Birthdays--100 Words

Birthdays.

As children, they seem to come about every decade or two.

As adults, they come almost monthly.

While birthdays may be celebrated, ignored, or even forgotten, they are still important.

Birthdays are great days to celebrate life. The life given to us by our parents, and Father.

Today, I celebrate my wife’s birthday. It’s a special birthday. Then again, all birthdays with Tonya are special.

She fills life with joy and fun, excitement and love.

She is the joy of my heart. And life.

Today, we celebrate. However, because of you, every day is a celebration.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Understanding--100 Words

Understanding.

Robert McCloskey said, “I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

Huh?

Understanding is not easy. Understanding a teacher lecturing. A preacher preaching. Understanding your wife (or husband) as she/he talk about their day. Understanding your toddler who babbles more than talks—that’s difficult to understand.

Understanding God can be difficult. Or, at least I’ve found that to be true. My hindsight eyes work far better than today or tomorrow’s eyes.
Lord, give me eyes to see. And, to see clearly.

Beauty--100 Words

Where is beauty found?

In the eye of the beholder, some say.

I find beauty when I see my wife at the end of the day. Or, at the start of a new day.

I find beauty in my son’s face as he smiles from across the room.

There’s beauty found in a bumble bee, rain, the ocean.

I find beauty in helping other people.

I find beauty in writing.

And in reading.

I find beauty in God and His love for me. While I seldom (or is that never) deserve His love, it is freely given for me.

To My Best Friend

If history holds true, today will be a low "hit" day on my blog. That's okay. People are going to church, many of my regular readers will be leading in worship. Bill will be preaching, while his grandson sits and listens (hopefully, he'll be listening). Rick will be sharing from his missionary heart about the love of Jesus for all people. Camey will be hearing her hubby share the Word in a different place, and she will be listening to God's voice and understanding dreams. Heidi will be praising God and celebrating the forgiveness of sins past. Will, Michael, Karma, Bernard, Kath, Haf Dozen, and many others will be sharing Christ in their own gifted ways. Please know that I'll be praying for you as you worship and lead out in worship.

And, if you take the time to stop by to read my blog, I am most thankful. For you to pause long enough to read this, you really touch my heart in a special way.

Today as you read, you'll read about my best friend in the entire world--my wife, Tonya.

It's a special day for us. Today, November 30, we celebrate our anniversary. While the years we've been together are short, they have been wonderful and cherished. They have been enjoyed. They have been memory-makers every day. They have been the best of days. They've been the best of times. They have been days filled with love.

Every year since we married, Tonya and I have traveled somewhere special for our anniversary. Well, that's not quite true. The places haven't always been special, our time together has been what made the trip special. It was always just the two of us. And, that was all we thought we needed.

This year, things are a little different. This year, we have a little one climbing and crawling and exploring and touching and laughing and smiling and loving. So, this year, we'll stay home. We'll just spend time together as a family.

And, I'm thinking, this may just be the most special anniversary that we have had. The focus will be on each other--and the life God brought together. And, in truth, that's all that we should focus on anyway.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart--I love you more than words can say.

Thanks for the joy you brought into my heart. Thanks for the happiness. Thanks for patience. Understanding. Loving. Forgiving.

Thank you for being you.

That's exactly what God knew I needed.

Can You "See" Me Now?

A story out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, troubles me. Phillip Sherman of Arkansas learned a difficult lesson after he left his cell phone behind at a McDonald’s restaurant. It seems that Mr. Sherman had nude photos of his wife stored on his phone. And, the photos ended up online.

Now he and his wife, Tina, are suing the McDonald’s Corp., the franchise owner and the store manager. The suit was filed Friday and seeks a jury trial and $3 million in damages for suffering, embarrassment, and the cost of having to move to a new home.

The suit says that Phillip Sherman left the phone the Fayetteville store in July and that employees promised to secure it until he returned.

Manager Aaron Brummley declined to comment.

Now, I will say that whoever put the pictures online was wrong. There’s no doubt that they should be dismissed from their job. I have no doubt that the Manager Brummley should apologize for the actions of his employees. But, a lawsuit? Three million dollars? And, a new house?

Give me a break. Did Mr. Sherman ever think that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to store naked pictures of his wife on his phone? Doesn’t he have some responsibility here?

Unfortunately, in America today, few people own up to their own responsibility—it’s always someone else’s fault.

Tell you what Mr. Sherman—free Big Macs for life! Or, how about free salads or ice cream cones? How about free happy meals? And, maybe one of the gifts in the happy meal will be a chain to tie your next cell phone to your belt!

Before He Speaks

A regular visitor and commentor on here is Pastor Rick Boyne. Rick's a good guy, even though he pulls for the Oklahoma Sooners--hope he still does after today's football game!

Anyway, Rick posted a great video on his site yesterday! It is absolutely, totally too funny. Go over to his site and watch the video and then come back and watch the video below, produced by the same church. I think you'll like this one as well.

I think Rick and the other pastors you know will agree that there's a lot of truth in these videos.

Enjoy!

Home is Where the Trouble Is

A Berlin man is in trouble with the police; however, his police and legal troubles may well be the least of his trouble!

Berlin police say that a Swedish man came to them on Saturday claiming to have been abducted from his home in southern Sweden by two men who demanded money and took him to the German city.

Well, as police are known to do, they began doing their job by starting a large-scale search for his kidnappers. But, early this week, police said that the 43-year-old’s story fell apart in questioning.

The Swedish man told police officers that he had embarked on a European tour to get away from marital problems at home. He said he came up with the kidnapping story to explain his absence to his wife—who had reported him missing.

Now, the man is under investigation for faking a crime and prosecutors ordered a $3,800 bail payment.

Going to jail may be appropriate in this case. Paying $3,800 bail is probably justifiable as well. Coming clean to the police is a good start. But, can you imagine explaining this to your wife.

“Honey, I just needed a break…”

“Sweetheart, I was heading home from work and instead of turning left into the neighborhood, I turned right on the Interstate and just kept driving.”

“Darling, I had amnesia!”

"Baby, the devil made me do it!"

Not sure any of those will work in his situation. I’m wondering if he can hire a criminal attorney and a divorce attorney in a package deal, you know, 2-for-1 kind of thing? No doubt, before it’s all over, he’ll probably need both.