The Gift

What if God gave you a gift? 

What if this gift was given to you and would be with you for the rest of your life? 

What if you had to take care of the gift, love it, feed it, raise it? 

Would you keep it?

Would you do everything in your power to give your gift everything in life? 

Would you provide for your gift and watch it grow? 

Would you be there whenever your gift needed you? 

Would you sacrifice everything for your gift?

Would you fulfill your gifts needs?

What if you didn't? 

What if you left your gift alone by itself for long stretches of time? 

What if you neglected your gift and didn't give it everything it needed? 

What if you put your needs in front of the needs of you gift?

What if you were selfish?

What if your wants and needs caused pain and suffering to your gift?

What if you didn't care what happened to your gift?

What if your gift was taken from you?

What if your gift was a plant?

What if your gift was a pet?

What if... What if your gift was a child?

Queens of the Court

 

Yesterday we had a practice for our upcoming basketball season where most of the girls playing in the league came and shot around and ran through some drills.  Some of them have played in the league before and some of them haven't.  It was so much fun to be there with them and watch them get ready for the season.

They are all super excited about playing this year and can't wait for the season to start. It is awesome.  I am so used to playing with the boys that I forget how competitive the girls can be and that they love playing.  I saw a lot of passion for the game and a genuine want to understand the game better.  They worked really hard and did everything I asked them to do.  They asked questions and truly want to play well.

I wish that we all had that kind of outlook when it comes to our spiritual growth. Too often we get bogged down with the everyday that we forget to practice our spirituality. We forget to layup a prayer, or block our selves from saying things we don't mean.  We don't spend time in the lane of the bible or assisting others when they need us.  We spend too much time launching the 3s of selfishness and we don't pay attention to the needs of others.  Too often we are busy slam dunking our earthly possessions and we commit the foul of forgetting to store things up in heaven.

Just like those Queens of the court, it takes practice in our spiritual lives to continue to grow!  I am so thankful for all my girls and the blessing they are to me but yesterday, I truly saw the love for the game.  I can't wait to see what they bring to the table in two weeks!

Generation Gap

Yesterday I went to Target to get a few things. There were two situations that came up that really made me realize that it is a totally different world than when I was a kid.  The first took place in the electronic section.  I was back in electronics looking for some printer cartridges for my print when I came around a corner.  There was mother standing there at an end cap and reaching over and picked up a yellow box.  Her daughter, who was standing next to her, looked at her and said, "What is that?"  The mother said, "It's film, you use it in cameras and it is on sale."  The daughter looked away and said, "Oh... That's old school!"  I laughed out loud as I walked by and so did the mother.

The funny thing is that the daughter was right.  Film is old school.  Not many people use a regular camera any more.  Everything is digital from phones to regular cameras.  It is so much easier to get a digital picture than to deal with developing a picture these days.  It's just hard to believe that twenty years ago is considered "Old School".  Makes you wonder what will happen in the future that will make today's digital photos old school.  Maybe there will be mental photos which you will be able to keep in your head and look at them whenever you want.

The other thing that blew my mind was as I was walking toward the check out counter there was another young girl on her cell phone.  She was obviously in trouble for something and was being told to meet her parents somewhere.  She tried to talk a couple times but was obviously being talked over top of by the person on the other side of the phone.  She finally got so mad that she screamed "SHUT UP MOM!  I will find something to eat here," and hung up the phone. 

If I were ever to do that, I would of had the tar beaten out of my when I got home!  I think there is a lack of respect for parents and authority figures these days.  Kids feel like they are entitled to things and so they feel like they can treat their parents anyway they want.  It is definitely different than when I was a kid.  I knew that my Mom and Dad loved me but there were rules and regulations you had to live by and when you overstepped your place, you were told and you accepted that.  I'm not saying I didn't fight with my parents, but I sure wouldn't of disrespected them in public like that at the age of 11 or 12 without some sort of sift kick in pants.

Yesterday just reminded me that yes there are some things that are so much better than I was a kid.  Technology is an awesome thing!  Unfortunately there are some worse things now of days like entitlement and a lack of respect.  I know that kids will be kids but it hurts to see them disrespect their parents who give them so much and love them unconditionally! 

Overkill

Do you ever feel stressed out?  I mean, don't know what you are going to do, heart racing, chest hurting, constantly going to the bathroom, sweating stressed out.  I think at some point in time we all get stressed out to the point that it affects us physically.  What is it that makes us feel this way?  Why do we allow stress to over come us and cause us so much pain.  We stress over things so much that it can ruin a perfectly good day.  The whole day is ruined because of one small stressed filled moment.

The main questions is how did we get to the point where our stress level is causing us physical pain?  My answer is Overkill.  That's right Overkill.  I think that once something sort of stressful happens it sets us off and we actually start looking for things that stress us out.  We start looking for opportunities to increase our stress levels.

Once a small thing happens, maybe its a mean phone call, or a unexpected bill that comes in the mail, we start to stress.  Then as you go through the rest of the day every little thing that happens adds to that stress level.  It causes us to keep building up our stress until our bodies can't take it anymore.  It's Overkill.  It's us allowing the world to rule us instead of us ruling the world.

Let's be honest how many times have you been in a seriously stressful situation at work where everyone is counting on you and the stress affects your body.  It doesn't because you are in the moment.  Yes you may be scared or upset but you power through it because there hasn't been an opportunity for stress to build up to the point of physical pain.

Now if you get an unexpected bill that you know is going to be hard to pay that helps to start building your stress level.  You follow that up with someone saying something negative about you at work that level grows. On the way home someone cuts you off which stresses you more. This continues until you have Overkill.  Until you just can't take it anymore.

I am the last one to give advice about stress but I think that if we can recognize the signs of smaller stresses then we can stop an Overkill from happening before it gets to the point where it cause us bodily harm.  Take some time to think about that the next time something small starts to bother you.  See if other things happen during the day to make it worse.  We have to make sure that we don't allow stress be too much for us to handle! We can stop it before it Overkills us!

Where is the love?

This is sort of a follow post based on my Thankless Job post. Yesterday as many of you know was my birthday.  It was a great birthday which started with the pastors taking me out for lunch and was followed with the entire staff surprising me with cupcakes.  By far that was enough for me to enjoy my day!

But...that wasn't the end of my day of partying.  One of my youth Danielle Galloway, invited me to dinner and said that she would pay.  I don't know about you but when I was 16 my money was worth far more than even the actual value of the money.  Money equaled independence.  So needless to say I was overwhelmed at the fact that Danielle wanted to pay for my dinner and she didn't want to just go to a fast food restaurant, she wanted to go to a sit down restaurant which was even more expensive. 

Still that was not where the night ended.  She said had her dad pretend that he forgot something at the church and needed us to go look for it.  So off we went back to the church where I was surprised by almost all the High School youth in our youth group!  They had cupcakes and ice cream and had decorated the room.  It was amazing1

As if the party wasn't enough I also received two hand made cards from a couple of the girls which were absolutely awesome and a 3 page letter from Danielle which went into detail about how much I mean to her and the impact I have had on her life.

It was amazing.  Simply amazing.  Words can not describe the feelings I had inside of me after what they did for me.  I must have read all the cards, the letter, and the paper which Harper wrote earlier in the week around 6 times last night.

When people are so happy that they have a high paying job and their pockets are lined with cash which allows them to buy anything they want, they are still missing the feeling I had last night.  That feeling of love, excitement, and that you are making a difference in someone's life.  I have played a hand in molding their lives.  Sometimes it is a small part, sometimes it is a large part but I am always  playing a part.

For someone who doesn't have biological kids at least I know what it feels like to have the unconditional love of youth I will cherish September 19th, 2013 in my heart for the rest of my life! 

Did I say this was a thankless job?  I think I just got smacked in the face with the answer!

Love you all!

National Holiday

For it was decreed that on the 19th day of September in the year of our Lord 19 thousand and 75 that there would forever more be a holiday of the nations.  For on this day in the town of Allen in the district of Lehigh within the state of Pennsylvania was born a blonde haired, blue eyed baby boy to the house of Hagman.  This young squire was given the Scandinavian name of Eric meaning "Eternal ruler".  Upon receiving this name young master Eric embarked on a long and crazy adventure better know as life.

Although his life has only encompassed 38 short years, the road has been curvy and far from straight.  Different paths have been laid out for him along the way but he has always taken the path less traveled.  This has included adventures leading he to work as a Mall purification expert, a cleaner of all things campground orientated, the teacher of things involving the environment,  donning the captains hat as part of a group known for their hit single YMCA, and now his most rewarding job of the spiritual formation and human interaction of young people at the church know as St. Mark's.

I invite you to celebrate this holiday of the nations by skipping school, work, chores, obligations, and celebrating with a joyful day of little to no movement in your personal domicile. Go forth and eat the pastries covered in icing and the cream made of ice.  Be joyful as another year passes and the kingdom is thriving!

The Safest Place on Earth

*This is not Agnes and Sean. Just FYI!

Last Saturday was the memorial service for Agnes.  It was a beautiful service filled with stories that brought both tears and laughter.  Four different people got up and spoke.  One of those people was Sean, who was Agnes' grandson.  He was funny, loving, caring, and full of emotion as he told stories based on words he had written down about Agnes. 

At the end of his time he started to talk about how loving and caring she was.  As he did this his emotions got the best of him and he started to cry.  He was able to stop long enough to say that when they were picked up and sat on grandma's lap that it was the safest place on earth.  It honestly had me crying as well.

It was such a wonderful thought of a grandson picked up and placed the lap of his grandmother as she rocked back and forth on a rocking chair, holding him and singing to him.  Makes me think about the times when I was little that people made me feel safe and loved.

I think we each have a person or place that when we are there or with them we know that nothing bad can happen.  We are safe and comfortable and no matter where we go and what we do as long as we are with that person or in that place nothing bad will ever happen.  That person always brings a smile to a face and a laugh to our heart.  They are always there for us.

Life is hard and scary.  There is always something happening and sometimes that something is a bad thing.  I wish for you that someone special that will hug you up and hold you.  That will whisper in your ear and tell you that everything will be ok.   They will wipe the tears from your eyes and hold you tight as they sing to you or rock you.  They will listen and love you no matter what you have done or no matter what has happened.  They just want to be with you and love you and help to keep the bad out and the good in.

I hope that you have someone like that in your life and if you don't, let me be him.  I will provide for you the safest place on earth!