Hopeful Reflections

2010-10-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

Spoke with a man confined to a wheelchair today. Asked him if he felt thankful despite his circumstances, and if so what for. He thought for a minute and named two things: his therapist and his church community. With respect to friends, he told me that his former co-workers had pretty much fallen by the wayside but that his brothers and sisters in Christ were always there for him.

Then I spoke to another man with a very serious, life threatening illness and asked him the same question. His first reasons for thankfulness? His marriage of many years. Second reason? His relationship with the Lord.

Interesting that the first thing that came to both men's minds was a human being. A therapist. A spouse. Very interesting that the very next thing on the list was faith related. A Christian community. And Jesus.

So how would you have answered my question on this Thanksgiving weekend?

Tie a Yellow Ribbon

2010-05-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

A young soldier from our church arrived in Afghanistan this week to begin his tour of duty. He is in an area that the military has nicknamed "the Wild West." For the next six to nine months he will be in harm's way.

Before Michael left, I told him that we would pray for him every day. Unfailingly. So this morning as we sat down to breakfast we mentioned him by name and asked God to protect him not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Then we turned on the news and heard that Canada had suffered its 144th casualty. Private Kevin McKay, 24, from Richmond Hill had been killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) while on foot patrol only two days before his tour of duty was to end. Imagine the impact on Michael and his parents, brother and sister!

In support of our troops, Michael's family and friends are distributing yellow ribbons through our church. Yesterday, we tied our ribbon to our lamp post. It will be a message to our neighbours and a reminder to ourselves that we have sons and daughters in the most dangerous part of the world.

Our troops have courageously placed themselves in a position where there is the constant possibility of making the ultimate sacrifice for freedom's sake. Please join us in tying a yellow ribbon to a tree or post where you live as a visual reminder to always keep them and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

Watch Your Language

2010-05-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Last week it was Gordon Brown, England's prime minister, whose tongue got himself in trouble when he called a senior a "bigoted woman" after she took him to task while he was campaigning. This week's public official who deserves the "foot in mouth" award is Conservative senator Nancy Ruth who stunned international development advocates on Monday when she told them to "shut the f---up" on the issue of making abortion part of Canada's foreign maternal-health strategy. The fact that this women's rights advocate is also a United Church minister made the use of the F-bomb even more shocking.

Words have the power to bless and curse, to heal and hurt. In these two cases, a single incendiary word spoken in the heat of the moment may be enough to harm two solid political careers. In the U.K., for example, they are already calling Brown's gaffe "Bigotgate" and suggesting that he may not recover in his bid to be re-elected. In Canada we will have to see what Nancy Ruth's ultimate consequence will be. For now, Liberal status of women critic Anita Neville is demanding an apology from Senator Ruth for her "profane language."

Actually, Nancy Ruth's linguistic crime was not profanity, but crudity. I certainly don't want to defend her unwise choice of words. We all need to watch our language. But I always find it interesting when people get profanity and crudity confused, and when they get more upset about an Anglo-Saxon gutter word than taking God's name in vain. Neither is fitting, but the latter is definitely worse.

Lord Willing and Health Permitting

2010-04-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Not since 9/11 has the sky been so full of ash as it is now that a volcano has erupted in Iceland. As a result, more than a million travelers have been stranded in airports or forced to postpone their plans. That's because jet engines can choke on the volcanic particles floating towards Scandinavia, Russia and Europe.

It's a necessary reminder that "a person plans her course, but the Lord determines her steps." That's why we should always add, "The Lord willing and health permitting" whenever we talk about the future.

Take my friend, Liz. She had joked that she was really looking forward to getting her first government cheque upon turning 65. She died one day before her birthday, only two weeks after she found out that her pain was not due to gall stones, as everyone thought, but liver cancer. Whatever retirement plans she had with her husband, John, were radically changed. Thankfully, her Christian faith enabled her to say, "I'm OK. I'm going home to my Saviour and Lord!"

The old Latin expression is "Deo volente." It means "God willing." And it's a phrase that unexpected events like volcanic eruptions and fatal diseases remind us to say whenever we make plans or envision our preferred future.

Headline Offends

2010-03-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

Headlines are designed to grab your attention. But Tuesday's Toronto Sun did so in a very offensive way. In huge, capitalized letters it screamed "COP KILLED." Not "Police Officer Slain" or "OPP Constable Shot." Just a crude, paper selling headline lacking any sensitivity for the family of Officer Vu Pham.

It was years ago that I was sensitized by a grieving couple to the hurtful power of language in newspapers. Their adult son, married and an expectant family, was a construction worker who fell six stories to his death from an apartment building. In the London Free Press a journalist described his fatal fall as "spectacular." You can just imagine how painful that poorly chosen adjective was to his parents!

"Cop Killed" is no way to describe the tragic death of a fifteen year veteran of the police force who was a devoted Christian, a faithful husband, a loving father, a responsible son, and a great brother to his adoptive sister who described him as "a wonderful man of God who lived his faith on his sleeve ... and was real."

Life Lessons at the Oval

2010-02-25T06:20:00.000-08:00

Dutch speed skating coach Gerard Kemker's mental mistake cost Sven Kramers the gold metal and a world record in the 10,000 meters. It also cost him a lot of grief and a night's sleep. Some even thought that his miscue - incorrectly telling Sven to switch to the inner lane after the 17th lap - might have cost him his job.

Both the coach and his skater showed tremendous character, however, when they extended grace to each other and agreed to move forward. Understandably, Sven Kramer first had to process his anger and huge disappointment. But the next day when he was asked if he had forgiven his coach, he answered, ""For sure. I'm not a person that's really mad for a long time. That isn't going to help the team. I said to him that we have to go forward for more victories. That's important for me and also for him."

As for the distraught coach, he spent the night after the race writing in his diary until 2 a.m. Only then was he able to fall asleep. The next day, reflecting on what he had written, he turned philosophical about facing people in the Netherlands and said, "Fortunately, I don't have to put up an act. I can just be myself and that's a comfort zone that feels good. I've been a coach now for over 15 years, so I've had some experiences. I didn't have them as deep as this one yet, but they will come in handy."

What an awesome way to process a bad experience and turn it into a life lesson instead!

Sound Judgment and a Sweet Sleep

2010-02-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

Exercising sound judgment lets you sleep sweetly and unafraid (Proverbs 4:21-24). But what does it take to make wise, discerning judgment calls?

A relationship with Jesus is key, because he re-orients us in God's good direction. Although we are inclined to be self-serving, Jesus reminds us to love God with our everything and to love our neighbours the way we love ourselves. The person who puts God and others first will make better judgments than the person motivated by self-advancement.

It also helps to have a process to follow when confronted with choices and decisions that must be made. A tool called F.O.C.U.S. has been especially beneficial to me when making snap judgments about small things like dressing appropriately for the weather or the occasion or wrestling with bigger decisions like buying a house or accepting a call to a church. In this helpful acronym, "F" stands for Facts, "O" stands for Options, "C" stands for Consequences, "U" stands for Understanding, and "S" stands for Solution.

A relationship with Christ and a process that helps you FOCUS should help with the one thing that everybody craves and needs ... a good night's sleep.

Don't Be Someone Who Does Nothing

2010-01-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

In Turning Angel, a novel by Greg Iles, one of the characters observes "The person who does nothing in a crisis is as bad as the one who caused it." How true that is. That's why the day after the earthquake in Haiti, our church immediately scheduled an emergency offering for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), an agency which has worked in Haiti for 30 years and is now helping survivors of the earthquake. That's why Hope Fellowship will be making its auditorium available for a benefit concert for Haiti by area musicians on Sunday evening, January 31. We can't do nothing; we must do something.

The millions of dollars now pouring in sounds like a lot, perhaps giving you the impression that your donation is hardly needed. But today's Globe and Mail says that $10 BILLION will be needed to rebuild the country. That's why we should not hesitate to donate.

So give something, so that it can not be said of you that you did nothing. And give with a view to the future needs of this brutalized country which will be there long after the media's attention has shifted elsewhere.

Living Wisely in 2010

2009-12-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

In 2009, some people did some really dumb things. A prime example is the Balloon Boy caper involving two "Reality Show Wannabe" parents who coached their three children to lie to the authorities and the media while staging a reckless stunt.

We need to be careful about pointing fingers, however, because all of us engaged in various kinds of foolishness, too, from spending money we didn't have to saying things that we'd love to take back. God only knows (and I use this expression deliberately) the scandalous things that we have thought and done that, but for the grace of God, could have gotten us into big trouble in the last twelve months.

What all of us need is a dose of common sense and a refresher course in biblical wisdom. To that end, in 2010, I'll be preaching through the book of Proverbs about "Living Wisely". If this appeals to you, listen in at "hopefellowship.ca".

Wisdom, to quote Norman Cousins, "is the anticipation of consequences". And I wish you a new year and decade characterized by wise choices that anticipate joy, peace and glory to God.

Solicitation Letters

2009-12-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

Year end solicitation letters have been piling up in our home and creating stress in us. Is it just my imagination, or are there more than ever this year? They certainly have an unusually urgent tone, since most Christian agencies have had to make drastic cuts due to reduced giving during the recession.

This morning over breakfast we put all the letters on the table and ruthlessly decided who we would support and who we would not. It would have been nice to say yes to everyone, but our approach is to give our money only to those causes that we are informed about and interested in.

We also decided which items we would donate from the Christmas Giving Guide that the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee has put out. This week we'll let my parents know that in their name a latrine will be donated to a community in Cambodia and a goat to a Third World family.

I feel lighter now that we've made our year end "giving" decisions. Not only is it more blessed to give than to receive, it is also a relief to be done with that imposing pile of donation requests.

Tiger In The Woods

2009-12-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

Tiger Woods has asked for privacy to deal with his personal problems. The media and the public, however, have not granted his request. Every movement between his home and the hospital is being scrutinized. Every word on his website is being analyzed. And news program and current affairs magazines are intent on keeping viewers tantalized.

His desire for privacy is understandable. The allegations of multiple affairs have tarnished his squeeky clean image and I'm sure that he is both embarrassed and fearful. But the best defense in a situation like this is to be pro-active, like Late Show host David Letterman who confessed on his show to having sex with employees and NBA All-Star Charles Barkley who went public with his gambling problem.

It was Jesus who said, "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known." Since that's the case, you're always better off stepping up with the truth instead of letting others step all over you with whatever dirt they dig up. That's not just true for Tiger but also for the rest of us who struggle with our own temptations.

Right now, Tiger is in the woods. I hope he uses the "truth club" and gets back in the game as a "flawed but real" hero who everyone can respect and support as he seeks help.

World AIDS Day

2009-12-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

AIDS is an epidemic that some Christians have dismissed as a disease that only infects the gay population. Some have gone so far as to suggest that anyone who gets AIDS is being punished directly by God for immoral sexual behaviour. But missionary doctors and nurses, as well as relief workers, tell us that there are many who are AIDS victims because of sexual abuse or sexual ignorance. Their hearts bleed for these victims and their strategy is simply to love each patient and to educate them about prevention.

I'm glad that my denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, has taken a very compassionate stand on this issue. Too often, the church is known only for what it is against, rather than what it is for. But in places like Africa where 12 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee is pro-actively providing home based care programs for AIDS sufferers, HIV/AIDS education and values formation in schools, and programs that help community leaders provide pastoral care, counseling and funding for medications and clinics. This ministry of the Christian Reformed Church is called Embrace AIDS.

In Jesus' day it was lepers who were rejected and isolated by the community. Today's lepers are the world's AIDS victims, of whom there are now 33 million. Our thoughts and feelings about these infected persons should reflect the loving way Jesus dealt with those who were labeled "unclean" two thousand years ago.

A November to Remember

2009-11-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

I can't remember a November this warm. What a gift after the cool, wet summer that we had this year. But should we be thankful or alarmed? If it's just one of those interesting blips in the weather pattern, great. But if it's an example of global warming, then we should be concerned.

Global warming is one of those topics where there's a lot of disagreement. Several years ago, for example, National Geographic devoted a whole issue to it. The editor expected many readers to appreciate the articles. He was also prepared to have some subscribers cancel their subscriptions because they believe that global warming is a bunch of nonsense. Despite the possibility of a negative response, he pushed ahead because he felt that carbon dioxide and other air pollution warming our atmosphere is one of the biggest threats to our planet today.

Wherever you stand on the issue, two things are clear. God is sovereign and in control in every season, whether we're experiencing record highs or lows. And he has assigned us to be the earth's earthkeepers and care takers. That's why an exceptionally warm month like November should prompt us not only to give thanks for a break in our heating bills but also to examine our lifestyles with a view to protecting His beautiful world from harm.

Less Judgment; More Grace

2009-11-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

Tennis great Andre Agassiz has published his autobiography, Open, in which he admits that he wore a hairweave early on in his career, took crystal meth more times than he can remember during one year, and always hated tennis. These are shocking admissions from one of the most charismatic payers of all time and the only male singles player to achieve a Career Golden Slam ( Wimbledon, U.S Open, Australian Open, French Open and a Gold Olympic medal).
Reaction to his drug use was swift and strong, especially from Martina Navratilova who said, “Shocking. Not as much shock that he did it as shock he lied about it and didn’t own up to it. Do you take away a title he wouldn’t have won if he had been suspended?”
To his credit, he is telling the truth now. On Sixty Minutes (Nov. 8, 2009) he asked for grace. I hope he gets it not only from his colleagues but the rest of us. Everybody could use a little less judgment and a little more grace, especially when a person remorsefully 'fesses up.

Infection Control

2009-11-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

We introduced the fist bump in church last Sunday as an alternative to hand-shaking. It seemed like a wise, pro-active move in light of the swine flu fears that are sweeping the nation. Reaction was mixed. Half of the folks continued to shake hands while others had fun touching knuckles or elbowing each other. Privately, several people told me that I was over-reacting to fears stirred up by the media. Others let me know that they thought it was a good way to reassure people who might otherwise stay away from church.
In addition to this new protocol, hand sanitizer bottles can now be found throughout the building and sanitizer dispensers will be attached in various locations once our order arrives. Hand washing instructions have also been placed by every sink.
All of this makes me feel linked to Old Testament times when the Jewish priests functioned not only as spiritual leaders but also as infection control staff. While I'm not willing or able to declare who is and who is not "unclean", I am certainly supportive of our medical community's efforts to mobilize against the H1N1 virus.
My next infection control challenge is to encourage people to sneeze into their sleeves instead of their greeting hand. Now that's "unclean" behaviour that ranks right up there with the curious list of unclean things and practices that you can find in the books of Moses.

Redeeming Halloween

2009-10-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

Halloween has turned into a very ghoulish event with more and more cemeteries, skeletons and grinning skulls showing up on people's lawns each year. I have always liked the dressing up and candy collecting parts of this annual event, but I can't stand the macabre parts. In fact, I wonder what parents who are usually so protective of their children are thinking when they expose them to hawk-nosed witches, groaning corpses in caskets and haunted houses filled with ghosts. Mocking evil and death may be our way of turning up our noses at the Grim Reaper, but it is hardly conducive to a child's good sleep.
Thankfully, kids have a way of focusing on the costumes and the treats, making it a good experience over all. In the meantime, others have found ways to redeem the night so that good still trumps evil.
Among those redeeming Halloween are the teenagers from various church youth groups in the area who will be out collecting food for the local foodbanks. When you see them coming to the door, trick or treating for hope, receive them with respect and give them some groceries. In so doing, on the most ghoulish night of the year, you can, in the words of a Bruce Cockburn song, help them "kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight."

Close Call

2009-10-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

The best laid plans of mice and men can quickly go awry, as Robert Burns said in his poetic apology to a field mouse after overturning her nest while plowing a field. Last night our lives almost went terribly awry when the pickup truck we were following lost a ladder. The truck had just passed a slow car and sped away, putting a lot of distance between himself and following traffic. Then we also passed, moved back into our lane, and suddenly saw ten feet of aluminum lying on the edge of the pavement, a disaster waiting to happen. Had we still been following the truck more closely, we would surely have been hit! Thankfully, the ladder had fallen parallel to the shoulder of the road, rather than sideways across the highway and we easily skirted it while the pickup driver parked and waited to retrieve it.
Some might say that we were lucky. I prefer to say that we experienced God's provision and protection and that He had other plans for us.
I encourage you to also live your life with an open-eyed awareness of His provision, protection and good plans for you.

Still Thankful

2009-10-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently, it's a rare thing for everyone to get along in a family. But by some miracle, whenever my siblings and all of our spouses get together, we have a fabulous time. That's ten adults, each a leader in his or her own right, who can be together for a week without one person ruining it for everybody else.
For us, it begins with liking each other. And it continues with all of us accepting each other, quirks and all.
Perhaps the real key to our compatibility is another rarety: all ten of us love Jesus and are actively involved in a local church. All of our parents get a lot of credit for modeling joyful commitment to each other and to the Lord. But God gets all the glory for five couples in their fifties who enjoy each other's company and still have a living faith despite life's ups and downs.
A family wedding last weekend brought us together. And once again we talked non-stop and wished we could spend still more time with each other. That's why, despite feelings of sadness about their departure, I'm still thankful four days after the Thanksgiving weekend.

There But For the Grace of God Go We

2009-10-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

The news that David Dewees, the Grade Ten teacher from Toronto accused of sexual luring over the internet, committed suicide over the weekend is devastating not only to his students and colleagues, but to all of us. Such a desperate act! We can only imagine this young teacher's agony as he made his way to the subway station and placed himself before an approaching train. We can only imagine the confusion and pain of every young person he ever taught at school or led at Camp Pioneer. We can only imagine the horror and sorrow of his parents and family.
At times like this we must rely on God's grace and remember that Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. This includes Christians who struggle with double lives or face the future without hope.
If the charges against him are proven to be true, we will need to pray for any and all the victims of his alleged sexual abuse. In the meantime, our prayers are with his extended family and all the kids who experienced him as a wonderful role model.
As we sort out our own feelings, let's be quick to admit "There but for the grace of God go I" and examine our own lives for anything that would hurt others and harm the cause of Christ.

A Devastating Week

2009-10-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a devastating week for the Christian faith. The Catholic bishop who brokered a $13 million dollar settlement with the sexual abuse victims of the Mount Cashel orphanage in the Maritimes has allegedly been caught with kiddie porn on his laptop. A 32 year old Toronto teacher has been charged with sexually luring two teenagers that he met while working as a camp counselor at Camp Pioneer, a Christian camp in Huntsville. Not unexpectedly, many people are more suspicious than ever about anything related to the church and to Christianity.
I hope that these two men will get the help that they need, that their alleged victims will find healing and that the cause of Christ will not be harmed. I also pray that Christians everywhere, including all of us at Hope Fellowship, will take stock of our personal and private lives and make daily choices that lead us closer to the Lord, instead of farther away. This bishop and this teacher are not the only ones struggling with sin; their exposure and the devastating aftermath may be just the wake up call that many of us need with respect to our own vices, temptations and deceits.

Fear or Faith

2009-03-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

Fear keeps driving the world in a negative, downward direction. It's contagious and making even believers afraid of the future. Will I have a job next week? Will I be able to give next month? When will I become one of the layoff statistics? For times like this, faith is the only antidote. We have to trust that the Lord will give us our daily bread and more. We have to relax in God's identity as "Jehovah Jireh", the one who will provide in even the most desperate circumstances. What is faith for, if not for a time like this! As Christians this is an opportune time to let our neighbours and colleagues see what it means to trust in God and to give all of our cares, worries and fears over to him. Rooseveld was right when he said, "The only thing to fear is fear itself." And the apostle Paul had it even more right when he said, "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything."

Watching the snow fall

2009-01-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

Authentic worship is not possible unless we recover three "in's". First, we need to be "in awe " of God. As I watch the snow fall through my window, I realize that the number of flakes that fall in one minute on the tiny patch of the world that I can see is more than the world's biggest number. Multiply that by all of the snowflakes that have fallen on the world since time began. Then consider that each snowflake is different. If that doesn't fill you with awe for God, I don't know what will. I am definitely "in awe " of God today, and I urge you to recover your awe for him so that you will see the glory of the Lord filling your life. I'll tackle the other two "in's" in my next two blogs.

Winter Wedding

2008-12-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

Whiteouts and iced-up wiper blades could not prevent us from reaching Niagara On the Lake where a young couple and their twenty guests gathered in a small Anglican Church for a winter wedding. As the gale winds battered the church, we listened to the bride and groom say their vows. The groom's family, a very musical family, sang a blessing to them. Then we formed a circle around them, laid our hands on them, and offered up sentence prayers to God. On the table, the license and Christ Church's Marriage Registry lay open, all the signatures properly and legally inscribed. The flame of the unity candle flickered slightly in the breeze, not so much from the strong winds outside as from the prayers we breathed up to the One who came up with the idea of two people becoming one. How good is this idea? Thousands of years and millions of weddings later, it still has the power to draw people together in the worst conditions to hear and see the two best things that a couple can exchange: a promise for life and a kiss to seal their commitment.

2008-12-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

We're a one car family. It works because I try to use my bicycle as much as possible. Last week, however, I wiped out on my bike. I didn't notice that the road was covered with a thin sheen of ice and when I turned into my first corner I slammed to the ground. It took my breath away and messed up my chain and my gears. It took me almost two hours to set my bike up again that night, and I've put it away until next spring.
But we're still a one car family, so how would I get to work on the days that Marja needs it to get to her job? I decided to walk. It 's 3.7 kilometres to the church and now I know that it takes just under thirty-three minutes. Cycling this distance, by the way, only takes nine minutes. But I've discovered that walking this distance is great. I see things I haven't seen before and I have time to think. And what I thought about this morning was how excited I was to come to the office and write a sermon about the simplest but most important message that we have for the world, that Jesus is the Son of God and that in Him we have eternal life and the power to overcome whatever the world throws at us (I John 5:1-13). A simple message birthed while engaged in the simplest of human activities: walking!

2008-11-25T12:23:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, after doing some teaching on prayer and anointing with oil, I invited people to experience this after the service. Of the half dozen people who came forward for prayer, four welcomed me to use oil. So I did, tracing a cross on their foreheads and on the back of each hand before praying with them. It turned out to be a powerful sensual experience for them and for myself as the oil's rich aroma enveloped us while we talked to God. I don't believe that the oil itself has any magic or miraculous properties. But knowing how important olive oil was for the Israelites who used oil to light their homes, prepare their food, salve their wounds and anoint their priests, I can see why James encouraged its use when praying for those who are sick. Psalm 133's lush oil-based metaphor for unity - "it is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard" - only confirms for me that oil is a very meaningful symbol for God's blessing and presence that I will use more in our prayer ministry at Hope Fellowship.

2008-11-19T06:10:00.000-08:00

Today's reading from James talks about taming the tongue. He compared our tongue to a small spark that can set a whole forest on fire. It made me think about the devastating fires in California that were apparently set accidentally by a group of students partying on an abandoned site in the woods. They thought they had doused their campfire! Now they have to live forever with the consequences of their carelessness. Thinking about this and the day that lies before us, I will ask God to help me control my tongue, not only in what I say to others but also what I write in e-mails and articles. I will pray even more urgently for God's help when I feel frustrated or on the defensive, because I know that those are the times when I am tempted to say something that I will regret later. Join me today in being quick to listen and slow to speak so that we won't have to put out any fires caused by a thoughtless or angry word.

Friday, November 14, 2008

2008-11-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

Fifty-eight years is a long time to be married. That's the length of time my parents are celebrating today. Pretty amazing, isn't it! In all that time they have been through a lot - pastoring seven churches, raising five kids, surviving heart problems and cancer. Through it all their love for each other and their trust in God has remained strong. For me, they exemplify what it means to "fix our eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2), something I've seen them do for the fifty-seven years that I've been their son.
I've got my eyes fixed on lots of things, but I need to remind myself that any one of them can get me seriously off track if I don't put Jesus first. Today, on my parents' anniversary, I feel challenged to look at Jesus before my eyes grow big about something that, ultimately, is only a distraction and a hindrance that prevents me from "running with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1)