so much bigger and better than Santa Claus, shouldn't he say Yes, all the time, too? But God does say no and most of the time, we don't know why. We just have to take it on faith and keep trusting him .  This is so easy to say and tougher to follow through with. I wonder if I would be satisfied even to know why. Or would I just try to change Gods mind to follow my plan? With Zechariah and Elizabeth they didn't know the end of the story. They didn't know the time was not right and when the time was right, their son would help usher in the King of Kings. They didn't know why but they continued to be faithful anyways. They were rewarded in a Grand way. They got their Christmas present and so much more because they let God be God and they remained faithful followers. That's a lesson we could all learn.


Dear Lord, Thank you for your marvelous plan. Thank You for saying No when No is the right answer. Thank you for loving us so much that you sent your Son to die for our sins. That was the greatest gift we could ever ask for. Amen!

Baby Food!

Hebrews 5 (The Message)

 ^11-14I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you've picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.

Baby food can be gross. It's been awhile since I have tasted Baby Food. My favorite was Apples and Bananas.  How do I know? When your a Dad or Grandpa feeding a baby, the best way to convince the baby to eat is by example! (You know I'm right!) SO, you take a bite, then feed the baby. You take a bite, then feed the baby. Of course, you never used this theory when you were feeding the baby peas and carrots! I think feeding a baby strained carrots or any other smashed and obliterated vegetable ought to be outlawed. Babies can't talk, but they can communicate. Not too many babies express extreme interest in veggies. No wonder we all grow up hating vegetables.  Although, sometimes gross, feeding baby food to a child with no teeth is practical. They certainly can't eat a real carrot or chew up a piece of meat. 

When we are new at being a christian, we need to be cautious what we "eat". We need to spend all of our time in the basics. We need to be totally committed to learning who God is. We need to read the bible, memorize scripture, and pray without ceasing. When we have the basics embedded in our heart, God will lead us to bigger and better things. We have to start with baby food before we can eat T-bone steak.  We never really get to know the basics enough that we can stop learning them. We always have to stay connected with them. So while we eventually are able to study deeper and get involved with more and more evangelism, we still need to stay grounded in the basics. Before we travel to preach in some 3rd world country, we need to have matured in our faith. We are just like babies, we can't handle it all right away.

Sometimes I am impatient about what God is doing with me. I need to realize that God knows what he's doing. He has a plan. Part of that plan is to prepare me. Part of that plan is to get me to mature as a christian before he stretches me. He knows the right time and the right place. He's the parent and knows exactly what to feed me. Sometimes I need Baby food. Eventually I will get the real deal!


Thank You Lord for being patient with me. Thank You for taking me from strained carrots to a full course meal. You are wisdom. Yo are love. You know what is perfect for me and have a divine plan for my life. Thanks for that plan. In your great and holy name I pray. Amen!