The Bird and The Box

"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." - 1 Peter 2:9

Imagine :
You put a bird in a large box. The box is seal and is completely dark. Then waaaay across the box you break a hole in the wall large enough for the bird to get out. As soon as you do so light begins to pierce the darkness. The bird then realizing the light is the way out. As it flies closer and closer it's heart beats with anticipation and anxiety. Finally the bird exits the dark box with a sigh of relief. What do you think was the birds focus? Did he/she (look at me being pc) say, "I see that light but I think I will hang out in this darkness." Did he/she look around and say man I am so depressed I think I will linger in my depression a bit. No! Instinct would kick in and the bird is headed toward the light. It knows that the piercing light is the way out. Once free it will fly peacefully in the open skies.

Apply:
Have ever thought to yourself, "I feel like stranger in this world." The word says that we are "temporary residents and foreigners" in this land. (1 Peter 2:11) What that means is this isn't our home it is a spot we are placed to serve until it is time for us to go home. Sometimes the world just seems so dark. We turn on the TV, radio or look on the web and see just plain darkness.

• People are starving all over the world
• Wars seem to spring up everywhere
• Terrorism places fear into the heart of everyone
• There is a world financial crisis
• Natural Disasters destroy homes and lives.
• People making list of morbid things (me right now)

The reason I write this is not to make you dwell in the darkness. For us as Christian we are children of the light. Each day we travel on this foreign soil is one day closer to our final home. Looking at the above verse we now see what Peter was writing about. He was explaining that we are running into the light and not away from it.

Warning:
Be aware there is artificial light sources (money, jobs, relationships, etc..). In that dark box Satan places artificial lights. Like a bird we would continue to pound our head on it trying to get out. It is exhausting, hurtful and miserable and finally many just give up. We have to look toward the true light source. That is Christ! When we put our faith in him then we can experience that peace. We feel free as a bird flying!

Praise God for the light!

Identity 2009

This past weekend we headed out with a group of adults and youth to Gatlinburg, TN. We hopped on our new ride and drove off into the night to our cabin on the mountain. This year's theme was "Identity". The total focus was where we get our identity. Is it from the world? Or is it from Christ?

I was blessed to have a great group of adults to help lead studies, sessions and chaperon for the event. Everyone did an excellent job and I believe it went over great! Also our praise and worship band was awesome! I enjoyed singing praises to the Lord with them. They will definitely be back at Walnut.

I believe the Lord spoke to us all at this event. Now what comes from it will be in his hands. Will today's youth really focus on looking more like Christ? Will they step up to the place and build a relationship with Christ that is lasting? I pray so...

Well I will try to blog more later. I just wanted you all to know I am still alive. LOL!

The fear of bad news

Psalm 112:6-8 (NIV)

6 Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.

7 He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

Many of you know we still have a house in Murray. Selling a house has it's up and downs. People look at it and really seem like "the ones". Then nothing happens and the time continues on. You then begin to not consider it a sell until the deed is out of your hands. Except you lie to yourself because you still do.

To be totally transparent with you (as we all should be) I have grown weary of it all. I do know and understand that it will happen. Explaining this opens up these statements:

"Maybe God is teaching you patience" (True)
"It is just not God's timing." (True)
"It will all be ok" (True)
"You will learn something from this." (True)

All of these statements are true. I have no doubt that God will come through. God has shown himself to us so much in this year it has been amazing. But if we are all totally honest and transparent we know it is still not easy. You experience every emotion possible in the wait. Some of those are not so easy to endure. I take great heart in the above verses.

I may be sad...but I won't Fear!
I may be impatient ...but I won't Fear!
I may be scared... but I won't Fear!
I may not be certain when... but I won't Fear!

Yes I wait and trust in the Lord. He will come through as he always does. There may be many emotions until then...but Fear will not be one of them.

The Shut Down

I am sure most of you that read this live in Kentucky and know about the ice storm that traveled through our state. I am also sure as I type this that many do not have power yet. It is a long road to recovery for many residents in Kentucky. It seems like only yesterday we were cleaning up after IKE somehow came through the state of KY with winds close to hurricane status.

I hope and pray for all of you as well as those doing everything they can to restore homes back to shape. Hug an electric worker next time you see one...

The below picture was the night of the storm. I thought it would be cool to get a picture of the ice/sleet that totally froze everything in place. Little did I know how NOT cool it would be.

The next morning we all woke up to no power, sleet, freezing rain and then snow on top of it all. The poor trees could not take it. Now I know that this is a mild picture of the trees. When we went out I had to focus on driving and taking pictures was the last thing on our mind. We went out to Target which was running on generators and bought candles and non perishables.

The next day after huddling all night in the living room together we decided to go out and find heat. There was a small area that had power. We waited in Kroger parking lot for an hour to buy gas for the car. Our kids were so good waiting we promised them McD's breakfast. We had to wait yet another hour to get breakfast. Here is a picture I took real quick:

After our adventure to McDonald's we went by the church to be amazed it had power! Now I know not everyone knows about the accommodations at the church but it would have been a great place to be if we had to stay. It has plenty of rooms, couches in the youth area, kitchens, bathrooms, shower rooms off the locker room area, washer, dryer and commercial kitchen if we really wanted to get fantasy. We went in the warm building and set up camp. I made a play room for the kids with carnival games we have for childrens events. Buffy laid on the couch we got a movie going and it was getting better. Then Bro Jeff (our pastor) and his family arrived with the same idea. We all laughed and chatted for a bit. I then got a text message saying that our area had power. We went home and enjoyed every minute of it. We just now got internet today. That is fine with me though. Our family is safe, home, eating and warm.

Times like this make us realize just how blessed we are and how it all can be taken away in a minute. Praise the Lord for his provisions and his protection.