Category Archives: Perspective

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Graceful Perseverance

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His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”  Matthew 25:23

This past weekend, my daughter and I performed the father daughter dance at her wedding reception.  It was not flawless, but it was fun and was, by the accounts of others, beautiful and well done.  However, those three minutes and thirty-one seconds of dancing were the end result of hours of instruction and practice.  Throughout the last few months there was a fair amount of perseverance for both of us.  My daughter was juggling work, moving, wedding planning, dance lessons with her husband, and at the end a sinus infection in addition to lessons with me.  For my part, the normal responsibilities of life, the extra activity necessary for the wedding preparations as well as getting our home ready for company and the frequent dance lessons caused by body to get too run down.  On one occasion my wife and our dance instructor ended a dance lesson shortly after we began because I was too fatigued to function well.  The Monday and Tuesday prior to the wedding, I was also struggling to do anything of value.  In short, the celebratory dance that was enjoyed was culmination of a fair amount of graceful perseverance.  It was a series of choices to take risks and rise above adversity to live well.  It was choosing perseverance.

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Dancing With the Father is a Matter of Trust

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

As we make final preparations for our daughter Adrienne’s wedding this weekend, one of my main concerns is the father daughter dance.  As much as I love to dance, I prefer to avoid the spotlight as I struggle to remember all of the steps and provide the proper leads while also trying to maintain the proper form.  It is not just a matter of looking good, but also, in some cases, a matter of personal safety.  The picture above is of Christine and me at her wedding nine years ago.  By the grace of God, Marie and I have had the privilege of parenting our two daughters who have grown into lovely women.  As such, these two dances signify transition in that my role as their father takes a back seat to their new life with their respective husbands.  That said, as their father, they still trust that they can come to me with anything knowing that I will do my best to help them.  In that regard they place much trust in me.  However, as much as I desire to help them, I cannot provide the assurance that their Heavenly Father can. Most of what follows has been published before but is a favorite of mine and has much to do with the title of this blog site.

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Wholly Committed or Halfhearted?

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Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.  1 Kings 8:61

Roughly twenty years ago, I was in the hospital for observation to see if they could determine why I was having seizures.  It was a one week stay in a unit that had four rooms with glass fronts; each patient was hooked to 80 electrodes and under both physical and video observation all of the time.  The situation created an environment that lent itself to intimacy.  In order to provoke seizures, the first tactic was to discontinue seizure meds.  This was a concern to one young man in the room directly across from mine.  He had not been married long and with the help of his medication, his wife had never seen him have a seizure.  He had several violent ones that week, however, she showed up every day to visit and help him as best she could.  In contrast, the man in the room next to him came to my room one night upset.  He was a successful businessman who, from his own account, had an active and fun life with lots of assets and parties.  As his seizures threatened his ability to work and therefore, his lifestyle, his wife had decided to leave him.  She told him that it wasn’t what she “signed up for” and had no intention of being his nurse.  These are the two sides of commitment. 

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Love is an Action

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To convey Christ's command to love

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

For us, this is wedding month.  Lord willing, on August 17th our older daughter Adrienne will wed her fiancé Tom.  That leaves us in a whirlwind of finalizing arrangements, finishing decorations, polishing dance steps and of course making the final payments for everything.  It’s a busy time with the expectation of a joyous celebration which makes the effort worthwhile.  In that light, my plan for the next few posts is to focus on topics related to marriage and weddings.  However, I will do my best to applicable whether one is single or married.  That said, this first post of the series takes a look at love. 

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Encouraging Counsel

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Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.  For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.  But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.   Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

A few weeks ago, I took my wife’s car in for service.  While working on it, they found that three of the light bulbs were out and asked if I wanted them to replace them.  After a brief discussion, I decided to try to save some money and do it myself.  While simple enough for many, it was not that for me.  As is the case with many of us with chronic illness, I had to mentally gear up for something new, get the parts and then have the energy to attack the project.  Knowing my limitations, I searched for and reviewed a few “how to” videos.  The light bulb over the license plate didn’t go quite as instructed or planned but I managed to get it replaced after a fair amount of effort.  However, the rear side marker lights didn’t fare so well.  There were two clips holding the trunk liner in place that I could not get out.  Thankfully, the next day our son-in-law Corey figured it out and showed me the error of my ways allowing me to complete the task.  Without his counsel, I was failing, but with his counsel I succeeded.  In this case, the situation was rather benign; however, often times counsel is needed in more difficult circumstances.  If we are to be a helpful and encouraging companion, we need to be discerning in our approach to counsel. 

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Thankful Heart

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Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name.   Psalm 30:4

Life with an invisible illness can be tricky.  There are limitations which others cannot see that become frustrating.  They are vexing because one cannot do the things that they used to do or would like to do.  They may be annoying to others as they expect more than the illness allows one to deliver.  It’s a balance to be maintained as well as managing the illness itself.  But then, all trials present limitations and hurdles that must be managed or overcome.  In the fray, it’s easy to lose sight of the blessings of life and to be thankful for them.  This holiday week, my illness has been pushed to the background to focus on better things as I truly have a thankful heart. 

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Lost on the Pathway to Peace

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You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.  Psalm 16:11

As a rule, being lost causes a fair amount of frustration.  Marie and I visited Red Rock Canyon this week.  During our excursion we attempted to see pictographs on some of the rocks.  Sadly that didn’t happen. The scenic drive through the canyon is a 13 mile one way road and there was a right turn onto a short two way road that we missed.  Since we had time, we decided to circle around again.  On our second attempt, we successfully made the turn and found the parking area.  However, our lack of familiarity with the paths and the absence of a good trail map left us lost and wandering on steep and rocky paths.  Out of time and lacking good directions, we gave up our search and returned to our car defeated.  For His children, God offers a path to peace.  Sadly, we often fail to experience the fullness of tranquility, joy and pleasure that our Savior desires for us because we lose our way.  Similar to our excursion to Red Rock Canyon, it’s common for Christians to get lost on the path to peace because of ignorance, distraction or rejection. 

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Listen (Part 2) – Discipline

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He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. Proverbs 15:32

During my recent drive to New England and back, I was rounding a curve in the road using the passing lane.  A semi in the right lane put on their turn signal and proceeded to cut me off.  I was a bit irritated until a few moments later I saw that there was another vehicle in the breakdown lane.  The curve in the road blocked our view until the last moment.  The vision of the car seemed to be God’s way of adjusting my attitude about the driving of others.  Granted, I was a bit road weary and tired of being cut off by vehicles significantly exceeding the average speed of traffic.  However, in this case, I had made assumptions with limited information and errantly responded accordingly.

Discipline, rebuke, correction, constructive criticism, punishment, etc. are words that usually make us uncomfortable because the remind us of our fallibility and sinful nature.  Another challenge is that the person seeking to change our behavior is also fallible.   Consequently, the nature of our relationship usually determines how well we listen and whether or not we modify our conduct.  How we respond will also have an impact on that relationship.  The same is true of our bond with our Heavenly Father.  When He chooses to discipline us, we need to refrain from judgments about His goodness and love that undermine our relationship as we have very limited information.  Rather we ought to accept His guidance gladly by focusing on His motivation, goal and character.

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Listen (Part 1) – Instruction

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To set the tone of the post

Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.  Proverbs 23:19

I have just returned from a trip that included driving 2,000 miles.  I was a bit apprehensive about the traveling that far alone as I didn’t really feel well.  This was compounded by the fact that recently Satan seems to be raising many doubts and fears.  However, as I look back, not only did God sustain and protect me, but He was also speaking to me.  Throughout the trip, He was working to reshape my thinking through instruction, discipline and reassurance.  The elements were all there, I just had to listen.  Most certainly I heard and understood the messages provided through the sermons that I listened to while driving; however, it took a near accident at the end of the trip to really get me to notice how much God had been speaking to me throughout my travels.  Honestly, I’m not sure I have gotten it all, however, over the next three posts I’d like to share how God used each of these to mature me in my faith.

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Blessed Endurance

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Further encouragement

We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. James 5:11

Yesterday was a beautiful day so I went for a run.  While I managed to endure to the end, it wasn’t easy for several reasons. In addition to my normal health concerns, a couple of weeks ago, I had a respiratory infection that has left me with a nagging cough.   I have asthma and forgot to use my inhaler before the run.  I also have a knee that isn’t always the most cooperative as well as a wart being treated on one foot that can be uncomfortable.  I could go on, but you get the idea…there were obstacles that had to be endured to finish running the course.  Today it turned cold and rainy causing my body to ache significantly.  Further, it was one of those days when fatigue and lethargy set in.  Today’s form of endurance had a different nature, but was endurance nonetheless.  In fact, every day seems to require a fair amount of patient endurance.  I must accept undesired changes in my lifestyle and abilities as my body often seems to be my worst enemy.  It can be rather trying at times.  However, each day I do my best to: stand, run the race, endure with grace, and to live well.  Some days that goes fairly well while others see limited, if any, success.  I struggle daily to endure because of God’s involvement in my life.  From my perspective, here are three of the many encouragements to endure.

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