Tonight was one of those impromptu family nights that I absolutely love. They seem to come around more often in the fall when the weather turns a little colder and everyone just wants to huddle up together.
Our theme tonight was waffles and Knight Rider. For dinner I made “from scratch” waffles (they were AWESOME). After dinner we all sat down to watch the new version of Knight Rider. I remember watching this 80’s version with my family. No, it’s not quite the same but the boys love the car and the action—and we are all together.
Family memories are built on stuff like waffles and Knight Rider. Even if the kids don’t remember it…I know I will. Just enjoying each other’s company makes it worth while. And did I mention the waffles were good?
So…what are some of your favorite family memories?
“Hope springs eternal in the human breast.”
-Alexander Pope
The themes of hope and peace have been front and center this week. God has been speaking them into my life in more ways than one. Through His Word. Through others. At church. In my devotions.
Our times certainly call for a measure of hope and peace—we are getting enough fear and anxiety to last a few lifetimes lately. But this idea of hope and peace is not so simple as it might at first appear. It’s not so easy to shut out the world and simple decide to have hope and peace.
We have to hope in something. And we we need to get peace from somewhere. The good news is that both of these come from the original author…God Himself. He doesn’t just give peace and hope. He IS Peace. He IS Hope. And He promises to give them both to us if we will simply turn to Him…walk with Him…trust in Him.
Sounds simple right?
That’s another theme I’ve been working on recently…making things simpler. Simple does not mean easy, it just means getting rid of the clutter and the complicated. Focusing on what’s important.
I’m working on it…
I pray that God, the source of hope,
will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him.
Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13, NLT
I have had some technical difficulties this last week with my blog (couldn’t load the page where I actually create a post)…but I’m back…and then I’ll be gone until this weekend on the hunt.
I have actually had a topic on my heart for the past few days that I’m glad I finally get to share…I’m so impatient, but it has given time for God to continue to work on this area in my life. It comes out of John chapter 12:
Those who love their life in this world will lose it.
Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. John 12:25, NLT
On the surface seems pretty innocent, but it’s anything but “innocent”. This is hard teaching here from Jesus. Think about the implications…if we love our life in this world (at all) then we will lose eternity. We have to “care nothing” for our life in this world—we are supposed to be “other worldly minded”. I don’t know about you, but that’s not always the way I walk and live. Quite often I am very “this world” oriented.
But what Jesus is really getting at here is whether we are a believer or a follower of Christ. Do we just believe His words and teachings OR do we actually follow them? Are we really developing a relationship with Christ or are we simply “practicing Christianity” (do we even know the difference)? Can I honestly say that I hate my life in this world and that my full hope is in the eternal life that’s coming?
Where is my heart? Where is my mind? What’s my focus?
Am I “All In” or am I holding a little back for the next round?
These are the hard questions God is working on in my life…
One week from today I will be in the middle of Wyoming hunting antelope for 5 days (hopefully it will only take 1 or 2). This is my second year hunting (you can see the results of last year’s hunt here) and my first year with a buck tag. There are five of us going on this particular hunt this year and I can’t wait to get up there and get started!
I officially have hunting fever…I am so ready to hit the road and get started. Hopefully I come home with some meat for the fridge and something like this to hang on the wall (in the garage of course):
I will have all the details (along with pictures) when I get back. Until then I’ll have to live with my fever…the anticipation is killing me!
As I have said recently, my life is a little crazy right now with a weird work schedule for the next month and school in full swing. So blogging has taken a little bit of a backseat…but I’m here today!
In my devotions this morning I read this passage:
Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen.
I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see,
but they didn’t see it.
And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.” Luke 10:23-24, NLT
This is one of those passages that usually rolls by unnoticed…and today would have been no different if it weren’t for the devotional book that said this about the passage:
Are we casual about our knowledge of Jesus and His Word?
Have we been so saturated with the message of the gospel that we take it for granted?
In the passage Jesus is telling His disciples that they are a part of something huge…something few people would get to experience but that many people had looked forward to. I thought it only applied to them. I was wrong. The question above are great questions that step on my toes too much.
I am often too casual about my walk with God. Too often I take my spiritual walk for granted…I take God for granted. You and I have been given a unique opportunity and gift. Let’s not take it for granted.
Starting yesterday (Thursday) at about 4:30 pm I became a bachelor (with 3 kids) until Sunday afternoon. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that I became quasi-single dad (since the kids are having sleep-overs and staying with their grandma at different intervals)? Anita is spending the time with a few of her girlfriends in Breckenridge…time away from the rat race.
What am I going to do with the time? PARTY!!!
I wish! First on the agenda is to get some sleep since I’m up again tonight (all night) at work.
Next…shuffle the kids around to their various appointments.
Then…spend some time with the kids all together. Might even make it to a movie and some fast food (you know…’cause they like that stuff).
I am actually looking forward to spending time with the kids and getting some rest. It’s an unusual weekend, but that’s good to have every once in awhile.
BTW, my first hunt of the year is coming up…more to come on that topic…
Tonight is one of those nights I hate…I cannot get my brain to shut down and it’s keeping me awake. I am thinking about too many things all at once: Work, School, Fantasy Football, the Upcoming Hunt. You name it, it’s running through my brain.
I usually read something mindless before going to sleep to help down-shift my brain, but it didn’t work tonight. So I’m trying something different: blogging a little and drinking some milk. Will it work? Who knows. I may hit the bed again and go out fast. Or I may start thinking about how much sleep I’m not getting (the last and official stage of insomnia).
Either way, I will be tired at work tomorrow and won’t have accomplished anything tonight aside from thinking about stuff I can’t do anything about right now. Sigh…at least you’re getting some sleep…right?
I am currently, and slowly, reading through John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life. I must admit that the first couple of chapters have been a little on the slow side…but that’s because much of it has been background material. This morning the reading turned a corner. Here is an excerpt I had to share:
You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know a few great things that matter, perhaps just one, and hen be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing. If you want your life to count…you have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things—or one great all-embracing thing—and be set on fire by them.
Now that’s something I can sink my teeth into. Yes, it reminds me a little bit of the scene from City Slickerswhere Jack Palance tells Billy Crystal he has to find”that one thing”…but there is often truth in movies…you just ave to look hard for it sometimes.
So what is that one thing…or those few things…that you are mastering in your life? What guides and directs your compass? What are you set on fire by? I hope that the first thing is Christ…knowing Him and walking with Him. If not, start there.
After that…therein lies the beauty. God made you and designed you for your purpose. Part of the fun is finding out what that is and giving yourself to it 100%. Happy hunting!
This is my second year hunting (you can see the results of last year’s hunt 
