Archive for March, 2006
March 31st, 2006
Hello Dear ones!
Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement over the last week. It’s been a tremendous trial, a “priviledge” to Trust God through. From last Friday morning @ 1am through today, what an adventure. Hopefully, if you are adding to your family anytime in the future, or anticipating a drastic change in your life, your experience is less a rollercoater of ups and downs then up again. Or, as i dwell on that, I pray you do experience a trial to Trust Him more through. Please understand me here. I thought at first how mean-spirited it seemed to hear my father-in-law tell us he was praying for trials in our relationship. But when it gets down to it, trials are there to shape us into a better instrument for God to use as He pleases in the world. God yearns for us to be in fellowship with Him, it’s what He created us for, and to think our will concerning our circumstances should take precedence over what He has in store for us is outrageous. As my prior few posts regarding Trusting and Obeying Him has stated, it’s about HIM, not us, and what HE wants for us, not based at anytime on how we feel. Of course I’m not purposefully asking that He let trials and struggles into your life simply for the pain and horror of it, but however faint we may hope they are, they should be opportunity for us to CLING to HIM and His promises to us. He loves us more than we could ever understand, and that’s something we need to understand.
“What can we say about such wonderful things as these?
If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Since God did not spare even his own Son
but gave him up for us all,
won’t God, who gave us Christ,
also give us everything else?
Romans 8:31-32
Gosh it’s great to be a dad. What a wonderful gift, this new life to serve and raise up to understand God’s purposes for him, my sweet Asher James.
March 29th, 2006
sleeping with his Poppa!
Born 3/25/06 @ 7:09am, 8lbs, 2oz. 20.5″
March 20th, 2006
With all the stuff that we experience, problems we face, and victories that seem unattainable, it’s not easy sometimes to trust God. There are some really tough things that we must work through, that seem to make no sense at all (as to why “it” happened), and “when” it will get better. Not unlike yourself, I’ve experienced some killer ordeals, and have also in those trials found it hard to trust God at times. But from those experiences I can say with absolute sincerity trusting God is worth it. I don’t want to or mean to get flip about it, I know it’s hard. Life is hard-but the reward to a life of Faithfullness is worth it, it pays dividends well ahead of our eternity with Christ. That means taking the hard with the good, and understanding His purpose in events He allows to happen are Good and for our “better-ment”. (a related post sometime in the future will discuss the theory I hold on the Curses and Blessing cycle, as evidenced in Romans.)
As I’ve read thus far what I’ve written, I feel it’s pertinant to remind us HE GAVE US HIS SON, how can we forget how much He loves us? I’m sure we all have things in our past that we’ve dealt with that showed us the benefit of trusting Him. Profound now my circumstances: I’m trusting Him to bring Mini-Dixon (my/our first child) soon as a healthy and happy (ultimately) child of God, and that Jessica will go through her first labor-experience without worse-case-scenario ever coming close to reality. This is something my past trials have “geared”me up for as I have the faith He is not going to cause/allow anything bad to happen; yet in that, if He does allow something to happen that is not what we’re hoping for I can trust He’s doing something with it, for my closer-growth with Him. Everything has a Purpose, Pastor Warren’s spelled it out pretty clearly in his book Purpose Driven Life and related texts.
There is ample scripture to support Trusting HIM, I’ll link it in another post. For now, one verse on this subject:
“Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you at the proper time,
casting all your anxiety upon Him,
because He cares for you.”
~1st Peter 5:6-7
“Trust and Obey,
for there’s no other way
to be Happy in Jesus…”
~e
March 20th, 2006
This weekend our friends Sara and Justin gave a presentation on their recent missionary trip to the Far East. They had spent the last 2 years “somewhere” over there, and talked about what their core-mission was while there: teaching obedience to God’s Word.
As I’ve spent the last day-or-so pondering this, I’ve found it interesting the simple obedience idea that gets fogged-over or forgotton as we go about our lives, supposedly “doing His work”, and fail to obey Scripture in even the littlest of things. Are we truthful all the time? Are we honest and upright when it comes to office-supplies that make it home with us “cause they won’t miss them”? The fact we’re driving over the speed-limit far more often than we should, those cameras in the school-zones be darned? I am not above reproach here, as I’m speaking from my own past and present experiences. If you’re convicted, great, what are you going to do about it? Get mad and post a harsh reply? I’d rather you ask for His strength and wisdom as you go about your day, and ask for forgiveness as you confess the error of your ways and seek to avoid temptation by His power.
The “stickler” for me as I dwell on this obedience topic, is: what am I doing that supports my response to Jesus’ commission of me, His ambassador to my circle of influence? Am I showing love to all, praying for my enemies, looking for His hand at work so that I may join Him and be His voice?
March 14th, 2006
Wow, talk about taking a breather. Didn’t mean to let you, my faithful-few, go without something new from me. I’ve been in a bit of a slump, and haven’t been as up-to-speed in a variety of categories that are more weighty than this measly blog. So I know it’s not a big deal to most, but when I surf to blogs I usually give a few minutes each day and find nothing new, it bugs. More often than not it’s a bugger that I’ve nothing to read new that will keep me from doing what I should be doing.)
Bloody heck I say.
~E
March 7th, 2006
Hello, happily, but not fully contented I sit here in my hotel room. I’ve dinner to attend to a mere 100yds away by foot, and am pleasently suprised to find a Cat-5 cable ready for my laptop. 100mbps is very-nice, and seem’s I’m the only one using it as my pages are loading whip-smart fast. Fully contented would be having my sweet wife along, or not being away at all. With our first child due in 3 weeks or so, I’m trying to get all my travel out of the way prior. On the road like crazy lately, Portales last Friday/Saturday, this weeks trip, then next week to the opposite corner of my territory.
This week’s trip started yesterday in Albq. around noon on this trip to the NW portion of my territory. Yesterday met with one account @4pm, then got checked in and walked up to Steamworks for dinner. Durango is a neat little town, and my meal last night was phenom! Cajun Penne Pasta with a Pint of Backside Stout. Nice nitrogen smooth to cool off the way-cajun spicy fud. Wish I had my camera with me to show you how delicious it looked. This morning was French toast at Carver’s Brewing. Yes, another brewery, but they serve a fine breakfast sans alcohol, and after walking up and down the downtown area of Durango my last trip here, I knew it was the place to get great b-fast grinds prior to a full day of adventure. After that, met with a few accounts today, made some breakthrough negotiations, and drove my Vanna over Wolf Creek Pass. Stopped to take some pictures, so eventually you can see how beautiful it was. If you don’t ever get up here, or have yet to, you really should. It’s so wonderfully beautiful. You could either cruise up 550 to Durango, then across hwy 160 East up and over the pass, then drop down into South Fork, Monte Vista, then Alamosa. Of course if you’d rather hit it from I-25, Just follow hwy 160 West from Walsenburg, CO.
Praise God I’m safe at my hotel, and now that I’m stationary I’m feeling really tired. It’s hit: the drive, the appointments, the beauty of this more-favored sub-territory of mine. I’m currently listening to an Agatha Christie Mystery, as I drive after listening to Peretti’s Visitation. Eventually I’ll listen to the rest of the Chronicles, (I’ve the Dawn Treader next, after enjoying Prince Caspian), but for now am content with the fine offerings I have on loan from my local library. Books on CD are a real blessing on long drives, as you can allow your imagination to take flight while concentrating on the really important part, driving. Man I’m tired! Here’s the dinnerspot, I’m off to it so I can get me some “shut-eye” a tad earlier than last night. Yaaah! and tomorrow Homeward!
