A Morning Reflection – Made In Heaven

Made In Heaven
September 7, 2009

Have you ever made anything? Think about it for a while. Sure you have. Something you made with your own hands, a meal you prepared, a paper you wrote, a challenging task you completed. If you are anything like me you were probably amazed at what you were able to do.

I am an electrical engineer by trade. I design circuit boards. At my company it is a team effort. This year I was blessed to be the primary designer of a circuit board for one of our customers. It is work I had not had in a while so I was even more grateful to be able to do it than usual. Anyway, it takes months of effort to get to the point where you actually have a board in your hands to test. When I finally got to see the first fully assembled board, I was pretty excited. What I had been working on for months was no longer just a plan, but now it was a reality. I could hold this thing I created in my hands and look upon it with my own eyes.

Okay, so yes, I am a nerd. I was able to do what I did by the grace of God through the gifts He has given me. Yes, I looked upon this object with some pride and amazement for what we were able to do. This past weekend was my birthday and I was contemplating Psalm 139 which describes how God has made each of us, crafted us in our mother’s womb and knows us better than we know ourselves. He is with us everywhere.

Then it came to me that God looks upon me and each one of us in the same kind of way we look upon the things that we create here on earth. He created us and He sees the good in us that He created and looks upon us with fondness and maybe even amazement at what He has done. Wow!!!

So remember my brothers and sisters that you are special and there is none other like you. You are a one of a kind creation made by the Creator of all things to live forever. So, have a great day!!!

A Morning Reflection – Love is Absurd

Love Is Absurd
June 14, 2009

Lately I have been contemplating a lyric from a song written and sung by one of my favorite performers, Matt Maher. The song is generally praising God because He loves everyone. One of the lines says “that’s why love is so absurd”. My first reaction to hearing that the first time was “Huh?” What do you mean “Love is so absurd”? How about “Love is patient” or “Love is kind”. “Love is absurd” is not in that famous chapter of Corinthians by Paul. However, upon further reflection, I have come to love this lyric because it is oh so true.

Love takes a week off from work, but instead of taking a cruise or going skiing or sight-seeing, it helps out with Vacation Bible School at church, or it goes on a mission trip to Ecuador or New Orleans or Pahokee. Love uses that vacation time to accompany a group of Boy Scouts to summer camp or a group of teenagers to youth camp. Love is so absurd!

Love drives her husband, who can not drive himself, 450 miles one day so that he can spend the next day with his suddenly ill mom in the hospital. Then the day after that, Love drives her husband 450 miles back home so on the next day he can support his son with raising money for his community service project for Boy Scouts. Then two weeks later, Love does it all over again so her husband can visit his ailing mom again. Love is so absurd!

Love, upon learning that a good friend is having serious marital problems, puts aside everything that is going on in his life and makes a full day’s journey to spend the weekend with that friend, even though there is no money in the budget for such a trip and he and his wife have to bring along three children under the age of 5. Love is so absurd!

Love puts aside practically everything in her own life and takes on the job of full time care for her cancer stricken mother-in-law. Love fully supports his mom in her care giving task even though it means mom is not as available as she usually is. Love is so absurd!

Love spends every evening that is not already committed to volunteering at church visiting and praying with a friend who is seriously ill in the hospital. Love is so absurd!

Love devotes almost all of its resources of time, energy and money to the care and education of its children and when it is not doing that, it is volunteering at church to help the children of others. There are countless numbers of parents doing this every day. Love is so absurd!

Love, having all power and authority in heaven and on the earth, willingly subjects itself to public humiliation and torture. Love allows itself to be ridiculed, spat upon, cursed, stripped naked and beaten to within a breath of His life. During all this, Love utters not a single word. After all that, Love willingly climbs upon a wooden cross and allows itself to be nailed to that cross by the hands and the feet. Love does not drink even the drugged wine which would have dulled the pain. Love dies on the cross under the weight of every sin ever committed by any human soul in all of time. Yes, indeed, Love is so absurd!!!

The Bible tells us that God is Love. So my brothers and sisters in Love, remember that when you love someone, it may be absurd, but you have allowed yourself to be a vessel of the Lord God Almighty. There is no greater act than to love, for without Love all that we do amounts to nothing. With Love, even the most simple action can amount to everything.

A Morning Reflection – Ripples of Love

Ripples of Love
Thursday May 7, 2009

I am a very blessed man. I write this as I sit in my Mom’s hospital room. She has cancer. We found out about two months ago. This week she is experiencing complications after her second chemo treatment. We are expecting her to be released to go home today.

I am only here because of the love of many people. Mom lives in Perry, Georgia which is a seven-hour drive from where I live. I wasn’t supposed to visit now, but of course Mom wasn’t supposed to be in the hospital. My brother called to keep us informed on how Mom is doing and told us she had been admitted to the hospital. My wife was supposed to come up here today anyway to help our son Christopher move home from college for the summer. His college is only about 30 miles from where Mom lives. My wife thought to move up the schedule by a day so I can be here today and back home on Saturday to support our youngest son Matthew for his car wash to raise money for his Eagle Scout project. I go to my boss at work (and my friend) and give him the update on Mom and tell him I am thinking I should go visit. He asks when that would be and I say tomorrow. We are behind schedule on an important project which has a lot of potential future business riding on it. So he says to me Go, what you are doing for your mom is more important than what we are doing here. My co-worker friends who I am leaving my work to do ­ very tedious work at this point too ­ smile and wish me well and pray with me for Moms healing and our safe travels. Friends of ours from church offer to house and feed our two teen-agers Matthew and Jennifer for us while we are gone. The neighbors volunteer to feed our cats and bring in the mail while we are gone and many people offer their prayer support.

My simple decision to visit Mom has rippled into the lives of many people. This is the Body of Christ in action. The children of God ­ love itself ­ responding in love to the needs of their brother in Christ. So the next time you hear about how Christ lives in you, remember the ripples of love which are the evidence of that very truth. Your simple actions to help a friend bring Christs presence to reality in their life. Thank you my brothers and sisters for being Jesus hands and feet for me. He is risen. He is risen indeed!