Megan is awesome

We just got back from a few days in Lake Tahoe and enjoyed a much needed break, though now I think I need a relaxing vacation, the kind without a toddler :-)

The coolest thing about the trip for me was the one day Megan and I were able to go skiing. What was so great about this day was that my eyes were truly opened to how awesome Megan and I compliment each other as a unit; actually, I guess its simply how Megan makes me a better person.

We had been skiing once before a couple of years ago and we went for only one day and did the beginner lesson, never going on anything but the training hill and a couple of greens or "easies."

This past weekend in Tahoe, they only had a few runs open because they hadn't received much snow yet and all of them were blue or intermediate. Now, everyone I know who is a good skier has always told me to get the lesson each time I go, at least for a while until we get good. So on this trip, I assumed we just wouldn't do much skiing because we would only be able to go into the training area, which wasn't even a hill at all at this resort.

Megan had a different idea. I think her exacts words were, "We know how to ski, we'll be fine." Somehow she convinced me and I believed we could just go skiing on the blue runs even though I had no real idea what to do (I watched a YouTube video on the way up to the lift).

So we rented the equipment and had a blast! I was so thankful that Megan stretched me and kept me from taking the safe route. I never would have gone had Megan not been with me. For me, this was a great example of how God uses her strengths to help me through my weaknesses or fears of doing things I know nothing about!

Oh yeah, the best part was while we were riding up the gondola to get to the lift. We are bundled up, all of our equipment on, and Megan looks at me and says "What are we doing? I have no idea how to ski." I love that girl.

Christian Counter Culture: Two simple differences

I have been writing a research paper on the Beatitudes and came across this simple idea that is a great way to see where we are in our walk with God.

We live in a world that values pride over humility and aggression over mercy. Each time we are prideful and each time we are aggressive (especially when driving in traffic) we are living in the world culture instead of the Christian Counter Culture Jesus has called us to.

hmm...

it's okay if people think that

In Mark 12:14 the Pharisees told Jesus they knew he didn't care about any one's opinion and he was not swayed by ones appearances, because He teaches the truth of God alone.



A few years ago one of my friends was ask why I had to be so "weird" about Jesus. He said he knew other Christians who didn't act so radical.

This comment brought the full revelation to me that there is not much of a difference between most Americans who claim to be Christians and those who are Atheists or of any other religion. It's just some title they put on themselves if ask the question of what they believe, but it is not their life. Being a follower of Jesus is not just a religion, a faith, or any other movement. It is a way of life that encompasses every aspect of who we are as a person, what are thoughts are on every situation.

I only write this because for 20 plus years I believed I was a Christian and most of America would have agreed with me, yet I was more swayed by man and what the media said than by anything Jesus said or did.

When we fully give our heart to God, our closest family and friends may think we have gone of the deep end. But that is not a bad thing.

We must remember that we live in a country where claiming to be a Christian doesn't have as much to do with Christ as it does with our social status. The claim to be Christian deals more with what it means for us as a 21st Century American, than it does with being a devoted follower of Christ.

I think its safe to say, in the world we live in today, we can only hope people think that we are a little over excited about Jesus, otherwise we just blend into the group on the fence and will find ourselves like the lukewarm church in Revelation.

thankful

I have heard it said before that the longer you are a parent, the more you began to understand God's love.

This has really been true for me the last week or so. Boden's first year and a half of life has been relatively uneventful (thank God). But the last week he has managed to put a couple of nice dents in his face. On Thanksgiving morning he cut his face open when he fell on a pen and I was sick to my stomach over it for quite a while.

I now know for sure that Boden is going to be okay, yet I still hurt for him. When Jesus went to the cross, God knew he was ultimately going to be okay, so it must not have hurt him that much, Yeah Right (or at least that thought had crossed my mind before).

Ask any parent who has watched their child suffer even a little how much it hurts them, even though they know he(s) is going to be okay and you will quickly discover the pain a parent goes through when their children are hurting.

I know this is basic and most have realized this real world comparison for a long time; it has just really hit home with me the last couple of days and renewed my awe, amazement, and thankfulness for the cross and the life that it gives us.

So as we end the "official" thankful season, I must say I am so truly thankful for the life that all who follow Jesus can hold fast to!

some thoughts

Well, for a while there I thought I was going to be good at keeping up with blogging, but the last three weeks have been crazy.

What I started to share a couple of weeks ago and never finished was about unity. I basically spent the month of October meditating on John chapter 17 and the understanding of the unity or oneness that Jesus desires to have with each of us is amazing. We talk a lot about unity in our life. Often it is in regards to family, friends, the church, or even perhaps or fellow employees.

But there is a huge truth to unity I think we often forget. We must first be one with God before we can ever be truly united with our family, friends, or church. That is how He designed it. It is through unity with God that we are able to understand what a true sacrificial life is and the only way we can learn to be a person that can give up enough to truly be united with another person.

In the America we live in today, I know it is truly important for the church to rise up like never before and be a voice for the Lord. And for this to happen we must be one with God.

But that is not all, even when it comes to our families, we must first be unified with God before we can truly be unified in our marriages, relationships with our children/parents, etc. I believe that when we get this, we will truly see men and women of God living at another level.

no famine here

So check this out, Psalm 37:18-19, God promises that we will have abundance in times of famine and that we will not be ashamed. Now normally we simply think of famine in regards to food...

I'm spending the next week thinking of all the areas in my life where there is a shortage or a famine, or I'm just not living to the level I believe I should and I'm declaring God's promise of abundance in that area and making it a focus and a priority to rid famine from every area of my life.

I think if we all do this, we just may have a greater impact for God and open ourselves up to be used by him in areas we never imagined.

Church get ready

Well, most of the Christian church has been praying for revival. In fact, the LIFE bands and LIFE shirts we have at our church have the prayer that says "God, send revival to America."

Now I'm making this as a somewhat sarcastic comment, but I do believe there could be truth in it.

Millions of Americans have decided to place their hope in a man and not in God. When they find out that the man won't save them or help, God may decide to send revival. People crying out for change through the hope of a man will begin crying out for God with the revelation that He is the only one, the only way!