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A Pony Called Prince

As I reflect on the years gone by, which I find myself doing more and more as I grow older.  My mind goes back to my early childhood.   I was roughly 11 years old.  I was at the stage of life where I wanted to explore things and do things that were not necessarily within the scope of what my dad would call reality.  We lived in Oak Creek WI in a very modest ranch home in a very middle income subdivision.  My dad was and always had been a great provider in the sense that we never missed a meal.  Some of the meals were somewhat small but we never went hungry.  My mother was amazing with hamburgers and potatoes.  Both were cheap and you found them on the supper table on most nights. We would call her hamburgers hockey pucks because they were about the same size and tasted about the same.  I tell you all this so that you will understand that our family was just making do.  Most gifts were home made or passed down to us kids.

Well it was getting on close to my 11th birthday and I cornered my dad with a strange request.  I told him that all I wanted for my birthday was a pony.  He had a strange look in his eyes as if to say are you for real?  He told me that this would probably not happen so not to get my hopes up. I have always been a visionary.  I just knew that there would be a pony in the garage when I got up on that birthday morning.  How disappointed I was when all I found there was our old blue Buick skylark.  It was then dad took me aside and spoke to me and gave me a gift that has helped me through my entire life.  He said Steve if you are willing to work for a pony and purchase it yourself and find a place to keep it I will give you my permission.  “Steve you can have just about anything in life if you’re willing to work for it.” Dad said this as he placed his arm around my shoulder.   Little did he suspect that I would take him at his word.  I weeded gardens, delivered newspapers and any other job I could find.  It was not tremendously long before I had enough to buy my first of many horses. A black welsh pony with a star on his forehead who bore the name of prince.  Of course I had made a deal with the owner that if he would let me keep him at his stable I would clean stalls and feed his animals for  the cost of board.  It was a great relationship and the beginning of a new direction in my life.  I was involved in horse shows and tried riding  broncs and loved the rodeo.  

Dad let me live by that principle all the time I was at home.  It really taught me responsibility and opened up so many different opportunities including my first car a beautiful 1959 Volkswagen convertible. It was even that way when I went to college.  Dad was all for it and said that he would encourage me but that I would have to earn my own degree.

If something is worth having, it’s worth working for.  What is it in your life that you long for, a car, a home, how about good health.  Each one of these things have a greater chance of happening if you will invest yourself in them.  Someone once said the harder I work the more blessed I am.  Don’t wait for your miracle to appear in the garage, but go out and work the fields and invest your sweat, for when that miracle arrives the joy is always overwhelming, not to mention that the appreciation of your achievement builds confidence in your future endeavors. Remember this works in your relationship with God as well for the Bible says,

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these. things shall be added unto you. (King James Version)

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I Hear The Sound Of Abundance Of Rain

And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel.  And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.  And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times.  And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, “Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. (1 Kings 18:41-45) English Standard Version

Many of you have heard this story.  A tragic story of corruption and evil in a land meant to bring forth prosperity and blessing.  When wickedness reigns rest assured the rains of blessing will eventually cease. This is the case with Ahab and Jezebel.  They had tried to wipe out completely all the prophets of God in the land.  They had sought Elijah to take his life as well.  Could it be those who try to live righteously prick the conscience of those who choose not to.  Those living in a way that they wish to please God in this wicked world become the itch that the wicked want to scratch. 

You must never forget that the eyes of God are upon His people and His love for them is overwhelming.  But the Lord is no respecter of persons and seeks to embrace all even those who live against His laws. In Ahab’s case God withheld the rain for seven years and a great famine swept over the land. But the nation of Israel still did not seek God.  Poverty and starvation were widespread.  It is then that God challenges wickedness with a challenge of fire. Let the God who reigns over all be the God who sends  down fire upon the sacrifice on the altar you have built. .  Much like the story of Cain and Abel.  Cain’s sacrifice was not consumed and Abels was accepted and the fire came down and consumed it.  Cain’s altar was full of self-righteousness and works covered with the fruit of a cursed earth on it.  Abels was covered with the blood of a perfect lamb. Each one of us gets to choose what we bring to God, that however does not mean that God will accept it.  As Christians there is only one sacrifice that will do for our sin and that was the sacrifice of Christ.  The prophets of Baal that day learned that no matter how loud they shouted nor how much they bled that their man made god could not answer. The fire of acceptance would only come through obedience to God and the blood of a perfect sacrifice given obedience on an altar dedicated to Him. 

That day all the prophets of Baal were taken away and God was acknowledged.  It was then the rain came again and watered the earth and the land again yielded its fruit.  If your life is a little dry today you might want to check your altar and make sure that you are placing the right sacrifice on it.  For there is only one thing that will bring God’s acceptance and blessing.  That is the perfect lamb of God delivered with a humble heart and a broken and contrite spirit.

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Our Goodbyes Are Not Forever

As I sit this morning with a cup of coffee and the sun beaming in the window, I reflect on an event that saddens my heart.  A dear friend lays in critical condition and this very well could be the date that she leaves the earth. She and her husband have spent many years working for the Lord and have sacrificed deeply for the kingdom of God. 

I have found that death is no respecter of persons and visits us all at one time or another.  This however does not ease the pain of loss.  The scripture says it is appointed unto man once to die. It is an appointment established in heaven and one that all of us will keep.  

Some years ago nearly 38 if I remember right my dad who was one of my closest friends passed away from cancer.  It was a very trying time to say the least not only for him but also for our family.  He was 59 years old much too young to think of dying. Our family stayed close by his side as he lay in the hospital gradually getting weaker and weaker.  We could see the flame of life was nearly out.  He had said his goodbyes to each of us and I am sure he was weary of the fight.  I spent much of my time by his bedside, I wanted to be with him when he closed his eyes for the last time.  I wanted to hold his hand, like he had held mine so many times when life was cruel. He would open his eyes occasionally to see if I was there.  

I left his side one day to catch up on things on my job, he was as it seemed having a good day. This was however the day that the Lord would pick him up and let him leave this diseased body that he was living in. My mother was by his side that morning when things went downhill. She shared this story with me.  “Steve it was the most amazing thing to see, dad’s breathing had changed and became labored and his blood pressure had fallen and I knew that this was the time.  Then all of a sudden he sat up in bed, he was smiling and was reaching out as though he was seeing some great sight.  He was not even aware that I was there. He was so focused on what he was seeing and then he collapsed back into bed and was gone.”  What did he see, or should I say who did he see?  I think we know the answer to that question.  Dad had finished his course in life, he had remained faithful to the end and the one who he had given his life to was there to take him to a place that was prepared.  I have felt terrible all these years that I could not have seen that moment of arrival.  Please notice I did not use the word departure.  Yes he was departing but I focus solely on the arrival for this was his ultimate destiny.  You see this life we have on earth is not our destiny, this earth is not my home, it is a place I am passing through on my way to heaven.  Paul said it best, “to live is Christ, to die is gain’.  Tradition has it that Paul ran to the chopping block in that roman prison where he was killed.  For God no doubt had given him a glimpse of what was ahead.  

So I leave you with this thought, what we consider loss to those in Christ who die it’s gain.  Our tears stand in contrast to their joy.  No more suffering, no more pain and dark sleepless nights. A place of embrace with those who have gone before.  Maybe I should focus more on their joy than my grief as I go through the process of loss.

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Gods Masterpiece

The miracle of growth and life surrounds humanity and portrays a living testimonial to the presence and reality of a living God. As I contemplate the mighty oak tree and realize that it’s beginning could be found inside the shell of a little acorn,  As I watch the farmer put a kernel of seed corn into the ground and I watch it grow to a height of over six feet in a small number of weeks, I see the miraculous hand of God moving around me. 

This however pales in comparison to the magnificence of the celestial bodies and the terrestrial heavens above us.  All working in harmony divinely fulfilling a role that has gone on since the beginning of time.

However to me the ultimate evidence of God’s divinity is seen moving in a spiritual realm oftentimes not visible to the human eye. How many times His divine intervention in my life has brought about the unseen working of heavenly hands which embrace and sustain my very existence.  Whether it be a heavenly visitor by my bedside or a helping hand over a difficult obstacle that blocks my path in life.  I have found God faithful and the ever present father and friend in life.   The portrait of creation has always been and always will be a constant reminder of His abiding love and sustaining life. He is the missing piece of the puzzle of life and without Him the true picture of what we see is not complete.  I am not just another person on the planet earth who leaves his footprint in passing.  I am the child of God, born of His Spirit,  whose blood sustains and gives  life that never will end. 

So make sure today that you take notice of the evidence all around you of his presence in your life and know that He is God and there is no one like Him.  Knowing life cannot be created by man or an act of providence helps me to realize it has a source.  God is the vault by which all things exist and have their being.

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I Am Still Young In His Eyes

This morning as I contemplated life and realized that I had a birthday heading in my direction, I sighed and thought about how youth and vitality had fled away so quickly in my life. To those in their teens I am an old codger, to those in their 40’s I am in my golden years. However to those in their 80’s I am a kid.
Of course anyone familiar with the process of aging, wii realize aging is also affected by your state of mind. I know people in their 30’s who act like seniors and seniors who act like their children. I guess I am the latter. I feel young inside even though when I need to bend over to pick something up I am quickly reminded that this body has lost a lot of its prior flexibility.

For example I had a brilliant idea this last fall. The gutters were full of leaves and I really did not want to use a ladder, they’re so dangerous you know. So I decided to crawl out onto the roof from our upstairs deck with my leaf blower and attack the job from above. I had an epiphany however while I was standing there. I looked at the pitch of the roof and the slippers I was wearing and through divine revelation I realized that this was not one of my brighter ideas.

See inside all of us were all still kids. That is why so many older people are ending up with broken hips and bones. They’re making decisions based on what’s inside and not the reality of what is on the outside.

I have an answer to why this is. Each one of us has a soul. The soul is not affected by the aging process for it is the one part of us that is eternal and does not age. It never dies or ages. This physical body is like a disposable milk carton. It serves its purpose but only lasts a short time. It was designed that way. Since the fall of Adam and Eve God never intended for us to live forever in our sinful condition. He said man’s years would be fourscore and ten on the earth. That’s the average, not the guaranteed by the way. However he promised that we would live forever. How do you figure how long eternity is without a beginning date and an end date? What is seventy years to eternity. It is not even one grain of sand on the beach of time. So when you’re feeling your years please remember you’re still young in his eyes. One day this temporary dwelling I call a body will go back to dust but I will enter a realm where death is not even a word. By the way make sure you know where you’re going nobody goes on a vacation that long without a ticket.

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Learning to Live A-NEW

It was several years ago that I met with an elderly couple in our inpatient hospice. They had been married nearly 64 years. They had been the best of friends and were so connected that each other knew what the other would say before they even finished a sentence. They were not only deeply in love but very much connected. She was the ultimate housewife and he was the faithful provider and maintenance man who did all the household repairs. This man’s dear wife had been suffering a losing battle with cancer and had reached the point of hospice. They were both in their upper 80’s and had lived a full and happy life together. They had no regrets and had reconciled themselves to what was about to happen. The husband stayed faithfully by his wife’s side until the end of her life on earth.

When the tears had subsided we sat down together in a private place and this man looked me in the eye and said, “ I do not know how I can live without her.” I understood him to mean that he would miss her presence and companionship, which was very evident. However he stopped me.

“You do not understand. I do not know how I can fill the void she has left. She cooked all our meals, she handled all the bills, she washed and cleaned and raised the kids. Chaplain I do not even know how to turn on the washing machine, or the dishwasher. I have no idea on the bills or where the mortgage is located.”

This man was learning that the void in death was much larger than the personal relationship he had with his wife but extended to every aspect of daily living. How many of us do not know what others contribute to our daily lives until they are gone. Grief encompasses many different areas.

Have you taken time to look at the ones you love and realize how much they contribute to each day you live?