It Started With a Quote

I love quotes. Each nugget of wisdom allows me to either agree or disagree with what was said. Sometimes the quote marinates in my brain for a while until the verbal meal tastes just right – or incredibly wrong (we’ve all tried recipes that we either loved or despised – same idea).

The quote I landed on was by A.W. Tozer. “An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.”

When I was young I was told that Jesus loved me so much that even if I were the only person on earth Jesus would still have died for my sin. Maybe you heard that too. If you follow the logic this means that God loves each of us enough that He would have made the ultimate sacrifice to make it possible for each of us to have a relationship with Him.

As a parent I’ve never been able to tell my children I love them the same. Maybe I look at the situation incorrectly, but it seems to me that because each child is uniquely created by God then I can’t express my love for my children the exact same way.

For instance love is often expressed in the ways we spend time with those we love. If I treated my son the way I treat my daughter then my son would be disappointed. Why? Because one of the ways I can express love for my daughter is by spending time with her – shopping. I wasn’t born with a shopping gene, but because it is what she enjoys it can be a perfect way to demonstrate love.

My son loves to play video games, discuss books, and visit the zoo. My daughter doesn’t understand how I could possibly enjoy listening to her brother talk about Middle Earth or about something he saw at the zoo. The way I show love to my son has to be different than the way I show love to my daughter.

What is a consequence for my son would not work as a consequence for my daughter. They rarely like the same movie, the same food, or the same technology. They are different people with different personalities and as a dad I have to learn how to connect with who they are, but they may have to take turns.

Now, back to the quote, “An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.”

God doesn’t exist with the same limitations I have. He can love each of His children completely, and simultaneously. Unlike human parents He is not run ragged trying to keep up with each of His children. He is all-wise, all-knowing, and all-sufficient. We never have to worry if we are at the bottom of His list waiting for Him get to us when He can find the time. He is always there and always offering the same grace, mercy and love.

God knew us before we were born and He absolutely loves each and every one of His children. No short end of the stick, no limited time offer, and no checking a watch.

“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5

God’s love exists with no limits and is personally suited to your every need.

They Didn't Seem To Know

Written about five years ago, but no less applicable to life in 2019. - Glenn

I love spending time with my wife. That may seem like it should be an obvious statement, but we haven't always had as much time to spend together as we'd like. With kids who need to go from here to there at lightening speed, pressing schedules, and the fact that I get up so early for work we are two people who really appreciate each other that live with words of encouragement sent by text, phone or email.

No, it's not really as bad as that, but there are days when it can seem so. On this day, however, we had almost two hours with no agenda. We sat outside a local coffee shop watching traffic go by. We saw a couple of people walk by with backpacks and bedrolls. We saw individuals who were impatient racing around other motorists. We heard some vehicles before we saw them.

The last time we had these moments at this same shop we met a couple with a dog breed I'd never seen or heard of. They were from California and found the pace of our town to be a little too slow for their modern sensibilities. They canceled their order and ventured on.

This morning we met a family from Reno, Nevada. They seemed willing to wait for their order and asked if they could share the patio with my wife and me.

When my wife went inside for a moment the husband said, “Excuse me. Do you live here?”

“I sure do,” I replied.

“Just wondering if there is anything to do here.” He seemed perplexed.

I pointed down the road to a well known local landmark and told him a little bit about it.

“That's what I was after. I asked the people inside and they didn't know of anything,” he smiled.

With the country fair in town I told them about that and they seemed interested.

After we left I thought about what the man said, “I asked... and they didn't seem to know.” Why didn't the people inside the shop know?

Then again, I wonder if the same could be said of us (those who follow Jesus).

Does it seem a stretch to come to that conclusion? Maybe. I have recently been studying the book of Jude. In that book we are told to 'contend for the faith'. The idea is that we are to prepare for a battle of worldviews. Can we defend what we believe?

It's true we don't need to defend God. He can handle that on His own. We are asked to exert some spiritual effort in learning what we need to learn to give an answer for the hope that can be found within our own hearts.

We have access to the most attractive news on the planet, but it is possible we have no ability to share what we know because we don't really know enough to engage others in a way that doesn't embarrass us or cause us to become confused.

You wouldn't engage the services of a surgeon who has never attended college, or a mechanic who has never worked on an engine, yet it seems there is a growing number of people who engage in a culture dedicated to Christianity, but have no idea what they should believe, and why.

So when someone stops and asks where God is at work in our lives we really don't want them to tell others, “I asked... and they didn't seem to know.”

Contend for the faith. Make it a part of your conversation, your life, and the words you share with those who really need to know more about how God transforms life.

Hmmmm, and to think this thought all started because I wanted to spend some quiet moments with my wife. I believe I need to do that more often.

Watch Me Daddy

This poem is finding an edited place in my present place of "Pompaw". The memories this brings up makes this post maybe more for me than anyone. Perhaps, just perhaps, you will be able to relate - Glenn

The house is so quiet.

My children - asleep.

My wife has succumbed

To slumber so deep.

These moments are precious

As I pray for my clan

For a future - a hope

On mounted eagles wing span

The days pass so quickly,

Where did the time go?

I heard their first cries

Now "Daddy, here let me show..."

And I look to the future

To see a man fully grown.

Will my son see Jesus

In the life that I've shown?

Will my daughter remember

The nights spent in prayer?

And a dad's desperate longing

To see his children There?

A wife so depleted

By the stress of the day.

Needing refreshment

And Someone to say,

"Well done My dear Daughter

Come rest in My love

My burden is easy

Stop pushing - don't shove."

And in my life - oh so often

I rest in God's grace

And forget the dear Savior

Who falls on His face,

Reminding His Father

Of the sin His blood did forgive

Reclaiming lost children

So we can all really live.

His heart swells with joy

As He watches us grow

Through our first cry

Holding our hand - don't you know?

So, I watch my two children

Chests rise and then fall

And I too remember

The Maker of children big and small

Why do I pray

When in sleep my children's minds drift?

You see, I have permission

From the God who works the night shift.

"Watch me, Daddy"

A child-heart calls

And His eyes scan the earth

Truly seeing one and all.

So, rest my dear family

In the palm of His hand

Tomorrow's a new day

In our Father's Master Plan

Oh, we'll need to be quiet

Though there's no need for fear

Just "be still" for awhile

For our Father is here.

Grumpy in Pink

It's 5 o'clock in the morning and I'm awake, reminded of the treachery of my childhood. By sheer cunning and deceit my sister played Jacob to my lack-of-foresight Esau and all these years later I can't sleep.

While my sister, Gayle, is older than I am, she voluntarily, and without coercion, chose to take a smaller bedroom when my family moved to a new home when we were children. Her room was pink with the ever-popular wall covering, "contact paper" in decorative flowers stuck to the walls which probably explains why she liked it. My room, on the other hand, was less girl friendly and I liked it that way.

It's still unclear to me how she did it, but Gayle convinced me that simply by being firstborn, she had the right to express a change of heart. SHE WANTED THE LARGER ROOM. I don't recall any promises of stew or birthright but somehow she got her way and I found myself among scentless flowers in a hot pink room.

The room was slightly more than a walk-in closet. The room-swap was unfair and Gayle knew it, but frankly she showed absolutely no remorse for her deceptive tendencies. She moved immediately into making her new luxury suite making it her own and no longer appealing to me. Pictures of the latest Hollywood hero's moved to the walls of my old room, until there wasn't room for anything else. I found myself unimpressed with either option.

I tried to hang up a manly picture of a mountainous scene, muscular deer sensing danger, ready to bolt at a moments notice, steam rising from their nostrils on the winter morning in question. No matter how majestic that may have been, it did little to offset the spring garden motif discovered by diverting your eyes only slightly in any direction. Being a boy of very little funds and suffering from an acute lack of skill in the art of interior decorating I could do little but suffer through my fate. I did consider the use of Prang water paints, but even that was outside my budget. 

My new room also had yet another distinct disadvantage - it was home to millions of spiders. Now, I don't have proof of this, it's just that I began to believe that if I shut the lights out in my room at night that little eight-legged creatures would quietly pour through any tiny crack and make their way to my bed and wait patiently for me to go to sleep, although I'm not sure what devious plot they had in mind. Perhaps my back made a great place for a spider square dance.

When I could no longer stand the suspense, and with more than a mild case of the creeps, I would reach my hand upward hoping to avoid the little beasts and turn on the light. I think they knew that I was going to do this because when I turned on the lights - THEY WERE GONE! I think they could only stand the pink room with flowers when the lights were off. I could relate.

I didn't want to add to their penchant for late night carousing so I stayed awake until my entire family was asleep and then I would turn my lights on so that all those juvenile delinquent spiders would be forced to stay home.

I'm sure this helped them in spider school and in getting along with their parents. I just wanted to do my part. Call it love-in-action if you will.

Friends were not permitted in my room either. This was a self-imposed ban. I didn't want them to be required to undergo some kind of radical color therapy when they grew up, so I became adept at covert maneuvers that relocated our friendly gatherings to the park or their house, but never in the "pink room".

I was in high school when we finally found enough time and money to convert my room from the aforementioned pink to a quaint paneling that featured cattle brand marks on it and a ceiling with synthetic wood framed light fixtures. The remnants of a recessed window that was no longer in service would be used as a display area for all my important stuff. I was pleased - the pink was gone!

You know, I just thought of something. I was at a seminar in high school and the speaker said something I have never forgotten, "You will never be content with what you want, until you're content with what you have." Even the Apostle Paul learned that in all things and in every circumstance he could be content.

God doesn't always place us in circumstances we might prefer. Yet if we follow His lead in the circumstances we face, we not only will learn something, but we might even come away with fond memories of the goodness of God.

Now if only I could figure out what it was that I was supposed to learn from the "Pink Room" maybe I could get some sleep?

Bajeeber Pudding and Light Show

Every morning I wake and thank God for another day to serve Him, but my day starts early so I try to be quiet when I’m talking to Him. Long before the crack of eggs I’m cleaned up and in the studio. Many times it will be a few hours before the sun rises when I start work. 

I love stopping for a moment and peering into the ink stained blackness around me and the viewing pinpricks of heaven catching a bit of celestial beauty. The glorious wonder of creation can be overwhelming so early in the morning or perhaps it is a feeling often associated with sleep deprivation. 

I am often the first person in the office and there have been those moments I have had to fight June Bugs for space at the front door. Oh, there’s also the stray tarantula, but that’s only in autumn and I’m told they don’t bite. Okay… whatever, I’m still tap dancing.

In order to retain my sanity I usually go to bed at a time situated between sundown and just after supper. It’s not always conducive to a positive dream cycle, but once I’m through therapy I will have stories to share, mostly involving a chicken named Earl - and kelp.

When you get up as early as I do you get to see things most others don’t. Now, I will agree it has something to do with their eyes being closed at the same time I am actually viewing early morning life, but humor me, would ya?

I have seen an opossum running across the neighbor’s yard staring at me in a manner I can only describe as spiteful. I have seen deer unhappy that a two-legged animal uncovered their dark deeds of night. It would seem they get rankled when you actually see them eating small trees. I am certain they believe we don’t have a clue about that.

Even birds are sleeping that early in the morning, although I did get to see a red fox and on my honor I will say that it was dancing under a streetlight. I paused on my way to the car and watched as it tried to jump and catch the light. I was absolutely caught up in the moment when a sound sent a cold shiver down my spine, my adrenaline raced and just like that the fox was gone leaving me alone to deal with a stupid cat. 

In defense of the cat it should be noted she ambled though the neighborhood looking for directions to the field mice buffet. I'm not sure why she thought I would know.

Stupid cat.

I must admit I am prone to seeking out the beauty around me. I love to catch sunrises and sunsets whenever possible. I will intentionally seek out parks, mountains and streams for their serenity, beauty and picturesque quality. 

I have to think God created this early morning beauty for my enjoyment and an occasional adrenaline rush.

Still…

Stupid cat.