Thursday, April 27, 2017

Pulling Weeds

Today I had the lovely job of pulling dandelions from our lawn so that I could kick off the season of cutting the grass. I obviously wanted to do a good job because the more I got out now would hopefully mean the less I would have to pull out later. More on that in a second.

This year will mark our 5th wedding anniversary. I love my wife dearly and I want to make sure I do everything I can to make our marriage as happy as it can be. Because of this, I've started a daily reading plan on YouVersion called, "The Five Love Languages for Him". I want to put all the efforts in that I can now into doing my part in our relationship to hopefully make it the best it can be as we continue on this journey together. It doesn't mean there won't be bumps in the road, but at least when we hit those bumps we will have a strong relationship to handle that rough road.

I'm not going to lie, like pulling weeds, it is a lot of work. There may be times when you have to go back and work on the same area again and again but in the end, the result will be a healthy relationship that will stand the test of time.

As for my lawn, I'm sure I missed one or two weeds along he way but I have a whole new season to work on whatever pops up. I'm just grateful I've got a lawn to pull weeds from.

Happy Springtime Everyone!!


Sunday, April 23, 2017

Life Isn't Fair

My little boy has learned a new phrase, "It isn't fair!"  When things don't go the way that he thinks they should go, he likes to throw these words out as a blanket statement that somehow is going to sway my decision about what he wants.

I can think of many times in my life that I thought the very same way as my Little Man and somehow felt that o should get my way. Even in my adult years, I sometimes struggle to see how some people continue to get ahead my means of corruption and deceit and yet I struggle to make it through or get overlooked because I won't conform to a way that would question my integrity. It doesn't seem fair.

Today our pastor preached on the very subject of this blog. It was quite a compelling message founded in the book of Habakkuk. He went on to explore how in chapter one Habakkuk went indignantly to God with his disgruntlement over the nation of Israel's current state and put God in his place. However, in chapter two, it was God who put Habakkuk in his place for crossing the line with a Sovereign God. It made me think back to my son.

How many times have I had to correct my son for speaking to me with a tone that wasn't fitting or for demanding something above his entitlement?  There is a line (a gracious one) that my three year old is slowly discovering as he matures and I am helping him discover that my decisions are in the matter of his best interests. I want nothing but the best for him although he might see it as unfair at the time.

God wanted nothing but the best for Habakkuk and the nation of Israel although Habakkuk failed to understand it at the time. Once God showed Habakkuk His ultimate plan, Habakkuk recognized that he had crossed that line and needed to trust God and His sovereign ways.

For you and me, the truth is we need not look into our current situation and exclaim to God that, "Life isn't fair!"  We simply need to trust God and know that His ways are sovereign and that He has our best interests at heart. It may not go the way we think it should. He may use on orthodox ways of bringing our attention to Him, but His ways will always be best.

I guess the question I have to leave us all with is, are we so focused on what we think we want and deserve that we forget to be thankful for what we have already been provided with by God? Maybe one more: Are we so caught up with fairness that we forget to acknowledge His faithfulness?

Maybe we need to spend more time like Habakkuk in chapter three. Check it out!