Tooth Pain

I have been experiencing pain in my teeth for a few days now I do not have great teeth but this is something different than a cavity. Finally today the dentist thinks my tooth has shifted and I am now biting down on only it and that is causing the pain I experience. They ground it down some to match back up and told me to "stay off it" a few days. But while I was there I thought of Paul and his "thorn" I remembered that we are never so close to God as when we need him desperately. The nights I woke up in pain I remember praying fervently for healing and peace. I am not saying God gave me a tooth ache to draw me closer to him but I am saying my recent "thorn" has taken me closer to my Lord. Although I am happy to be on the downhill side of this problem. :)

Snow Cables

So my Dad found a old set of snow cables in the shed. The set was for our old Chevy S-10 but since I still drive an S-10 he gave them to me. Cool. If you don't know what snow chains or cables are they are just that Cables or chains that you wrap around your tires and clip or hook, then you pull them tight with stretch straps and you have traction on snow and ice where you did not before. So of course I put them on when it snowed a couple days ago. It was fun. I had not put a set on in 7-8 years and it was like stepping into the past. I have to admit it really is the little things in life that make it fun.

Playing in the snow isn always fun. :)

The everyday of life

Sometimes I forget that life is not the series of highlights that I remember but actually the endless monotonous days that string those highlights together. Its not those occasional times that I am really nice to someone that they remember but how I acted on a day to day basis. The attitude I always had or did not have, the sarcasms I did or did not use, the compassion I did or did not possess you get the point. The highlights are always great the really good things we do for people need to be there also but they should be the cherry on top of the sundae that we serve to them everyday. So now that I wrote that how do I do it? :) All I know to do is put down one stone at a time.

My mouth

I recently had a reminder that I need to watch the words I say. I like to smart off every so often nothing bad just funny stuff, but I recently shot my mouth off faster than I engaged my brain and had to go back and apologize. God reminded me how important it is to watch my words and be an encouragement to others instead of a stumbling block. I did not realize how much in need of correction I was in this area but that is life when God convicts you in an area then you find out how much in need of improvement you are. With new levels come new devils and new things in life to master.

Analogy

If you haven't checked out New Jersey Jesus blog then do it. It is way cool but why reading his latest about, well you read it, I was reminded about my own short comings and my own hurts that give way to less and less compassion in my life if I let them. I am a young pastor of 27 and I have been working in the church awhile. I have found it a reality that as you reach you hand out to people you are just as likely to have it bitten off as to have them grasp it in kindness. After a while you find that you are extending a wrist, then an elbow, and finally just a few inches of a nub left at the shoulder. But what I realize in my analogy is that god heals that nub and regrows a hand out from it. If I let him my arm will never be a nub again but a wrist that continually regrows a hand for reaching out to the next person and who knows maybe eventually everyone will reach back a kind hand.

The Love Dare Cont.

Have I mentioned this is harder than I thought? I am falling behind with all this stuff it wants me to do. I know it is one thing a day and you are going WOW you can't do one thing a day for your wife, but it is a specific thing and sometimes you almost literally have to plan your day around that one thing. Its deer season I am booked solid trying to find the deer that have mysteriously disappeared from our area, how am I supposed to find time to do something meaningful for my wife like the dishes? OK so seriously I probably need to try a little harder but don't judge till you have been through this because it is harder than you think. I don't mean to sound like a bad husband I believe I am a good husband and my wife would agree. We have been married over three years and we are still in the honey moon stage which is great but you try to dedicate yourself for 40 days to doing something for your wife everyday and see if it is just soooooo easy.