Problems are for Solving

I know I haven’t posted in quite some time. Life got busy again getting ready for and traveling on a trip. We’re alive and well but still very busy. I’ll try to get something posted soon–I have several posts ‘in the works’ but nothing ready to post. Feel free to read some of the blogs in my blogroll.

I’d been wanting to start writing again–and to do it regularly, and now for a little bit at least I have been. I’ve had an idea for a series of posts based upon a few things, and would like to publish it as a series of columns of sorts. Maybe I’ll get some weekly posts done that will be part of this series and continue writing daily posts that are a bit shorter, more pointed.

This past year has been a rough one for me. I’ve been getting stretched on all sides in a bunch of different ways. As I was listening to an old Michael W. Smith album two things struck me. The first was that the album seemed to fit together as a thematic unit in a way that some albums do, but many don’t. The second was that where the songs seemed to be coming from were describing how I’ve been and felt in recent days.

The series, of which this is the first installment, is based on Michael W. Smith’s album, Live the Life.

The first song is called Missing Person.

Missing Person

Another question in me
One for the powers that be
Its got me thrown and so
I put on my poker face
And try to figure it out
This undeniable doubt
A common occurrence
Feeling so out of place

Guarded and cynical now
Cant help but wondering how
My heart evolved into a
Rock beating inside of me
So I reel, such a stoic ordeal
Where’s that feeling that I don’t feel?

A while back I wrote a post about wearing masks.  Sometimes we also call this wearing a poker face.  When we don’t fit in someplace, or feel like we don’t fit in someplace (which is more likely the case) we cover up who we are and how we feel. 
Continue Reading »

Yesterday’s post was long and kind of heavy, so today I’ll lighten it up: I’ll post random news from my life that hasn’t made it to the blog yet. In no particular order:

** I’m still exercising. It’s been up and down for a good part of the year, but the last two months have been greatly improved. I’m feeling better than I have in a while.

** We survived a trip to the south, another to Michigan (the U.P.) and we’re going east again next week. We’ll see (hopefully) on this trip (at least briefly) my sister Sandy, TC’s sister Donna, Theresa’s grandparents and my Aunt Janet. We also hope to see the Liberty Bell, Gettysburg, and some sights in DC. We’ll be back in two weeks, and this should be the last major trek for the year.

** We’ve been getting more disciplined as a family and have been enjoying it. We’re doing more singing together and we’ve actually been all getting up for breakfast and having it together before I leave for work every day and that’s been really nice.

** It’s hot here and we don’t have air conditioning so the trips in the summer have been welcome.

** We’re getting some work done around the house as soon as I can get somebody over here to pick up the slack from my travelling. My wife is looking forward to the list getting shorter, as am I. If he can fit us in a friend will be doing the work.

** I’m writing on my blog again, and enjoying it. This month has more posts already than the previous four months combined. If you’re reading this, you know that already though. And I’m discovering features my blog has that I didn’t know existed. Yay.

That’s it for now–expect another post tomorrow that is less newsy but hopefully worth reading.

It’s true: AIDS is nature’s awful retribution for our tolerance of immoderate and socially irresponsible sexual behavior. The epidemic is the price of our permissive attitudes toward monogamy, chastity, and other forms of extreme sexual conservatism. (the rest at the NY Times web site)

This is an excerpt from a book entitled, More Sex is Safer Sex by Steven E. Landsburg. [I'll note in passing that because of the number of ways my last name was changed by immigrating ancestors, it's entirely possible I'm related to this fool]. I followed a link yesterday morning from a doctor’s blog and was appalled at what I saw there. Continue Reading »

Over the next few weeks I’ll be writing “biographies” of my family members. They’ll be from my perspective, of course, and they’ll include links to any on line writings that they have.

These will be works in progress. Because of that, I’ll keep links to all of these under a special page (see under “Interesting to Some Readers” on the right) called “Family Biographies.” That link is active now even though the page is blank other than a link to this short post here.

I’ll put recent pictures on the bio as well as some significant events from the life of the subject and possibly some less recent pictures as I go along. I’ll try to note on the blog when I’ve updated these posts (and will try to do so at least once a year).

Since many of my readers are family members they’ll probably find this more interesting than the rest of my blog, but this will give you some insight into who these children are, at least in their father’s eyes.

From Paul Tripp’s blog:

So much of our prayer has nothing to do with the glory of God. Regrettably, in much of our prayer we’re actually asking God to endorse our pursuit of a whole catalog of self-focused false glories. For God to be willing to do that would not only mean a denial of who he is, but it will also mean our destruction.

I’d encourage you to read this post as you prepare to worship our Lord today!

Communication is important.

I know this–but at times I let things get the better of me. In the past few weeks I have seen God remind me of something: communication early is better than communication late. And another thing: when we know we’re supposed to do something and don’t, it bothers us. Whether consciously or deep in the recesses of our hearts, it bothers us.

A few times over the last few weeks I’ve had conversations that I had been putting off. Why did I put them off? Because I was afraid of the worst possible way they could go. I was thinking through all the possible scenarios and I didn’t like the bad ones. In some cases, I needed to talk about things related to me. If the other person really cared they’d ask, I’d tell myself. Foolish, foolish man that I am.

And when the conversations happened? Weight was lifted, relationships extended and bettered, the Gospel reminded. Not that they were necessarily easy, but better now than later. This past week I started a conversation that I would usually put off and stew over right away. And you know what? It was good. And helpful. And a loving, productive chat about stuff that I might not have brought up at all if I’d let the grass grow under my feet on it.

So don’t wait. That conversation you’ve been putting off with someone you care about? Do it today. Think through what you need to say. Examine your motives and make sure you’re not coming from selfishness. But then go do it. You’ll find that it opens doors that you feel like are closed and that speaking the truth in love with one another will bring grace into your life in a mighty way.

Before I broke my sidebar the other day, over to the right you’d see a link to books I’m reading now. That list hasn’t changed in a while. One of the books is finished (still waiting on a review to be done) and the others are progressing ever so slowly. Lately not at all. I’ll update the list when I get time.

Life being hectic, I finally started examining some things, and with a friend’s help I realized that I had overspent my time. My money was doing fine, but I overspent my time.

So I picked up a new book.

It’s called A Minute of Margin by Richard Swenson, MD. It’s short reflections about making room around your life so that you have breathing room–much like margins on a printed page.

A recent reading, #8, was on financial margin, and I found it encouraging to read in the context of my daily life.

He writes:

In giving, you are ushered into a world where cynicism and hatred have been banished. You are considering others before yourself. You are choosing heaven as the place to put your treasure. You are doing what God asked you to do, and what He did Himself. In giving, you are pleasing Him.

A few years ago I had a conversation with a friend that convicted me about giving. I had been generous from time to time in the past but rarely did I consciously think about how I could give to others in an organized way. His thoughts about others were an encouragement to me that caused our family to think differently about giving. Since then we have steadily increased the giving we do to others and ministries over and above our tithe. And in that I have found what Swenson wrote to be true,

a kind of joy that begins with the thought of giving, with the declaration of freedom in your soul that, indeed, [we] belong to God. And the joy culminates in the act of giving, often a secret except in the spotlight of heaven.

I don’t write this to call attention to the giving I have done (indeed it is God working through my friend who ought to get credit for any good I could do) but to let you know that giving can and does truly bring joy to the giver as well as those who receive. Consider your budget and see if you have margin. Find that margin and then find joy in giving it away. Find the joy in sacrificing what you have for the sake of others and see God bless you time and time again in the sacrifice and His returning of the blessing where “it is more blessed to give than receive.” After all, the One Who said that never lies.

UPDATE: I changed my template and the sidebar now has that link again.

We’ve been travelling a bit lately, and I’ve been behind on writing projects. I have a whole series of blog posts in my head that haven’t gotten down on paper yet and I haven’t written a report on my trip with Samuel.

That being said, I’m late again on publicly wishing a child happy birthday.

Last Tuesday, June 26th, Toby turned 9. This past Saturday we had a dinner of hot dogs and mashed potatoes and the magic vegetable (Cauliflower). And peach pie for dessert (yep–no cake. Toby is a man after my own stomach).

Toby is my thoughtful child. He thinks a lot and talks less than most of the children. He is very visually oriented and loves to read and write.

He really loves comic books. Some of the modern stuff I’ve kept him away from, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he were an artist for a comic book one day.

Happy birthday, Toby. Sorry I’m so late with the public post, but I wasn’t late with your party. I love you.

In the evenings it is a goal I have to go to the gym and work out. Many evenings I just don’t feel like it. Sometimes I give in to the feeling and don’t go. But when I push past being tired or drug out or whatever and go work out anyway, I always feel better when I’m done than I did when I started. But then the next time I don’t feel like going I have the exact same discussion with myself about how I feel–and it’s so easy to disregard the memory of feeling better when I’m done. But after several months, most times I say “I’ll just go for 10 minutes. If I still feel this bad after that–I may be sick and I’ll quit.” And I always put in more than 10 minutes because I feel better once my heart rate get up and I am moving.

Yesterday I posted a few notes from Psalm 43. I had a truly enjoyable time reading those Words from God and applying them to particular trials in my life and we even able to send some thoughts on to encourage some others facing similar trials.

Sometimes I skip over spending time with God because I’m tired or depressed or whatever. But when I dig into the Word and come away with God’s blessing from my time I always come away energized by it.

I want to learn to do the same thing with my studies and writing that I have just started learning with respect to exercising. Push past the feelings and get over the avoidance–I’ll feel better when it’s done. And not just for it being done–but strengthened by the effort and time. And isn’t my soul more important than my body?