Author: Jody Abar

My least favorite time of year is fast approaching…..the leaves have all fallen off the trees….its starting to get a little colder…..and football season is drawing to a close.  My college team, Mississippi State has one game remaining, and my NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys, are all but out of the playoffs.  Change.  It’s a fact of life.

My college team knows this all too well.  In our last game we lost our quarterback for the year, lost the game to our in-state rival, and later on in the weekend lost our coach.  Coach Mullen did great things for the program…..he took us places we have never been before.  But the only thing in life that is constant is that life continuously changes.

I love how Nick Fitzgerald, our quarterback, whom only a few hours after his injury responded to the loss of his coach.  Nick posted on his Twitter account on Sunday after Coach Mullen left, “Thank you Coach Mullen for building this program into what it is today.  But a program is bigger than 1 person.  We pride ourselves on our ability to always give relentless effort and I am very excited to be able to lead this team to a new level next season.  HailState!!!”

What a great way to respond.  What leadership and courage he displayed….especially with what he had undergone only a few days before.

Our life has been nothing but change since September.  We have officially sold our house….we live in an apartment awaiting our new house to be built….the boys have changed schools…..and now most recently we have changed churches, to one closer to where we will be living.  And the crazy thing is,  I’ve never been a part of something that hasn’t gone smoother, something that had so many cogs that could have broken along the way, so many different things that could have gone entirely wrong.  My wife calls it a “God Thing.”

And trust me, I completely agree.  God has been with us through all of this.  The closest thing to an almost issue was the new homeowners finding a few holes in our carpet the day before closing….but even that somehow got worked out with no effort on our part.  Like I said before….change is constant….but one thing I have learned is even in the busiest of times….when things are moving faster than you think you can handle….just stop….and listen……and God will provide you with what you need.  So far we have made it through this unscathed.  I spend my lunches at the park, in silence, talking to God and just listening.

But I will say of all the things in life that change…there is one that does not, and that is Jesus Christ.  For it says in Hebrews, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (13:8.)”   And in that statement alone I hold on to the hope of mine and my families future….even when things won’t settle down for one moment.  I know there is a plan…..I know we are where we are, at this time, for a reason….and hope and faith in Jesus Christ is what keeps me standing on firm ground.  “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters the veil, where Jesus has entered for us having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:19.)”

Don’t let life’s changes get to you.  We can’t control everything.  We can’t even control most things.  But what we can control is who we go to when we need to just hit the pause button.  I can’t even imagine how I would have made it through all of this just a year ago.  But now, I don’t think I could be more certain that we are just following God’s plan for our lives.

So when you are going through a season of change, when the floor falls our from beneath you, turn to the One who is constant….Jesus Christ……and you will make it through just fine.  I pray for each of you that you can find that inner peace in your times of change that I have found in mine.

This past weekend was jam-packed with soccer games…..the first weekend of the season where both boys had multiple games……in multiple cities……at multiple….oh wait…..no…..they were at the same times.  How convenient huh?  Luckily all of the families are in a similar situation, and most have multiple children so we eventually get them all to where they need to be.  It is very tiring, but it’s fun and I’m glad that both boys have both found something they love to do.

The last game of the weekend I was able to watch was my youngest son’s team.  They are pretty good.  They hadn’t lost yet so I was expecting a good game.  When I got to the field there were a lot of our club families already there from an earlier game, and they briefly told me the stories of the 7 year olds in a previous game taking matters into their own hands, when the ref wasn’t making the calls, that eventually led to a fist fight.  I was thinking it couldn’t have been that bad, it’s just little kids soccer.

I’ll preface this by saying I am an avid sports fan.  And anytime my team loses, it’s always the referee’s fault….or so we like to think.  Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t…..but it is way easier to blame them than it is to actually take accountability of how our team performed on that day.

But as the game started…..oh man….this ref was bad.  Kids were dragging each other down….pushing….kicking….and no whistles were blown.  It was ridiculous.  Our boys ended up losing by 1…..after the referee gave the other team 2 penalty kicks that they shouldn’t have had…..not by my own opinion, but by the rules of soccer.  Anyways, it’s just 7-year-old soccer….it’s not the end of the world, but this is what I left the field with….”Don’t leave the result of a game in the referee’s hands.”

That holds true in every sport…in every situation.  If you lose a game by that slim of a margin….then there is something you could have done better….some way you could have done a little more.  So are you leaving your life in the ref’s hands?

As James said, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does (James 1:23-25.)”  In other words….don’t just talk big…be big.  Don’t sit on the couch and wait for something to happen….pray, have faith and take that step into the unknown.

We can always find someone else to blame for our lack of success…our mistakes.  It’s the referees fault.  He missed the call.  If he would have just……But the only person to blame in most situations is ourselves.  Life is a race….and how you run the race is what matters. Where is your focus during your struggles, when you are tired and want to quit?  Are you looking to the referee for help, or are you looking inside yourself and focusing on Jesus.

Paul told the Corinthians, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?  Run in such a way that you win.  Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.  They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27.)”

So run your race….be bold, be great, do your best….and don’t leave your results to anyone but yourself and Jesus Christ.  Be honorable, don’t cut corners….don’t cheat.  We have the rules to life’s race right in front of us…..we have our Bible.  There is no greater rule book in the history of the world.  Just follow it and run.

 

These last couple of weeks have been sooo busy.  We are officially moved into our apartment….until our house is complete.  The weekends have been filled with soccer and moving….and more soccer and more moving.  But in the middle of all of the madness, an event came to town that I knew, as a family, we needed to go and see.

The Compassion Experience rolled into town last Friday night…..and I literally mean rolled.  The Compassion Experience is put on by Compassion International.  It is a rolling museum of sorts that tells stories of children throughout the world living in some of the worst conditions imaginable.  Compassion International’s goal is to bring children out of poverty in Jesus’ name.

The reason I thought we should go was pretty simple.  Even before I heard about this experience, I knew I had to do something for my kids.  My kids aren’t bad, but they are like so many when it comes to things they want.  They have to have everything, or so they think.  The sense of entitlement has started to drive me crazy.  My goal with going to the Compassion Experience was to show them how good their lives are….that they have never gone without….that God loves them and has taken care of them…..even though they don’t quite comprehend that just yet.

So the little tour consisted of a few stories of children from countries such as the Philippines and Uganda.  The Ipod tour lead us through small rooms and stories of the conditions of their lives.  It was extremely difficult for me to see…..but in the end their stories ended with successful lives.  As you walked out of the last room of each story you were brought into a room with a wall full of children’s faces…..all of whom lived in these same horrible conditions throughout the globe.  We all started looking around…trying to find a child that maybe we could help.  After a few minutes we decided to leave and have a family talk over dinner.

With Compassion International you sponsor a child…..and this child has one sponsor….you write letters, send pictures, send a small amount of money each month to help cover some of their expenses.  The big thing with Compassion is, you are this child’s only sponsor….if you decide to quit one day, they lose that resource that they have had.

At dinner we talked…..decided that it was worth the work and effort….at one point my oldest son even began feeling bad because he didn’t eat all of his dinner that cost more than we would be sending each month.  My youngest wanted to pick all of the children.

The next day we went back.  We had all decided we all wanted to choose a child somewhere near the age of my boys…so they would have more in common with each other.  As I walked around the room I saw a little boy from Ecuador wearing an Angry Birds shirt who was only 5 days younger than my oldest.  I opened his envelope and he loves soccer, art, and swimming….all things my boys love.  He was good at his academics and his favorite subject was math….he was the one.  So last Saturday we welcomed Gabriel to our family.

In the last year I’ve watched the news….I’ve watched the hate…..I’ve watched the suffering…..and its about time I try to step out in any little way I can to make a difference….a real difference.  Like Paul said, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35.)”

So we have a new “family member”……and a new “family” too as well…..since Gabriel does have a mother and father already…..parents that from what I can tell are doing their best already to take care of their son.  We are just here for a little extra help if and when they need it.

We have realized, even more within the last 2 days, how much junk we have accumulated over the years….how much useless stuff we have….and how little others have.   It’s quite sickening when you think about it.  So it’s time to give back, and give back we will.

As a part of our welcome packet we sent to Gabriel we had to send our favorite Bible verse, so I will leave you with what we sent.  But before that I pray we can all give a little more to help others in need, that we could open our hearts a little more to people around us.  That we could love, just a little bit more.  Because the more I think about Gabriel, the more I think about my boys….and that they could very easily be Gabriel.  So I pray that during this beginning of the Christmas season we can take a step back and realize what this season is all about.

Our verse for Gabriel:

“For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13.)”

Why do we spend so much time worrying about things?  Why do we stress ourselves out over things that we have little control over?  On second thought, we really do have control over most things, it’s just how we choose to attack each situation.  These days I have come to place my worries at the foot of the cross.  I choose to have faith….faith that things will go right, faith that my day won’t be as bad as it may have started….and faith that God is always there…even when I may not feel Him there.

My sons, on the other hand, have yet to figure these truths out.  We take them to church, they listen to sermons when they are in the car with me, but they are still a little too young, I think, to fully grasp the awesomeness of what God can really do for us.

My oldest worries about everything….he worries when I go get the mail….he worries when his brother has been down the street with his friends for too long.  He worries at soccer when he is trying his best, but his best isn’t good enough for his coach.  He gets discouraged when others may talk down to him.

My youngest has issues with not thinking he is good enough.  He gets worried at soccer when he thinks he isn’t performing as well as the other children.  He gets upset and worries when others may make fun of him.

Tonight, I just couldn’t take it anymore.  We got home from soccer and I wanted to find something to encourage them with.  I’ve tried before to sit down and go over something from the Bible, but it usually just turns into me getting angry because they won’t listen.  Tonight was going to be different…..and to my surprise….it was.

Their mother went out for a walk to finish her steps for the day and I sat down with them in the living room and opened my Bible to Joshua.  I told them that Moses had just died and it was now Joshua who was to lead the Israelites across the Jordan into the Promised Land.  I told them that I’m sure he was nervous…..he had never done this before.  I’m sure he questioned himself, and heard the whispers around the camp.  “What does this guy know, who picked him to be in charge?”

But I also told them that God was with Joshua…..just like God is with us all the time.  And at the end of our talk, I handed them each a card I had made for them to pull out whenever they felt discouraged, when they were worrying about something….whenever they felt like they were alone.  On that card I wrote:

“Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”                         Joshua 1:9

They thought that was the coolest thing.  My youngest put it in the side pocket of his backpack, my oldest put it on top of his phone, so he would know where it was tomorrow when he woke up.  I think they may have learned something tonight….and I thank God for finding the right story to help me get the point across.

So, when it comes to our worries….know that we aren’t alone.  Know that God is always there, and Jesus is always walking right next to us.  It’s like the poem, Footprints.  In our toughest of times, there was only one set of footprints in the sand, because in those times, it was Jesus that carried us.

As Jesus says in Matthew, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30.)”

So tonight I pray for my children…..I pray for them to be encouraged.  I pray for you as well, for you to not grow weary….to not let your worries take over your life.  I pray that you can find peace in Jesus Christ, and know that he is there….always….to take your worries away.

It’s that time of the year once again….the first real chance to meet who is watching my children for the most part of the day.   It’s parent teacher conference time.   After our two conferences with our children, I couldn’t be prouder.  Sometimes I have my doubts about those two, who doesn’t when it comes to their kids, but I now have a little more confidence that they can at least behave and excel at school when I’m not around.

The first was last week, when I went to meet my youngest son’s teacher.  She said he was a math genius.  She said he was an excellent reader.  Both of these things I knew, but what she said next was what really surprised me.  She said he brought a really good energy to the class, that he was a good little leader.  This is the craaaazy one we are talking about.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Our oldest son’s conference was yesterday.  This is the one that really blew me away.  Once again, his teacher said he was excellent in math….so much so he has been placed in the advanced math class.  His reading teacher said that he couldn’t give my son any assignments that he didn’t just blow through with ease….and that he thinks my son may even be in advanced reading by the first of the year.

But this is the part that made me extremely proud as a parent.  He has been sitting at a table with a group of all Hispanic children……one of which can’t even speak a word of English.  Once my son finishes with his work, he proceeds to try to teach this child his lessons….using the other Hispanic kids as his translator.  His teacher said he is a role model….someone for all of the other children to look up to.  He tells the class they should all strive to be like my son.  What a far cry from the last few years at his old school where his way of being acknowledged was to be the class clown.

My children have adjusted to their new school better than I could have imagined.  They have made new friends and eased right in to their new roles that have been placed in front of them.

With my study of Romans lately, it really got me thinking as to what a parent-teacher conference would be like between our Father and the ultimate teacher, Jesus.  I picture  God sitting down in those chairs that are way too small in front of Jesus’s desk and saying, “So how is my child doing?”  To which Jesus would reply, “They are excelling in all subjects, I have no problems with them whatsoever.”

That’s what is so wonderful about Jesus.  Through his blood, He can tell God how wonderful we are, because His death and resurrection is what made us that way.  “For Christ also died for sins once and for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.  Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to him (1 Peter 3:17-22.)”

That’s not to say that Jesus isn’t disciplining us on the side, taking us through lessons and trials that we must go through….but when it’s all said and done, He can look at God and say, “This one, this kid…..they are really gonna go places.”

Grace is a wonderful thing.  None of us deserve what we have, whether on Earth or in Heaven.  But by accepting Jesus, all things are made good.  So I pray that your parent-teacher conferences go as well as mine did.  I pray that your parent teacher conference between Jesus and God, also goes well.  I also pray for those of you who haven’t accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior that something in what I say may lead you in that direction.

 

At work this week we have undertaken what I think is the hardest and most time-consuming job that we do.  We have an antenna interface inspection.  During this inspection, we have to take every antenna and camera off of the plane.  This requires scraping sealant, which goes on like a goo, but hardens into rubber.  Then we have to find the screws that have been covered by sealant, and then finally try to pry the antenna off of the plane….separating the mesh, extremely sticky gasket from between the antenna and the aircraft skin.  The purpose of the inspection is to look for corrosion.

Today I passed that job off and removed a few electronic boxes and a shelf that had been contaminated with battery acid from a leaking battery.  Once again, all this work was done because of the possibility of corrosion.

Corrosion may be one of the biggest dangers in aircraft.  Corrosion can eat through the skin, if untreated, causing millions of dollars in repair costs.  Corrosion can come in many forms…..from moisture, to sea salt, to any other type of debris that can become trapped in nooks and crannies…..eventually resulting in the deterioration of an aircrafts surface.

So what does this have to do with anything?  I’ve been recently listening to my Pastor’s series on Romans….and like corrosion, sin can start small…maybe one white lie, or one bit of envy towards a successful coworker…..but eventually eat completely through you….and break down your spirit and soul until nothing is left.

Paul warned of the dangers of sin….and turning away from God.  “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil;  full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice;  They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;  and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things, are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them (Romans 1:28-32.)”

That’s a pretty scary and encompassing list if you ask me.  And by no means am I here to throw the first stone…..because I know I have issues with some of these things.  And as my Pastor says, even if you think you are a “pretty good” person, we were all born with this sin…..with the ability to fall prey to any one of these things.

Here is the good news though……if you are a born again Christian, when Jesus died on the cross all of you sin was forgiven……and not just the sin you have already committed, but the sins you will commit in the future.  That however doesn’t give us a free pass to continue on in our sin….but through Christ we should strive to do better, knowing that sometimes we make mistakes, but are truly trying to be different from we were before.

And if you aren’t born again….the even better news is that it isn’t too late.  And Jesus is always there….waiting for you….reaching out his hand.  Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me (John 15:3-4.)”

We all have our corrosion.  We all have things that eat away at us.  We all have triggers that set us off….sending us to bad places.  But like airplanes…..it can be treated before it’s too late.  Jesus can wash the corrosion away…..Jesus can make you clean.

So I pray for all of us….I pray that we can lay our sins down at the feet of Jesus.  That we can trust him to take care of us, to wash away our sin…..to make us clean.

I’ve been doing these blogs a few months now, and I have stayed away from the political realm.  It was never my purpose to give an opinion on current events, but share events in my life that may encourage others or help them through difficult times.  But the state of our American society…especially in the wake of this last weekends NFL protests, is pushing barriers that haven’t been approached in a long time.

I’m not really sure when the divisiveness started….when the hate became so intense.  A lot will say that it was when President Trump was elected…..while many others will say it all began with President Obama.  During President Obama’s administration he was always quick to come out and make comments regarding police brutality before the facts were even discovered.  On the other hand, President Trump has an addiction to Twitter that often puts opinions out that are probably better left inside his mind.

Either way, I have never seen it this bad before.  Now I’m a white male, I’ve been blessed with a good life.  I’ve never gone without food, never been shot at….well, maybe once in Iraq on a helicopter, but I will never be able to confirm that.  I’ve never been afraid for my life.  I don’t know how it is to be a young black man or a Hispanic female.  So I can’t speak from their perspective.  But what I do believe, deep in my heart, is that as a society, we aren’t born with hatred towards others.  We don’t segregate ourselves from others until that habit is learned.  My mother said my first friend ever was a little black boy…….that neither one of us knew that we weren’t the same.

So why do we continue to propagate the hate?  Why does the media find stories that divide, and not bring together?  Why is one person automatically considered a racist just because the color of their skin?  At work last week I was having a very good conversation with a co-worker who has a completely different set of ideals than I do.  We spoke calmly, listening to each others points….but throughout the hour he kept referring to me as “you people.”  If I would have ever referred to him as “you people”, with him being Hispanic, he probably would have gone to HR and I would have been fired.  I finally got angry and told him to stop.  I said, “You don’t know who I hang out with, you don’t know what I do after work.  You don’t know who I vote for or what charities I donate to.  So how can you call me you people?”  He apologized and we moved on with our day.

The problem today is that everyone is so quick to anger these days.  Everyone is so quick to offense.  No matter how civilized a conversation is, the other is wrong…..if their opinion is different from yours.  I still have no idea when this happened.

Jesus preached of love….and that is the only thing that will fix our problems.  One day Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment in the law.  He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39.)”  Jesus also said, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.  This I command you, that you love one another (John 15:16-17.)”

We need to come together.  We need to listen to each others opinions.  No, we may not have lived the life you have, and vice versa, but nothing will every get better unless we all try.  In one of my kids favorite book, the last sentence is so powerful.  The Lorax says, “Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.”

So I will finish this with what Paul told the Corinthians about love, this coming from a man who was oppressed, persecuted against, spent numerous stints in prison for spreading his beliefs about Christ….who had plenty of reasons to hate others.  “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.)”

So I pray for this country.  I pray for our leaders to unite us, and not divide us. I pray we can come together as a society and bridge the divide.  I pray for equality for all……for no one to feel oppressed by another and that we can all move forward hand in hand.

You ever notice how hard it can be to stay on task….to stay focused on something that is so important?  But once you get in the groove, into a routine, a pattern…..its not so hard anymore.  But then all of a sudden life happens….things are going great and things slowly start to change.  School is back in session, soccer starts to take over the nights of the week and weekends, and then your occasional hurricane evacuation….and before you know it, something you’ve worked so hard to stay consistent with just up and vanishes.

Honestly I don’t even know the last time I sat down to write.  I kept telling myself, “Tomorrow won’t be so busy.  I’ll do it then.”  But the excuses kept coming, like they so often do in life.  And one day leads to the next, and the next, and before long….the writing stops.  But it wasn’t just my writing that stopped.  I started slipping back to my old ways….listening to more news on the radio than the music and sermons that kept me going throughout the day.  Then a few Sundays of skipping church because of this and that.  It’s so easy to slip….and once you start rolling down that mountain, it can be difficult to catch yourself.

I’ve still been reading my Bible.  I’ve still been praying multiple times throughout the day, but I know on the inside that I’ve lost my focus.  My focus on what is truly important.

Paul has a strong warning to those in my same predicament.  “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude;  and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained.  Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.  For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself (Philippians 3:15-21.)”

God is my ultimate counselor.  He is there, even when we think we don’t need Him.  But it’s also good to surround yourself with friends and family to keep encouraging you, even when your focus seems to have gone astray.  Sometimes that encouragement seems like nagging, but that’s only because you aren’t seeing it from outside the box.  The text messages saying,” I miss your writing,” or “It’s not about you, it’s about your words that you share with others,” ……when you take the time to stop and think, and get out of your own way, are truly meant in Love.  And I thank those of you who have kept me focused.

Every day is a new chance to grow…a new opportunity to learn.  And I’ve learned that staying focused is hard.  And the less focused we are on God, the happier the devil gets.  He celebrates every time we skip church….every time we skip the opportunity to share Christ with others.  And with God as my strength, I won’t let these lapses in my commitment to Christ happen anymore.  I will write what has been placed on my heart…whether I have to sacrifice a few minutes of sleep, or a few minutes of television….because I didn’t start this blog for me, but for the possibility of helping just one of you out there, and glorifying God in everything I do.

I pray that you can keep your focus during the most difficult of times.  I pray that I can be there, through God’s will, to help encourage you.  I pray that all of us stay strong, and not get lost in the ways of the world, but focus on the One who made the world.

And I leave you today with this…….a Psalm that I have read before, but it never really sank in….

Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.       (Psalm 19:14)

 

 

As I sit here in the floor of my bedroom, the clock on the computer says its 5:45pm.  The youngest is upstairs playing Xbox with mommy and the oldest is in his bedroom…pretty sure he is taking a nap.  Times have sure changed in the past 17 years….so many places….so many new things…so many adventures.  You see, at 11:59pm I will officially pass the torch off to someone else….not physically….but in spirit.  My time as a Marine will be through.

Now I haven’t been a “Marine” in a long time….even though they say “Once a Marine, Always a Marine.”  I’ve been in the Inactive Reserve for the past 3 years….but I’ve had to keep my uniforms and stay within weight standards and physically fit (which ironically, I’m in better shape than I was when I left active duty.)  I have had to keep a huge Tupperware of all of my uniforms and gear….in case I was ever called back.  But tonight its over.

The Marine Corps was my life for so long….It started in the middle of the night just a few miles from my current residence, when I was dropped off in the middle of a swamp on Parris Island….on the famous Yellow Footprints.  Then a few months later I was handed the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor…like the one in the picture above….that made it all official.  The Marine Corps lead me to places like Hawaii, Iraq, Bahrain, Okinawa.  I was stationed in North Carolina, South Carolina…Pennsylvania, New Jersey.  I rode on military aircraft and ships.  I spent months at a time away from my family….in fact I found out about my oldest just a few hours after I left for a deployment when we stopped in Guam for a layover.  I’ve been in multiple flag ceremonies, including the World Series with the Phillies and the Yankees.  And I have overseen over 300 Military Honors Funerals.

But like all things in life….it has come to an end.  Everything has a start and an end.  Moses started by leading the Israelites out of Egypt, “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharoah, so that you may bring My people out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10)”….and the Israelites eventually made it to the Promised Land.  David, the Greatest King of Israel, began his reign as king when he was anointed as a young boy….only for it to end years later when Solomon took over, “And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established (1 Kings 2:12.)”  And Jesus began his ministry….only to rise from the grave after his crucifixion (although that could be the end of one thing and the start of something even better.)

My Marine Corps life is now over….but now I move on.  I am so blessed to have had the experiences that I did.  And I’m even more blessed to have made it through them safely.  It’s an odd feeling for it to be officially over.

But as I sit here and reflect of the start and end of one part of my life…..there is something so much greater than the Marine Corps, or my current job, or anything we start or finish.  Our Salvation through Christ is never-ending.  Through the Grace of God we have eternal life….all we have to do is believe….and ask for that Salvation.  And Salvation is just the beginning of greatness.  For it says in Hebrews, “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation (Hebrews 6:9.)”  As John says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13.)”  And as Paul writes to the people of Ephesus, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:13-14.)”

I’ve been listening to my Pastor’s sermons on the book of Daniel these last few days, and its scary to think of where I would be without Christ.  The trials and tribulations that I would have to endure….that will one day come.  But it has also shown me that I can’t keep my salvation a secret while there are those of you out there who may not have yet found the Grace of God.  Eternal life is for everyone.  You just have to ask for it, and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the grave.

So I pray for all of you who don’t know the love of Jesus.  I pray that maybe through my words you can find Him…..or that He will at least work through me to point you in the right direction.  I pray that in the ends of your beginnings, you can look back and count the blessings that you have.  But I also pray that you can start a new beginning….a beginning that has no end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honesty, truthfulness, integrity…..traits that are often overlooked these days in our goals of rising to the top.  One little white lie never hurt anyone….did it?  It’s so easy to tell ourselves that….that its not that big of deal….that we aren’t hurting anyone.  And it may not hurt anyone….but we have to live with that lie, or fib….however big or small it may be.

The story I will share today I have to be careful with.  I have to be extremely vague, but hopefully God will allow me to get my point across in as clear a way as I can.

Has something ever happened to you where someone asked you to lie for them?  To fabricate a story to help them in some type of situation?  Well that’s what happened over the last few days.  I can’t say what about, but I can say that the results of my going along with this could have been bad……but on the flip side, you could almost say the results of my not going along with it could be bad as well.  What I can say is this…..after some prayer, some guidance from a close friend (as they prayed over me too,) I think I may be in the clear.   As of this point I haven’t had to go through with the decision that I have made.  And that decision is to tell the truth…..when and if that time arises.

Integrity is one of those things that we have to live with….that only we know if we have broken that trust or not.  And trust me, I know this more than anyone.  Just a few years ago I was faced with a situation….just a small one….one that could affect only me….and that time I fell on the wrong side of the fence.  I lied.  And the ripple effects of that lie changed the course of mine and my family’s lives.  I believe I am on the right path that I’m supposed to be on, but I believe there was a better way to get here.  I didn’t have the relationship with God back then that I have now.  I learned my lesson from that instance, and that’s why this new situation is much easier to traverse.

David says in Psalms, “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.  Examine me, O Lord, and try me;  test my mind and my heart.  For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth (Psalms 26:1-3.)”  David also says, “O Lord, who may abide in your tent?  Who may dwell on Your holy hill?  He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart (Psalms 15:1-2.)”

So in whatever situation comes up where your integrity is challenged….hold strong to your faith.  Hold strong to the truth.  I heard a quote the other day, actually the morning before all of this started, that made a huge impact on me.  Little did I know that only a few hours later this quote would mean so much more.  I will not become something that I’m not in the pursuit of something that I want.  

I will not lie to gain an advantage, however small it may be.  If telling the truth has some sort of consequences in the eyes of men, then I will accept those.  But I will stand firm in truthfulness.  Like Paul wrote to Titus, “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us (Titus 2:7-8.)”   Don’t ever give anyone any reason to question your integrity…..don’t let people think, “Can I really trust you?”

I wish I wasn’t put in the situation that I was.  Because once again…there could be ripple effects….but this time I will be on the right side of the fence.  I will steer clear of the pitfalls that come with “that one little bit of dishonesty.”  Because no matter what happens, God will be with me.  God will remind me that I made the right decision.

I pray that you are never put in the situation that I was placed in, but if you are….make the right choice.  Speak the truth.  Trust in God.  Don’t succumb to the temptation of the devil and don’t worry about what your fellow-man may say or think.  Because at the end of the day, you are the one who has to live with your decision.  The others involved will move on….upset with you or not, but they will eventually forget.   We however, will have that “little lie” burnt on our hearts forever.