More thoughts to chew on...

Afternoon, y'all ::


Apparantly, someone is trying to get a message to me.  Yesterday, I had several events come together (actually, collide might be a better word!) that gave me some insight on a quote from Mother Teresa:

"I know that God won't give me more trouble than I can handle...
but sometimes I wish he wouldn't trust me so much."

So, I did a little typing, and came up with yesterday's blog posting, focusing on how God never gives you more than you can handle, and when you think he does, a few ways to find out that you have more than just your plate at the buffet line.


Pulling into church this morning, I saw on the marquee the sermon text for this morning's message.  Immediately, I could tell that we'd be hearing about Jesus and the feeding of the 5000. (For those who'd like a refresher on the story, head here to BibleGateway.com and read up.)  Aside from the Resurrection, it's one of the few (if not the only) miracle performed by Jesus that appears in all four gospels (others may appear in one or two, but rarely in all four.)


The focus on the sermon wasn't on how God takes care of us, and provides our needs, exactly.  The disciples get it wrong at the outset, just like we do from time to time.  "There's no way I can do it.  It's only me.  I'm not enough." Note the words in bold -- they focus in on me.  Head back to yesterday's blog posting, more specifically, the second tactic on how to keep your plate from getting too full:

2.  Get a second plate.
If "many hands make light work," having a "wing man" help out in carrying a drink or (if you really, really trust her) your dessert can be invaluable.  Even better, getting a helping hand in carrying a second plate full of food the two of you can share is worth the food's weight in gold.  So, if you need some help in handling what life is scooping on your plate, go to a trusted friend or advisor, and get some help!  Of course, turning to God and asking for a little help is a great start.  But don't forget those friendships and fellowships that you've been blessed to be a part of.

The right answer was hidden in that one line: Give Jesus what you have, and let Him deal with the solution.  In this parable, God's purpose wasn't to feed people with fish and bread.  He looks for opportunites to test our faith.  In this context, "test" doesn't mean to prove, but more to strengthen and temper.  From Hebrews 11:6 (Message paraphrase)

It's impossible to please God apart from faith.  And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that He exists and that He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him.

Hudson Taylor said, "Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith." We have to go beyond knowing.  If you look at any ancient map of the seas, there'd be a point where no explorer had gone yet.  There, a phrase that would often be written would be "Beyond this point there be dragons."  It's also where our knowledge and understanding ends and where our faith in God lies.  We have to go beyond knowing how much we can do by ourselves, because God never intends for us to go solo on this!  God does give us more than we can handle, but He never gives us more than the two of us (God and I) can't handle.  God doesn't ask us to do anything that He's not ready to help us out with.  In the Feeding of the 5000, Jesus asked His disciples to be HIS PARTNERS in ministry.  Today, He asks us to partner with him in doing great and (seemingly) impossible things!


If you're interested in hearing the sermon, head right here to download an audio version of the sermon.  If you'd like some notes to fill in, head here.


Take care! :: Greg

Thoughts from Mother Teresa, a car collision, and Aunt Ernie's deviled eggs...

Good morning, y'all:

"I know that God won't give me more trouble than I can handle...
but sometimes I wish he wouldn't trust me so much."

The above is a time worn quote from Mother Teresa, and about lunch time, I was thinking my plate was pretty full.  It's hot, it's humid (which means the house we live in is hot and humid, the kids were nipping at each other, Ellen and I were getting a few things done before we both headed into work for the evening, and right before I walked out the door, Ellen gave me some information that added yet a few more things to ponder and think about.

Walking into Lowe's, that Mother Teresa quote ran through my mind.  My first thought after that was: What do I do when I run out of room on my plate?  Second thought -- get a bigger plate!

Since then, what was a full day turned into an ugly day.  I had just gotten home for lunch, when I get a phone call from Ellen.  She's been involved in a three-car accident right in front of the mall.  The next couple of hours were spent getting a few pictures, getting Ellen to St. Francis to be checked out, making a few phone calls making sure that the kids and Ellen's mom would be taken care of, getting prescriptions filled at 8pm on a Friday night, and (most importantly), getting the both of us dinner.  Fazoli's always tastes this good, but the breadsticks were extra yummy.

Now that all of this has stewed around for a while, here's a little insight I've picked up over the past 24 hours.  And of course, the analogy involved uses some of the best food around -- that found at a family reunion.  Or, more precisely, the plate involved.

My family reunions typically are great fun.  Cards and Rummikub are typically played, kids spend most of the day outside running around, but when the dinner bell rings, the feast is typically pretty vast.  And an informal challenge goes out -- who can best pack and stack their plate so that there's room for everything.  From fried chicken to turkey and gravy, to mostaccioli, to chicken and dumplings, AND still have room for corn, some sweet potato casserole, green beans, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, cole slaw, sweet potato casserole (trying to send a message to Ellen...).  We won't even talk about dessert.  The simple truth is that no matter how big of a plate that you have, it's just one plate.  So, what do you do when you run out of room on your plate before you get to the sweet potato cassarole?  Let me give you a few tips from a veteran of many a reunion.

1. Get picky.
   First of all, let's use a little common sense.  Do you really want THREE chicken legs?  FOUR deviled eggs?  TWO HEAPING SCOOPS of dressing?  You can either get a lot of a little, or a little of a lot.  If you go with the former, you'll find out that you're probably going to miss out on a lot of variety in life.  In the same way, be careful what you dish up for your life.  Don't let your rabid hunger for Uncle Butch's Famous Fried Chicken get in the way of the delicious seven layer salad, or cole slaw a little bit further down the road.  In the same way, don't let things you enjoy grow to the point to where you can't do the things you need to do.
   
2. Get a second plate.
   If "many hands make light work," having a "wing man" help out in carrying a drink or (if you really, really trust her) your dessert can be invaluable.  Even better, getting a helping hand in carrying a second plate full of food the two of you can share is worth the food's weight in gold.  So, if you need some help in handling what life is scooping on your plate, go to a trusted friend or advisor, and get some help!  Of course, turning to God and asking for a little help is a great start.  But don't forget those friendships and fellowships that you've been blessed to be a part of.
   
3. Be careful on who's scooping.
   Like I've mentioned before, there's plenty of choices of really good food on the buffet table, and there's more than enough to go 'round.  And when my kids grab a plate, and start dishing up their favorites, sometimes, their choices aren't the wisest.  "No, let's not take 4 scoops of Ice Cream Delight.  How 'bout some corn instead."  "Let's save some room for some baked beans!"  "Let's get some ham or turkey first, then we'll  make our way to the cookies..."  You don't think that the Devil is over there at the dessert tray, saying "Forget about that healthy stuff, here, you can have a few extra cookies.  You're big enough for a BIG piece of pumpkin pie.  You don't need any room for that ham sandwich, or that fried chicken..."  Be careful on who's putting what on your plate.  The Devil seeks to distract and divide us.  And dangling tasty treats out in of us is the basic definition of temptation.  Be sure that the person scooping the potatoes and gravy on your plate has your best interests in mind.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry for some reason.  And I think there's some leftover Fazoli's still in the fridge...

Until later :: Greg

I HATE FRIDAYS!!!

Here's how today's went.

7:38 a.m. :: Left our home in the van with Mackenzie (to go to school), Zachary and Madelynne (to go to my parent's house for the morning while I went to work.) Typical Friday, except now that it's gotten cool (but if you ask anyone else in the house, it's downright cold.)

7:50 a.m. :: Stop by a gas station, put $7 worth of gas in the van. I usually don't do that when I start to run tight on time, but since the van was telling me it only had 6 miles worth of fuel left, I figured it'd be better to get enough gas in the van to get through the morning rounds. Back on William St., heading smartly to school.

7:52 a.m. :: Getting ready to turn off of William and on to Pacific -- about 3/4 mile away from the school. Then, I get a panicked call from Ellen on my cell phone - she's been in an accident. She's ok, but it sounds like the car's hurt bad.

7:53 a.m. :: Call my parents, arrange to drop off Zach and Madelynne a little faster than usual.

7:54 a.m. :: Mackenzie's at school. Heading over to my parents.

8:02 a.m. :: Other two at my parents. Head to the accident scene.

8:07 a.m. :: Get to the accident scene -- the on-ramp/off-ramp intersection of I-55 at William St. The car's hurt bad. (pictures to follow). Ellen's ok. She tells me her side of the story, and it sounds like the other person blazed through a red light going 45 mph (the speed limit), and did a number on our car's front end. 9 year old car, 114k miles. Not looking good.

8:30 a.m. :: The two drivers talk to the officer. Apparently there's a discrepancy in the stories. The apparent difference in views as to how our car got sent via wrecker (appropriately named in this instance) and her car got slightly bent doesn't sit will with she-who-must-be-obeyed. We leave in the van.

9:45 a.m. :: I go to take a look at the car. Not pretty. Call my dad, he joins me at the dealership with a camera. We take several pictures. I clean out the car, fully expecting not to see it again. After talking with several trusted friends, I decide to take Ellen to the doctor to get checked out. Now that the adrenaline is ebbing and nerves are settling down, stressed and strained muscles will start to ache.

10:08 a.m. :: Call the doctor's office to make the appointment. Come to find out that despite the fact that Ellen's been a patient of their's for the past 7 years, and myself for the past 14, they handle accident check-outs as new-patient visits. Meaning that I need to shell out $200 up front and in advance before the visit. I'm not too happy, but what am I going to do now. I make the appointment for 1 p.m.

11:30 a.m. :: Grabbed lunch, the first meal of my day. A glass of juice, and five rolled tacos. And the rest of Ellen's sweet potato pie. The jice and tacos were ok, but the pie takes the cake. Ellen needs to make this more often...

12 noon :: Go to pick up kids, grab lunch, get money for drs. visit.

12:45 p.m. :: Start to head over to the doctor's office. Heading east on William, over the interstate, heading past Popeye's, and coming up on Panera at the corner of William @ Mt. Auburn.

A bit of explanation here. Eastbound William St. at Mt. Auburn breaks into 5 lanes. Going from left to right, there's two lanes that turn left (northbound), two lanes that head straight, and one lane that is a "right turn only" lane that breaks into a yield ramp onto southbound Mt. Auburn. Right now, again going left to right, the first turn lane only has 1 car in it, the second turn lane is completely full (about 5-7 cars), and the rest of the turn lanes are empty, since they all have green lights. I'm wanting to turn left, so I bear to the left to become the second car in that first turn lane. I'm driving about 40-45 mph (speed limit again is about 45.)

Out of the entry/exit of Panera comes a SUV, cutting across all the lanes, and it looks like they're going into the full turn lane. Then they turn a bit further...

I swerve, barely missing the SUV. Barely means that we swapped paint.

12:54 p.m. :: Cops are called to the scene of our SECOND accident of the day. Fortunately, this lady said that it was her fault. No debate here. Best part about this was that after hearing about Ellen's ordeals in the morning, the ladies gather for a little "Oprah" session. In a turn lane, in the middle of the busiest road of the town. It does Ellen well, though, and lets her unload. You never know exactly where God's gifts'll turn up.


1:15 p.m. :: While waiting for the CGPD to show up, I call the doctor's office, letting them know that we'll be late. They tell me that the Dr.'s dance card is filled up for the day, and want to reschedule for next Tuesday. I ask about the other doctor, knowing that while it may not make Ellen happy, it's better than waiting for 4 days to get checked out. I get put on hold, then I'm told that they stopped doing those types of appointments a full year ago!

Y'know, typically, this would really make me angry and frustrated. Today, all I can do is laugh. I'll deal with my dissatisfaction later.

1:20 p.m. :: CGPD show up - it's the same two officers that responded to our first accident! I passed a church sign earlier in the day that said "Coincidence is when God wishes to remain anonymous." I kinda wished how this fell in His playbook...

1:30 p.m. :: We head over to the ER at St. Francis. I call our insurance agent with the update. We both agree that we all ought to be thankful for what this day DIDN'T bring.

4:15 p.m. :: We FINALLY leave the ER. Spending over 2 1/2 hours at the ER with a 3 year old and a 1 year old is NOT FUN.

5:00 p.m. :: After a few errands, picking up Ellen's paycheck, we head down to the airport to take part in a delicious, all-you-can-eat catfish dinner with my parents and grandma.

6:45 p.m. :: We get home, thankfully in one piece. You can't put enough emphasis on those last four words for a day like this. Waiting for us are a few friends, who we further debrief. I fire up the computer to debrief myself...

At least it's not 100 degrees and miserable inside the house.