I heard once that kids know how much you love them by how your eyes light up when they enter the room.
They are beautiful to you.
Since it's Saturday and perhaps you have the tiniest of breathers in time and duty, let's reverse the process.
God is the Parent, the Creator, the Architect of everything around us and we are His children.
Let's find one thing beautiful--someone's heart, a flower growing in the crack of a sidewalk, the unexpected rearranging of our schedule that shows us a new environment.
And let's allow our eyes to light up at this one beautiful thing because we...are beautiful to God.
11 February 2012
10 February 2012
Austin Rivers and Trusting Yourself
Where is the course we can sign up for called Trusting Yourself 101?
We watched one incredible example of a guy that must have taken the graduate level version of that course when Austin Rivers made his historic 3-pointer at the buzzer in the February 8, 2012 UNC-Duke rivalry to give Duke the win in front of 20,000+ UNC students and fans.
One of his teammates, Mason Plumlee, said later he trusted Austin, but...take the shot already.
His dad, Doc Rivers, said he was wondering about the seconds ticking away until he realized that his son was setting up the exact play that would give him a good look at the basket.
Seven-foot Tyler Zeller standing between Austin and the basket didn't daunt him and Rivers even checked the clock with 2 seconds to go to make sure he had everything in place.
As the last second ticked away, he fired the shot heard around the sports world.
Now make it or not, where does one get the confidence to trust oneself enough to put all that in place and risk everything to do what you feel called to do?
Austin Rivers, in a post-game interview, said with a smile, "God just put it in."
Is that the formula? Work as hard as you can, listening to God's direction, learning and practicing in every way you can and then, when it's crunch time, throw it up and let God determine the outcome?
Here is what I know: not trusting yourself is a ticket to pain and fear and a rerouting of your dreams and God's best for you.
So here's to Duke freshman Austin Rivers and the lesson he has taught me: take every shot in life that seems mine to take and let God determine the outcome.
We watched one incredible example of a guy that must have taken the graduate level version of that course when Austin Rivers made his historic 3-pointer at the buzzer in the February 8, 2012 UNC-Duke rivalry to give Duke the win in front of 20,000+ UNC students and fans.
One of his teammates, Mason Plumlee, said later he trusted Austin, but...take the shot already.
His dad, Doc Rivers, said he was wondering about the seconds ticking away until he realized that his son was setting up the exact play that would give him a good look at the basket.
Seven-foot Tyler Zeller standing between Austin and the basket didn't daunt him and Rivers even checked the clock with 2 seconds to go to make sure he had everything in place.
As the last second ticked away, he fired the shot heard around the sports world.
Now make it or not, where does one get the confidence to trust oneself enough to put all that in place and risk everything to do what you feel called to do?
Austin Rivers, in a post-game interview, said with a smile, "God just put it in."
Is that the formula? Work as hard as you can, listening to God's direction, learning and practicing in every way you can and then, when it's crunch time, throw it up and let God determine the outcome?
Here is what I know: not trusting yourself is a ticket to pain and fear and a rerouting of your dreams and God's best for you.
So here's to Duke freshman Austin Rivers and the lesson he has taught me: take every shot in life that seems mine to take and let God determine the outcome.
09 February 2012
Someone is Hurting
Someone in your circle of influence is hurting.
Perhaps he is criticizing you to cover his pain. Perhaps she is isolating herself from you because she can't call out to you for help.
How do you know you are the person with the tools to help? Because you are on the front line of his/her attack.
So now what? The last thing you want to do is present yourself for more ugly encounters.
Taking a lesson from the playbook of Jesus, I think we suffer the attack or rejection, recall the love in our heart for that person, decide in prayer if we are the one with the right tools for now, and reach out in wisdom, clarity, and tough love, all tucked inside a demeanor of kindness we may or may not feel.
Of this I am sure: he doesn't want you to walk away. She has only a tiny voice left pleading for help.
Someone in your circle of influence is hurting.
Perhaps he is criticizing you to cover his pain. Perhaps she is isolating herself from you because she can't call out to you for help.
How do you know you are the person with the tools to help? Because you are on the front line of his/her attack.
So now what? The last thing you want to do is present yourself for more ugly encounters.
Taking a lesson from the playbook of Jesus, I think we suffer the attack or rejection, recall the love in our heart for that person, decide in prayer if we are the one with the right tools for now, and reach out in wisdom, clarity, and tough love, all tucked inside a demeanor of kindness we may or may not feel.
Of this I am sure: he doesn't want you to walk away. She has only a tiny voice left pleading for help.
Someone in your circle of influence is hurting.
08 February 2012
The Peace Bucket and the Storm Bucket
Two buckets of energy fuel your day.
The storm bucket is filled by circumstances and events that are not of our doing. But we deepen the level of the bucket's energy with our worries, our poor decisions, our rebellion and our penchant for treating ourselves and others in a loveless fashion.
And so the storm bucket gets heavier.
We forget that the peace bucket is ours to feed...and ours alone. No one else is going to fill your peace bucket for you. Your peace bucket can only be filled by the strength, depth, and frequency of time that you get by yourself and search for life's meaning and goodness.
I choose God as my life's meaning and goodness so my peace bucket is filled with countless hours and days pondering Him, crying out to Him, believing He has my best interest at heart.
The peace bucket fills a drop at a time while the storm bucket can fill at a seemingly tsunami rate.
But this I know: the peace bucket, drop for drop, filled by Peace named God, who made us and wants us to interact with Him, is stronger and heavier and more stable than the unpredictability and volatility of the storm bucket.
I'm not giving up on the filling of my peace bucket.
The storm bucket is filled by circumstances and events that are not of our doing. But we deepen the level of the bucket's energy with our worries, our poor decisions, our rebellion and our penchant for treating ourselves and others in a loveless fashion.
And so the storm bucket gets heavier.
We forget that the peace bucket is ours to feed...and ours alone. No one else is going to fill your peace bucket for you. Your peace bucket can only be filled by the strength, depth, and frequency of time that you get by yourself and search for life's meaning and goodness.
I choose God as my life's meaning and goodness so my peace bucket is filled with countless hours and days pondering Him, crying out to Him, believing He has my best interest at heart.
The peace bucket fills a drop at a time while the storm bucket can fill at a seemingly tsunami rate.
But this I know: the peace bucket, drop for drop, filled by Peace named God, who made us and wants us to interact with Him, is stronger and heavier and more stable than the unpredictability and volatility of the storm bucket.
I'm not giving up on the filling of my peace bucket.
07 February 2012
When is it Right to Wait on a Miracle?
By miracle, I mean God showing up in an atypical way, solving a problem that either seems insurmountable or would take years to untangle or unravel.
He did it time and again in the Bible, and we've heard these stories in our culture even if we've never cracked the Book.
He parted the Red Sea.
He (as Jesus) multiplied the fishes and the loaves.
He (as Jesus) healed the leper.
I know He shows up in these atypical, miraculous ways today. People are delivered from impossible circumstances through illogical means and we can document these.
But when is it right to wait on a miracle of our own--an atypical deliverance from our pressing, impossible circumstances?
If you are a ponderer of God--that is, you spend some of your personal time in deep reflection of Who He is and how He might want to show Himself through your life--I think you will begin to have a deep stirring if He is up to something big on your behalf. Guaranteed? Of course not. No one can guarantee anything of God except the promises He presents in His Book.
But if you know that you know that you know, then pester Him, praise Him, and most of all, show yourself waiting expectantly.
Is it messy in the waiting? Well, consider this: in the middle of this very post, my four-year-old granddaughter was sleeping on the sofa as I worked. She had awakened with a headache and deep cough so I moved her to let others sleep (mountain time here--still very predawn). She suddenly started crying that she was going to throw up so I grabbed her to protect this rental property and sure enough, she covered me.
So is this significant to waiting on miracles? I don't know--it might just be God's sense of humor because her name is...Eden.
He did it time and again in the Bible, and we've heard these stories in our culture even if we've never cracked the Book.
He parted the Red Sea.
He (as Jesus) multiplied the fishes and the loaves.
He (as Jesus) healed the leper.
I know He shows up in these atypical, miraculous ways today. People are delivered from impossible circumstances through illogical means and we can document these.
But when is it right to wait on a miracle of our own--an atypical deliverance from our pressing, impossible circumstances?
If you are a ponderer of God--that is, you spend some of your personal time in deep reflection of Who He is and how He might want to show Himself through your life--I think you will begin to have a deep stirring if He is up to something big on your behalf. Guaranteed? Of course not. No one can guarantee anything of God except the promises He presents in His Book.
But if you know that you know that you know, then pester Him, praise Him, and most of all, show yourself waiting expectantly.
Is it messy in the waiting? Well, consider this: in the middle of this very post, my four-year-old granddaughter was sleeping on the sofa as I worked. She had awakened with a headache and deep cough so I moved her to let others sleep (mountain time here--still very predawn). She suddenly started crying that she was going to throw up so I grabbed her to protect this rental property and sure enough, she covered me.
So is this significant to waiting on miracles? I don't know--it might just be God's sense of humor because her name is...Eden.
06 February 2012
The Hurry Zone
It's Monday but I bet you don't have to be reminded.
Already your mind and body are aswirl with to-do's, to-dread's, to-remember's.
I have learned two critical responses for living in the inevitable hurry zone.
Years ago, I was a single parent with five children under my roof, four of them teenagers. I was a middle-school principal which in a good week commands at least 60 hours. I worked as hard as I could every day and wished for an eighth day in every week. I'll do the work, Lord, if you just give me more time.
Then this idea drifted into my mind, seemingly in response, Work as hard as you are working but take Sundays off with no work at all--no laundry (!), no housework, no schoolwork.
My doubts were adamant, if not mocking: I ask for more time and You subtract a day.
Yep. (Godnomics--God's economy--is beyond me).
Well, I might mock for a moment but I don't generally try to completely disobey and I watched myself get more done in 6 days than I ever did in 7. (Perhaps He was overseeing my to-do's somehow?)
Secondly, I began to say each morning, Lord, just show me each next thing to do, even if it is not remotely in the order in which I would do it.
Again, crazy productivity with the end of the day finding my to-do's, to-dread's, and to-remember's much more manageable.
It's Monday but I bet you don't have to be reminded. But might I remind you to consider these two options?
I wish you a Godnomics week.
Already your mind and body are aswirl with to-do's, to-dread's, to-remember's.
I have learned two critical responses for living in the inevitable hurry zone.
Years ago, I was a single parent with five children under my roof, four of them teenagers. I was a middle-school principal which in a good week commands at least 60 hours. I worked as hard as I could every day and wished for an eighth day in every week. I'll do the work, Lord, if you just give me more time.
Then this idea drifted into my mind, seemingly in response, Work as hard as you are working but take Sundays off with no work at all--no laundry (!), no housework, no schoolwork.
My doubts were adamant, if not mocking: I ask for more time and You subtract a day.
Yep. (Godnomics--God's economy--is beyond me).
Well, I might mock for a moment but I don't generally try to completely disobey and I watched myself get more done in 6 days than I ever did in 7. (Perhaps He was overseeing my to-do's somehow?)
Secondly, I began to say each morning, Lord, just show me each next thing to do, even if it is not remotely in the order in which I would do it.
Again, crazy productivity with the end of the day finding my to-do's, to-dread's, and to-remember's much more manageable.
It's Monday but I bet you don't have to be reminded. But might I remind you to consider these two options?
I wish you a Godnomics week.
05 February 2012
The Gardening of Children
The last two mornings have found me on a cross country trip with my son, daughter-in-law and five children ages 7 down to 7 months.
We left Austin on Thursday evening, drove all night, came within four hours of our ski destination and found ourselves rearranging the plans because of the Denver snowstorm.
An all night drive with sleeping children and three adults uncovers some interesting conversation.
My take-away was gardening lessons from my son.
He said lots of parents know how to prune. But, he adds, is it pruning that is out of control (yelling), haphazard (promising consequences with no follow-through), or thoughtful, controlled and loving?
He noted that lots of parents know how to fertilize, that is, give praise. The care here being again, thoughtful, controlled and not overdone.
But the riveting part of parents as gardeners, the part he says is overlooked, is setting up the lattice. That is, training the child in how to grow. Taking your kids out to eat and expecting them to behave with no rehearsal is a cousin of insanity, expecting results that have never been demonstrated. Taking them to Wal-Mart and not expecting them to want 10 different things will only happen if they have had practice trips where they know not to ask and have successfully mastered that self-control.
Another example: expecting your kids to respond to mean comments without practice with you gives them no pattern of behavior to grow their confidence. Between Austin and Colorado, I watched him teach the older three what he wants them to do when someone says something mean to them. They practiced in the car, in the unexpected hotel stay and it continues in our ski place.
We all grew up on some kind of lattice, some probably more controlled and productive than others. Maybe some of us have had to tear down our own lattice of self-control and wise choices and start again. But if you are currently growing children under your roof, consider your gardening techniques and take heart: with lots of thoughtful, controlled work and practice, the love you offer and the wisdom of the Master Gardener who will help if you ask, your garden will grow just fine. Enjoy the fruit of your labor.
We left Austin on Thursday evening, drove all night, came within four hours of our ski destination and found ourselves rearranging the plans because of the Denver snowstorm.
An all night drive with sleeping children and three adults uncovers some interesting conversation.
My take-away was gardening lessons from my son.
He said lots of parents know how to prune. But, he adds, is it pruning that is out of control (yelling), haphazard (promising consequences with no follow-through), or thoughtful, controlled and loving?
He noted that lots of parents know how to fertilize, that is, give praise. The care here being again, thoughtful, controlled and not overdone.
But the riveting part of parents as gardeners, the part he says is overlooked, is setting up the lattice. That is, training the child in how to grow. Taking your kids out to eat and expecting them to behave with no rehearsal is a cousin of insanity, expecting results that have never been demonstrated. Taking them to Wal-Mart and not expecting them to want 10 different things will only happen if they have had practice trips where they know not to ask and have successfully mastered that self-control.
Another example: expecting your kids to respond to mean comments without practice with you gives them no pattern of behavior to grow their confidence. Between Austin and Colorado, I watched him teach the older three what he wants them to do when someone says something mean to them. They practiced in the car, in the unexpected hotel stay and it continues in our ski place.
We all grew up on some kind of lattice, some probably more controlled and productive than others. Maybe some of us have had to tear down our own lattice of self-control and wise choices and start again. But if you are currently growing children under your roof, consider your gardening techniques and take heart: with lots of thoughtful, controlled work and practice, the love you offer and the wisdom of the Master Gardener who will help if you ask, your garden will grow just fine. Enjoy the fruit of your labor.
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