His Grace

This morning I was listening to a new CD, Keith Green - The Greatest Hits. For those not of my generation, Keith was one of the greatest Christian Artists of the 70's. I give you the lyrics to his song Grace By Which I Stand

Lord, the feelings are not the same,
I guess I'm older, I guess I've changed.
And how I wish it had been explained, that as you're growing you must remember,

That nothing lasts, except the grace of God, by which I stand, in Jesus.
I know that I would surely fall away, except for grace, by which I'm saved.

Lord, I remember that special way,
I vowed to serve you, when it was brand new.
But like Peter, I can't even watch and pray, one hour with you,
And I bet, I could deny you too.

But nothing lasts, except the grace of God, by which I stand, in Jesus.
I'm sure that my whole life would waste away, except for grace, by which I'm saved.

But nothing lasts, except the grace of God, by which I stand, in Jesus.
I know that I would surely fall away, except for grace, by which I'm saved.

No Pain - No Gain

This seems to be one of my favorite topics lately. God has certainly been taking me through the kiln during this season of life. Last night I talked for a bit to a wise Christian lady on this topic, specifically my propensity to withdraw or hide rather than embracing the pain.

Embracing pain is something I have never mastered. Most of my life I stuffed it down inside until it became overwhelming and then went into seclusion. In the past year, I think that my threshold for tolerating pain has increased - but so has the level of the pain. Of course most believers will recognize God's hand in this. I find a strong parallel to how He works with my experiences at the gym.

I go 5 days a week and work out. I spend 20-30 minutes on the elliptical and then hit the weights. My goal is to increase my endurance, reduce my weight and improve my physical conditioning. Day after day I see people who do the exact same (light) work out. They never break a sweat and they never appear to be straining. Over the months, I see no change in their appearance.

Contrast this to more serious folk who show up every day and work themselves hard. I have watched one lady drop 15 lbs or so in the last 3 months. I watch another very overweight gentleman pound away on the cardio machines for an hour every day, I am sure that his effort will be rewarded with improved health.

I am committed to improving MY health as well. This means I am regularly increasing the resistance and the weight on the machines I use. Most days I am pretty wiped by the time I finish. Some days I ache in places I didn't know I had places. But the price is worth it. I am 12 lbs lighter and have dropped 60+ points on my cholesterol. I look better, feel better and have more energy.

God works the same way - He is conditioning our heart, our mind and our soul. Yeah it hurts and yes the pain increases as we learn to tolerate the current levels. The end result is maturity and a Godly nature.

Don't give up, it is all worth it.

Blustery Day

It is a blustery day today. The first serious rain of the season has arrived just in time for Halloween. My hope is that it continues long enough to clear the air in the valley. The region has been dryer than usual the last few years so a wet (and wild) winter is desperately needed.

blessings on your day

Bombings In Assam

A good friend of mine is from Assam State in India, the town of Gawuhati. Yesterday, a series of bombs ripped through the town killing at least 76 people. Her dad was actually on his way into town when it happened. He was turned away at the roadblocks and went back home. Praise God that her family is ok. (news story -> HERE)

This is something that we as Americans are unable to comprehend. We have lived in safety and security our entire lives. The last century saw US troops involved in over a dozen conflicts, including 2 world wars. None of these conflicts occurred on American soil. The events of 9/11 were the first time that we got a (very small) taste of what much of the rest of the world lives with on a daily basis.

Regardless of our feelings on the political mess, in spite of the financial devastation that the recent meltdown of our economy has caused - we are incredibly fortunate and extremely blessed. Take a moment today to reflect on this and, if you are a believer, pray for our nation as well as our friends scattered throughout the globe.

We Are Family

I wrote last week about the tough times our neighborhood has gone through recently. This last weekend my friend and neighbor was charged with a crime. I won't go into details nor why we are convinced the charge is not true. What I will comment on is how the media was handled.

Whenever the media senses blood (or pain) they swarm like jackals, vultures and piranha. They descended on our neighborhood last Saturday night looking for a soundbite, a story or an attack. In the end they were only able to find 2 people that would even talk to them. The first was my stepson Andrew who was vehement in his support of our neighbor and friend. He was so vehement in fact that they could only show a few seconds of his comments ;).

The second neighbor to speak was Lynn. Lynn presented a defense that was heartfelt and sincere. She was articulate and loving in her public support and I applaud her ability to calmly and rationally come to the defense of our "family."

Our neighborhood is a family (how rare that is in today's society). If you attack one of us, be prepared to take on the whole community. We are family and family sticks together.

blessings on your day

Nice Weekend

We spent the weekend in Tahoe (South Lake Tahoe). The weather was perfect. Had breakfast in a local cafe, sushi and champagne for lunch, curried salmon for dinner - food was awesome. Saturday we went hiking at Eagle Falls. On the way home we stopped off at Apple Hill to stock up on pies for the holidays.

And Down They Go

Del Oro went down before the RHS Tigers last Friday by a score of 38-36. While Andrew didn't have his best game (he did well) on offense, he had one of the hardest hits of the game. As we are now at 5-2 (a 5 game win streak after the poor start), we are likely to make the section playoffs after the season.

Heal Me, Lord!

This morning's devotional from Swindoll caught my attention in the first 2 sentences: "This is a good time to correct faulty thinking. It is not always God's will that you be healed. It is not always the Father's plan to relieve the pressure. Our happiness is not God's chief aim. He doesn't have a wonderful (meaning "comfortable") plan for everybody's life---not from a human perspective."

Over the years I have had contact with a large number of Christians that seem to think that God's job is to take care of all the hurts, illnesses and diseases in their lives. I have listened to individuals who in every other way seem to be strong, mature Christians state unequivocally that a fellow brother/sister in the Lord is suffering from illness due to lack of faith. This position simply can not be supported by a complete understanding of the scriptures. Only by "cherry-picking" the Word can this doctrine be believed by any but the most naive.

God has NEVER promised us ease, good health or wealth. Any preacher or minister of the Word that states otherwise should be examined carefully.

blessings on your day

Meat Loaf

I have really gotten into Meat Loaf the last few weeks. No I don't mean the food, I mean the singer. The first time I saw him was on Rockie Horror Picture Show as Eddie the delivery guy :)

A while back, one of the cable channels broadcast his rock opera, 3 Bats Live. The concert was a compilation of his 3 album series, Bats Out Of Hell (I, II & III). I poked around and behold, I had the first album in my MP3 folder on the 'puter and did not even know it. So yesterday, I went out and ordered the other 2.

A Rough Time

The last year or so has really been rough on the neighborhood. We have seen friends move away. We have had several divorces. People have been forced from their homes. There was a brutal murder. Several families have been shattered. Marriages (and friendships) have been strained to the breaking point.

And yet through it all, we have managed to hang together. I have lived in several different neighborhoods in the region, but this place is by far the best. No matter how hard it has been, we have been there for each other. My wife mentioned the other day that it almost seems like we are under attack - and maybe we are. All I know for sure is that there is no where else I would rather live.

Thanks neighbors! You are the best (even you Jack-Sean).

Woo-Hoo

We finally did it, got the hot tub cleaned out and reset for winter. Shocked it (chlorine), drained it, scrubbed it and headed over to the store to get the starter chemicals. $250 later we were in business :p

As I was draining the hot tub, I noticed one of the spinners was off. When I went to replace it I saw that it was broken not just "off", unexpected expense #1. We were also out of the pH balancer and the de-foamer. After talking to the lady at the store, we came to the conclusion that we needed to replace 4 out of 5 filters... SIGH

It was a darn good thing we had a 20% off coupon or I might have had to sell one of the kidlets (or the 'stang).

Drought

Sure has been a long spell on the blog front. The last couple of weeks have been rough in a number of ways - not the least is that work has demanded my full attention during the day (the nerve).

On the update front - did I tell you that the mustang needs a new clutch (and sundry)? Go figure, who would have thought that a muscle car owned by a teenage boy would wear out a clutch :p

This weekend we are spending a few days up in Tahoe at the Fantasy Inn (www.fantasy-inn.com -> the hyphen is REALLY important :p

Brian (with an I) is heading to FL to spend a little time with his mom. Pop and the UK crowd all got home safely. It is too bad that Rae & Andy were not able to spend more time in Roseville, but all things considered it was understandable.

ok, more stuff later

Departures

Well our home is emptier today. I dropped Pop at the airport on my way to work. Rae took Andy and her friend Becky to SFO to catch a direct flight to London and then she will continue home to Clovis. It was nice to have Pop with us the last 2 weeks. I enjoyed his company at the gym in the mornings. I pray for safe and easy travel for them all.

Game 4 MVP

4 receptions, 84 yards, 2 TDs

Prayer Request Update

My friend was able to work with HUD to be allowed to move in with his mom until an apartment comes available :)

God is Good!