A Good Kind of Tired

Really tired tonight... We sold stuff in The Woodlands garage sale this morning. Got up and drove to the mall area to line up with our van, trailer and SUV at 4:30 am!!! The sale started before 7:00 and was over by 10:00. What we didn't sell we donated to salvation army... Nothing came back home - we made some money AND removed lots of clutter. This kind of tired is a good tired!

My Birthday Wish / Prayer

51 years ago today I was born in Raleigh, NC.

Today I want to skip the candles... way too many to blow out... and go straight to the birthday wish / prayer.

I wish and pray for a spirit like Caleb's... to take the high ground... the hill country... the best land that will bear the most fruit for God's purposes.  Caleb inspires my soul.

Joshua 14

¹⁰ "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! ¹¹ I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. ¹² Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."

I wish and pray for God's favor and love to be poured out on my children and their children up to ten generations. That they will follow Christ closely and serve Him!

Psalm 103

¹⁷But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, 

¹⁸To those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them.

I wish and pray that my life... the next season... will be a season of "much fruit!!"

John 15

⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. ⁹As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 

Road Trip Wrap Up

Today we are leaving Birmingham Alabama to get back home... about an eleven hour trip.
We have filled our days with great family times. Mom is always so excited to see us and her anticipation reminds me of how much God loves me and awaits time together.

As I read Romans 8, I see that nothing can separate me from His love and that the extent of His love is demonstrated in giving His own Son... "how will He not also with him graciously give us all things?"

It feels really good to be loved... "I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing!"

This weekend Mom is packing up her stuff to move to an apartment... away from the farm where she has lived for 49 years! This will be a tearful transition. Our whole family will pack up and carry memories with us... both joyful and painful memories of life on North Harnett Road. I cannot write about it yet... but I pray for the wisdom and strength to capture many of those experiences in writing... life lessons that will bear fruit when read by others.

Got to get on the road...

Further Road Trip Adventures

Monday we visited SCAD... Savanah College of Arts and Design, the Atlanta campus. Catherine is beginning to look at schools that would allow her to develop her art and design interests and skills.
This school was very impressive and has lots of resources that even appealed to my art side. I wish I had studied and develop my painting and drawing further.

Today we head to Angier to visit with Mom and other family. My mom is moving to an apartment in the next few weeks after living on the farm where I grew up for over 48 years! This will be a big transition for her. We want to encourage and cheer her on in this move.

Family Road Trip on Spring Break

On spring with our family we hit the road from The Woodlands. We have a tradition of listening to books and stories on CD as we travel. Ever since the kids were little we would listen to Adventures in Odyssey from Focus on the Family... Chronicles of Narnia... and the like.

What we liked was that as we listened we had to imagine the characters and the scenes. We talked together about the stories and what we liked the most. These are great memories and we all still look forward to road trips.

We stopped in Atlanta to visit North Point Community Church. This church has been a great resource for inspiration, training and leadership content as we lead StoneBridge. God has truly gifted the team at North Point and the communication / leadership of Andy Stanley.

Check out Andy's messages on iTunes.

Message on Expectations in Marriage

Using what I learned from Andy Stanley, I had lots of fun communicating the message at SB on how expectations towards our spouse begin to grow from legitimate dreams and desires.
Take a look at the video or listen to the podcast... titled "U O Me."
Let me know what you think.

Preparing to give the message at SB on 3/8/09

I am preparing to give the message at SB this Sunday, March 8 '09. I love getting the chance to teach. Continuing in the series - Unlearn Unlove, I will be talking about how we put unrealistic expectations on our spouse and the difficulty it causes. Hope God uses this to help others as He has helped me in this preparation time.

Power to love

"...because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." - Romans 5:5
Romans, chapter 5 tells us God's love is in our hearts as followers of Christ... and with His love in us, this makes it possible for us to love others, especially our spouse.

How do you summon and tap into that love and power that God has deposited?
How can you be sure you are giving to others the best possible love?

So I was reading and found some very relevant verses about this and wanted to pass them along for you to ponder this week........ in Ephesians 3...

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Paul does three things to keep the power and love flowing...
1. He humbly prays... knowing he needs help, he asks God the father in prayer (v14,15)
2. He admits the power to love comes not from his own strength, but the Spirit... shows dependence on and need for the Spirit's power (v16)
3. Then enjoys fellowship (hanging out with Christ daily) because Christ is "at home" in his heart (v17)

So let the love flow this week baby!!!!