Thursday, November 8, 2012

Living Lesson: The Puppy Dog Position



Jesus the Christ had a marvelous way of conveying deep spiritual truths by using stories and object lessons from the living world around Him. 

The Puppy Dog Position:  There's not much cuter than a puppy dog, except your three year old imitating one!

Kalyn Bush
Monday was a great day for our family as we took our kids ice skating with the area homeschool group.  Our instructor for the first half hour was Kalyn Bush, daughter of Alan Bush, associate minister at Washington Ave Church of Christ in Evansville.  She was such a nice and respectful Christian young lady, and gave us several good tips to improve our ice skating skills. 

The tip we appreciated most was the "Puppy Dog Position" which aids in the falling down and getting back up process. My  family and I know how to fall one ice, we've perfected that move, so we were especially interested in this getting back up notion.  Here's how she taught us to get back up.  First she sat down on the ice next to us.  Then she demonstrated rolling over to her front side.  Next she lifted to her hands and knees in the "Puppy Dog Position."  Finally, she placed her right foot up between her two hands and slowly lifted up. 

Kalyn helping Gabriel
Ethan was especially good at getting up from the Puppy Dog Position and enjoyed ice skating so much more when he could get up on his own.  We enjoyed watching him crawl on the ice barking like a puppy too!  Everyone was skating on their own with no wall help by the end of the session and we have Kalyn and the puppy dog position to thank. 

Kalyn Bush
As I consider the Kingdom, I wonder if we spend enough time and effort teaching young Christians the "Puppy Dog Position" after falling down.  So often the Christian army has been guilty of standing at a distance and yelling "get up" at those who fall down in their faith.  Yet I think Kalyn helped remind me that people need someone to get close down beside them where they have fallen down and model the proper getting up position with them. 

What's the first position we should model?  I'd say on our hands and knees before our God is a good place to start. 

Psalm 95:6 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker."

Now, who wants to go ice skating?


Skating on our own!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Monday Monitoring

Good Monday morning to you!  God is good, is He not?

Mondays are usually my "Blah" days.  My energy is usually sapped the day after Sunday.  I thought it might be helpful to just jot down my thoughts and feelings on Monday mornings so I can just move on with my week.  There won't be a lot of editing or beautifying of my Monday blogs, just getting it out there.

Monday So Far
 This Monday was off like a shot.  At 8am I headed over to the hospital to do a little visiting and pick up the pager since I'm the chaplain on call.  I think more of my visit work comes in visiting the hospital staff and encouraging them.  The more involved I am in chaplain work, the more I see the fruits of building relationships with staff.   Visits to the patients are beneficial too, but the most fruitful of those seem to come when I am called by a patient desiring to see a chaplain.  I wish chaplains had the ability to just visit every in their room, but instead we check in at the nurses station and they ask if anyone wants to see a chaplain.  The process is respectful of the patient's desire, but I think most in our community would still welcome a smiling face, a warm good morning, and an offer of prayer.

Made a quick jaunt over to the courthouse to drop of a key for the elections tomorrow.  Our building is used as a voting site for the city.  I am always blessed to see my contact there, but I can never remember her name!  I've probably asked it at least 5 times now.  I feel horrible for that one.  I need to write it down next time.

Had a phone call from an area minister struggling with church politics.  I think Christians need now more than ever to learn to "Play Nice" with each other.  This man is trying so hard to do the right things.  My heart goes out to him.

Fixed the network for the office computer!  I couldn't figure out why the wifi wouldn't connect, but had a cat45 cable laying around.  That did the trick.  Glad to have it usable for church members now.

We've got pew fixers coming today, so the auditorium is going to be a buzz of activity for the next couple of days.  I'm looking forward to meeting them.

Sunday

Yesterday morning before service I could tell I was filled with a little different spirit than usual.  I was very passionate about my recent motto, "We Play Nice".  Basically I've decided, If we share the "One things" listed in Ephesians 4, I'm going to endeavor to play nice with you no matter if you act like a divisive jerk or not.  And if we're not sharing those Christian standards, well I'm gonna play nice anyway, because the Lord made you.  None of this means I have to give up my distinctiveness, my Biblical views, or my ability to share them.   It just means I'm not going to do what I've seen so many Christians do in the midst of political uncertainty lately.  I'm not going to deride, slander, or set my self in opposition to anyone, even a presidential candidate and especially not another Christian.  I may oppose a view or idea, but I'm certainly going to give respect. "For our battle is not against flesh and blood...." Paul said in Ephesians.

And what do I do if you don't share those one things with me and you live in such a way that opposes God? I still play nice but I let you know we have a break in our relationship that can only be mended by us seeking and searching God.  Playing yatzee together doesn't fix it, but deliberately seeking God together does, even if we still don't agree.    Fair enough?  Boy, I'm still inspired Monday morning about this stuff, I could just keep writing thoughts.

Sunday afternoon - busy!  One of the best things accomplished was budget requests for 2013.  I was pleased to be able to request more in the missions area.  I was also encouraged by seeing good people from our congregation working together to ensure God's money is used wisely.

Sunday night - Grandparents.  I'm a firm believer that families can have a great holiday season together, but it takes everyone fulfilling their roles.  Grandparents in the Bible were so much more than "Spoil em and send em home" type of people.  They shared faith and Godly influence.  It wasn't just something that came about by happenstance, it was their job!  I think we forget that today.  If grandparents will limit the spoiling of kids and put effort into sharing that precious faith, oh, the holidays will be even better.  More on parents roles next week.

After services was great, lotsof people talking.  Did hear of two heartbreaking stories that I can't do anything about.  The good news?  I have a big God who can.   I carried Ethan home asleep in my arms.  I still love those moments.  Gabriel and I made paper airplanes.

Saturday
This day was just a blurr!  Ashley was glorifying God speaking in TN at a ladies retreat, I was Mr. Mom and Minister at the same time.  We showed up at 8:15am at the Derek Arvin 5k "A race for the Son."  God blessed me to meet and pray with volunteers at 8:30am, Gabriel ran a 1 miler at 9am, then we prayed with all the race participants at 10am.  It was such a blessing and I was so proud of my little man for learning to persevere on his run.  There's going to be a lot of spiritual teachable moments coming from this one.

Then a family birthday party near Danville, Illinois at 11am.  Made balloon animals, caught up with cousins, met some nice people.  Then back here for a meeting with a lot of men and their spouses in our area to encourage them on their spiritual walk.  So thankful for the Page family for their time watching the boys.  Then home at 9:30pm, bed for the boys, and decompress time with my wife.

A really blessed but encouraging day.

By the way, Monster Energy drinks really do a number on me!

Just had someone stop in the church building.  Gotta go.  That was my Saturday to Monday morning.  With that outta my system, I'm ready to get on with this day!  Thanks God for a blessed Monday!