Sibling Revelry - Part 2

The idea for a series comes from my good friend David Fisher's blog "Pilgrim Scribblings". Check out His Site for a great series of pictures showing beauty in the seemingly dull, called "Attractive Drabness". The first link takes you to his latest installment, this second link takes you to a previous post which shows more pictures.

This is a second installment of what may become a series of pictures that show the wonderful side of sibling relationships. I know I treasure my siblings - my older brother Scott, and younger sister Jill - tremendously. These pictures remind me that my own kids really do love each other too! Click on the following link to see the first "Sibling Revelry" post.

Dawson and Karsy enjoying breakfast, beautiful art, and bonding

AND THE GOLD MEDAL GOES TO...

My son Dawson's hockey team, The All Saints Tykes, finished the year strong and ended up winning the playoff tournament to take home the Gold Medal! Dawson proudly shows off his gold at the year-end hockey banquet. His whole team was very excited to win a "Gold Medal"!

God and Lemonade

You've heard the saying, "when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade". I subscribe to that sort of mind set. In fact, I was thinking as I started this post that life itself is actually a lemon. Think about it, the Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We begin our lives in sin - now that is a lemon! The quintessential "lemon" is that car that is always breaking down. You get it with great hopes and dreams to drive in style, or at least get from place to place, and it ends up disappointing you. Just like life, we are born and there is great hope surrounding a new baby. As we grow up we are dreaming of what we might do - after school, on the weekend, in the summer, when we grow up, when we get a new job, when this debt is paid, when this habit is kicked, when this relationship is repaired, and on and on and on. The lemons, or bad things in life, the results of our sin and the sins of others start piling up. Pretty soon, we become jaded and the hope is gradually replaced with hopelessness. Ah, but there is lemonade to be made.



A couple of weeks ago, my daughter wanted to have a lemonade stand. It was the first really nice day of spring, and she got this notion. We both worked together and set up a stand complete with a giant jug of lemonade, disposable cups, chocolate wafers for a treat, and a little ceramic "doggy bank" for any donations. I had forgotten something inside and told Karsyn that she needed to come in with me. She first said that she would stay outside by herself and I said no. When she protested, I reminded her that I needed to keep her safe and couldn't leave her alone outside. Remembering our "street safe" talks, she quickly came in with me. As we headed back outside her exact words were "Nobody will take me now Daddy, because when they see you with me they will know that I belong to you." I was struck by the simplicity and the truth of the statement, and by how the very same thing could be said about us and God. "When they see you with me they will know that I belong to you". If you are a believer, do people know that you "belong" to God? Do people see God with you everywhere you go? That is our witness to those around us. That is what shows others who our allegiance is pledged to. When we put others ahead of ourselves, people see God in us; when we give sacrificially and cheerfully, people see God in us; when we show faithfulness through difficulty, people see God in us; when we share in others pain and hurt, people see God in us; when we welcome others into our home with hospitality, people see God in us; when we share the truth of Christ's love and the power of His death and resurrection, people see God in us - and know that we belong to Him!

Then God can make the lemonade. He takes the lemons (our lives) and makes something wonderfully refreshing, sweet, satisfying, and altogether different then what we had before - the lemonade - or, our new Life in Christ! Have you allowed Him to have your lemon and make lemonade? Have you given Him your life and asked Him to make all things new, to make it full and abundant, satisfying and rich, complete and compelling, exciting and eternal? He will - He did it for me, he's done it for others, and He can do it for you - whosoever will... Those are my thoughts on God and Lemonade.

Take care of the little things!

Have you ever noticed how the big things so often are actually just little things that got out of hand? Here is a great example. No, this isn't our car - but it got your attention, right?!!!

The other day, my wife had an appointment at 8am. She got into the car at 7:45 and soon discovered that the car would not start. There was just no sound when she turned the key. On top of being late for the appointment, Robbin couldn't bear the thought of yet another seemingly all-to-frequent vehicle expense. Flustered and frustrated, she got out of the car and made her way to the house to get my help. By the time she reached the front door, she realized her mistake. She turned around and realized that she had forgotten to put the car in gear and put the parking brake on. She knew this because our car was rolling down the driveway, and she watched it cross the (busy) street, hop the curb, and settle on the neighbour's lawn with the back end sticking out on the road! After calling a cab to take Robbin to her appointment I waited for CAA and couldn't help but wonder why she didn't remember to put the parking brake on.

When the CAA guy came, he started it up with a battery charger and tested it out and felt that everything looked good. I told him what happened and I have to say that I just gave him the facts - without complaining about "women and cars" 'cause that's just not my style. But, he did get the message that my wife did this. When I asked why it happened he explained it could be anything. He had a quick look around and discovered the interior light was switched to the on position. He looked at me and with a wry grin asked who had the car last night, to which I sheepishly admitted was me! I left the car light on all night and killed the battery! If I had taken care of a very small thing, we never would have had the car on the neighbour's lawn!

Well, the CAA guy had a good chuckle at my expense but it got me thinking about how many "big problems" could be dealt with easier, reduced, or avoided altogether if the little things were taken care of. I want to offer a little word of advice when it comes to our faith and relationship with God - Take care of the small stuff, and you will be entrusted with even greater tasks. Be faithful in the little things, and it will just be natural for you to be faithful with more important things. Exhibit integrity during the easy times, and you will persevere in tough times. Most important, be sure to say one small prayer of repentance, acceptance, and surrender and the biggest thing of all - eternity - will be taken care of! The Bible describes hell as a whole lot worse then jumping a curb and landing in your neighbour's yard...

Coming soon to "The Hope of His Calling..."

Have you ever had a brush with greatness? Who would you like to meet and get their signature to keep for posterity? Watch for a different take on this in the upcoming post "The Autograph".