Memories of My Aunt

I was raised on a farm in northwest Missouri. My aunt and uncle lived about a mile west of our house. I spent a lot of time at their house as a kid! But this past Monday was my aunt's funeral and I was asked to do her funeral. It was a sad day, but it was a great day. It was great because of the many fond memories I have for my aunt. She was a good woman and a godly woman. Here is one of the stories I related from my memory.
This story took place 30-some years ago, shortly after me and the Mrs. were married. We went back to Missouri to visit our family and attended the church where I went as a child. My aunt attended the same church. After the service, the ladies gathered at the front of the church to discuss the upcoming Vacation Bible School (VBS). As usual, the Mrs. and I hung around talking to some friends and I picked up bits and pieces from the ladies' meeting at the same time.
One of the women suggested that they should serve healthy snacks for VBS. Her reasoning was that the kids eat too many sweets anyway. And they could still serve snacks that the kids would like. She suggested some foods like carrot sticks, celery with peanut butter, and various kinds of fruit were things the kids would like. I thought to myself that this was a good idea. If I had been in the meeting, I would likely have voted for this idea.
But then my aunt spoke up. She said, "I am baking cookies. Kids need cookies at Vacation Bible School!" And I thought to myself, "She is right!" My aunt knew what kids wanted and she wanted them to want to come to VBS. Cookies would make it more enjoyable for the kids and happy kids would make for a great VBS!
We live in a "me-first" culture. I read a book once that said that everyone listens to the same radio station: WII-FM, which stands for "What's In It For Me!" We want and expect the best service when we are out and about. We want to be pampered and treated as if we were the most important people in the room.
But Jesus had another plan. Jesus told His disciples in Mark 9 that, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." My aunt understood this very well and lived it. My cousin shared at the funeral that she was a "do for others woman." That says it very well. And now she is in heaven with her Lord and Savior and she gets to serve Him! She may even be baking Jesus some cookies!
How would your world improve if you decided to "be last of all and servant of all?" Let's focus today on being a "do for others person!"

Mean Older Brothers

I was raised on a farm in northwest Missouri. My older brother and I carry a few scars from horsing around the farm - and I don't mean riding horses! I don't know when it started, but it seems like that kid was beating me up from the day I was born.

Being two years older than me, and since I was tall and skinny, he had the upper hand most of the time. Occasionally I would win a battle, but usually I lost the battle and the war. 

I remember one time we were playing in the back yard. He was being bossy and whatever game we were playing involved a broken hoe handle. As he came running towards me, I threw that hoe handle like a spear and it hit him just above his eye. He was bleeding like crazy, so I ran and hid, hoping that Mom wouldn't kill me. Eventually she found me and we all piled in the car and headed for the doctor so he could get stitches. Mom later talked about how frantic she was to find me so she could get him to the doctor. And at the time, I was just worried that I would be unable to sit for a week!

As we grew older, I grew a little wiser. I figured out a trick that delayed the pain when Mr. Brother got angry. I would start running from him and he would chase me. He was faster than me and I knew it! So just as he was close enough to grab me, I would fall down and he would trip over me and I would jump up and run in the opposite direction. That would work for a little while, but eventually I paid the price for making Mr. Brother angry!

One of the things he did to me that made me the angriest happened when we were both teenagers. We had an electric fence south of the house and I needed to climb over it. So I yelled at Mr. Brother to shut the fencer off so I could climb over. He shut it off and I grabbed the wire and swung a leg over. As soon as I was astraddle of it, Mr MEAN Brother turned the fencer back on. There I was, holding that hot wire in my hands and no good way to get off it in a hurry! Mr. Brother was laughing his head off. He thought it was a great trick! I didn't think so...

Older brothers can be mean. I know that...because I had a younger brother too! So what I received from Mr. Brother, I gave back to Mr. Brat! Of course, Mr. Brat had no one to pass the pain on to.

People sometimes do mean things to us. Sometimes it is intentional, but I believe most of the time it is not. And still, it hurts. How do we handle these painful situations? Jesus gives us the answer - and it is a difficult one to swallow!

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave this advice: "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you..."

What? Love your enemies? Bless those who curse you? Do good to those who hate you? Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you? It sounds impossible, doesn't it? And it would be, if we had to do it by our own power. But we don't.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He sends us a Counselor to live within us and help us. A human counselor listens to your problems and tells you what to do to fix the situation you are in. Our Counselor is God's Spirit and He has all wisdom! When we are on the receiving end of meanness, the Counselor tells us to love Mr. Meanie! And as we do something loving for that person, we find our anger disappearing and, if they have a heart at all, the Meanie will feel convicted of being so mean towards you. It might take many loving actions before you melt that hard heart, but in the end you are a better person and so are they!

Love your enemies! What great advice!

A Trip To Pain, Discomfort, and Anxiety

I had to go to the dentist on Tuesday. No, there was nothing wrong with my teeth; it was just time for my regularly scheduled cleaning. I don't like going to the dentist. And I know am not alone in that aversion!
My dentist has changed their routine lately. The first thing my dental hygienist now does is take my blood pressure. This is something new for me. Until my last couple of visits, I have never had a dentist office take my blood pressure before. Maybe they are trying to gauge how far the blood will spurt when they prick my gums!
My blood pressure was a little high this time. Just like it was last time. And just like it was the time before that. I do watch my blood pressure because Dad has high blood pressure and has since he was in his early thirties. So I take my blood pressure fairly regularly at the machines around the Mayo campus. It is always just a little bit higher than normal, but not enough to worry about. Except when I am at the dentist.
My dental hygienist acknowledged my blood pressure was a little high. I told her I expected that because I hate going to the dentist! "Nothing personal," I told her, "I hate all dentists!"
I don't know of anything else that I do regularly that intentionally causes discomfort, pain, and anxiety. I tend to avoid things that do that to me! And yet, multiple times a year I find myself walking back into the dentist office for another round of pain, discomfort, and anxiety.
Why would I do this thing that I hate so much? Because I know that it is good for me in the long run. My family has a long history of bad teeth. It is a curse of my family. I hope my sons inherited their teeth genes from my wife instead of me! I am pretty sure that I will need false teeth someday, since that accessory has run in my family (both sides) for generations. But by going to the dentist now, I can delay that inevitability as long as possible.
The same can be said for our spiritual life. If we neglect our spiritual needs (and everybody has them), we will not be prepared for the inevitable difficulties that life presents to us. When the storms come, we will either stand up against them, or our destruction will be great. The Bible compares our lives to a house (Luke 6:48-49). We can lay our foundation on the rock (Jesus) which cannot be shaken. Or we can lay our foundation in sand (worldly desires) which will easily shift when the river rises.
Let's build the foundation of our life on Jesus! Devote a portion of every day to a quiet time alone with Him. Read your Bible during that time. Pray during that time. Read a devotional during that time. Reflect on what the day may bring and pray for wisdom and strength in every circumstance that comes up. Put on the "armor of God" (Eph. 6:10-18). When we invest that time, we are laying a firm foundation that cannot be destroyed no matter what life throws our way! "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)"

Bad Drivers

A friend from a former church once complained to me about bad drivers. He said that when you went to get your driver's license renewed, they should issue you a dart gun with five darts. Each dart had a little flag on one end that simply said "idiot." Whenever you saw someone doing something stupid, you could shoot their car with the dart gun so the "idiot flag" was clearly visible. Whenever the police saw a car with three "idiot flags,"they would pull the person over and give them a ticket for bad driving!
I know how he felt! I have seen some of the crazy things people do when they get behind the wheel!
Just this past week I was coming home from church on Viola Road. I looked in my rearview mirror to see this driver pass a car that was a ways behind me. And Mr. Bad Driver was in a big hurry! He was catching up to me quickly.
There was a pickup in front of me - driving at a reasonable rate of speed. So I was content to stay behind Mr. Pickup. But not Mr. Bad Driver! As we were going up a hill, he pulled out to pass me! And, we were in a no-passing zone! I just shook my head in wonder as he went around me!
But then I was astounded when he stayed in the left lane to pass Mr. Pickup too! Just before we reached the top of the hill, another car popped over the hill towards us! Mr. Bad Driver had no place to go! Fortunately, Mr. Pickup swerved onto the shoulder and I hit my brakes hard, expecting something terrible was about to happen. Mr. Bad Driver quickly pulled into the lane the pickup had vacated and just missed a head-on collision!
I wondered why anyone would be in such a hurry to pull such a stupid stunt as that! His bad driving could have easily impacted many lives in the four cars that were there - which included mine! Why would anyone be in such a hurry to risk the lives of people in four different vehicles? It makes absolutely no sense!
But then...don't we do stupid things? I know I have caught myself making a mistake in my driving that I would describe as idiotic driving! And I am sure you have too! We all make stupid driving decisions at some time or another. And some of our blunders are costly.
The rules of the road were not designed to prevent us from enjoying driving. They were designed for the safety of the drivers on the road. We know that. But sometimes we get in a hurry, like Mr. Bad Driver, and we find ourselves in serious danger.
God's rules of life were not designed to prevent us from enjoying life. They were designed for our safety and the safety of others. Many of life's problems and much of life's pains could be avoided by "loving God with all our hearts, with all our soul, and with all our mind and loving our neighbor as ourselves" (Matthew 22:37-39).
Just consider for a minute the consequences of how we live. Every conversation today will impact our relationships tomorrow. Every action today will reflect on our character tomorrow. Every selfish attitude today will damage our relationship with God immediately.
You see, living by the rules makes a difference! The Psalmist knew this when he wrote, "I have your decrees as a heritage forever, indeed, they are the joy of my heart. I am resolved to obey your statutes to the very end" (Psalm 119:111-112). Living by the rules brings joy, not misery!

Celebrating Birthdays

I am only one day older than my lovely bride! That proximity has its advantages. It is hard to forget her birthday when I celebrate mine the day before! Plus, my birthday experience can weigh in on hers. Let me give an example.
I remember well the year I turned 40. No one at work knew I was turning 40 and I wanted to keep it that way. I wanted a simple, and quiet, birthday. So I told my lovely spouse not to do anything to draw attention to my birthday. No balloons. No fanfare. No nothing. I even warned her that if she did do something, I would get even immediately. She nodded and I was glad she understood.
My birthday arrived and I went to work. Everything was quiet, just the way I wanted it. I went to lunch with a friend, and was shocked to see black balloons in my office when I returned! Only one person knew it was my birthday, and that was the conniving woman I am married to!
I called her on the phone and voiced my displeasure with her handiwork. I warned her that I would get even. After all, her birthday was the next day.
"What can you do to me?", she asked. "I don't work outside the home", she gloated. I told her I would get even and hung up the phone.
Immediately I began calling people. I called our pastor. I called some church friends. I called some neighbors. I called some of her PTA friends. I invited them to a birthday party for the Mrs. and told them the birthday party was the next morning a 8 AM. Then I called the school and informed them that I would be taking my boys out of school for a short while the next morning. I informed my boss that I would be late coming to work the next day. The stage was set...
You see, that lovely lady that I adore is not like me at all. I get up early and hit the ground running each morning. The Mrs. never sees the sunrise! Especially late in May! She prefers to stay up late and sleep in. So she does. In those days, she would get up and get the boys ready for school, get them out the door, then she would go back to bed! She was going to get a nice surprise for her birthday!
I got up and got ready for work the next day, like always. But instead of going to work, I went to the store and bought lots of fresh donuts. I stopped at the school on the way home and picked up the boys. We snuck into the back yard and decorated the picnic table with the same black balloons she gave me. Then we went back around to the front porch. People started gathering at the front door...LOTS of people!
The time was perfect. I knew she was back in bed. And I rang the doorbell... No way would she have time to put on makeup, or get dressed beyond throwing on a robe! And she had to answer the door! I listened as she made her way down the stairs. I persistently continued to ring the doorbell. Finally she opened the door and saw the crowd!
I led her around to the back yard and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time singing the birthday song and eating donuts. All the while, I just smiled at her and told her "I warned you!" It was a great birthday!
Our culture tends towards "getting even." When I "got even" with my bride, it was all in fun. But in this culture, it is seldom for fun. In fact, getting even usually means "getting even...and then some!"
But Jesus challenges us in Matthew 5:44 to "love your enemies" and "pray for those who persecute you." This is not easy, and in fact it is nearly impossible without Jesus' help! But with God, all things are possible, so we can love our enemies instead of getting even. Max Lucado points out in "Just Like Jesus" that "the burden of bridge-building falls on the strong one, not on the weak one. The one who is innocent is the one who makes the gesture." Instead of getting even, let's be bridge-builders!