Getting Back To It.

Just one week to go! Yes you read that right. One week to go and… oh you need to be told? In one week we will be in what is affectionately called, our normal every day schedules. And yes, that means the children will all be shuffling off to school. They will all have new classes, new grades, and in most cases a new teacher. Some children are not looking forward to that dreaded day of SEPT 3, but it will come none the less. Parents, and in some cases, grandparents will be ready for it to arrive. Some think of Freedom 55 but this freedom comes every year at the same time. None too soon for some I might add.

Everyone has had opportunity this summer to take time to relax. To kick back if you prefer. Families go on vacation, take a few day trips and just have quality time together. But didn’t I tell you before the summer started that you needed to plan your summer. How did the plan work out?

This week is the time where we prepare our children and ourselves for a new stage in life. While the children have their new start so do we. Years and years ago we came up with a phrase that is still applicable to each and every one of us today. We call it, Life Long Learning. We have had a break, now it’s time to learn more and grow in our minds, hearts and some cases, our bodies.

This Life Long Learning isn’t restricted to job or occupation. It also applies to your spiritual journey. We are all on a spiritual journey. And just so you know, we are all at different levels and stages in this journey. We are learning more and more of what it means to be a Christ Follower. Not only that but we need to be growing in our faith and continuing to deepen our understanding and relationship with the Jesus we are following.

When you send the children off to school this Sept, don’t just let them learn on their own.  It’s time to pick up your bible and read about Jesus & Lazarus, the women at the well, Peter in the morning after a night of poor fishing. When you do, look for yourself in those pages, in those stories, in those bible people. You are there, and so am I. Now ask yourself, what am I learning and what do you see and learn from it? And maybe even share it with the family and you can grow together.

Something to think about

Rob

Growing Every Day

There is just no easy way to get to where you want to go. When I was young, one of the comedians of my day had a routine that ended with, “You can’t get there from here.” Ok, it was funny back then. We are not talking here about getting from one physical place to another. I will talk about getting from where we are in life to where we would like to be in life. It can read this way; there is no easy way to get rich, apart from winning the lottery.  Oh, if you start rich, you can learn how to stay rich, but starting out poor, not going to happen easily. Even the rich and famous went through lots of stuff to get where they are. Go to Wikipedia and check many of them out in their bio's. Many started humbly and worked their way up.

Doctors didn't go to med school being told, this is going to be so easy, you will be done before you know it.  Not going to happen. There are lots of long days and short nights for longer than you want to know.  They practise their craft until they get it down right.  Hey, it took me ten years of school to become a minister. And that was after high school. With each place in life that we ascribe to, there are hours, and years needed to perfect our craft so we can get to where we want to be, or should I say, to where God is leading us.

Even a carpenter can't just pick up a hammer and electric saw and start building a house. Just ask Jesus, he knows. You can watch the want-a-be on one of those DIY shows or Brian Baeumler’s show where people have taken ten years to do a renovation.  It's interesting to watch people try things for the first time thinking, "No problem, I can do this." Which leads us back to the beginning, to become rich and famous, a doctor, nurse, nuclear physicist, a Para-medic, or whatever, all take time to learn, grow and become.  

It's the same with being a Christ Follower. You may have made the first step in accepting Christ but there is a long way to go to reach maturity in Christ. This past Sunday we read together Ephesians 4:11-16 which talks about life in this way. Just as a doctor takes a long time of residency, so it takes a while to become proficient in the Christian life. It is a day by day, growing experience. One that happens as we walk close to God and hold a nail scared hand in ours, and one that happens when we walk close to each other.

Something to think about.

Rob

I Come To The Garden . . .

There are known steps amongst us green thumbs that we adhere to, or should I say there are a number of steps or activities we have to accomplish as we plan our gardens to get them beautiful. Here is an example of the simplest steps we initiate right at the very beginning of gardening. If starting from seed, we sometimes have to immerse them in water first before putting them in the ground. Pretty simple? From there we have to accomplish other tasks as we get the garden ready for the seeds. There is the time we spend preparing the soil, pull out all the weeds, turning the soil, breaking up the large clumps, even removing the stones and rocks. Then we go back and diligently watch for the sneaky weeds return.

That just gets the soil ready. On top of that we can fertilize, water, make sure the seeds or plants are in the right place, with the right amount of sun or shade. The list continues. Once the plant is established, we go back and weed again. Then trim off the suckers that take away too much nourishment that robs the main flowers and later the fruit and/or vegetables.  All in a day’s work for a green thumb.

As you drive around town, take a look at every house you go by. Yes, all of them.  Some have elaborate gardens, while other are neat and tide or as the younger generation call it, minimalistic.  Each one will tell you the importance of gardening to its owner. And try as we all do, weeds still show up every week. What we see in these gardens also tells you the importance some people place on gardening while others may have more pressing issues in their lives. Like chasing after small children and keeping the dog behind the fence where it wears the grass out.

Every lawn and garden may be nice to see, but behind it all is a God who gives the growth. You see, we can do all kinds of work, but it was God who put the seed together. We had no portion in its design. No amount of green thumb know how could have constructed a seed in such a way that it reproduces.  All the biological microscopic structure of that one small seed that we put in the water, was not put together by us, it was God. He supplies the seed, the ground, and supplies the sun, clouds and rain in its season to give the growth.

That my friend is what He does in our lives. We were born with a heart that seeks after God. He plants that seed in you, in me. At times we have to deal with sin (weeds) that get in the way. So many other issues of life strangle out the beauty of our soul. A soul God wants to bloom abundantly. We experience poor soil, rocks, weeds, and even soil that has never been tilled as we go through life. They all restrict God in our life and all its beauty. Here is a thought, I think that sometimes we like the weeds because they grow so well, and we don’t have to do anything but make dandelion wine out of them. And just maybe our lives need more tending then we can imagine.

Something to think about

Rob

It's How You Pick Them

At one time, when you were hungry, you went outside and picked something to eat. If you wanted it, you grew it. That doesn’t happen too often anymore. In the last house we lived in, we were blessed with a neighbour who decided to block the view to our home with three wonderful peach trees. They planned this by planting three different varieties and they ripened one after the other. We just walked out on our driveway and picked them. Every morning before getting in the car to go to work, I would pick five or so. It was wonderful.
Today is much different. Most of our children don’t grow fruit and vegetables anymore. The way they pick their fruits and vegetables is to go to the produce section of the grocery store and pick what someone else has grown and picked. Don’t get me wrong. It’s great that not just our children but ourselves as well include purchasing this important part of their diet. We all need a balanced diet. In that include produce, grains, meat and of course, chocolate.
And it’s wonderful that we live in a society where we can just go to the store and buy it. I don’t think I could raise chickens here in the city let alone, get one ready for the oven. But then again, we all need to do what we need to do.
I believe there will be a day when we need to raise our own food again. Just have that feeling. We started doing a little of that this year by planting eight tomato plants. And this past weekend, we picked our first tomato. Hopefully there are more to come, but not too much off of the plants I neglected to water. Which meant, I have been at the store, standing by the display of tomatoes, picking the best ones. As I look around, there are lots of people doing the same by picking the best one.
While standing there surrounded by all the fruits and vegetables, I though of you and me, of all of us, being picked by God. We read about that in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 “For we know, brothers and sisters, loved by God, that he has chosen you.” 
I’m not the best tomato in the field, or on the pile at the store, but I’ve been picked by God.
And that is something wonderful to think about.
Rob