Its that time of year, yes that time of year when most people in the Western world are going crazy and going into debt, for me it's all about the nog! I love discovering eggnog in the grocery store, for me it means one thing: no more cream with my coffee, its nog time!
Oh how short this sweet time of the year is.
I must savor every sip for I know come January the nog vanishes and my coffee goes back to just coffee ( no extra syrupy sweetness, no hint of nutmeg, sigh).
I love coffee and adding eggnog to it just sends it to a new plane of excellence. If only it could be eggnog time all year round! I first found this combination when I was at BLTS (Baptist Leadership Training School, yes BLTS for short) in Calgary, Alberta (1992-93). A local coffee shop sold it by the bowlful, and i mean bowl! It was a wonderful discovery and every winter since then I've looked forward to the combination.
So enjoy the hustle and the bustle, me I'll be sipping my coffee with the nog in my corner getting the jitters.
Thank-you God for all things and bless the one who first thought of this heavenly combination.
Gotta go and finish cup #2!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thanksgiving
I received this on Wednesday from Banner of Truth before I went to work. I read it pondered it and repented of the fact that in all that is going on in our lives I have not given thanks to God for the uncertainty and our current predicament.
WOW! What a challenge to be thankful in affliction; to not be a sour puss. I so want that. I'm always the sour puss. I'm always the 'doubting Thomas', oh how I want to be a 'thankful saint'.
1Th 5:16-18
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
"In everything give thanks"
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| "See what cause the saints have to be frequent in the work of thanksgiving. In this Christians are defective; though they are much in supplication, yet little in gratulation. The apostle says. "In everything give thanks" (1 Thess. 5.18). Why so? Because God makes everything work for our good. We thank the physician, though he gives us a bitter medicine which makes us sick, because it is to make us well; we thank any man who does us a good turn; and shall we not be thankful to God, who makes everything work for good to us? God loves a thankful Christian. Job thanked God when he took all away: "The Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1.21). Many will thank God when He gives; Job thanks Him when He takes away, because he knew that God would work good out of it. We read of saints with harps in their hands (Rev. 14.2), an emblem of praise. We meet many Christians who have tears in their eyes, and complaints in their mouths; but there are few with their harps in their hands, who praise God in affliction. To be thankful in affliction is a work peculiar to a saint. Every bird can sing in spring, but some birds will sing in the dead of winter. Everyone, almost, can be thankful in prosperity, but a true saint can be thankful in adversity. A good Christian will bless God, not only at sun-rise, but at sun-set. Well may we, in the worst that befalls us, have a psalm of thankfulness, because all things work for good. Oh, be much in blessing of God: we will thank Him that doth befriend us." Taken from Banner of Truth's Puritan Paperback, "All Things for Good," by Thomas Watson, pp 62-63. (emphasis added is mine.) |
1Th 5:16-18
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Monday, November 16, 2009
The gospel and waffle fries (part 2 of ...)
PRIDE
I mentioned that I wanted to do a series of posts based on what I was learning. I've been hesitant to do so because what I've been learning is the depths of my sin and the greatness of my Savior. I am discovering I am a man full of pride.
I am full of myself and it is a terrible thing. God is slowly revealing to my reluctant self just how deep the roots of pride go. When I taught Bible I told the kids about the 'unholy trinity': me, myself and I. I am discovering it reigns within me all too often.
I have been proud that I can provide for my family; now every month we rely on the kindness of strangers and friends to pay the bills.
I have been proud of my ability to step from one job to the other rather successfully; now I feel like a 'duck out of water' everyday at work.
I have been proud to 'know' the path laid out before me; now I feel like I have no direction.
I now admit to being aloof too, looking down my nose at the 'older' workers in retail as people who didn't care or didn't apply themselves. I wonder how many think of that when they now see this middle aged guy asking if they want to 'super size' their fries.
My pride extends to my shame in my position; I actually think I deserve better, when in reality I deserve worse.
I'm on a self-discovery tour that I wish I could skip, but with each new layer of revelation I am confronted by more ugliness and then something beautiful happens...worship.
I find myself fighting my emotions, my situation and by Saturday afternoon I'm defeated and exhausted. I walk into work to start another shift and without fail at some point in the evening it dawns on me that Sunday is coming. My burdens seem to ease and when I wake up the next morning there is something different. The day just seems better and then I get to go to church: to sing hymns of God's faithfulness, to hear His word and it is overpowering.
The Lord's Day has become very precious. It is peace in the midst of confusion, satisfaction in the midst of want. It is where this prideful man meets a greater and greater Savior. Salvation is becoming more amazing the more I see my sin.
1 Peter challenges us to "Humble ourselves" and I do wonder if part of what we are going through is just that. Oh how I wish I could truly say that it was all about Christ instead of me. With God's help I am confident that over time He will become greater and me, myself and I will become lesser.
1Peter 5:5-7
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
I mentioned that I wanted to do a series of posts based on what I was learning. I've been hesitant to do so because what I've been learning is the depths of my sin and the greatness of my Savior. I am discovering I am a man full of pride.
I am full of myself and it is a terrible thing. God is slowly revealing to my reluctant self just how deep the roots of pride go. When I taught Bible I told the kids about the 'unholy trinity': me, myself and I. I am discovering it reigns within me all too often.
I have been proud that I can provide for my family; now every month we rely on the kindness of strangers and friends to pay the bills.
I have been proud of my ability to step from one job to the other rather successfully; now I feel like a 'duck out of water' everyday at work.
I have been proud to 'know' the path laid out before me; now I feel like I have no direction.
I now admit to being aloof too, looking down my nose at the 'older' workers in retail as people who didn't care or didn't apply themselves. I wonder how many think of that when they now see this middle aged guy asking if they want to 'super size' their fries.
My pride extends to my shame in my position; I actually think I deserve better, when in reality I deserve worse.
I'm on a self-discovery tour that I wish I could skip, but with each new layer of revelation I am confronted by more ugliness and then something beautiful happens...worship.
I find myself fighting my emotions, my situation and by Saturday afternoon I'm defeated and exhausted. I walk into work to start another shift and without fail at some point in the evening it dawns on me that Sunday is coming. My burdens seem to ease and when I wake up the next morning there is something different. The day just seems better and then I get to go to church: to sing hymns of God's faithfulness, to hear His word and it is overpowering.
The Lord's Day has become very precious. It is peace in the midst of confusion, satisfaction in the midst of want. It is where this prideful man meets a greater and greater Savior. Salvation is becoming more amazing the more I see my sin.
1 Peter challenges us to "Humble ourselves" and I do wonder if part of what we are going through is just that. Oh how I wish I could truly say that it was all about Christ instead of me. With God's help I am confident that over time He will become greater and me, myself and I will become lesser.
1Peter 5:5-7
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Lest We Forget
On November 11 1918 the 'war to end all wars' ended. In Canada individuals will be wearing poppies today as a sign of remembrance. In school we had to memorize "In Flanders fields".
To all who have fallen in the defense of freedom-THANK-YOU! To all who are serving- THANK-YOU! It is one of my regrets that I did not serve.
So I figure the best way to remember this date is one of the best poems I know:
Taken from the Arlington National Cemetery website:
McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:
To all who have fallen in the defense of freedom-THANK-YOU! To all who are serving- THANK-YOU! It is one of my regrets that I did not serve.
So I figure the best way to remember this date is one of the best poems I know:
Taken from the Arlington National Cemetery website:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)
McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:
Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime.
As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men -- Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans -- in the Ypres salient.
It had been an ordeal that he had hardly thought possible. McCrae later wrote of it:
"I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days... Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done."
One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on 2 May 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station, and McCrae had performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.
The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the Canal de l'Yser, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem. The major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry.
In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook.
A young soldier watched him write it. Cyril Allinson, a twenty-two year old sergeant-major, was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up as Allinson approached, then went on writing while the sergeant-major stood there quietly. "His face was very tired but calm as we wrote," Allinson recalled. "He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."
When McCrae finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the young NCO. Allinson was moved by what he read:
"The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."
In fact, it was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Bows I would like to shoot
Well the 2010 bows are out and here are the ones I would like to get an opportunity to try out:
1) Rytera Nemesis- coolest looking bow (even my wife agrees)
2) Martin Pantera- love the company
3) Martin Crossfire- love the company and designed for short draw lengths like me!
4) Hoyt Carbon Matrix- gotta try a $1600 bow
5) Hoyt Turbohawk- gotta try their "economical" bow
6) Bear Assault- great company, cool looking bow
I just wish we had a pro-shop in Columbus that carried these brands so I could try them out (yes, really good pro-shop let you try out the bows).
1) Rytera Nemesis- coolest looking bow (even my wife agrees)
2) Martin Pantera- love the company
3) Martin Crossfire- love the company and designed for short draw lengths like me!
4) Hoyt Carbon Matrix- gotta try a $1600 bow
5) Hoyt Turbohawk- gotta try their "economical" bow
6) Bear Assault- great company, cool looking bow
I just wish we had a pro-shop in Columbus that carried these brands so I could try them out (yes, really good pro-shop let you try out the bows).
Hunting (Public Land Style)
Yesterday I got to go hunting (thanks to my brother-in-law).
I left too late and discovered hunting public land is very different from hunting private property.
The land I get to hunt is 1500 arces (archery only)with only 2 access roads (lots of trails though). I had to haul in my stand and bow (about 30lbs worth) up and down 200ft of elevation differences for about 1/2 mile. I discovered I am out of shape.
When I hunted on private land I could wander the property before hunting season to find deer trails, food sources, select the perfect tree, trim branches to create shooting lanes, hang multiple stands to take wind direction into consideration and then leave them. Public land hunting not so much. You find a spot you think will be good, find a tree you hope has some shooting lanes that are branch free, haul your stand in and out and you hope no one else is there or has been there recently.
Needless to say I saw nothing, but it was just awesome to be up in a tree in a white oak grove looking over a little creek with a huge deer print on the bank! I got to read several chapters in Job and had a decent time of prayer. I later discovered another stand (so I'm not the only one who knows about the area). When noon hit I had to repack my 30 lbs and head out but curiosity got the best of me and I hiked another 1/4 mile in the opposite direction from the car just to see if I could find a more secluded spot.
I think I did, so next Monday it will be a 3/4 mile hike with 30lbs (I'm already dreaming of that "30 point buck, 300 lbs minimum" that will be there waiting for me).
To all of you public land hunters who do this on a weekly basis I'm impressed! I now understand why Lone Wolf Tree Stands are so popular and so expensive (very light weight).
I left too late and discovered hunting public land is very different from hunting private property.
The land I get to hunt is 1500 arces (archery only)with only 2 access roads (lots of trails though). I had to haul in my stand and bow (about 30lbs worth) up and down 200ft of elevation differences for about 1/2 mile. I discovered I am out of shape.
When I hunted on private land I could wander the property before hunting season to find deer trails, food sources, select the perfect tree, trim branches to create shooting lanes, hang multiple stands to take wind direction into consideration and then leave them. Public land hunting not so much. You find a spot you think will be good, find a tree you hope has some shooting lanes that are branch free, haul your stand in and out and you hope no one else is there or has been there recently.
Needless to say I saw nothing, but it was just awesome to be up in a tree in a white oak grove looking over a little creek with a huge deer print on the bank! I got to read several chapters in Job and had a decent time of prayer. I later discovered another stand (so I'm not the only one who knows about the area). When noon hit I had to repack my 30 lbs and head out but curiosity got the best of me and I hiked another 1/4 mile in the opposite direction from the car just to see if I could find a more secluded spot.
I think I did, so next Monday it will be a 3/4 mile hike with 30lbs (I'm already dreaming of that "30 point buck, 300 lbs minimum" that will be there waiting for me).
To all of you public land hunters who do this on a weekly basis I'm impressed! I now understand why Lone Wolf Tree Stands are so popular and so expensive (very light weight).
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thank-God for 6AM and poop!
I am a worrier and a complainer, I usually see the glass half empty.
Hebrews 3 and Philippians 2:14-16 were made for people like me.
Php 2:14-16
Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
So I went to bed at 12:30AM, woke up to a scared toddler at 2:30AM and a wide awake baby at 6AM. Coralie is sick and still sleeping and I have no intention of waking her. I guess, humanly speaking, I've got stuff I can complain about;however, that is not the mood I'm in nor is it reality.
As I was changing my son's massively poopy diaper then helping Mackerdoodle put together a puzzle and now watching her dance with Elmo on Sesame street I can't help but rejoice. For 12 years I prayed, hoped and lost hope for ever doing this. God has given us so much!
I love baby giggles and toddler giggles. I love walking into a room and merely being a hero for being there. I love being the one to run to for protection. All these good things come from one being, God himself (James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change).
Too often I look at my circumstances first before I look at the God who has ordained them. Too often I look at the perceived obstacles and forget the great blessings my faithful God has already given. Too often I get scared and forget to run to my daddy, who no one or thing can contend with.
So I write this and hope it will be a reminder to me when I begin to grumble. The Sovereign Lord of all existence has blessed me greatly and has granted to me the right to call upon His name, not for anything that I have done but because of His beloved Son.
I can see no other fitting way to end this then to quote Paul:
1Timothy 1:15-17
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
AMEN!
Hebrews 3 and Philippians 2:14-16 were made for people like me.
Php 2:14-16
Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
So I went to bed at 12:30AM, woke up to a scared toddler at 2:30AM and a wide awake baby at 6AM. Coralie is sick and still sleeping and I have no intention of waking her. I guess, humanly speaking, I've got stuff I can complain about;however, that is not the mood I'm in nor is it reality.
As I was changing my son's massively poopy diaper then helping Mackerdoodle put together a puzzle and now watching her dance with Elmo on Sesame street I can't help but rejoice. For 12 years I prayed, hoped and lost hope for ever doing this. God has given us so much!
I love baby giggles and toddler giggles. I love walking into a room and merely being a hero for being there. I love being the one to run to for protection. All these good things come from one being, God himself (James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change).
Too often I look at my circumstances first before I look at the God who has ordained them. Too often I look at the perceived obstacles and forget the great blessings my faithful God has already given. Too often I get scared and forget to run to my daddy, who no one or thing can contend with.
So I write this and hope it will be a reminder to me when I begin to grumble. The Sovereign Lord of all existence has blessed me greatly and has granted to me the right to call upon His name, not for anything that I have done but because of His beloved Son.
I can see no other fitting way to end this then to quote Paul:
1Timothy 1:15-17
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
AMEN!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sickness and Frustration
Mackerdoodle is sick. She has thrown up 4 times today and for the first time in a year she is just absolutely lethargic. Our happy, energetic toddler has turned into a silent, sleepy, cuddly bundle of nerves.
Cheesedoodle is apparently worried, he wants to be around his big sister and also wants cuddles. Coralie went out to get pedialyte and came back with a notice that we are denied food stamps.
I'm torn by this one. Do we need this? Yes. Do we want to be on Government assistance? NO!
Why were we denied? We missed an interview that we were not informed about. No letter, no phone call, just a notice that we missed the appointed interview; therefore, no assistance. ARGH!
It is at this point that I struggle. I want to fix it, I want to be out of our current predicament and yet I have no idea where to begin. So I turn to God. I know full well I do not deserve better, nor do I need better;however, I want better. i want health insurance, I want a job to pay all the bills, I want to be comfortable! All very nice but not necessary.
Oh how I want to have unshakable faith to find joy and peace in all circumstances and yet it seems I just run into more obstacles.
Job 1:20-22
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Oh to be granted such a faith! Please pray that God will reveal to us what the next step in this journey is and that He will grant us the faith to trust in Him.
Cheesedoodle is apparently worried, he wants to be around his big sister and also wants cuddles. Coralie went out to get pedialyte and came back with a notice that we are denied food stamps.
I'm torn by this one. Do we need this? Yes. Do we want to be on Government assistance? NO!
Why were we denied? We missed an interview that we were not informed about. No letter, no phone call, just a notice that we missed the appointed interview; therefore, no assistance. ARGH!
It is at this point that I struggle. I want to fix it, I want to be out of our current predicament and yet I have no idea where to begin. So I turn to God. I know full well I do not deserve better, nor do I need better;however, I want better. i want health insurance, I want a job to pay all the bills, I want to be comfortable! All very nice but not necessary.
Oh how I want to have unshakable faith to find joy and peace in all circumstances and yet it seems I just run into more obstacles.
Job 1:20-22
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Oh to be granted such a faith! Please pray that God will reveal to us what the next step in this journey is and that He will grant us the faith to trust in Him.
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