At last night's ministry dinner we sang a powerful song as a reminder that our faith is built upon the Rock

New International Version

Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken

Psalm 62:6

I was reminded tonight how my faith is built upon the Rock. Solid, secure and it will not move. When the storms come and the waves are washing everything out to sea it is the Rock of which my faith stands that remains in place.

At my Church they had a dinner honoring the ministry groups.  I went to support my wife who was and continues to be involved in the Freedom in Christ ministry. For anyone who is curious about this ministry I am including their link:https://www.ficm.org/  

When we entered the room all of the tables had several shiny rocks at the center.  Once the dinner dishes were cleared the facilitator had us pick one of the shiny rocks off the table and write one word that describes what faith means to you. After giving people time to write their word down he asked for volunteers to share what was on their rock. One guy who sat next to me said he wrote 'faithful' on his rock because he has discovered that no matter what happens to you in life God is always faithful. My wife volunteered to share her word which was 'Child of the one true King'. One by one people were sharing how God had used them in the lives of people changed through the these ministries.

At the close of the meeting we sang the song I am posting above. A powerful praise song how much God loves each of us in life. I remember the facilitator reminding us how powerful praising God is even in the face of whatever storms we might be going through in life. There is actually healing that comes out of lifting our voice to God.

At the close of the evening I had a good conversation with a friend of mine that painted our home a few years ago. He shared the story of 'Tom', one of the guys who helped him paint our home. I remembered Tom as the younger member of the crew.  He was being mentored by the older gentlemen on the crew. I was reminded that Tom had given up on his faith because  of the few atrocities he saw  from 'church people'.I remember sharing with Tom our families tragedy of losing our daughter and how much my faith means to me even in the face of tragedy.

In the last several weeks  Tom  started having chest pains  and decided that he should go to the hospital where it was determined that he was having a full blown heart attack. They did emergency open heart surgery on him. He recovered for a very brief moment until he started having multiple strokes. In the last few weeks it was decided that there was little hope for survival and he was removed from life support. This friend doesn't know if Tom had accepted the Lord, but added that it is between him and God.

The point I am trying to illustrate is life is very brief.  One day we can be enjoying the sunshine, listening to the birds sing, and loving the people we are with and the next moment life can take an abrupt turn onto a unknown path. I encourage you to build your faith on the Rock, not on other people.

 Lastly, no matter what you are going through in life God is writing your story. He wants you to be the hands and feet of Jesus to tell others the truth so they will come to the rock for a faith that is immovable, even in the face of storms.

My God Reigns

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Somehow our American culture has it backward. We try to earn a lot of money so we can afford the trappings of our success. Things like 100" flat screen televisions with 3D, Digital surround sound, the monthly cable television bill with the NFL, NHL,NBA package, the brand new car so we can show the world how successful we are, and a whole brood of kids who honor us with their praise.

The trappings of success can actually  cause us to fall away from God. It seems that the more stuff we accumulate the more likely most of us will pay lip service to God.  In other words, we acknowledge that God does exist, but our actions in terms of the day to day decisions we make dictate otherwise.  In my life time I have seen more damaged children who come from wealthy homes. Why is that?  My theory is that families would rather throw their money into exotic family vacations than settle down and teach their children about honoring God on the Sabbath and giving to the needs on the poor.  Ever look at a google earth photo of your metropolitan area? An interesting phenomenon I noticed were the size of the houses the farther and farther one gets from the central core of the city.  Ir seems the more successful we become the more we try to shelter our family from the perceived evils on the core city.

I learned in our families tragedy that the trappings of success do not satisfy. My big screen TV didn't save me from the pain of our loss.The only thing that saved our family was placing one foot in front of the other and teaching my son that even in the face of tragedy we will still honor God on the Sabbath. Our God Reigns is a powerful reminder of the one we should call on when life takes an abrupt turn.

There is beauty in suffering

16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” Exodus 16

I was thinking tonight how there is beauty in our suffering. I just finished the final session of the shoulder to shoulder ministry at our church. It had been a ministry I felt a calling for as early as 5 years ago. At the time I still had some work to do in my own suffering and decided to put it off until God's timing. 

The verse from Exodus 16 came to mind as I dwelt on God's goodness. God had used Moses and Aaron to rescue the Israelits out of the hands of Pharaoh, but quickly they forgot where they had come from and were grumbling once again. They were in the desert, but they were not yet in the promise land. They remembered only the meat they got while in slavery, but failed to remember the suffering they received. This verse is perfect for all of us that suffer because we learned that God will give you just enough to get through your suffering each day.

Grief and loss can have terrible ramifications on our lives. Through our suffering each of us comes to a cross road in life. We  can decide to lean into God and allow Him to guide us through the muck and mire of whatever physical or emotional pain we are enduring, or we can reject God and allow bitterness to consumer our life.

I chose to work through my suffering by leaning into God by placing one foot in front of the other and trusting that He would get me through each day. I trusted Him by moving forward each Sabbath day and honoring God with our families presence in Church. I knew as a believer that when the day comes and death envelops my life I would awake in heaven singing praises to God in heaven and by golly I ought to practice the skill of worship while still alive.

When the final class ended I had this incredible inner peace as though I have found a ministry God wants me to be part of. I actually looked forward to submitting my application for this ministry and going through the interview process. I got Holy ghost goose bumps as I shared my faith journey of grief with another member at the close of class. As I shared each chapter of my grief I could see God's powerful presence of how He walked with our family in perhaps the worse crisis of our family's life.

That is the way suffering is and that was how I saw beauty in my suffering. If you are at a cross roads of your suffering I would encourage you to lean into God and let him lead you through the suffering. When you do I promise you that God will reveal to you how your suffering will lead you to a stronger faith in Christ and out of your suffering many may come to know the Creator of the universe, the lover of their souls.

The After shocks of Grief

2 Corinthians 10:5

New International Version

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ

Ever been in an earthquake? The kind where you felt the floor actually shake below you?

When glasses fall from the the shelves and break?

Making a mess?

We have friends in California that know what it is like and they tell us that a strong 

earthquake will be felt several days into the future in what is known as

aftershocks.

There is another form of aftershock.

The kind that occurs after a traumatic event.

Memories from that event may linger on as though the event just occurred.

When it does the solution is to seek out a trusted listener and

tell your story of that event over, and over, and over again

until the memory of that tremor is 

no longer

felt.

I am pretty sure that the eyewitnesses to Jesus Crucifixion 

felt the aftermath of memories long after that event.

I know I did.

As a father who lost a child I felt like the recent 

Ferry boat captain,or the captain from that 

cruise ship,the Costa Concordia, who were the first to 

bail while leaving thousands to die.

And I wondered,

did I abandoned my children when disaster struck.

The aftershocks that linger makes me doubt. 

The aftershocks become like lies from the devil.

The same lie that caused Jesus's betrayer to hang himself.

My son reminded me years later.

That he saw in his dad

a man who refused to quit.

His faith was made stronger because of the aftershocks I endured.

There is hope.

Just as the verse in 2 Corinthians implies, we ought to take 

captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.

Every thought.

Every memory.

Every traumatic event.

And turn over to Jesus Christ, the one who bore our sin on the eve of his 

crucifixion 

In time.

The aftershock will become part of your story that will lead others to 

Jesus Christ. Embrace it. Hold steady. A brief moment you will feel

your world shake,

but things will return to normal again.

He is Risen, He is Risen, He has Risen Indeed!

Matthew 12:40

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth

Jesus Christ is alive!  He has risen from the dead. He has taken our shame and made us one with Him!Our God fulfilled all he wanted to say to mankind through the words of His Son Jesus Christ.

Through the Saviors death and resurrection His promise of having

communion with his people were fulfilled!

Jesus Christ reigns in our hearts to everyone who receives

Him.

Jesus Christ gives new life to everyone still in shame

To everyone still in the dark because of their shame He gives New

Life.

He gives new life to everyone who asks of Him,

to everyone who opens the door of their heart and invites Him to come in

To everyone who desires Jesus to take charge of their life

and make them whole,

pure, and at peace,

To everyone who is grieving He gives us new hope that our loved ones
are in heaven, enjoying the feasts, the beauty and the fellowship with those
who went before them.

Jesus Christ bore the sin and shame that has kept you from living

and made you alive, no longer afraid, and at peace with who you are.

He is Risen, He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

Eye Witness account of the torture and death of our King

1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Hi, I am Aaron. I'm 16 years old and a apprentice to my dad.Some day I want to be a carpenter.Our family followed Moses's teachings because we knew he had been called by God. I live with my dad, mom, brother and sister just outside of Jerusalem. Our home is small. We raise some sheep and my sister tends to the sheep. I now want to tell you about another carpenter.

 My heart is heavy because we just witnessed Jesus being whipped with a long device that was made to inflict maximum pain  When our friends yelled to Pilate to crucify Jesus my heart sank. Many of these friends were with us when Jesus spoke to 5000 of us on the mountain. I had heard that Peter denied Jesus 3 times and some said they heard a rooster crow shortly after his denial, but Peter wasn't the only one. 

So many of our friends who I thought were going to be followers of Christ suddenly turned their backs on him. It seemed to be the political correct thing to do. The alternative would have been ostracism and refusal to do business with you in the market place. My heart sank as I saw each crushing blow that took off a  handful of flesh from Jesus. I saw him grimace with pain. My mom and sister collapsed to the ground in heavy sobs wondering how they could do this to him who was so kind to people. How could they do this to him when he gave sight to a blind man, or healed the chronically sick?

 We remember the miracle of the loaves and fishes when Jesus raised what little food that a boy gave him and  muliplied enough of it to feed the hungry people who came to hear him. I remember my mouth opening wide as I saw how there was more than enough food to fill people up with left over food to spare.  Many of us were hungry after walking many hours just hear this man speak.

Some of  our friends were there when Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead after he had been dead 3 days. Some were asking who is this man who brings people back from the dead!  Much to my chagrin many of these same friends were shaking their fists demanding his death. How my heart is heavy to watch the people I assembled together with now  turning their backs on him. I was a follower of Moses's teaching, but after seeing the miracles with my own eyes I was convinced that Jesus is the Son of God. 

My heart sank as they made Jesus pick up a heavy wooden cross and drag it though the street as splinter's of wood dug into his open wounds. I ached as I helplessly watched Jesus carrying the cross with Roman soldiers cursing him because he wasn't moving fast enough. I wanted to come to Jesus's rescue at that moment. I wanted to punch these soldiers in the face if  I had the desire, but I didn't have the will to risk it all. I didn't want to risk my apprenticeship or my families reputation.

Just when I think things couldn't get much worst they did. At this place we call Gogotha they laid Jesus on the cross. His feet were nailed with large stakes to the bottom of the cross. His hands were nailed on the cross section of the cross. With each painful blow of the hammer I watched the most excruciating pain on Jesus face while feeling the shock waves throughout my being.

 How could they do this to Jesus? He did nothing wrong and he committed no sin worthy of death!  I was angry. So angry I wanted to scream at Pilate for allowing this to happened!  He could have stopped it, but he didn't. Jesus died because of the inaction of other people!  I watched the soldiers lift the cross to an upright position before allowing it to fall into the hole with such a mighty force that I couldn't imagine Jesus not feeling every nerve ending sending shock waves of pain in him.

I watched one of the Roman soldiers lifting up a sponge filled with vinegar to satisfy his thirst. How could these men who just  hours earlier curse this man now suddenly show an ounce of mercy to him? Then it  happened. I heard Jesus lift his head to the heavens. I thought he said "it is finished". A moment later his head drooped down and I knew he had died. Then I heard and felt the ground shaking. The soldiers heard it too and from the looks on their faces you almost got the sense that they believed that Jesus was God's son.

When things settled down my family and I left Gogoltha back to our home. Jesus was dead and heavy hearts were abundant at this very hour.

The last supper

Luke 22:7-38

13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Last night I attended my Shoulder to Shoulder training at my church in preparation for getting involved in this ministry. When it ended I walked in and watched my wife sing with her choir in preparation for the upcoming services in this holiest of weeks in the Christian church. I only stayed for a short while before deciding that I wanted to be surprised when the actual service happens.

It seems there isn't a day that goes by without another tragedy hitting the news media. When it does it is as though we get the wind knocked out, especially when the latest tragedy brings up memories of our own unresolved grief and loss issues. In the last month we have read about the still missing Malaysian airliner and now the missing children from the overturn Korean ferry. As each tragedy happens it seems that a little part of us dies with it. 

There is hope. Jesus Christ became our model for how to handle suffering. At the last supper as he broke the bread he said, "This is my body given to you: do this in remembrance of me." He knew about his upcoming suffering, but more importantly he knew how it would end. The world may have thought 'good riddance' when Jesus took his last breath on the cross, but when the stone had been rolled away with no body inside we were reminded that His resurrection was only the beginning of great things to come. Jesus left us, but He gave us a helper in the form of the Holy Spirit. A living and vibrant Spirit that reigns inside believers to bring the bible alive to each of us.

I hope each of you find a time to attend a church near you to give thanks to God for sending His son into the world to give you the hope that the world is unable to give to you. If you are not sure if you are a believer you can know for sure with this simple prayer:

Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I have made a mess out of my life.

I know I have no hope in this world. I thank you Jesus for coming into this

world and showing me the way of Salvation. I open the door to my heart

and invite you to come in and remain in me.

I thank you Lord Jesus for your free gift of salvation just as it says in 1 John 5:10-13

And the stone was rolled away........

Luke 24:2-6

King James Version (KJV)

2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

Easter is a time where our Hope was restored. Whereas, good Friday was a time when our hope was lost as we watched Jesus take his final breath on the cross, Easter Sunday became for us when the sting of death was forever destroyed through Jesus's resurrection!

Every day people die from sudden, unexpected deaths. Everyday survivors of these loved ones are left to pick up the pieces of what is left of their lives.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 thousands streamed into the World Trade towers not knowing two hijacked planes would prevent them from seeing another day.

The people who boarded the Malaysian airlines flight destined for Beijing,China would never know their flight would never make it to their destination.

My wife and I have neighbors with a very young child hooked up to tubes at Children's Hospital fighting for his life because of pneumonia. They are hoping for a good outcome and knowing about this child we are praying for a good outcome.

The point is life is filled with uncertainties. We simply do not know. But the amazing thing is that God through the life, death on the cross, and the resurrection showed us how much He loves us and wants to have a relationship with us!

Through His son's death on the cross we saw how much we needed him.

Through His resurrection we saw the sting of death wiped away and hope given to each of us!

God left it to us to make the choice to follow him. A choice to decide to invite Jesus Christ into our hearts where He will reign forever and ever. Good Friday is a sad day, but I look toward Easter morning when the stone had been rolled away and our Savior returned to life, appearing to many before being lifted to heaven.

For those of us who have experience the sudden death of a child we can appreciate what God must have experienced when he saw his son being stoned, whipped and pierced on the cross. His son made it possible for our own children to spend eternity in heaven! It wiped away the sting death and permanently gave us the hope we all yearn for.

Touch by an Angel actor dead at 47. He taught us through his role how we should grieve.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: 

“Death is swallowed up in victory. 

O death, where is your victory? 

O death, where is your sting?” 

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Remember Touch by an Angel star John Dye? He died today at the age of 47. This is what he says about how American's grieve and the role he played on touch by an angel.

John Dye, costar of the long-running TV series "Touched by an Angel," was found dead Monday in his San Francisco home, a medical examiner's spokesman said Thursday.

Though the cause of death wasn't official, relatives said the actor died of heart failure.

"I like the role because death isn't something we talk about much in America," Dye wrote in a 1997 compilation of "Touched by an Angel" scripts. "

As a nation, we find it difficult to mourn or grieve, labeling tears a sign of weakness. Because of that, Andrew is a rather loud character, helping us face something we would rather ignore."

"Dear, sweet John Dye, rest in peace," costar Valerie Bertinelli said Tuesday on Twitter.
Dye joined Roma Downey and Della Reese on "Touched" -- in which heavenly messengers helped people get through tough patches in life -- as a sort of angel of death, though his role evolved. He was on the CBS series from its second season in 1995 until it ended in 2003.

"He turned the idea of the angel of death into something that was compassionate and welcoming," his younger brother, Jerre Dye, told Tennessee's Commercial Appeal.


Dye also appeared in the spinoff "Promised Land" and had regular roles in the prime-time TV series "Hotel Malibu," "Jack's Place" and "Tour of Duty."

A memorial service is planned for Jan. 22 at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church,in Amory, Miss., Dye's hometown.

- See more at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/01/john-dye-touched-by-an-angel-star-dead.html#sthash.34tbVP2x.dpuf

Good bye John Dye. You taught us how to grieve.

I declaring through the voices of 10,000 piece choir and the blare of trumpets that 'GOD IS NOT DEAD'!

Revelation 22:16

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."

My lovely bride an I went to last nights showing of God is not dead at the Andover theater. It was a gorgeous evening and a great way to celebrate her birthday weekend! As a father who went through the pain of losing a child I am declaring here that God isn't dead. He is very much alive and over the course of years He has demonstrated to me in so many ways that He is alive. 

As a grieving father who still had a child to raise I had to lean on my Eternal father to help me get through the incredible rough, painful patches of my grief. Placing one footprint in front of the other I chose to keep my family together by attending church each Sabbath, week after week, honoring Jesus Christ who had blessed me in so many ways through the years of my life.  I refused to give in to the crescendo of 'naysayers' who urged me to declare that God was dead. As I studied God's word in perhaps the greatest instructional manual of all time the crescendo of naysayers were getting more faint until I could no longer hear them. Instead, I felt the eternal presence of God as He spoke to me in his Holy Spirit. 'I am alive. I have risen, I am here to comfort and guide you in your troubles' 

Won't you declare that God is alive? You can know the same Eternal God that I have known since 1974 when in a simple prayer at the Minnetonka church/coffee house ministry I invited Jesus Christ to come into my heart. He did and he has never left me, nor has he ever forsaken me.

So today in a mighty crescendo of voices I am declaring with the other 10,000 voices that 'God is not dead, He is alive!!  I have included the News Boys song, 'God is not dead' below.

Two Paths in life we can take

                                   

                           There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
                                                                 Proverbs 14:12


 TWO PATHS WE CAN TAKE IN THIS LIFE:


When we start off in life we can choose one of two paths. The path of destruction or the path of righteousness. When we were kid many of us were not raised by parents who always made the right choices in life. Consequently, we learn destructive patterns of survival.

Some of us turn to drugs and alcohol all the while thinking that this was the cooler side to be on. Alcohol and anger became our constant companions. Some of us try other recreational drugs like Marijuana before turning to other hard core drugs like heroine,Methamphetamine's and LSD all the while thinking this is the cooler path to be on. Some are arrested for drug related crimes and still some serve time for far more serious crimes. Life down this destructive path leads to death(1 John 5:17)


The other path is the path of righteousness or choosing to do what is good. Again, having a healthy family infrastructure helps us to be on this path. Jesus Christ made it possible for all us to be on this path because of what He did on the cross. He was tortured by Roman soldiers, sentenced to death for no punishable offence, stripped of his clothing and hung from the cross in humiliation, bled and died before coming back from heaven in a mighty crescendo exclaiming "I have made a way for you"

If you are struggling with drug or alcohol addiction that is making it hard for you to make the right choices in life. If your alcohol problems are causing you to make erratic decisions or have anger addiction problems there is hope . I urge you to contact Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge and talk to one of their program intake people about being in their program. As a professional counselor I know that this is the best program of all treatment programs. It has the highest long term success rate. I recommend the inpatient program because of it's effectiveness.
You do not have to be on the destructive path, nor do you have to watch your life careen out of control toward death. There is a better way and God desires you to be on that better path.

The tragedy in Fort Hood, Texas and what we can do about it.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest

Matthew 11:28

This week we saw yet another tragedy at the military base in Fort Hood, Texas when a soldier battling depression and anxiety took the lives of three people over an argument that turned deadly. Apparently, he was in the process of getting psychiatric help for Post traumatic stress disorder. As I read this story I was reminded yet once again the importance of listening to peoples stories and truly walking with them to help them heal from whatever is causing them pain. Yet, in America our tendency is to help people bury their pain thinking it is a good thing to do so. We forget that helping them bury their pain may help for a short while, but when they go home they are once again bombarded with the prior images that caused that pain.

Last night my wife and I watched the movie Hotel Rwanda about the Rwandan genocide that resulted in the deaths of millions. The protagonist in this movie was a black man who ran the hotel Rwanda which became a safe haven for many people brought to him by Priests, aide workers, and the UN peace keepers. He used his monetary resources to buy protection from the militia's until the General decided he didn't have enough to buy protection and left him to fend for himself. He was able to save many lives with his advice that the ones who were at the hotel should save themselves by writing personal pleas for asylum. Just as the last of the pool water had been used up for cooking, help finally arrived in the form of aid buses to take to safety those who's asylum cases were heard. In one painful scene after driving over dead bodies of Rwandan's who were gunned down he could no longer contain his emotion and found himself cupping his hand.

In another scene he cradled his wife's cross necklace as a reminder of strength of one's faith.

As I watched this scene I could not help but envision my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ standing with outstretched hands exclaiming to the world before him "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest".

There are people in this country and in this world who are crying out for someone to notice them. The most important need we have is to love and to be loved. The next time you see someone really struggling get down on their level and look into their eyes and listen to their story. It just may be the beginning of healing for them.

I will not should on myself today

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

Life is often filled with disappointments and do over wishes. We make decisions every day that for some of us we regret making. There are those simple decisions we make that almost become rote like such as what do I make for lunch-the healthy salad or the roast beef sandwich from Arby's. Then there are the every day work decisions we make which are based on policy, technical know how, and what it states in the company manual. Then there are the emotional decisions we make that can go either way in the emotional pendulum depending on the outcome.  If your loved one dies because of the surgery you approve it is natural to play the should game.  "I should have done this for my love one instead of that then maybe I would have had a better outcome."


My bride of 25 years and I traveled to Chicago for some rest and relaxation, sight seeing, and seeing friends along the way. We enjoyed going to the 103rd floor of the Willis tower and stepping onto the glass floor for a look below.  We enjoyed the different hotels and stores. We enjoyed spending time together as husband and wife.

The last time we were here was shortly after September 11, 2001 when our kids were small. At that time we took AmTrack and got around town by taxis and stayed in the Ambassador hotel and enjoyed the Michael J. Fox hotel suite as a compromise when they lost our original reservations!

I caught my self using should in my conversation.  "I should have done that with our daughter instead of that and maybe she might still be alive"." I should have talked to more doctors and sought more second opinions." " I should have got a referral for her to be seen by the Mayo Clinic, the Taj Mahal of medicine." I should have, I should have, I should have become the game for those who didn't get the outcome they desired when there loved one dies unexpectedly. How many of us have bombarded ourselves with the 'should's?'

How many of us should on ourselves when we become remorseful over the path we had taken?  I learned in my journey that life is never done in rehearsal with memorized lines. Life is first run with no chance for rehearsals. Life is learning on the job with mistakes and all. We have to make the most of whatever decisions we make and go forward trusting God that we made the right ones and leaning on Him when the choices were wrong.

I love Thomas Kincaid paintings because for me each painting expresses so much beauty, so much imagination and so much heart and soul. For some who may not know Thomas Kincaid was known as the painter of light for his ability to put streaks of light into his paintings to make them more life like and when you put the right light source glistering off of it you simply do not want to take your eyes off of it.  Like Thomas Kincaid God has the ability to take his brush and place beautiful streaks of  light into our lives to turn the messes of our lives into pure works of art. No matter how messy our live may be God loves you and he wants to make you into a masterpiece that will be used to draw others to Him.

Finally, I end with a story based on our friends Caring Bridge blog post. Our friend received the devastating news that he had been diagnosed with a disease that often ends tragically.  Recently, they traveled as a family to Hawaii where they went on a hike to the top of a mountain.  Our friend quickly learned that his strength wasn't like he had before the diagnosis. He was able to make it to the top with a few stops along the way, but when it was time to climb down he had to lay his arm on his wife's shoulder and have his son walk in front of him. He was able to walk down.  I was struck by the illustration that this is exactly what Jesus Christ wants to do with our lives. He wants to be our guide. When hard times happen He wants to lead us and guide us to safety.  When we begin the 'should 'game He wants to remind us that our loved one is in an awesome place and that He will guide us through the pain, through the earthly grief until we begin to feel 'normal' again. Go ahead and lean on your Savior Jesus Christ and watch him turn your canvass into a beautiful works of art, suitable for framing in Heaven's art gallery.