A Dog in the Garden
By Jason | October 1, 2008
For several years I have been fighting a battle with my dog. We have a section of our yard that holds a garden, a small fountain, and lots of flowers and plants. I have built a fence around it to keep the dog out. Somehow she always gets through. It wouldn’t be so bad except that she likes to dig up the garden area and lay in the fresh dirt, thus tearing up plants, vegetables, and flowers; and jump in the small fountain making the water nasty and clogging the pump. In my latest attempt I built a fence out of chicken wire to keep her from jumping over our deck railing and into the garden.
This lasted about a month when she decided she could bend it over enough to jump over. The other day I went outside only to find her in the protected area of the yard. I was furious. And she knew it. To make it even more frustrating she knows that she is not supposed to be in that part of the yard. I can tell by her reaction when I come outside. First, she hides from me, then she slowly cowards to the gate to be let out. Sometimes, I literally have to pick her up and carry her out. Part of me wants to give up, but we have invested too much time into that part of the yard to just let it go. Part of me wants to send her to the pound each time I find her in there, but I can’t she’s my dog and I love her.
Last Sunday in our Bible class, we discussed Adam and Eve and sin entering the world. I was reminded of this when I saw my dog cowering down in my garden. I remembered how Adam and Eve tried to hide from God because they were ashamed. I thought of how God banished them from the Garden of Eden. I thought about how separated from God they must have felt because of their sin and they were ashamed.
What is your reaction when you sin? Do you feel a separation from God? Do you just want to go and hide? I know for most of us that is our initial reaction. But I also know Romans 5 tells me that because of Jesus I can have God’s grace and I no longer need to coward down and hide. In fact, I read that I can rejoice because I have reconciliation through Christ. As Christians, we try our hardest to do what is right, and ultimately we fail and that’s where we need Christ. And God will continue to love us because we are his creation.
My poor dog, on the other hand, doesn’t stand a chance. The temptation of the fresh dirt, pond water, and the occasional rabbit is too much. She will continue to have consequences when she gets in the garden. But I will again and again forgive her because I love her, she’s my dog.
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Perhaps a Glimpse? & Do You Wear the Belt?
By Jason | September 25, 2008
I am not good at this blog thing. I guess the past couple of weeks have had me tied down with having a new baby at home! Exciting times! But I have thought about writing just about every day!
This morning I think I had a glimpse into Rylee’s JRH years. Some background…Since the new baby she has really been struggling with control issues. Every little thing, it seems, becomes a big battle. She wants to be big. She wants to do things on her own. She wants things her way. Sounds like she’s already an adult right? And of course it all goes with her age too. To further the struggle, she has been having a difficult time ever since the baby has come going to classes; all of them, bible, school, etc.
Anyway, this morning Rylee wanted Cori, Raegan and me to drop her off at her school. So we all drove together to take her. As we arrived in the parking lot she told us that she wanted to kiss us then go in the door. At first we didn’t understand, but it became evident as I walked in the building that I wasn’t supposed to (according to her). So Cori and I, seeing no harm in it, went along with her “demand” as we just wanted her to go to class this morning without the screaming and fit throwing. So we walked back outside gave our daughter a kiss and a hug and off she went, opening the door on her own and running off to class down the hallway. Now before anyone turns me into CPS, there was a nice teacher waiting at the door that greeted her and held her hand as they ran to class together. And we did quickly follow up to see her happily engaged with her little friends in class. Cori and I just laughed!
But my reaction was also, “I guess this is a glimpse of JR High with Rylee”. We are going to have to drive Rylee to the corner a block away from her school and let her walk because she is embarrassed of mom and dad. HAHA! I remember those days, but my mom drove a clunker of a car so I had a good excuse! Surely, hopefully, this is just a quick onetime thing, or maybe a short lived phase but it was still interesting. It was Rylee fighting for just a little independence. It was Rylee grasping for one of the few things she has a little control over in her life right now. It was her saying, “I am big enough to go on my own”. And I was proud of her. She marched right into class, put her backpack and lunch where they go, and joined her friends. No struggle, no crying, just as happy as can be. The funny thing is I know when I pick her up “from her classroom” that she will come running to me as she always does and give me a huge hug!
Gotta love parenting!
On another note…lots of things to write about as it’s been a while. Last night I taught on spiritual warfare. Particular Ephesians 6 with Paul telling us to put on the full armor of God. I had fun with it demonstrating how we need to be alert and ready for battle because Satan is after us ready to attack; it’s much like a game of paintball. I even used a live paintball gun and unloaded it at a few of our teens who were prepared and forewarned and quickly dove under a makeshift barricade set up for them. We then shifted into a discussion about the first piece of armor we should wear: the belt of truth. Here is a recap of the lesson. (As a reference and guide, I am using a lesson series presented by Doug Fields on Spiritual Warfare.) I invite thoughts and comments…
You see there is a battle going on right here, right now: a spiritual battle; a battle for truth. Do you have truth in your life? Truth isn’t encouraged in our society. Truth isn’t evident in our world. And truth isn’t expressed in our spiritual lives. We get caught up so much into the things of this world that we distort the truth and we forget there is a battle going on. We change the truth and we forget to be honest.
It’s beneficial to be truthful. Truth builds character. Truth builds spiritual depth. And Truth builds confidence. Doesn’t that make sense? When you have truth in your life it builds your character and your character is who you are when nobody else is around. If you want to be more like Christ, if you want to be a stronger Christian, if you want to grow spiritually, work on the truth, be honest and tell the truth. To be a truly confident person you have to tell the truth. If you are truthful, then you have nothing to hide, no worries about being caught in a lie, you can be confident.
So what do you do if you have been dishonest, or if you are caught up in a life of lies? First, you must assess your own life, particularly asses the truth in your life? Are you a truthful person? And be honest about it. Secondly, once you have assessed the truth in your life, commit to being truthful. Then be deliberate with every decision. Be deliberate with what you say, what you do, what you write, with every conversation, every email, and every text message. Tell the truth in everything that you do and be deliberate about it. Finally, establish daily accountability in your life. Find someone who can “call you out” when you are dishonest. Nobody wants to be told they are dishonest, so find someone you trust to tell you that you are wrong.
It’s tough to be truthful all the time. We live in a society that lies. Studies have shown that we hear, see, and are bombarded by over 200 lies each day. 91% of Americans lie on a regular basis (And I wonder if the other 9% do also!). But Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to stand firm, to put on the full armor of God; to be alert and to be ready. We must be people of integrity. You have to make the choice to be truthful. Do you wear the Belt of Truth?
I encourage each of you to read Ephesians 6. If you are in High School I encourage you to join us on Wednesday nights in the Rock as we discuss spiritual battles and putting on the armor of God. If you are in JR High, begin now by making a commitment to being truthful in your life.
Jesus tells us: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Thoughts? Feedback? Discussion?
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The Big Sibling
By Jason | September 17, 2008
Just a quick update Cori and Raegan are doing great. Raegan is doing really good and her jaundice is going away. She still has her days and nights a little mixed up but we are working on that. It’s been fun having two children at home now. We are all adjusting and learning.
I wanted to share an article I wrote for the church website:
Our three year old daughter, Rylee, wants so badly to be “big”. For example, every time we get into the car she wants to sit in the “big seat”, which is the seat without the car seat. Of course our answer is no, and then she cries. Lately, she has been saying as she gets into her car seat, something like, “In a minute, (her way of saying “one day”), I will be big and can sit in the big seat.” She wants to be “big” so bad. Now that our newborn baby is home, Rylee has been working so hard to help out around the house; helping with pacifiers, diapers, blankets, and comforting Raegan when she cries. The other day when we were getting into the car she told me that when Raegan gets bigger she will teach her to sit in the big seat too. I laughed and said that will be great.
I wonder what would happen if we applied this to our church family? As Christians we are brothers and sisters in Christ forever. I guess that means that there are big siblings and little siblings in Christ. It’s a never ending role, just as once you are born into a family you are a big sibling or little sibling. So that means there are two possible scenarios: First, Is the desire there for you to be big brother or big sister in Christ or do you shy away from the responsibility of being the bigger sibling? Unfortunately, I think sometimes we see this in church. We lack Bible class teachers. We lack adult involvement. We hear comments like “I have done my time in teaching class”. Or “I want to go to my own class.” We are so wrapped up in what we want that we forget there are a whole lot of people that could use some good positive examples and teaching from an older sibling.
On the flip side do you have the desire to be a big sibling to others in Christ? Do you look for ways to serve others, to teach, and to lead by example? I think we also see this in church often. So many great things are being done and taught through Christ through so many people.
I wonder if sometimes if many of us think we are big, yet we still act like we are little. What would it look like if we looked for ways to teach, mentor, and be big Christian siblings to others. Which sibling are you?
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Sleepness Nights & Sacrifice
By Jason | September 11, 2008
I appreciate my sleep. But this past week it seems that my opportunity for a good full night sleep has diminished greatly. New babies need to eat every 3 to 4 hours during the first few weeks of life; it gets a little longer from there. So this past week Cori and I have been getting up every 2 ½ to 3 hours throughout the night to feed our new baby Raegan. It’s been an adjustment but we are getting used to it. We have been a little tired in the day, but we are learning to cope with little sleep and take a few cat naps when we can. But it’s worth it. We love Raegan and want to do what we need to do to make sure she is healthy, growing, and safe.
How about you? How is your faith? What sacrifices are you making? You see I think that our faith is somewhat similar to our not getting sleep. If we really care about our faith, if we really care about our relationship with Christ, and if we really want to grow closer to God, we will make sacrifices. That means we might have to give up things that are important to us. We might need to give up things that others say are important. Things like popularity, not so good friends, certain movies, TV shows, things that take up all our time from God, the list only gets much larger, but you get the point. If you want a relationship with Christ you have to make sacrifices. You have to want to do whatever is needed to make sure your spiritual life is healthy, growing, and safe.
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