Creeping Charlie

 If you sit at our kitchen table and look out the patio door you’ll see that much of our back yard is covered with a bright green ground cover, that when mowed or stepped on, smells like chewing gum.

The plant is fairly common in North America and is known by several different names.

We call it "Creeping Charlie".

Creeping Charlie first showed up in my backyard around twelve years ago after my wife, DeDe, had spent the day with her mama at the family farm in Palmetto, Georgia.

That afternoon, after I got home from work, I walked out in to the back yard and saw a dirt covered Dede, down on her hands and knees, hacking the ground with a garden spade. The yard was littered with 150 feet of garden hose and every yard tool I’ve ever owned. After analyzing this scene for a few moments I finally asked,

“Why are you planting weeds in my back yard?”

I don’t know why but she seemed offended by that. Her head turned a full 360 and an unfamiliar voice growled out “my mama gave these plants to me"

And for the next five minutes she just stared at me with...
"THE LOOK"

Guy readers will know what I'm talking about. For all others, "THE LOOK" is a look you get from someone and you instinctively know that it’s probably not in your best interest to say another word.

This day was the beginning of Creeping Charlie's reign of terror.

And for the next eleven and a half years, when I was sure no one was watching, I've set the mower blade to it's lowest setting and mowed Charlie until there wasn’t anything left but dust.

But the next morning Charlie always looks greener than ever and had clearly spread.

Over the years, I've poured all matter of liquid on Charlie, not excluding salt water, solvent, paint, and anything else that I thought might be toxic. But nothing has ever had any effect on Charlie.

Getting rid of Charlie became an obsession and I've lay awake on countless nights, pondering as to how I could, once and for all, rid my yard of what google calls:

“an uninvited guest” and a “perineal broadleaf weed that demands attention”

This past spring, after thirty years of trying to grow grass, I threw in the towel and let Creeping Charlie have his way. As of this week, Charlie controls around twenty five percent of our back yard and clearly has it's sight set on total world domination.

But in recent days, I’m gradually warming up to Creeping Charlie.

It’s much more attractive than mud, mows easily, and now that I stopped spraying it with carburetor cleaner, it’s a very nice shade of green. In fact, it’s beautiful in some ways, especially after a rain.

On Thursday, July 6th, a few hours after my mother in law, Joe Ann, passed away, I opened the back door and walked out into the back yard.



As I looked out over our yard, I couldn’t help but think of her and her passion for gardening.

But my thoughts of her that afternoon soon drifted far beyond her love of gardening. I realized that her gardening was also representative of another gift that she had.

You see, Joe Ann could look at something that anyone else might see as undesirable, or worthless… just a weed, and see beauty in it.

And that’s the same way she saw her family, as well as those she claimed along the way just because she loved them.

It didn’t matter to her what condition we happened to be in, or what anyone else thought about us. Our value to Joe Ann was based on the unseen. She possessed an ability to dig us out of whatever mire we were currently planted in and transplant us into better soil where we could heal, grow, and eventually thrive again.

In her lifetime, she has turned many weeds into gardens.

I met Joe Ann when I was 17 years old. I went to the family home for the very first time for courting purposes and met Joe Ann and 5 other young ladies who lived at the house in Rex Georgia.

I sang, played guitar and some of the worst banjo picking you’ll ever hear and THEY LOVED IT! ...Especially the banjo picking…

I could do no wrong! I was like a one-man boy band and I was positive that I had found the promised land!

At the time, I wasn’t quite sure which one of the girls I would eventually marry but I knew pretty quick that Joe Ann would someday be my mother in law.

On the night that Dede and I were married, our pastor referred to some scripture from the Book of Ruth during our wedding vows. It didn’t occur to me until this past week that this story of devotion is also about mother in laws.

The story begins in Jerusalem and centers around a Husband and Wife named Elimelech and Naomi. They had two sons. The Bible says there was a great famine in Jerusalem so Elimelech moved his family to the country of Moab where living conditions were considerably better.

Sometime after the move, Elimelech died and the two sons married girls they met in Moab. One married a girl named Orpah, and the other married a girl named Ruth.

Ten years later, both sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters in laws to fend for themselves. After some time passed, Naomi got wind that the famine was finally over and decided that she would return to Jerusalem.

As Naomi sat out on her journey, the daughter in laws followed her. Somewhere along the way, Naomi turned to them and said:

“Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.”

So, just like any other family when on a road trip, they pulled over to the side of the road to argue for a while. Eventually, sister Orpah said goodbye and left.

Ruth, on the other hand, stood her ground and made this vow to her mother in law:

“Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

My wedding vows were modeled after this vow that Ruth made to Naomi and in general, this is the way that Dede and I have always rolled.

And it took a while, but over time, Joe Anne, along with everyone else in her extended family, became my people.

But of far greater significance to me is that - I became one of Her people.

A Big Ole group of brothers, sisters, children, step children, foster children, friends, and all of their families, ...and some folks that we honestly don't know where they came from...

We are her people.

Her love for us is our common bond. We might disagree on anything else but all of us knew that Joe Ann loved us.

We are also connected because we’re all wounded in some degree by this loss...by this thing that has happened to us.

Her four children have had to say a long and difficult goodbye over the last 7 years. Each, for their own season, have bore the responsibility of looking out for Joe Ann's well being while continuing to be everything they needed to be for their own families.

Brothers and sisters and their families, many of whom I feel like I know well… not because of time I have spent with them, but because they were so often the topic of stories and conversations. Joe Ann clearly and dearly loved all of them.

When friends were happy, Joe Ann had joy for them. In grief, she grieved with them. For Joe Anne, any line between family and friend quickly blurred.

And finally, her grandchildren…What an awesome grandmother. She had an amazing ability to easily tolerate 110 decibels of goofy as if it were a whisper. In a chaotic room full of twenty screaming children, Joe Ann could make every one of them feel like they were special, all at the same time.

In the last few days, many have spoken about Joe Ann’s “open door policy”. You may be down on your luck with no where to stay, no food, and no money, but you were never homeless. There was always room for one more.

Indeed, we are all wounded.

But we know what happens when we don’t properly treat a wound. Just ask cousins Jake and Mitchell what happens when you wreck a motorcycle you aren't supposed to be riding and punch a 2” deep hole in your leg and don’t tell anybody because you don’t want to lose the motorcycle that you never had to begin with.

Our wounds can become infected. Our wounds can overcome us. We scar.

So, our legacy is not to suffer together, rather, to begin a healing process together through our memories. We can lift each other up through photographs, stories, and songs. We can do this the way that Joe Ann would want us to do it.

And we can rejoice and celebrate over the blessing that our great God bestowed on each one of us through Joe Ann's life.

As difficult as it may seem to grasp, Joe Ann’s life on earth went according to God’s plan. At times, I personally wanted to pick up the remote control and change the channel and watch some other plan.

In fact, a year and six months ago when we came down for my father in laws funeral, I challenged God face to face.

When we arrived at Palm Coast for the funeral, we went over to Grand Oaks, a nursing home, where Joe Ann was being cared for, to see her. It had been around six months since we had last visited.

It was a difficult day for her and I was frankly shocked at what I saw. I sucked it up for as long as I could and then I excused myself and headed for the car. I made it about half way to the car before I began to sob. When I finally got to the car I asked God, point blank, to show me the purpose of one more day for Joe Ann’s life.

I got my answer the next day.

Several of the Grand kids had gathered in Palm Coast for the funeral (and God only knows what else) and were planning to go visit their Mammy. I felt like I should try and gently prepare my boys for what I thought they were about to see so I did my best, choosing the best words I possibly could.

The next day, everyone arrived and when we walked into her room Joe Ann was 100% Mammy... as if it were 12 years ago. She was smiling from ear to ear. She talked and laughed and, just like any other grandmother, asked all of them nosy questions. She knew everyone by name, including my granddaughter who she had only heard about and never met.

It was a very special day for all. And after that there were other special days that followed. “My plan” would have cheated myself and others out of some real blessings that God had in store for us.

In the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, he speaks of the Fruits of Spirit. This is a biblical term that sums up nine attributes of a Born-again believer, empowered by the Holy Spirit, that reflect the characteristics of Jesus through our lives.

It reads:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

These fruits were easily recognizable in Joe Ann’s life.

In Acts Chapter 16 a Roman jailer ask Paul and Silas a simple question.

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”

In Romans 10 Paul Writes:

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

In the last few years, every time we saw Joe Ann she talked about Jesus and going to Heaven. She has openly declared the essential Gospel as defined in these scriptures.

In later days, she often spoke of this time without dread, without fear, and with confidence and expectation. In her final hours, she verbally called out to God.

Today, through this evidence, we can find joy. We can grieve with confidence…A confidence that our Mammy lives today as a receiver of God’s eternal promises. She is pain free, reunited with others who have also left us behind, and knows life, splendor, and riches that we cannot imagine.

And through a relationship with Jesus, we can look forward to the fulfillment of the same promises for our own lives and know that we will see Joe Ann again someday!

In the meanwhile –

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 13:34

Peace

I Hate Lawn Mowers

Last week, during prayer time at my weekly men’s group meeting, I mentioned my next door neighbor’s daughter who underwent a quadruple heart bypass this past Monday.

After days and days of some scary complications,she finally seems to be on the road to recovery.

After getting home from work last Friday evening, I decided to cut my grass. My plan was to get all my work done so that I could enjoy the rest of the weekend.

I finished mowing my front yard and was resting for a few moments before moving on to the back yard when I noticed that my neighbors grass also needed cutting. I hadn't seen my neighbors in several weeks as they kept a nonstop vigil at the hospital. It occurred to me that the last thing they need to be worrying about is grass. These are good folk and have been great neighbors for many years.

I believe that these sort of thoughts are the way God speaks to us when He wants us to do something. My neighbors yard  is fairly small and I recently got my riding mower running again, so I readily said “yes” and headed next door to make it happen.

I made two laps across their yard when my mower suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. The engine ran fine but it stopped all forward movement...(reminds me of my sons)

I got off the mower and quickly determined that something had happened to the rear drive and it appeared that it wasn’t going to be fixed any time soon. (If ever)

My original intention was to help. But now my neighbors yard looked like your head when you get a bad haircut. At this point I had to do something, lest my neighbors think “what kind of idiot does that?”

Fortunately, I also have a push mower!

 A few weeks ago I was “bush hogging” with it when I hit a root and the blade came off and went sailing off into the woods like a ninja star. I pulled the rope and it started easily and everything else looked okay, so I put it in the shed. Seems it would live to ride another day.

I stopped Friday at lunch and bought a new blade and a blade screw.

So I grabbed a socket set and got the new blade and screw out of the car and headed out back for the push mower. I figured I’d zip the new blade on there and then I could finish my neighbor’s yard. I turned the mower on its side… only to discover that the blade screw was broke off inside the blade shaft.

"GOSH!", I exclaimed with a hint of disappointment in my voice.

To make a long story short, after an hour and a half and a yard full of drills, bits, center punches, hammers, and a magnet I grabbed off the refrigerator (I don't know why), I finally got the broken screw out of the main shaft.

I put the new blade on and pulled the rope and she fired up like a brand new mower. I engaged the self-propelled drive and took off for the neighbor’s yard.

I had barely taken 3 steps when I heard the loudest clap of thunder I’ve ever heard in my life. Instantly, it began to rain.

Please understand that I’m not talking some light drizzle or a sprinkle…I’m talking about the kind of rain that makes frogs run for cover. If I had only known this was coming, I wouldn't have sold my boat and trolling motor.

I ended up mowing my neighbors yard in a cyclone but, never the less, I finally got their grass cut.

When God put it on my heart to help out my neighbors, I must admit, I felt pretty good about myself. I sincerely wanted to do something to help them and their yard seemed like my opportunity to easily do one of those “Jesus things”...

But when I said “yes”, it’s now clear that I did not completely understand the cost of the mission.

You see, I heard “Hey dude, while you’re at it, it would be mighty nice of you if you rode over next door and cut Vernon’s grass.”

But while I was saying “yes”, I didn’t hear God when He said 

“Oh by the way…I want you to do it with your broken push mower… in the middle of one of my awesome thunderstorms. WATCH OUT FOR THAT LIGHTNING BOLT!...just kidding...."

Forty Five minutes later, I started picking up the wet tools, and 3 gas cans while i tromped around wearing my wet shoes, all while trying to keep my 50 pound wet shorts somewhere close to a waist level that would not  violate any county or state indecency ordinances.

Right before I went inside, I figured it best if I rolled my riding mower around to the back yard. Just for giggles, I started the engine and climbed on board.

I put the mower in gear and it took off like the cat that lives across the street when I let Maynard out of the house. In fact, I cut the back yard Saturday with it without a single issue.

Go figure that…

Luke 14:25-35 
The Cost of Being a Disciple

25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 "If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27And f you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

I reckon those folks listening to Jesus knew what it meant to carry their own cross. When Rome sentenced someone to die, they executed them outside of the city gates. You were forced to carry your cross to the place where you would be killed. This represented submission to Rome and warned everybody else that they had better submit too.

I think Jesus was trying to teach the crowds to think through their enthusiasm for him. He encouraged those who are superficial to either go deeper or to turn back. Seems that following Christ requires total submission to Him

28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

When a builder doesn't count the cost or estimates it inaccurately, a project may be left half completed. Will my life be only half built and then abandoned because I did not count the cost of my commitment to Jesus? What are those costs?

Hmm...Following Christ does not mean a trouble-free life. It does not mean my lawn mower will start should I again decide to take it on the mission field.

31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.


I hate lawnmowers. 

As some of my friends know, I have often said that lawn mowers are the single greatest threat to my testimony.

And I hate them...

I always have and I always will. 

But not near as bad as I HATE weed eaters.

My weed eater is somewhere in the woods behind my house. It’s been there since that day two years ago when I pulled the starter rope one too many times…

So I’m really glad things are looking up for the neighbor girl. 

Trimming weeds with scissors is not my idea of fun.

He Saw Another Mountain

One of the things about life in your mid-fifties is that you tend to rethink a lot of things. Things that were once important to me don't matter very much to me these days.

I remember a time when come every spring, my sole purpose in life was to make grass grow.

I was determined to push the limits of the amount of Ammonia Nitrate I could safely pour on my yard without exploding the fiberglass Igloo that my dog lived in.

My secondary goal was to obtain a perfect soil pH level for southern grasses.

But these days, I continually look for legal ways to stunt growth of all plant life in my yard. My enduring hope is that through my extensive research, I will be able to cross cultivate a type of low maintenance "super weed" that grows just enough to help keep down the mud.

In the meanwhile, I get through each week by fantasizing that I’m going to look out the window and find that some nice young man is outside mowing my grass.

Each night, I have a reoccurring dream of the day when I can finally afford enough concrete to pave my yard.

In my dream, on that final glorious day when the last square foot of concrete is poured, I take my finger and write the words “It is finished” in the wet concrete. It will serve as a memorial for all of eternity of the last day that I ever pulled the rope on a lawn mower. Afterwards, I load my lawn mower on to the back of my pickup truck and drive it to the Clayton County Landfill. I say a quick “goodbye” and try my best to appear sad.  But as I drive away, I smirk as I take a quick glance at my lawn mower for the last time through the rear view mirror.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…………..If dreams only came true….

It’s not just that I hate cutting grass…I despise lawnmowers. In fact, I HATE their greasy guts.

I've said this before as I say it now; 

Lawnmowers are the single greatest threat to my testimony.

But if you like yard work and a nice lawn, I’m glad for you.

No….I’ll go past “glad” and say that I’m DELIGHTED!

You see, I enjoy the oxygen you help create. In fact, I’m chemically addicted to oxygen. And your passion for grass helps offset the harmful carbon emissions of the power generating plants that are essential to running the air conditioner that I like to stand in front of while I watch you mow your grass. So we are not enemies! We are partners in life, despite your obvious physiological issues.

I've also spent quite a few hours researching another issue that negatively impacts the quality of my life after age 50.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was on the afternoon that I sat down in front of my computer, went to Google, and with nervous anticipation, I typed a one sentence question whose words had the potential to change my life forever.

“HOW DOES ONE STERILIZE A SWEET GUM TREE?”

BAM!!!!!       It can actually be done!

But…at a price of $250 - $350 every 3 or 4 months. Regretfully, I learned that you can’t just have a tree’s tubes tied and then spend the rest of your life enjoying the shade.

I could buy a chain saw but…chain saws are a lot like lawn mowers, only different. While chain saws are useful for cutting off hands and noses, lawn mowers are more suitable for toe removal. I don’t think a chain saw is a good solution for me…

So for now, I’ll have to settle for being extremely careful when I walk out to the car or the mailbox. When it gets really bad, I’ll invest the 5 or 6 days it usually takes to get the lawn mower running and then I'll use it to grind up as many of those nasty little balls as I can.

If the plans I made as a young man had worked, I’d be retired by now. But so it is, it seems that I’m going to be working for the foreseeable future and likely past the point where I still have a clue as to what I am doing, or remember that I went to work, or how to get home.

But I think I'll be okay as long as there is air conditioning at my job.

Recently, I read an article by a financial planner titled:

“The Downhill Stretch: Preparing for Retirement”.

In this article it is suggested that I change the focus of my financial investment from earning maximum returns and growing capital to that of preserving the funds that I have already accumulated.

First, let me say that some of this somewhat makes sense…

So, I took the “Geyser Springs” water bottle I found behind the Walmart that contains the bulk of my life savings and moved it from the floor beside the bedroom dresser to an inconspicuous place in our closet, behind the clothes that I’m going to wear when I lose weight. Except for dusty, my savings may not grow much, but at least it will be safe until I need it.

I don’t really worry about money.

It’s been said that money is the root of all evil. I’m not entirely sure about that but I do find an uncanny resemblance between the faces on money and crackheads.

The one exception to that is the image on the front side of a quarter. "George Washington" looks more like a side profile of the Quaker Oats guy, minus the hat.

The other day, one of my younger coworkers referred to me as “experienced”. A few minutes later he called me “seasoned”.

In response, I used some of my “experience” and we had a chat about life. I first explained the impact that “seasoned” wood could have on the human skull. Then we talked further for a bit about “experience”.

“Experience” is a word that always means something different than it did five minutes ago.

For example, until today, I had never eaten the worst double cheeseburger that I've ever tasted.

If you ever accused me of being a salesman I might go ape.

But if I were in marketing, I would name this particular double cheese burger something clever…something similar to…oh say…maybe the “MacHurl”.

Perhaps in a few weeks, after I've siphoned some gas out of the truck for my lawn mower (not that I really expect it to run) or licked the inside of a  wet work boot…I'll eventually get that taste out of my mouth.

It’s likely that my “experience” will lead me to be more cautious the next time I indulge in a this type of culinary experience. Even so, it’s entirely possible that I will go where no man has gone before and eat another“MacHurl”. 

I'm even optimistic that it could be an entirely different experience.

(DISCLAIMER:) I still vow that I will never eat another sandwich bearing the name MacRib or any combination meal designated “Number 2”)

My point is that, “seasoned” and “experience”… are teachers who have taught me well.You might say that they are also my tools.

But they are not unchanging, nor are they the final word. And "seasoned" and "experience" don’t retire and move to the beach.

I’m reminded of a song we sang in Boy Scouts at the end of a long day of rigorous activities, such as chopping up logs the size of popsicle sticks with a double bladed axe. (The kind serial killers normally use)

The song, though really simple, is quite good and has been enjoyed by thousands, if not millions, of children during their booger eating years.

The first verse goes like this:

The bear went over the mountain,

The bear went over the mountain,

The bear went over the mountain

and what do you think he saw?

The second verse IS NOT:

From there, everything else was downhill,

From there, everything else was downhill...

No, It's...

HE SAW ANOTHER MOUNTAIN!

You may find it strange that I thought about church when I started writing this post.

When we have worked hard in Kingdom service for many years, we can find ourselves in a place where we may believe that our service to God should move from high yielding years to preservation mode.

So, we step back and surround ourselves with only the things that feel comfortable to us and spend our time cherishing and ministering to the relationships we have built over the years through our ministry.

Before you know it, if we go outside at all, we proceed with extreme caution, less we slip on a Sweet Gum Ball and bust our butts.

But isn't the general idea  for “seasoned” and "experienced" believers to take our blessings from God and all the love that has been shown to us and continue to make new relationships that mirror what we mirror?

Jesus died on a cross because I helped put Him there.

Then He was buried…and then He got up.

I got up with Him.

So I’m not running out of time. And I’m still receiving maximum returns on the RIGHT Investments. Yesterday and today is not a predictor of tomorrow… 

and it also appears that I’m not quite done with grass or Sweet Gum Balls either…

HE SAW ANOTHER MOUNTAIN!

My Sappy Valetines Day Post

Happy Valentines day.

I got up this morning and took my valentine to breakfast and then we went to Ollie's to shop for some very important unnecessary items. She has been my valentine for 38 years. That seems like a long time. But this afternoon, I came across a photograph I shot a few years back of my grandparents. They were married for over sixty years when my grandfather passed away. He used to chuckle and say "It's been a looooooooooooong fight." (actually what he said was much more colorful than that)

These two people were very important to me and I had the blessing of having both of them in my life for over 45 years.

My grandmother, despite being deaf, worked successfully for an insurance agency as a secretary. Her handicap did not prevent her from being a very social person. I suppose, for me, I mostly remember the butt whooping she could put on you if you happen to look at her the wrong way.

 My grandfather was no ordinary Joe either. He worked hard but he didn't just have some job in a store or a factory. He traveled for a living, by train mostly.

 A lot of people work hard and travel for a living... But he didn't just ride all over the country in a passenger car and do business when he got to some far away town...

 MY GRANDDADDY  DROVE THE TRAIN.

YES... HE BLEW THE TRAIN WHISTLE!

When I was growing up I thought that was a pretty big deal. But now that I'm grown up, I think being married to his sweetheart for all those years is probably a much bigger deal than driving a train or maybe even blowing a train whistle.

I never asked him what the secret to a long happy marriage was, but when I look at this photograph I'm pretty sure I know.

And I hope I get to love my valentine like that for at least as long as he did.

Shoe Shine Boys
Fathers Day 2013

I have had the good fortune to live every day of my life knowing that I have an earthly father who I can count on. I do not recall a single moment when he did not act in my best interest, always above his own. If this required a sacrifice, he made it.

I realize that it is not that way in everyone’s life and I feel fortunate that God chose to bless me in this way.

Tonight as I was putting the fin...ishing touches on tomorrows worship service, I couldn’t help but remember what Saturday nights were like when I was growing up.

My father had a Saturday night ritual which at the time seemed peculiar. Each week he would go to his closet and return with an old black shoe shine box, full of polish, brushes, and several old socks. My guess is that the box probably belonged to his father at some point.

He would gather my brother and I and the three of us would sit together in the living room and shine our shoes. After a while there was an inspection. Sometimes I failed the inspection and had to sit back down and do some more shining. Sometimes, after I had made my best effort, my father would end up putting the finishing touch on my shoes. When it was all said and done, our shoes were ready for church the following day. We were eventually dismissed to go do whatever other activity two boys did on Saturday night in the 1960’s.

To be honest, at the time, I thought the man must be crazy. My shoes looked fine to me. They kept feet in and rocks out. What was the big deal? And with all that shoe polish, by the time they wore out looked to be two sizes bigger than they were on the day he bought them for me. It was like putting monster truck tires on a tricycle.

But I have since come to know that there was more going on there than a shoe shine on those Saturday nights. You see, instead of going out drinking or spending money on himself, or living foolishly, my father chose to get the three of us together on a weekly basis to learn a little bit about things such as stewardship, respect, and completing a task, no matter how mundane it seems to be. I don’t know what we talked about but the point is, we talked. It wasn’t really about a pair of shoes at all.

The number of times and reasons when I have challenged my father over the years are many. But I have never had an occasion where it even crossed my mind to challenge or doubt his ethics and his love for me. For this I will always be grateful and I will always regret the times that I did not show the respect that he has earned.

I wear a bigger shoe than I did back then but I doubt I’ll ever be big enough to fill his.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 If It wasn't for "Pneumonia" I could blog without spell checker.

Several people have recently asked me to include the text of a message I recently preached in my blog. This week I have become aware of several situations where I think this will apply. I hope that God uses this to encourage you.

Ephesians 5:15-17 says:

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

In today’s typical household, somebody always needs 5 bucks and a ride somewhere. We constantly have meetings and doctor’s appointments, or other places we need to be. We struggle to leave work in time to pick up our kids from school and drop them off at baseball practice. At the end of the day we rush home and prepare something to eat, wash dishes, take a shower, and then we get ready to do it all over again tomorrow. On weekends there’s always a car or a leaky faucet that needs work. We’re late for work and church and we regularly miss other deadlines. We work longer and harder to bring home a paycheck that barely meet our needs. A recent study found that 20 years ago, the average work week was 43 hours. Now it is 47.

As Christians, we also understand the importance of serving in ministry, spending time in Bible Study, and in fellowship with each other.

And for the next 6 months we mow grass…except for me. So far all I’ve done is work on the lawn mower. I’ve always said that there is no greater risk to my testimony than a lawn mower.  As a precaution, I usually take off one of my socks and put it in my mouth when I’m working on a lawn mower.

In an attempt to balance our busy schedules we are opting for quick meals, fast food, instant rice, energy drinks, and trying to get by with less than what can be considered as a good night’s sleep. There are some days when I feel like a cup of coffee is the only thing keeping me going.

Single people are even trying something called speed dating in an effort to meet that special someone without investing a lot of time. The basic idea is that instead of going out on a date with one person at a time to look for love, groups of singles are gathering at the same place where they register and then pair up and have a conversation with a stranger of the opposite sex. In five or ten minutes a bell rings and then they get up and go have a 10 minute date with someone else.

I went on a speed date a few years ago. Yes, you heard me correctly. I cheated on DeDe. I'm not proud of it but before you judge me, please understand that I did not know that I was cheating on DeDe. In fact, I did not even know that I was on a speed date.

My son Jake, who is a musician, was performing at the Red Light Cafe in Atlanta. We decided to go see the show. We arrived and took a seat on a sofa located at the back of the room and waited for the show to begin. I kept hearing a bell ring but I really didn’t pay much attention to it. In a few minutes a girl, who looked to be in her late twenties, came over and sat down on the other side of me and introduced herself. She looked directly at me and said “Hi! I’m Kara…so…do you come here often?” I mumbled “NEVER”. I glanced over at DeDe and she was laughing. I looked across the room and my son, who was about to go on stage, was in hysterics. He was laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes. In a few minutes a bell rang and the young lady stuck out her hand and said “It was nice to meet you. I sarcastically said “yeah me too” My son walked over after the show and said “Hey dad, how did your date go?” and broke into laughter again. I was kinda puzzled. Dede finally explained to me that I had been on a speed date. I had a real hard time living that one down.

There are all sorts of things we can try to help save time. If you don’t already have one, you might buy yourself a smart phone. Then while you’re sitting in the drive thru at McDonald's you can also check your email, do your banking and other important things such as updating your Facebook status, all at the same time.

There’s a popular word for that…"multitasking"… which simply means…do multiple things at the same time. As a word of caution, be careful when you multitask. You may have mastered text messaging but when you’re in morning traffic with a hot cup of coffee between your legs, singing along with the album version of ‘Free Bird”, it’s probably not the best time to multitask. Brothers and sisters, can I get an LOL out of that!

Wouldn’t life be easier if we just had more time?

But all there will ever be is 24 hours in a day. All we can really do is try to make sure we are using the time we have available in the best possible way.

There’s a popular word for that too. Have you ever heard the phrase “Time Management”?

There’s an entire industry based on Time Management software and products. By tracking appointments and schedules, you may find opportunities to eliminate some of the less important items on your schedule, and make more time for activities with a higher priority.

Some of the children at my church are already practicing this. They have discovered that they can increase their playtime if they simply eliminate baths from their daily schedule.

Considering the pace we’re trying to live at, it’s no wonder that there are Sunday’s when we would rather stay home and catch up on other things or rest instead of attending church services, let alone finding enough time to read our Bibles every day. And yet as Christians, if you ask any one of us, we would all agree that an active church life and spending time in the word of God is essential to our lives.

I bet we would also agree that putting on an air tank is essential if you are going to go scuba diving.

The point I’m trying to make is that even though we say that we know the importance of God’s word in our daily lives, we are more likely to get up everyday and live our lives deprived of God’s word than we are to go scuba diving without first strapping on an air supply. Obviously, if you go scuba diving with out air it’s not going to go very well.

We must understand that God’s has priorities for our lives that are as essential to us as the air we breathe if we expect to live the kind of life that we are promised we can live, in grace, free of conflict, and wrapped in the peace of God.

If I came over to your house, opened your garage door and began to look at your messy garage, you would probably say you have been meaning to clean the place up but have just been too busy.

What if, instead, I came to your house and asked you to go fishing? It’s likely that you haven’t cleaned your garage because it’s not really a top priority to you. Our real priorities almost always get done because we find or make the time for them.

To set real and meaningful priorities in our lives we first need to understand what our purpose is. We live in different family situations, work different Jobs, and face different challenges in our lives but our utmost purpose is the same.

We were created to Glorify God. In Isaiah 43:21 God told Jacob:

The people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.

Life is a gift from God to be used for the purpose of glorifying God.

Life can also be defined a period of time.

Therefore, I think we can conclude that time is also a gift from God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 says:

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God

So our TIME.. meaning our words, our thoughts, our actions, our songs and dance, our jobs, when we nourish our bodies,…whatever we do, our time is to be spent Glorifying God.

We glorify God by loving him, obeying him, trusting him, serving him, and by walking with him in all that we do.

We can best do this when we begin to let God’s priorities order our days instead of a unit of measurement…like the number of HOURS IN A DAY.

Our intent is to live life to its fullest but when our priorities are out of line with God’s priorities, we find ourselves feeling unfulfilled, frustrated, tired, and cheated out of the kind of life we’re supposed to have.

I want to talk about a few things that will help bring order to our lives when our life has overwhelmed us. Before we start we need to remember two things.

The first thing to remember is that we will always have enough time to do God's will. God’s plan for us will not include anything that is impossible through Him.

The second thing to remember Is that God is the author of time, therefore, the 24 hour day is not a mistake.

Time problems occur when we try to do more than, or something different than God’s Will for our lives. When we regularly find ourselves overwhelmed and unable to accomplish all that we planned to do we should take notice and view these feelings as a red flag.

1 Corinthians 14:33 says:

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

God’s perfect will in our lives also includes God’s perfect peace in our lives. Anything other than peace means that we still have some work to do.

In order to properly manage our time it helps to develop a list of daily priorities that agree with the priorities that God has established for us in His word. In particular,  Ephesians tells us a lot of what we need to know about our relationships with each other, our families, and our jobs, just to name a few.
I created a basic list for us to look at. We won’t try to rank the items on our list in any particular order other than to say that everything in our lives falls under our relationship with God.

Our goal is to simply look at a short list of some God pleasing priorities that we can use as a tool to help bring order into our daily lives. As we begin to manage our time, looking at priorities instead of the number of hours in a day, our priorities will serve to filter out some of our activities. We take control of our schedules by looking at each activity that presents itself in our lives to see if they fit within our list of priorities.

When we begin to create schedules that are in line with Biblical priorities rather than the amount of hours in a day, the result will be the desired order and peace of God in our daily lives.

Guided by Scripture, A basic list  of priorities might look like this:

Our relationship with God
Our families
Our jobs
Our ministry to each other
Our ministry to the lost
Rest

Did you notice that this could also be a list of our blessings?

As you read the Bible, you will likely find other items you’ll want to add to your list.

My testimony today is that these things I have written are extremely important in our lives.

In 1979 I stood up in a church and I promised God that I would love DeDe in sickness and in health. In October of 2011 I learned what that really meant.  DeDe was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia that will kill a person in 4 weeks without treatment.

In two days, our lives forever changed in ways we could not have imagined. In less than 48 hours we lost %40 of our income and Dede moved to Emory Hospital for the next 31 days. She came home for 2 weeks and then left again for 21 more days.

My first reaction was to do what I always do.

I googled the facts...

I embarked on a reading marathon of research papers and clinical trial journals from the USA, China, and France. I didn’t understand a word they said but I read them anyway.

I quickly learned that I as much as I wanted to, I could not fix this.

So we made a decision that no matter what happened; we would accept God’s will. As hard as it is to think about, I know that DeDe belongs to God and someday He will call her home at a time of His choosing. But through God’s grace we also know that her life will never end in death. I love her very much but I know that God does too. I also know that He has something really awesome in store for her someday. I wanted to resent all that had happened to us but I couldn’t. I have come to understand that to truly love someone, you must also be willing to give them up. After this acceptance we were able to focus on the day at hand.

In keeping the promises I made to DeDe, it meant that I had to continue working and do all the other things that I am responsible for as well as take care of her and all the things she normally takes care of. I found myself living on as little as 3 hours sleep each night. When she finally came home, new challenges replaced the ones that disappeared. It became my responsibility to care for her at home and maintain her PIC line for several months. That was some pretty scary stuff.  I practiced several times on a dummy and soon realized that I wasn’t much smarter than he was. We both had the same stupid look on our face. I’m sure the instructor was great but all I heard was “Here’s a hose that goes in here and runs from here to your wife’s heart. DON”T MESS UP!”

DeDe, of course, faithfully cheered me on with helpful comments such as “YOU”RE KILLING ME”. Dede is not like one of the computers I work on. If I mess up I can’t just reboot her and start over.

Life showed no mercy just because DeDe was sick. The little unexpected issues that come up in everyday life still happened.

One day I made the mistake of trusting my youngest grand dog, Maynard to stay inside because it was raining. Maynard is big for his age but his brain is more like a BB rolling around in a beach ball. Like his grandfather, Maynard also has a sinful nature. He spent the entire day destroying a 12 pack of toilet paper. I opened the door at 1:30 in the morning and it looked like it had been snowing in the house.

I didn’t see my boys very often but I knew they were still alive by the forensic evidence they left at the crime scene. Finally, in desperation, I opened a Facebook account and posted a description of the washing machine and dishwasher along with some operating instructions on their Facebook pages.

I couldn’t help but wonder what would become of our family and what our lives would look like when all this was said and done. I recall several times when Leukemia first appeared in our lives when I said that it had changed our priorities.

But that was an untrue statement.

In fact, we found that it was our priorities that gave us a compass to use to help us find our way through some very unfamiliar territory.

What Leukemia actually changed was our daily activities.

Ordinarily when I get home from work, we eat dinner, do chores, talk about our day, or watch one of our favorite TV shows. For the most part, whatever we do, we do it together. Suddenly, I was leaving work in a hurry and eating dinner in the car while driving to see DeDe. I would call her and if she felt like eating, I would go wherever I had to go to get whatever she would eat. When I arrived we would have dinner together.

She took full advantage of my desire to go the extra mile for her and usually picked something from a restaurant on the left hand side of an eight lane road in the middle of a construction zone.

When I finally arrived at Emory we talked, relaxed and watched TV like usual. If I didn’t stay the night, I washed clothes and cleaned the house after I got home.

But none of this was a burden for me because our time together is a priority in our lives. It turned out that the location and the logistics of where we were didn’t matter so as long as we were together. I feel like God particularly blessed this time in our marriage. Our marriages and family relationships are also one of God’s priorities.

When Dede contracted a severe blood infection and was admitted to Emory for the 2nd stay, our time together was anything but normal. For nearly a week, I wasn’t sure that if I left Emory that I would ever see DeDe again in this life. She did not speak for several days. Severe Pneumonia set in and it literally took every ounce of her strength to simply breathe. I spent much of our time together praying for her while she rested. I read the Book of Ephesians five days in a row. This is when God began to write this message.

One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do is to go to work while DeDe was so sick. It was torture. But I had to keep some income flowing in. Our jobs are one of the ways God provides for us so our work is also one of His priorities. God intends for man to work.

In Genesis 2:7, God made man. The next thing he done was put man to work.

Eight Verses later in Genesis 2:15 it says:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

God helped me with this priority by providing people I trust to advocate for DeDe while I worked.

Ministry is another priority in our lives. We all are commissioned by Christ to minister. Did we miss church events? Yes. But throughout this illness God gave both of us numerous opportunities to minister. Even when God placed us in this difficult circumstance there was still an invitation to join Him in the work He was doing around us. There was no change in what God expects us to do in our lives. Once again, our normal activities and the venue changed, but not our priorities.

One night I stopped in little five points. It wasn’t for a tattoo. Do I look like I’d be hanging out in little 5 points? But I needed gas. I met a young man who was living on the streets and he was hungry. I bought us a cup of coffee and a honey bun and I hung around for a little while and we talked about his situation. Maybe my job that night was simply providing a meal for a young man who had lost his way. But I promise you that had DeDe never had Leukemia, I would have never been in little 5 points at 1 o’clock in the morning. I would have never been so burdened to pray for this young man as I have been. I assume that I was part of God’s plan in a work that God has in process in this young man’s life.

I arrived one afternoon to find a group of several nurses in DeDe’s room. The conversation that was taking place went something like this. “I don’t know what you have but other people on this floor need whatever it is. Please spend all the time you can out in the hallways and be seen” and as long as she could, she did.

I met the family of another Cancer patient who didn’t have a Pastor. For the next few weeks I prayed with this family on a regular basis. A few weeks later that he passed away. The love of my life was three doors down fighting for her own life but it was still my job to minister to the needs God placed in my path.

Chemo infusions are administered at night. With the nasty side effects associated with the type of chemo that DeDe required, her room was a pretty busy place at night. DeDe and I had the opportunity to get to know a young man named Isaac who was one of the nurses who cared for her. Isaac revealed that God was calling him to become a medical missionary. His gifts for that became evident one night during Dede’s 2nd hospital stay. After battling the blood infection and severe Pneumonia for several days, her pulse and oxygen fell to critical levels and a succession of 3 separate emergency codes were called over the next 2 hours. The other nurses and the physician assistant on duty were more than willing to step aside and let Isaac take over. During the second code event, I believe Isaac saved DeDe’s life. Isaac’s care always included prayer. Day after Day, I observed Isaac praying in the hall just outside of his patient’s room. The three of us prayed together several times. Before we left Emory, this calling was shaping up to something that looked more like a plan. We both know we were sent to encourage this young man.

Our Ministry gave us purpose in an otherwise confusing period of our lives. A purpose in all this was something that we desperately needed.

In the days following October 1st of 2011, DeDe spent a total of 52 days in a hospital. I was there all 52 days.

Today by the grace of God, DeDe is cancer free at this time, and no matter what the remaining complications and circumstances may be, we’ve learned that God doesn’t change His priorities for our daily lives so neither can we. And we’ve also learned that following God’s priorities was the thing that provided stability and kept the peace of God in our daily lives.

When we made our wedding vows, God was not merely a witness to our marriage. He as been a participant. And God has been there with both of us every step of the way… In sickness and in health….

And we now know that God’s has priorities for our lives that are the same…In sickness and in health.

I am writing today to testify that throughout this trial in our lives we have known the incredible peace of GOD in every step along the way.

And without God, That’s not who I am. Those of you who know me best know that. Have you ever watched an Episode of Monk?

By nature, I’m all but OCD when it comes to scheduling my activities. I like to do things on time. I get rattled when I’m late or things don’t go according to plan. I have methods for everything that work for me. I like order in my life and if every day was exactly like the day before, I’d be OK with that, especially if I could pick the original day. I’d probably pick a day when I was smoking ribs.

I have a system for that too. You can’t rush ribs. If you want good ribs then you have to let them take their time. I have a kindred spirit with ribs. I don’t like to feel rushed either. When I’m rushed I also get tough and dry. So I offset my allergic reaction to spontaneity and tough spare ribs by starting activities on time and scheduling enough time to achieve the desired results.

But unfortunately, I didn’t have a plan for Leukemia.

We didn’t have time for Leukemia. We were working, living life, and going to church and serving. We were doing our best to obey God. We were taking care of my mother in law. Miss Joanne who has Alzheimer Disease. Miss JoAnne lives on her own schedule and she would wonder around the house at all hours of the night. If I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night she would suddenly appear out of nowhere. She was scary…scary as in crypt keeper scary.

And now you are telling me that DeDe is leaving to deal with cancer?

DON’T LEAVE ME WITH THE BABIES!

We didn’t know what or how to do Leukemia and we still don’t… But God DOES. We didn’t know how we were going to pay for it. I quit looking at medical bills and insurance claims when they topped 1.2 million dollars. God says “I WILL HANDLE IT” See Matthew 6…

And then I stood by DeDe and she stood by me. I went to work and she fought cancer. And we continued to worship God and to minister whenever God put a need in our path. 

And Everything Else?....This time we had to give it all to God and in turn God put the peace of God in our lives. God made what was impossible for us possible. To God be the glory!

It’s such an awesome thing that DeDe is sitting close by while I write our story. She has a head full of beautiful thick hair.

Let’s take a moment and consider the testimony that I have written while we take one more look at our priority list.

Our relationship with God
Our families
Our jobs
Our ministry to each other
Our ministry to the lost
Rest

I believe that all the changes that have occurred in mine and DeDe’s life circumstances, including Leukemia, are the way that we were deployed to places where God wanted us to be.

Why else would God suddenly call us away from two 12 year ministries at one church and move us to another ministry seven days later? Why would he then bring BOTH ministries we worked at together to plant a brand new church with people who have been brought together from all over the world to join God in his work? Why else would God place both of us in new jobs within a 5 month period that we weren’t looking for? Who saw that coming?

Was God just throwing his weight around when we ended up at Emory Hospital for 52 days? Or was DeDe sent to Emory hospital to touch a life? I would ask you how can DeDe be anywhere and not touch a life?

As scriptures clearly state, we all have the common purpose of glorifying God, where ever the Will of God takes us. The only way we will understand the Will of God in our INDIVIDUAL lives is through not only reading, but by applying Gods word to our lives and circumstances.

When the activities that present themselves in our daily lives are opportunities to glorify God then he will bless them!

When we feel stressed and conflicted then the activities that have presented themselves in our lives are something other than God’s will.

God’s will leads us to something that is good for us.

Conflicted lives and priorities lead to confusion, frustration and heart attacks.

Jeremiah 29:11 says:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future

Isn’t that what you would plan for your own children?

So if life gets out of hand, change your plan!

God has a better plan and you have your own copy. If you don’t I will give you one. If God loves us so much that he gave His only son so that we should not perish…then he surely wants us to experience the full life that Jesus came to give us while we are here in this life, completely free of stress, anger, frustration, conflict, and above all, free from the shadow of death.

God priorities are unchanging and once our priorities match them we are no longer limited by the number of hours in a day on what we can accomplish in our lives. Those same priorities bring the peace of God into our lives in any circumstance.

We don’t know what tomorrow brings. James, brother of Jesus, said:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

I'm going to wrap this post up with six ways we can find God’s will and priorities for our daily lives.

1. Invest Time In Reading God’s Word

I chose to use the word invest because it implies that there is a payoff. God’s Word will never contradict God’s will. There is no better way of knowing what’s important to God than by reading His Word.

Joshua 1:8 says
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

2. ASK, BELIEVE and RECEIVE!

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does

Matthew 7: 7 – 11
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

3. Chill Out Dude!

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:25 and 33
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

4. WORSHIP and TRANSFORM

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

5. SEEK GODLY COUNCIL

Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 19:20
Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

6. Lick Your Wounds And Keep On Trucking!

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Many times the things we view as crisis or failures are just course changes on the road to finding God’s will in our lives.

I hope this helps you find it in yours.