Can You Give Me A Hand

You ever feel like you won the lottery? You know, won a million dollars? Or as thirteen people on the thirteenth floor of a bank, hit fifty million? Sometimes I feel like that. We all go through life, enjoying the journey. But every once in a while, life hands you a lottery ticket stub and you do the dance.
Well, that has happened to me so many times. But one that really helps is the one that arrives when you realize you can’t do it yourself any more and you need some help. We have that with our garden. Realize that I am not the most organized person on the ship. But I do pretty well. Which means there doesn’t seem to be enough time to do all the yard work that needs to be done.
A long time ago I asked the girls to help with our small yard. Being they were teens, you know what the answer was. Help with the snow? “But it’s cold out there.” My answer would probably have been the same as yours, “Forget it, I’ll do it myself.” Time changes and now, guess who is doing the work at their own home? And guess what their children are saying to them on occasion?
Well, a number of years ago, I hit the jackpot. There was a family with four boys we knew and I thought I would help them with some spending money if they would come over and do some yard work for me. Well, three out of the four came and they did what most teens do, only what they needed to do. It wasn’t long until two of the three stopped coming. One stayed. He not only stayed but he made money and worked all summer. In the course of that year, he did more then just yard work. He listened and learned. He did whatever he was asked and never complained about the work, being tired, getting dirty, or the hours.
Over these last number of years, I pray that coming over, has helped him along in becoming a man of integrity. He shows when he says, gets right to work and does the job, not only to the best of his ability, but he never forgets what he has learned.
Well, I hit the lottery again this year. Last week he emailed to say, school is almost done and could I use some help!! I wrote back right away and said, “NO.” No, I didn’t. I wrote back and said, come on over when you have time. A couple of months ago, he competed in a city wide woodworking competition. He came third. It would be nice to know if it was due to something he learned from me.
Do you know what else? It would be nice to have more like him at church. What’s your answer when God says, “Can you give me a hand?”
Something to think about
Rob

Put That Away!

Sometimes I think that I do things opposite to what others do. Last week was the holiday and it was time for most people to get out and do yard work. Not me. I decided it was time to start cleaning up all the things that have been gathering on my, to do list all winter. If the truth were known, the list probably had birthed three years ago. But we won’t go there.
It all started with something I had put down on the counter during the previous week. I had been in too much of a hurry to put it away and now that I noticed it, it was time.
But you know what happens don’t you? One thing leads to another to another to another and before I knew it, I was on to something I had never planned on. Half the day was gone and I still had not put it away. At that point I made a pact with myself, being that no one else would understand, to deal with one thing at a time. Something about the plans of mice and men. But I set the course and started out. Before I knew it, almost as if I was tripped up on the first step, I found there was no longer any room in the drawer to put this ‘thing’. Which lead to the next job, now don’t you be laughing at me. I was determined to do this first thing first. So, what did I do? I took the drawer out of the desk and put it on the counter I had taken the item from and started going through all the ‘stuff’ so I could clear space.
Yes, I know, you figured it out. Found things I had been looking for, for a long time. Which meant they needed to be put away as well and that meant . . . Yes, I was off of number one. It took two hours to sort through and clean out, or is that clear out the drawer so the things that should be in there were in there and the things that shouldn’t be there were ready to go find their real home. But, I HAD put it away! Now, what do I do with the fifty things that are on the counter, where only one lay six hours before? With that thought, I grabbed a box and in it they went.
With a short lived smile, I sat at my desk feeling good about getting the one thing done and out of the way, I was reminded of the words of Paul, “One thing I do, forgetting what is behind, I press on . . . So many things in life get in the way of us doing the one thing God placed us in this world to accomplish. He has called us to be like Christ. Is life getting in the way? Are there too many things that sidetrack you? Remember Paul’s words, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” How are you doing on getting the one thing done?
Something to think about
Rob

When my children were small, right from the get go, I told them that I could take most anything except lying. They could break the best crystal goblet, and they did, and I forgave them. They could crash the car, and they did, and I forgave that. But whatever you do, don’t, I say it again, Don’t Lie to Me! And they did. But, to their credit, not often. Oh, yes, I forgave them. Well almost.
Just over a year ago, a new reality program came on tv. Don’t know how long it lasted but . . . a contestant was asked a number of incrimination questions to which he or she would have to answer yes or no. All this while strapped to a lie detector. If you knew about it or watched while passing, you will remember it revealed too many things those people never wanted to tell. I believed some of them would be headed for divorce court within hours.
All of us have secrets don't we? All of us have things in our lives and our past we wish no one will ever find out. As in the show, we also have little white lies we tell. You know the ones, “I don’t mind Aunt Bessie’s smothering hugs.” It’s interesting to hear the way they are convicted of these lies. The host of the show would say, “Deception.” I looked up the definition just to have it clear in my mind. Deception is the act of convincing another person to believe information that is not true, or not the whole truth as in certain types of half-truths.
This got me to thinking. I wonder if people tell the truth about what they believe to be true. Oh, there are easy questions. “Do you believe that going to church does something positive for you?” Or, how about, “Can you love everyone?” and that is against, “Do you love everyone at church?” You answer that one and get deception and you can have people showing up on Sunday and asking if they are the one you can’t love. As if they didn’t know before hand.
Here is something else I thought about. What would the detector tell us if say, Billy Graham or Mother Teresa was to take that test? What would it tell us when they would be asked, “Is Jesus Christ the Son of the living God?” What about answering the questions, “Do you believe that Christ died, rose and stands before God in your place paying the punishment for your sins?” And what about, “Is the bible true in its original autographs and that it is there to lead us in moral truth and guidance for all areas of life?” I not only believe they would answer yes to these questions but the host would say, "TRUE!"
But more importantly, what would the test tell us about you and me and what you believe? What would it say about what you hold true in your heart? Would you be convicted of being a Christ follower by the evidence and . . .
Something to think about.
Rob

Can you do better?

As a child, I heard this line more times then enough. My teacher, Miss Hearn, had a habit of saying to me, “Try your best.” The truth, I had not done my best and I knew it. I might have deceived myself to thinking I had. What was she implying? What was she telling me or seeing in me? Had I done my best? More then once I would take it back and make a feeble effort and try some more. Well, most of the time. Other times I would say yes just to get it done and over with.
I remember reading of someone being asked to do some writing and when they handed it over, they were asked, “Is this the best you can do?” With that they took it back and reworked it. Again they handed it over only to hear, “Is this the best you can do?” Again they took it back and reworked it. A third time they handed it over and heard the same words. This time they said they believed it was the best they could do. With that the person read what was handed to him.
The interesting part of this is, it needs to matter more to us then to anyone else. Or so I think. Any one of us can do something but only we know when it’s the best. And not just when we think we need to. Back to my school years. Sometimes, as I said, I just wanted to get it done. At other times it was a competition. We wanted to do better then everyone else. I remember doing the best I could, knowing I could possibly be the best. This didn’t happen often and when it did, I was proud of what I had done. I learned something from this. When I was the one to have the last word on how good or poor it was, or when I wanted to impress someone, then it mattered.
When I was in my first year of grade six, yes, I repeated six, I didn’t want to impress anyone. Not even myself. It was a year of doing nothing and succeeding. A year of going through the motions and handing in my class projects that had no connection to what I was capable of. But my teacher would continue to say, “Try your best.” At that moment, close to the end of the year, I finally got it. She knew more of what was in me then I did.
When do we do better, really better? Only when we take pride in ourselves and what we can accomplish. Just after the end of that year my Sunday School teacher talked to us and said something that changed me forever. What he said was, God doesn’t make junk. It was the first time I thought of it in relations to me. God made me and I am not junk and God knows what is in us when we don’t ourselves. If so, then He has put within us all the abilities to do an excellent job at anything we do. It’s also true for me and true for you.
Let’s be practical. We sing, “Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you.” If that is aimed at God, and we work on our relationship with Him, does He have to say the same thing to us? Is that the best you can do? Jesus did the best for us. Maybe what we really need to hear is, “Good and faithful servant, come into your rest.”
Something to think about.
Rob