Do you need encouragement?
Ever have one of those days where you just wish some one would acknowledge that you are doing a good job at whatever it is your doing that day? I mean maybe if you are a stay at home mom, that your husband or kids would just tell you that you are doing awesome and that they love their home. Wouldn’t that be nice? I mean how about husbands that work away from home and are gone for a couple of days, that when you get home you hear from your wife and kids that they missed you and want to be with you. Instead, you get the list of broken things in the home and dad you promised to take me to the store. Don’t you want to be encouraged? How about for those high school and middle school students that are taking on the world in school. That when you get home you hear that you were missed and that is there anything that your parents could do for you while you do the 12 million hours of home work. But instead you hear about the chores that aren’t done or about how you missed one thing on the project and it wasn’t the grade that your parents had hoped for in that class. Don’t you want more encouragement?
I recently was sitting and working away and was kind of having one of those days, where I just wanted to hear I was doing a good job. That things were going well and that even though my emotions were getting the better of me, that God is the one in charge I am not, and today was better than I thought. When I looked up at the huge wipe board in my office and saw this:
Morgan making her dad's day!
There she left me a little note just telling me she loved me. What a great reminder and an encouragement to me. It made the rest of my day just hinking about how my “favorite youngest daughter” loved me. Maybe that is what you need to hear too? Maybe you need to know that from not just the people around you but from God himself. You see God being the great dad that He is even knew that was important. Look at what he said to His son:
Matthew 3:17 (NLT) “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.”
Guess what you are His kid and you too bring Him joy. So even if you can’t see it on the wipe board in your office know that God loves you and He wants you to lean into Him and hear I Love you, your doing a good job.
Hope that you are encouraged! Maybe this is something you need to share with someone else? Go encourage someone, maybe on their wipe board.
Off to College: A Dad’s Perspective
Enjoyed the summer with Danielle.
Today Michelle and I are driving our oldest Danielle to her first year of college. She will be attending the University of Nothern Colorado looking to get a degree in Elementary Education. She also will be moving away from home and her family for the first time. It is one of those moments as a parent that you realize that all the times that other parents said, “Life moves way fast.” Were totally right. But I have to be honest as Danielle’s dad I am so excited and so proud of who she is and how she has become such and awesome woman of faith. I know that at some moment today I am going to look at her and remember the times that we played on the swing set in Montana. The day that she laid in bed with her Mom and said “Yes” to Jesus. That I will remember the little girl that liked to play dress up. That I will see the little soccer player. That I will remember the first time she went to a school dance. That I will remember the day I was proud to baptize her. That I will remember the days that she sat on my lap and cried her eyes out. That I will remember the times we shared her Christian crack addiction at Starbucks. But all of these memories will not wiegh me down. They will encourage the perspective that I already have about being a parent and the goal that I set a long time ago as Jesus laid it on my heart. That my job as a dad is that my kids “Leave Well.” Danielle is leaving well and I do not expect anything less. I am so proud and excited to see what the near future holds for her at UNC.
Danielle if you read this; I want you to know that I am one proud dad and that I am only a phone call, text, Skype, away. Oh yeah, continue to remind the guys around you that I still have the bow and they will not hear it coming. LOVE YOU.
Emotions of an Empty House
Our house in California after we moved out.
Have you ever noticed the feeling you get while you are in an empty house? Whether the house has just been moved out of or even if no one has ever moved in. That there is just a different feeling that comes with an empty.
The question is what kind of emotion do you get about being in the empty house? Maybe you are the person that has emotions of anticipation. Some people see an empty house and can envision the future parties that will happen there, they can see the family memories that will be created between Father and son or Mother and daughter. They can even see the life change that comes with being in that house.
Maybe you are the person that has emotions of devastation. That this house is a place that is void of life, that for some reason or another the family that once was there is now gone and never coming back. Maybe that the house is empty because of the lose of someone’s life.
Which person are you? Are you the person of anticipation of the person of devastation? I think that we bring these same emotions with us to the places that we call church. Now I want to be clear I use the church right now to refer to the building where many church bodies meet. But at no time do I want people to think that I see the building as the church, the church is the people that make up that place. But don’t you think people bring those emotions with them to church. That either they are involved in a service in the anticipation of God showing up and doing something amazing. OR They come with the emotion that God is there laying and waiting to just devastate them. Heard this statement; “If I were to show up at church God would strike me dead.” or “The building would probably cave in if I came to church.”
It is my prayer that we don’t see the devastation but the anticipation when it comes to the gathering of those that we call Elevation Christian Church their home. And what I want people to know whether the house is full or whether the house is empty God is always there and able to show up and do what He wants, that we will not rate the ability of God by the availability of people’s butts in seats. That we will always see that our time together will be held together with the emotion of ANTICIPATION.
What picture does your daughter see?
While we were at camp this summer I was introduced to a series of videos on Youtube that share about what our girls see when it comes to their appearance. Watch this and tell me what you see.
Here is the verse that I have underlined in both of my daughters bibles when we gave them to them.
