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Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Why I Love the holidays!
>
> It is so hard to believe that the winter holidays are here.
> Sometimes this season is real hard on people. Others really come
> to life as it is their favorite time of the year. I can fully
> understand the challenge especially for those who have lost loved
> ones during this time of the year.
>
> I am writing from the passenger seat as my 18 year old son drives us
> through the state of Illinois toward my real roots of rural
> Oklahoma. The first Christmas I remember was there. I was seven
> years old and in the first grade. My mom and stepdad went to
> Florida to get a place and get settled and my younger brother and I
> were living with grandma until the end of the school year. My mom
> sent us a whole huge box of toys that were dollar store level. I
> remember opening this big huge box of toys with my brother a couple
> of weeks early because we missed my mom so much. But then
> Christmas came. I remember waking up and there were no more toys.
> My uncles and grandma told me that Santa must have delivered them to
> Florida by mistake and they would be there in a couple of days. I
> was shocked. I still remember being bummed out Christmas morning.
> And then I remember a couple of days later getting my gifts and
> being so happy. I was only seven but had a feeling they were not
> from Santa but from my mom. One of my top ways of feeling loved is
> through gifts and it always means so much to me when I receive a gift.
>
> As I head to Oklahoma for only the third time since I was at my
> grandma's funeral when I was in about the fifth grade....
>
> As I head back to my humble roots here is what is on my heart:
>
> 1. I am proud of and grateful for my family! Now that I am an
> adult and pay the bills I really see the sacrifice of my grandma and
> uncles giving their time and money to take care of my brother and I
> two separate years. (1st grade and 3rd grade!). Now that I have kids
> of my own I know they are a ton of work and money.
>
> 2. My grandma would send me to church every week and those were
> the first seeds sown into my spiritual life! I remember my aunt
> getting baptized. I remember someone bringing my grandma an audio
> bible and we would listening to it often. Even though I became a
> little delinquent in Miami, FL, those seeds did not come back void
> and those prayers did not go unanswered!
>
> 3. I am glad I was born in Oklahoma! Whenever I am asked where I
> am from, I usually answer Miami, FL. I was proud of growing up in a
> cool, tough urban neighborhood. But my family in Oklahoma gave me
> so much when by some American standards they might not have been up
> there on ladder of sucess. But they have so much more in love for
> family, hospitality, and a slower paced life (for the most part :).
>
> It is cool to go to a part of America where being a pastor is highly
> respected and up there with being a doctor or a lawyer. I was
> shocked when one of my cousins thought it was cool that someone in
> our family had made it. I didn't tell him that a "garbage truck
> driver" makes at least twice as much as a youth pastor in urban
> Chicago. I love serving God though and look forward to seeing
> family. Spending quality time with them is why I love the holidays!
> It is so hard to believe that the winter holidays are here.
> Sometimes this season is real hard on people. Others really come
> to life as it is their favorite time of the year. I can fully
> understand the challenge especially for those who have lost loved
> ones during this time of the year.
>
> I am writing from the passenger seat as my 18 year old son drives us
> through the state of Illinois toward my real roots of rural
> Oklahoma. The first Christmas I remember was there. I was seven
> years old and in the first grade. My mom and stepdad went to
> Florida to get a place and get settled and my younger brother and I
> were living with grandma until the end of the school year. My mom
> sent us a whole huge box of toys that were dollar store level. I
> remember opening this big huge box of toys with my brother a couple
> of weeks early because we missed my mom so much. But then
> Christmas came. I remember waking up and there were no more toys.
> My uncles and grandma told me that Santa must have delivered them to
> Florida by mistake and they would be there in a couple of days. I
> was shocked. I still remember being bummed out Christmas morning.
> And then I remember a couple of days later getting my gifts and
> being so happy. I was only seven but had a feeling they were not
> from Santa but from my mom. One of my top ways of feeling loved is
> through gifts and it always means so much to me when I receive a gift.
>
> As I head to Oklahoma for only the third time since I was at my
> grandma's funeral when I was in about the fifth grade....
>
> As I head back to my humble roots here is what is on my heart:
>
> 1. I am proud of and grateful for my family! Now that I am an
> adult and pay the bills I really see the sacrifice of my grandma and
> uncles giving their time and money to take care of my brother and I
> two separate years. (1st grade and 3rd grade!). Now that I have kids
> of my own I know they are a ton of work and money.
>
> 2. My grandma would send me to church every week and those were
> the first seeds sown into my spiritual life! I remember my aunt
> getting baptized. I remember someone bringing my grandma an audio
> bible and we would listening to it often. Even though I became a
> little delinquent in Miami, FL, those seeds did not come back void
> and those prayers did not go unanswered!
>
> 3. I am glad I was born in Oklahoma! Whenever I am asked where I
> am from, I usually answer Miami, FL. I was proud of growing up in a
> cool, tough urban neighborhood. But my family in Oklahoma gave me
> so much when by some American standards they might not have been up
> there on ladder of sucess. But they have so much more in love for
> family, hospitality, and a slower paced life (for the most part :).
>
> It is cool to go to a part of America where being a pastor is highly
> respected and up there with being a doctor or a lawyer. I was
> shocked when one of my cousins thought it was cool that someone in
> our family had made it. I didn't tell him that a "garbage truck
> driver" makes at least twice as much as a youth pastor in urban
> Chicago. I love serving God though and look forward to seeing
> family. Spending quality time with them is why I love the holidays!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Spending The Sharpening My Sword
I am taking time to recalibrate, sharpen my sword, and get closer to God. My goal is to just juice fast for three days and to actually sry aside time to hear from the Lord. I dropped my car off at the mechanic and walked abot 90 minutes to cafe el meson. The neighborhood was good to see on foot. Walked by Hunbard where I will be teaching abstinence and also walked by my wife's parents old house which brought back old memories ... Especially of when i started mentoring tony when he was about 10 or 11. As I was walking I listened to a new hip hop album by frontlynaz and also a message by john piper on fasting for the return of the kingdom. When j got to el meson.meson saw a book called the strong willed child and knew I needed to add this to my reading collection. I read the first chapter which was refreshing to know that some kids are just different in their tempermants. Hopefully today I will hear God powerfully as I seek him!
Geolocate this post
Posted with LifeCast
Geolocate this post
Posted with LifeCast
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
col 4:17
Colossians 4:17 "tell archippus to finish the work he has received in the Lord."
God's word is amazing and it is amazing how he uses His word to speak to us today.
Sometimes we feel like we have done enough... That we have give enough... That we have done our part.
The question is whether we have done everything God wanted! My desire is to finish what I set out to do...
The vision will come to pass.... The question is not if but when and what part wiLl I play?
I want to finish my leg of this relay race well!
Decrease
God's word is amazing and it is amazing how he uses His word to speak to us today.
Sometimes we feel like we have done enough... That we have give enough... That we have done our part.
The question is whether we have done everything God wanted! My desire is to finish what I set out to do...
The vision will come to pass.... The question is not if but when and what part wiLl I play?
I want to finish my leg of this relay race well!
Decrease
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
God is awesome
It is hard to believe that my inherited son is 18 and miles away In east Texas. It is an honor and privilidge to have been doubly blessed with not only a wife on my wedding day but also a son. God is awesome how he provides and looks out for our needs before we even know that we are going to need them.
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