fatherly moments

i had one of those moments this morning…

hopefully this isn’t deviating too drastically from the intent of this blog, but i thought it was of note.  plus, my hope for this blog is that it causes us all to be better followers of Christ, which  would mean better fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and so on.  hopefully this little story will encourage you in that way.

heaven has been a topic in our home lately.  no one has died or anything, but for some reason our five year old daughter, charis (kaer-iss), has been talking about it quite often.  she asks what it will be like, what we will do and, most importantly, will there be horses!  i do the best i can to explain to her what heaven will be like, with the river and the fruit bearing trees, the streets of gold, and yes, i believe there will be horses (rev.19:11).  this morning, though, was a little different.

while eating her toast at breakfast this morning, my daughter told my wife she didn’t want mommy to get old.  my wife inquired why this was and my daughter responded, “because then you won’t be able to take care of me.”  my wife explained that some day our daughter would grow, and maybe even be a mommy herself someday.  she said she didn’t want to leave our house and didn’t know who she would marry.  she did find comfort in the idea that maybe daddy would build her a house next to ours (i had the privilege of building the house we live in right now).  then she wondered about heaven once again.  i told her heaven would be big, because there would be lots of room for everyone.  but this brought up another question in her mind, “how will i find you guys?”  my wife assured her that we would be able to find each other.  if all else fails, we’ll just meet up at the horse stables!

let your light so shine

i’ve been rolling this around in my head for a week or so now…

do you ever feel out of place, like you just don’t belong? when you get around certain friends, do you have trouble fitting in? if so, good!

i just finished reading a book about how to deal with peer pressure. it wasn’t for me, but i did get some interesting insights out of it. the reason i read it is because starting in january i’m going to be working with a small group of students from our youth ministry, working to disciple them and develop them in their christian character and leadership. one theme that seems to run through the book is to not worry about fitting in with other people, but being the person God has created you to be. you are unique. i know its cliche now, but its true.

speaking of unique, check out this video i uploaded to google yesterday. a little home video, but not of me.

yes, those were duck slippers and a ball cap with an 18″ bill.  a little shopping spree in the rogue valley mall, jcpenney’s to be specific.  we were down visiting family friday and saturday.  let’s just say the video is a result of a white elephant gift exchange.

but the timing couldn’t have been better.  i had just finished reading the book when this video footage was shot.  i thought, “that’s it!  why do we worry so much about blending in?”  think about Jesus.  Jesus was among all the people, but i have to believe He was radically different.  not in His clothing or appearance, but the way He carried Himself and interacted with the people.  so many people today thing getting a tattoo will make them unique.  the funny thing is, most people now have them, so the people without the tattoos seem to be the unique ones.  the same goes for clothes, cars, computers, and the like.  these things don’t make us unique.

if you want to be unique, live your life for Jesus.  walk in relationship with Him every day and see where He takes you.  see what opportunity He opens up for you to minister for Him.  when you do this, you’ll stand out.  in fact, you’ll shine!  people will see it, and if you’re diligent to give glory to where its due, they will glorify our Heavenly Father!

merry christmas