Category Archives: Miscellaneous

No verse.

 Dear God, I’ll admit that it’s been kind of a weird morning. Frankly, if I had woken up 15 minutes earlier I probably would have gone to church with Megan, but instead I stayed in bed all morning. I thought about getting up and going for a bike ride, but I passed that up too. Nope, Just stayed there all morning.

 Perhaps I kind of hit a wall after yesterday. I find that every once in a while I need this kind of a break, but I was thinking recently that it had been a while since I had done it. Then, all of a sudden, today I did it. There is something about it that kind of clears my head a little. It’s almost like my tendency is to always desire that kind of lethargy, but whenever I experience it for a few hours I get tired of it and I’m ready to get going again.

 Megan and I talked yesterday about the idea that we are built to work. You designed us to both work and to give of ourselves. If one of those two things are not in our lives then we do not function as well. If neither of them are part of our lives then we will shrivel up. Yesterday was a good day. I’m getting some of that Sabbath rest today, but it can still be a good day too.

 Father, I’m sorry I missed out on some corporate worship of you today. I should have gone somewhere, but there is a part of me that has no regrets about how I spent my morning. But there is still a lot ahead of me today. There are opportunities to work on some overdue projects, to meet with some friends, and to serve my wife. Help me to do everything you have in front of me today in a way that is both good for me and what you want for those around me.

 In Jesus’ name I pray,

 Amen

No verse

Dear God, I want to talk a little about end of life stuff. Through my job yesterday, I came across a woman who is terminally ill. I don’t think she understood the gravity of her situation. She just came in with a couple of diagnoses, either one of which would be a terminal situation, but combined make it nearly impossible to treat. It was hard.

How will I respond when I have to face that conversation for myself or my wife? I think I know how I’d like to respond, but that’s all intellectual. It’s not emotional. I’m going to die one day. So will she. When that day comes, what will my heart reveal about what I really believe about you, life, death, and eternity?

There’s another woman I know with a very serious, likely terminal diagnosis. She is handling it like I would hope I would. She is older—80+. She has had a full life. When she got the news from the doctor, she took it in stride. Yes, there might be some emotions she’s denying through pure will of her intellect, but she is at least coming at it from what I consider to be the right perspective.

Father, I hope I was okay yesterday. I do pray for the woman and her daughter who were in my office and the staff that helped me talk to her as well. Make their path straight. Make this pain count. Don’t let one teardrop be wasted. Give them comfort. Give them peace. Draw them to yourself. Hold them close. Be their Prince of Peace.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

No verse.

Dear God, my dad went to the funeral of a friend of his whom you used to, if not change the direction of his life, at least help set the course for a life that you had for him. That was about 30 years ago.

I don’t know which came first, my dad meeting this man or reading his book, but this makes me think about pivotal moments in our lives and how we almost always never see them coming. For example, tonight my wife and I are going to a special event that has to do with the movie we saw on what turned out to be our first date 29 years ago. I say “turned out to be” because that’s how she referred to it this morning. We thought we were just friends. Neither of us thought we would be married to each other 29 years from now.

Things happen to me every day. Some of them stick and some of them don’t. I guess the question I need to ask myself is, am I ready to be part of discerning moment to moment if you have an opportunity for me, or will I just let your presence pass me by and miss you.

Father, I’m grateful I didn’t miss the moment 29 years and seven days ago. I’m grateful for so many things. At the same time, I’m sorry for the opportunities you put in front of me that I failed to do. Help me to be so tuned into you that my life will be exactly what you want it to be.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

No Verse.

Dear God, the last two months have been a whirlwind. When we woke up on March 26, everything was status quo. Then, by the end of the day, everything had changed and it set us on a stressful course for the next two months. Not a terrible or bad course. It’s not like we are experiencing great tragedy. In fact, in a lot of ways, things conspired to unfold the way we had been wanting them to. But in getting what we wanted it created a lot of work and some amount of stress.

So now we are going to get away for a couple of short days. We need it. We need some time away from our routines. I need to be away from my work. I need to sit and think, pray, read, study, relax, and even indulge in some of the more frivolous things I enjoy. My wife really needs it. The lion’s share of the burden from the last two months has fallen upon her. She has worked so hard, pushing through a lot of fatigue to ensure that everyone around her has what they need. She has been the ultimate giver. I hope I’m able to give back to her over the next couple of days, relying on what you and your provision for what she needs.

Father, I submit this vacation to you. Please give each of us what we need on a spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical level. Love us through each other, but more importantly, through your still small voice. Thank you for everything you’ve done and provided over the last two months. Thank you for what you will. Do this summer. Please watch over where I work and let your Holy Spirit move through the entire place. Be glorified.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

No verse.

Dear God, thank you for last night. We had a fundraising dinner for the nonprofit where I work and you showed up. I prayed that you would show up. I prayed that the night would not be as much about money as it would be about you speaking to people’s hearts, and you really did that.

It’s an amazing thing when people get up and share the challenges from their lives. Their mistakes. Their hard times. Even their sins. When done in a spirit of giving you glory it always touches others. The keynote speaker last night told me afterward that she really struggled as to whether not not to share some of the more vulnerable parts of her life, but afterward she was glad she did. Yes! Those were the parts of her story that spoke to the crowd the most.

Father, help me to keep that focus today. Help me to decrease as you increase. Let your Holy Spirit flow through our building and our work. Help me to lead and help all of us to let go of our pain, fear, bitterness and even our rights and embrace the opportunity to love others in an unreasonable way. And do it all for your glory.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

If anyone is interested, the sermon I gave at Fredericksburg (Texas) United Methodist Church is available here. I start at about the 35-minute mark, but I recommend backing up a couple of minutes for the children’s sermon. The children’s pastor did a really nice job.

Shout out to my dad for helping me figure out how to capture the link.