Tag: Happy Birthday

Collage with “WELCOME: ALL NEIGHBORS,” neighbors sharing food, painting a mural, and meeting together

A Milestone Worth Noting

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“The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.” (Proverbs 23:24 – CSB Read the chapter)

If you are doing the math and puzzling over why we have jumped from chapter 10 to chapter 23 in our journey through Proverbs, bear with me because there’s a method to my madness today. I remember being in a conference one time with a guy who had written a book about parenting when he still had young children at home. Fortunately, this was many years later, and he was looking back at his effort with some wry humor at how much he had learned since then. I feel the same. In eighteen years of ministry, I have never preached a sermon about parenting. Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it more than once or twice. Perhaps I will yet someday when I don’t have anymore children at home, and I can be more properly reflective of the whole endeavor. Well, today I am officially a third of the way there, and I can’t help but be a bit reflective.

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Morning Musing: A Special Day

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“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some moments you don’t know are going to change your life. It’s not until you look back on them later that you realize just how profoundly different you are than you might have been because of them. Some moments that you think are going to change your life, wind up not mattering very much at all. Then there are the moments you know will change everything, and that’s exactly what they do. When I woke up 16 years ago, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was walking into one of those moments. I was right. Nothing has been the same since, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Today, my oldest son turns 16. Indulge me a few moments as I just get to be a proud dad.

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Digging in Deeper: A Special Birthday Wish

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“Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Give her the reward of her labor, and let her works praise her at the city gates.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

First, as a matter of business, the schedule for the next month is going to be a bit topsy-turvy. My family will have the chance to be out of town for a couple of short stints, I’ll be gone an entire week chaperoning a camp, and in the next five weeks, I’m only preaching three times because of pre-scheduled guest speakers. Some days I’ll get blogs posted, some days I won’t. Some days we’ll be in Exodus as scheduled, some days we won’t. Next week, for instance, I probably won’t post anything until Friday, if that. The summer schedule is in full swing for us, and I’m going to do my best to put my attention where it needs to be most…which won’t always be here. Fear not, though, come August things will settle back down into our more normal rhythm. Now to the task at hand…

I’ve gotten started at a new church as pastor twice in my life. Both times there were a handful of people the group serving as ambassadors for us insisted we absolutely had to meet right away. In both cases these folks were the recognized spiritual giants of the congregation. When we were getting started here in Oakboro, one of those individuals was Peggy Carey. We said, “See you later,” to her just a few weeks ago. There was another, though, who the search team was just as insistent that we all meet and as soon as possible. We pulled into her house on Main Street, walked into her sun porch, and were promptly greeted with a loud, “Heeey, Honey!” I knew right away that Ma Mae was indeed someone who was going to be worth knowing. She still is. And she turns 99 tomorrow. This is just a Happy Birthday note.

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