My Family

Here are the two most important people in my life. The majority of my last post was about Owen, (the one with the hat) with a mention of my wife Amy. I thank God that He has put these two people in my life. It excites me to think that God may have another person in our future for us to care for and love. As I learn how to blog, I thought having the ability to post pictures would increase the appeal in what was being shared. I should have posted this picture with my last post.... I'm learning. Maybe the next post will include a video.

Speaking of my last post, can you imagine this boy being incredibly sad and raging mad at the same time! This is why it makes it so hard to use the sucking device. I imagine that God feels the same way when trying to help us.

Life Is Full of Sucking Devices

Owen was sick this last week. He was not breathing well. He had so much gunk in his nose, it made him pretty cranky. Owen is generally a happy little boy with a fun loving personality. But.... when you pull out the nose suction thingy, you know the thing that sucks boogers out of a baby's nose... yeah that thing! When you pull that out and use it on him, he reacts as if it is the worst possible punishment that we could muster. I say we, because when the "thingy" comes out, Owen simultaneously turns into the Hulk and receives super baby strength in which I get to hold him down as Amy administers the sucking device.
Now I know that by doing this it will help him breath. He hates it, but does not understand. He cries, but as his father, I allow him to go through this misery and awful 15 seconds, because I know that it will help him. I could throw the thingy away and his boogers would stay and he wouldn't be subject to such torture, but he wouldn't be able to breath.
I thank God that he knows and understands things that I don't understand. That he allows things of misery and torture to enter into my life for a few seconds so that I can breath. He tells me its okay, I cry, I squirm, I try to muscle my way out, but he holds me down so that I may be able to breath in the future. Life is full of sucking devices... luckily for us, God is doing the administering.

Hebrews 12

As a coach I like this passage because it sounds like a coach. What a great half time speech, or pre-game speech.

Throw off everything that hinders.... What weighs you down and keeps you from God? What hinders you? For many its TV, cell phones, facebook, magazines, eating food, church, your attitude, your parents, your habits... what ever is on your list it is probably not entirely sinful or sinful at all, but it does hinder you and weigh you down. Choose 1 or 2, and throw it off! Come back next week or next month throw off some more while keeping the first one(s) off.


... and throw off sin that so easily entangles. Actual sin, not day to day things, but down right ugly sin. Now I don't necessarily imagine a runner like the passage describes, but a guy wrapped up tightly with an extension cord from his ankles to his neck. Right next to him is a Bible. He wants to and desires to read the Bible, but cannot physically open it up and read it, because he is wrapped up so tight he cannot open it. He can get his hands on it, but its too difficult to open it and read it. The same guy wants to pray, but he is "entangled" so much that he cannot bow or bend his knees. Take your sin and throw it off. What happens when we begin putting the two together throwing off both, the things that weigh us down and entangle us with sin?

...Spiritual growth, spirutual maturity, spiritual success....

Eternity

Why is it, that for my entire life I thought that eternity was something that was going to begin later on in my life. It was something that I might possibly earn when I die, or something that would begin when Jesus returned. Did I miss the point of eternity or what? For some of you, you might be saying... yeah duhh, you missed the point... and some of you maybe thinking right along the same side as I have/had. How did I miss such an easy concept? What other concepts are just as easy to understand, but I have not taken the time to learn them. I know that when Jesus was on earth he continually told his disciples who He was and what He was going to do, but never did they fully get it. Until of course there was one day... and all the sudden, I get it! Today, God spoke to me or allowed me to understand that eternity has already started for me. I am already inside of eternity. In fact, God made me and placed me inside this realm of time, which is not easy to grasp. I haven't not always existed for eternity, but eternity began on my birthday and from that day on I will exist for all eternity. Now that is a bold statement, "I will exist for all eternity..." Does not everyone exist for eternity?

From time to time I enjoy reading books and seeing the new videos that Pastor Rob Bell of an emerging church in Michigan produces. A few years back he creatively was able to capture this idea that man has exists in between the trees. There was a tree in the garden of Eden which is called the Tree of Life and this to many represents God and all of life in the garden. Then in Revelation, there is mention of another tree very similar to the first tree, that represents God and life. In addition to what Rob put together, there is another tree in between the trees, in the form of a cross which represents God and life. The illustration leads us to understand that we are currently living/existing in between the second and third tree. Once we reach the period of time where we exist in the same time as the third tree we will be living as Adam and Eve did, and life will be "very good."

Even while in the process of writing this post, or any other time there is a discussion about eternity, I can't help but think that it happens later in life or later in time. What would life look like if I started to live my life in eternity right now. The second tree represents God and life right now. I don't have to wait. If I believed in my heart that my eternity has begun, is that what someone might call living in heaven, on earth? Or could you then say the kingdom of heaven is here, the kingdom of heaven is upon us? As my freind Brian would say, we have now entered into a realm or area that no one can claim they have mapped.