Baby Everleigh!

Proverbs 3:5-6 -- 5Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

I am a GREAT GRANDPARENT!

It doesn't seem possible, but I am a great gramps! My granddaughter had her baby, a gorgeous baby girl, Everleigh Lu Ann. She is perfect in every way. My granddaughter and her husband will make excellent parents. It is so exciting to see this wonderful, God loving, young couple bring a new life into the world. I have always been so impressed with my granddaughter's faith and her heart for the Lord. Now that faith becomes even more important because she has a little one that will be watching her every move.

My only wish for Lauren, Matt, and Everleigh is they draw closer to the Lord every day. That is my prayer for all my daughters, their husbands, their kids, and now their families. Trusting in the Lord, leaning on HIS understanding, following his path, those are the cures for everything that will come into this young family's life. It's not about praying for jobs, or financial stability, or health, things, or relationships. Life is simply about drawing closer to the Lord and trusting him through all things.I have no idea the joys or the sorrows that this family will face. I only know the answer to life is Jesus! 

Dear Lord, I ask a special prayer today for Matt, Lauren, and baby Everleigh. I pray that this young family will keep you in the center of their lives. I pray this new life will know you before she can even speak your name. I pray she will hear the words from her mother and father that will direct her path to you. I pray Lauren and Matt will rely on you for wisdom and strength as they travel your path. I pray Everleigh will see YOU in the hearts, souls, and minds of her mom and dad. I pray she will be filled with your spirit and seek your perfect ways. May they know your love and see that love in each other. Please Lord, make your presence known through all the joys, through all the pain, and through all the trials Lauren, Matt and Everleigh will face. We praise you for the wonderful gift of life. May we never take for granted the gifts you provide us every day. We truly are blessed and those blessings come straight from you. We love you Lord  with all our heart! Amen!

I am tired of the Anger and Hate!

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/rom.12.2.nlt

I can not believe the radical treatment of people that is filling our news today. How can we preach tolerance and then be COMPLETELY intolerant of others?  I see this terrible treatment of people from both sides of the political isle. Sadly, I also see it from Christians. Just look at your Christian brothers and sisters on social media. I strongly urge Christians to be ABOVE the fray. Do not succumb to the battles of this world. How can we demonstrate love of each other and spew hate at the same time?

"Don't COPY the behaviors and customs of this world."  Be different! Let God change you by the power of the Holy Spirit. It has been 18 months since I have committed not to post NEGATIVE comments on social media. That does not mean I have not posted things that people disagree with. But I have committed to ONLY post positive posts. I will not bash democrats, or liberals, or their supporters. I WILL post positive things about our president and others I agree or disagree with. I will post inspirational posts AND posts from the word of the Lord. I wish others would make this commitment to remaining CIVIL in our disagreement. I can separate my LOVE for you with my disagreement on your political views. I do not hate my adversaries. I do not hate those I disagree with. I will not jump into the battle if it interferes with my sharing Christ's love with you. Can you do the same for me? I can respect your PEACEFUL protest. I can respect your call for taking political action. I can not agree with harassing politicians and their families. I can not agree with calls to harm others you disagree with. I can not endorse ANYONE who calls for violence. 

Come on Americans! Learn how to disagree with respect and honor. If our politicians can not rule with respectful civility, we need to remove them from office and find someone who can. Our politicians reflect our feelings and who we are. We need politicians that lead by example while we refuse to be like the rest of the world!  We need to change. The ANGER AND HATE needs to END!

MUCH more than Faith

Matthew 22:37 -- 37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Do you ever get the sense that God is sending you a message?  Last night my wife, youngest daughter, and I watched the movie about Lee Strobel's life. If you are unfamiliar with Lee Strobel. He is an author and investigative reporter that was an atheist, investigated the death and resurrection of Christ. He set out to disprove Christianity's central tenet. Instead he became a believer and has gone on to do more research supporting the faith.

So, this morning I get up and am reading my daily mens devotional. The key thought for the day is about going beyond faith with your heart and your soul. Faith is also about your mind. I am a logical person. I love "reasoning" and yes, I love proof. Several years ago I read Lee's book "The case for Christ" and out of all the books I have read, THIS book solidified my already strong faith. I have been a follower of Christ since I was 12. But, my MIND always had some doubts about the validity, the historical truth about the Bible. When I read his book the reality of the truth of JESUS is just overwhelming. If you believe Jesus REALLY died on the cross AND he really rose from the dead, you can not ignore the rest of the gospel and the entirety of the Bible.  So, NOW I worship my Lord with my heart, soul, AND MIND. The message is clear and I should never forget. The Gospel is TRUE, it is REAL, and it is ALIVE right now and working in my life in VERY powerful ways.

Dear Lord, I am awed by the Gospel message. I am amazed you would come down to this small planet just to save me. I am awed by the miraculous death and resurrection of Jesus. I believe and want nothing more than my family believing also. I want them to come to know you as deeply as I have. I want them to know you as creator, savior, friend, confidant, and comforter. Life is nothing without you and I praise you for this wonderful life you have set before me. May I serve you now and forever. Amen!

God is Faithful

2 Timothy 2:11-13 -- 11This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him.12 If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. 13If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

We are slowly adjusting to FULL time RV life. Really, at this point it is not much different than a "normal life". We are living with less "stuff" and surviving just fine. We have finally mastered the combo washer/dryer and I think we have paired down our clothing to the right levels. We have made our first real road trip last weekend and everything went well. I really feel this fifth wheel is just what we want for our NOMADIC life. Our only real issue is figuring out the residency and domicile situation. But, we are also working through that. 

Through this entire process God has been faithful. We are in preparation for an unknown future after retirement. I trust God and know he has a perfect plan for us. I can't wait to see the ministry opportunities and the people we will meet and serve. God is amazing and he has brought us this far only through his power, strength, and perfect wisdom. I LOVE YOU LORD AND TRUST ONLY YOU!

Where does your strength come from?

Hebrews 13:9 - 9So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
We have a new truck. It is a beast. WE bought it to pull the fifth wheel. With a vehicle that large you would think it would consume massive amounts of fuel. But, the fuel mileage is not much different than my last truck. The strength of the 6.7 liter Powerstroke Diesel is amazing. The horsepower available actually gives us better fuel mileage while pulling our HEAVY fifth wheel. The more you challenge that motor, the stronger it gets.
Our spiritual strength comes from God's wonderful grace, mercy, and love. The more we are challenged by life, the stronger we become, IF we trust in the Lord. Our faith is not from a set of rules we have to follow. It is not from a set of rituals, attending Sunday services, or even praying, reading the bible, or doing a blog. Our faith is proven perfect ONLY through the grace of God. The early christians found this to be true because they were fighting all sorts of rituals from the Jewish traditions. They found those rules did not give them the strength to attack the day. They found that the simple idea that God sent his son to die for us, that perfect grace, was all they really needed to deal with the challenges of life. 
I agree.
Dear Lord, I praise you for that amazing grace we sing about in song. I praise you for your perfect Love. I am empowered to take on the day before me ONLY because of that grace. Fill me with your spirit and let that spirit be known by all I meet this very day. I love you and praise you. Amen!