Furniture and Attitudes

Last Sunday Carolyn and I spent a few hours assembling a new bed and moving our old one downstairs. The new one is a "sleep number" type of bed with an air-filled mattress with adjustable firmness. It didn't go too badly, considering I don't usually have patience for any work involving furniture- I hate assembling, moving, buying, or doing anything with furniture. But I got through it OK and even managed to keep my sense of humor- not a big deal for most folks, but a major achievement for me.

Then...in the evening we realized that we had to move the queen-sized mattress and box spring into a different part of our downstairs because the blasted cat was scratching it. I guess this was the proverbial straw because while moving the heavy thing in tight spaces I started to lose it and was unkind to my wife, who deserves much, much better. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever grow up. As soon as I think that I'm making inroads into some sort of spiritual maturity something happens to remind me how far I have to go and that I need to depend on the Lord and not my own (lack of) strength.

Amen?

Back to Work

After being away for a conference last week, I thought that there'd be tons of phone and email messages and all kinds of stuff waiting for me at work. But it hasn't been bad at all (!). This morning I met Derryn for our usual early Tuesday time of fellowship, prayer and the Word. At midday Don, a student about my age, stopped by my office and we had lunch together. Our conversations at both visits were oriented towards what the Lord is doing in our lives. It seems like there's so much to say about our "walks" that there's little time for small talk. It's all an encouragement.

Ephrata

Last week I was in Pennsylvania for a men's leadership conference sponsored by Charity Christian Fellowship and Ephrata Christian Fellowship. There were almost 600 men from all over the US and Canada. It was a time of intense fellowship as we all spent the week exercising the means of grace toward spiritual growth.

The teaching times were challenging, not only in terms of information, but mainly in terms of application- seeing the needs we all have in trying to live a life worthy of the Gospel. Over the years I have attended all kinds of men's conferences- some good and some not so good. This one was a gem.

Each day, in addition to three 75 minute preaching sessions, we had a two-hour prayer time (in small of ten), lunch and dinner, and then a long preaching session in the evening. At meal times the conversation was usually directed to the spiritual issues of the day- not abstract doctrine, but the "heart" issues of following Christ in areas of daily, practical application.

Instead of Briers

My web site is up and running. You'll have to go there to find out why it's called "Instead of Briers." It has downloadable handouts for my current Bible study, "Near the Cross" (among other things of interest). I will be adding the handouts for my fall Sunday school class on "Marriage." Check it out.

Emily Update

Emily has been accepted at Houghton College and Lipscomb University. HC is in western New York and LU is in Nashville. Both have Art/Graphic Design majors and both seem to have a commitment to a strong spiritual component in campus life.

Leadership Conference

Sunday I will be leaving for the week-long Leadership Conference at Charity Christian Fellowship in PA. An old friend who lives in New Holland will be putting me up, along with a couple other guys from various places around the US. I've meant to attend this for several years but this is my first time. On the way I hope to stop at the US penitentiary in Allenwood to visit Stephen. I've been in contact with him by mail for several years and my youngest son and I visited him last June when we were passing through the area.

Wonka Tonka

I had an interesting week last week.

At the prayer group at work, a new woman joined us. She prayed with us, but I noticed some unusual wording in her prayer, something about the way she used the word "spirit."

Later in the day I saw her and asked her politely to whom she was addressing her prayer at the morning's meeting. She replied (without missing a beat), "Wonka Tonka."

"Shootout" in Boston

Today Christopher and I took the day to go to Boston and see the Bruins play at the Garden. It was a lot of fun to see a professional hockey game live. We left around 8:30 and parked under the Common at about 10:30. Walked down to the harborfront and then along the edge of the North End up to the Garden. Had lunch at "Half Time Pizza" across the street, the same place we ate when we went to see the Celtics last year. Large TV's on the walls showed highlights of past Bruins games. The tie score led to a "shootout" and the Hurricanes won, but it was a hard fought (not literally) game on both sides and the crowd was a typical Boston crowd- enthusiastic and very loud.