love it. We are having a great time in Michigan. We all head back
tomorrow morning to get back to the joy of church life. Its a new
year. Yea!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Family - Priceless
love it. We are having a great time in Michigan. We all head back
tomorrow morning to get back to the joy of church life. Its a new
year. Yea!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas at Home
Do notice the nice Elvis stance. Must be a Memphis thing.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
New addition to the SPC family
7 pounds 4 ounces. And a nice 20 inches long. Of course u can tell the
Picture how adorable this little guy is. Congratulations!
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Naughty Or Nice?
Are you expecting good things for Christmas? Or is your name in the ‘naughty’ column? I believe the old adage goes something like, “Have you been naughty or nice?” So which is it? Realistically, we only consider this question close to Christmas. As a kid I never once thought about whether I was naughty or nice in July. I mean seriously, who cares? I was a boy. The idea of being nice conjured up images of pink chiffon and lace. No self-respecting eight-year-old boy would be caught dead in pink chiffon!
As Christmas drew closer, and the snow began to fall (at my home in Michigan it often snowed during Christmas), my thoughts would often drift to being nice. I somehow was able to do the mental gymnastics of climbing over the wall of chiffon in order to see nice for what it was…nice. Simply being nice. Of course then I realized, possibly too late, that I had not been nice at all. I had laughed when Joey got hit in the eye with the baseball, I shoplifted a small piece of gum from the store, and I had possibly, instigated the toad in Mrs. Shaffer’s desk drawer…although my involvement was never actually proven or confirmed, and to this day, I claim complete innocence in the entire ordeal.
Under normal circumstances, we only consider our actions when the judgment for those actions is close at hand. In other words, as the proverbial judgment day approaches, we all straighten up. We change our lives based on consequences instead of changing our lives based on a higher level of moral good. For example, should we not give financially to churches and other benevolent organizations throughout the year as opposed to only the days preceding the tax credit deadline? Should we not help our neighbor when he is in need other than when it is convenient for us? Or how about volunteering in the community other than when we have to because of probation, work release, or class credits?
Our holiday thoughts seem to be consumed with a million other things than our ‘nice-meter’. This time of year, we should set aside time to enjoy family and friends, but it turns into a time of deadlines, stress, shopping, parties, and more sugar than any child should ever consume. Yet, if we will take a step back and look at this time of year, we will realize that we need to all slow down and heighten the level on our ‘nice meter’. As Emeril Lagasse says, “Let’s kick it up a notch!”
One of the gifts of the Spirit is Kindness. Now it doesn’t take a degree in Greek to understand what kindness means; it means be kind. So how is that a gift of the Spirit? Simple. As we become connected to the Spirit of God, we will be opened up to opportunities to be kind to others, and we will be given the means to bring that kindness into the physical. We begin walking in a symbiotic relationship with the Spirit of God. That Spirit makes things happen so that God’s love, compassion, and kindness become visible to a blind world.
This Christmas season is an incredible opportunity to not do the same things we’ve always done in the same ways we’ve always done them. Let’s take the next couple of weeks to become the agents of God in our community. Take advantage of opportunities that present themselves to us; to give, before we receive; to help instead of driving by; and to serve instead of expecting service. Who knows, kindness might just become so contagious that we become nice year-round.
As Christmas drew closer, and the snow began to fall (at my home in Michigan it often snowed during Christmas), my thoughts would often drift to being nice. I somehow was able to do the mental gymnastics of climbing over the wall of chiffon in order to see nice for what it was…nice. Simply being nice. Of course then I realized, possibly too late, that I had not been nice at all. I had laughed when Joey got hit in the eye with the baseball, I shoplifted a small piece of gum from the store, and I had possibly, instigated the toad in Mrs. Shaffer’s desk drawer…although my involvement was never actually proven or confirmed, and to this day, I claim complete innocence in the entire ordeal.
Under normal circumstances, we only consider our actions when the judgment for those actions is close at hand. In other words, as the proverbial judgment day approaches, we all straighten up. We change our lives based on consequences instead of changing our lives based on a higher level of moral good. For example, should we not give financially to churches and other benevolent organizations throughout the year as opposed to only the days preceding the tax credit deadline? Should we not help our neighbor when he is in need other than when it is convenient for us? Or how about volunteering in the community other than when we have to because of probation, work release, or class credits?
Our holiday thoughts seem to be consumed with a million other things than our ‘nice-meter’. This time of year, we should set aside time to enjoy family and friends, but it turns into a time of deadlines, stress, shopping, parties, and more sugar than any child should ever consume. Yet, if we will take a step back and look at this time of year, we will realize that we need to all slow down and heighten the level on our ‘nice meter’. As Emeril Lagasse says, “Let’s kick it up a notch!”
One of the gifts of the Spirit is Kindness. Now it doesn’t take a degree in Greek to understand what kindness means; it means be kind. So how is that a gift of the Spirit? Simple. As we become connected to the Spirit of God, we will be opened up to opportunities to be kind to others, and we will be given the means to bring that kindness into the physical. We begin walking in a symbiotic relationship with the Spirit of God. That Spirit makes things happen so that God’s love, compassion, and kindness become visible to a blind world.
This Christmas season is an incredible opportunity to not do the same things we’ve always done in the same ways we’ve always done them. Let’s take the next couple of weeks to become the agents of God in our community. Take advantage of opportunities that present themselves to us; to give, before we receive; to help instead of driving by; and to serve instead of expecting service. Who knows, kindness might just become so contagious that we become nice year-round.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Just because
randomly posing for pictures. I caught this one of Noah and thought it
was cool. You gotta love kids.
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