poop on me any day

We don't have much property, maybe a quarter acre if you measure it like a fisherman or politician, but I try it use it as best as I can. We've got strawberries as ground cover, raspberries trellised to the side of the house, a raised bed and four whiskey barrels full of vegetables in among the landscaping of our front yard.

We have a composter under a bush that is next to the kids worm farm (fishing bait) and the rain barrel is tucked behind the kids play house so they can fill little watering cans. 

When you sit down to eat and look out our back boor across the ten feet of brick patio you"ll see three types of bird feeders above a bird bath, surrounded by a butterfly bush. This three foot piece of our property sees more action than the casino most days. This time of year is when the fledglings, the birds who were hatched this spring, are learning how to live from their parents.

The babies squat on the side of the action flapping their wings and making a ruckus just like any other kid who wants food and mommy. They haven't figured out yet how to get the food so they sit and watch as mom flies to the feeder, takes a mouth full of seed, then flies back and stuffs in down their throat. I pointed this whole thing out to my daughters over oatmeal today;

Olivia, look, there's a fledgling, watch!

Yeah daddy, I see, look! She's doing it!

Hey, Olivia, do you remember what a parable is in the Bible? Like the Kingdom of God and the man who found the treasure in the field?

Oh sure daddy

Well bud, that mommy bird is doing for the fledgling what we do for you at night when we pray, and read your Bible and sing songs to God. We're teaching you were the food is and how to find it for yourself. There is no greater food on earth than knowing God and understanding his will.

So our bird feeders are there to feed the birds, and our kids.

There is however one "drawback". My truck has to be parked right next to all this and it seems that Honda Ridgelines  make great perches and toilets. So I drive around my nice suburb with a (shudder) bird-poop-tagged car. But that's OK, I've learned humility through it, and my kids have learned about God's provision and how to live as a disciple of Jesus.

Now today's story would have been enough, yet apparently God knew how self-righteous I might have become every time I found a new piece of poop and thought "look how I suffer for Christ!"

This note arrived in my inbox from a friend;

Dear friend Bryan, I’m sure every one of you doing well

One side of the coin I’m very happy the other side of the coin I’m desperately disappointed. So many things are discouraging my life. I’m not encouraged at the working areas finally  my scholarship of going taking “BA” in theology with Education flied away, I asked a scholarship ... I told the truth that I and my family we have decided my wife to remain home and children, for we didn’t want to disturb our girls, but as well to keep our property more safe. That was the only one disqualify to obtain scholarship, I thought that was the only way God wanted to release and give me a rest after a big toiled three years working tireless.

My mind is like is stopped and as well is like I don’t find a way. ...

I don’t know Bryan I don’t, I’m like confused

My friend has been living a subsistence life with two daughters and a sick wife. Daily he drives into Muslim neighborhoods and hold "Good News Clubs teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, spending what money he doesn't have for game equipment and healthy snacks for kids some of whom may not have anything else to eat. He has taught me how to pray the prayers of a desperate man who has staked the lives of his entire family the truth that they are adopted fledglings into the family of God and that He will provide for them.

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. 

Matthew 6:25-34

Yep, the Hebrews grumbled when God put food in their mouths because they wanted something different. Please don't make the same mistake. 

Go ahead world, poop on me. 

Jesus endured far worse for us all.

God is good. Period.

I have had a steady stream of "how are you feeling" questions since my surgery two weeks ago today.

 It was extensive; complete tendon reattachment, shredded bicep repair, and a 5.5 mm bone spur shaved off. They pegged tendon back into a bone the drilled into, sewed and glued muscle, and ground bone away.

Today I took two extra strength Tylenol for stiffness.I slept seven hours. My stitches came out Monday and they were all ready starting to heal over.

Months before my surgery I had pain only when I tried to lift weight to the side. The week before the procedure I was in the water for a four-hour-long surf session on decent waves with a fair amount of paddling. The day before I could do pain-free push-ups and pull-ups. Up to the moment they put me under I had total mobility of my arm.

When I share how I am doing my surgical team shake their heads and check again. Half my friends say "wow" and the other half says "God is good"

I agree with them all..but for the record God is good and would have remained so had I been in constant pain and the procedure failed.

Why?

His goodness is not dependent upon my situation in life. He is good because he is God.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
     for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
 

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who alone does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
 

to him who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
 

to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
 

to him who made the great lights,
    

 for his steadfast love endures forever;
the sun to rule over the day,
     

for his steadfast love endures forever;
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
   

 for his steadfast love endures forever;

God is good whether the president of the United States of America is a Democrat, Republican or even Tea Party.

God is good when I get a close spot to the mall entrance and when I do not.

He is good when I have a job and when I am unemployed. He is good when I have a house and when I am homeless. He is good when I am sick and when I am well. He was good when I buried my son and was good when I first heard my daughters cry.

So how am I?

I am grateful.

I am grateful for the care I have received, for my daughters who paint my armpits with deodorant, for the gift of having to ask friends to cut my food, and the countless folks who have offered help.

But I am most thankful for the first two days of pain, for in them I was reminded of the suffering of Jesus who endured so much more so that I would be made well and whole.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

red sky at night, sailors delight

Ask anyone who has spent time on ocean and  they will tell you there is much more behind a the palette of an oceanic sunrise and sunset;

Red sky at night, sailor's delight

Red in the morning, 

sailors take warning!

We are obsessed with predictions. This is not always bad in and of itself. We were given minds to think, rationalize, dream, and create. 

But we can only make educated predictions when we have good background information. Jimmy the Greek was a master at the prediction game. But his sight was short too.

Jesus messes this all up. Again. 

Some Pharisees and Sadducees were on him again, pressing him to prove himself to them. He told them, "You have a saying that goes, 'Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning.' You find it easy enough to forecast the weather—why can't you read the signs of the times? An evil and wanton generation is always wanting signs and wonders. The only sign you'll get is the Jonah sign." Then he turned on his heel and walked away.

 

We look at the surface and neglect the foundation. We are obsessed with the tyranny of the immediate. We missed the biggest tip sheet ever given!

Don't forget the sign of Jonah! Jesus was three-days dead! And he rose!

 

The Saduducees and Phaisees were hedging their bets and predicting that their actions would win the biggest jackpot the universe had to offer;  righteousness. 

We stand in even a firmer place.We are post-Easter people! We are being asked to put our chips down on the table after the cards have been turned over!

 

So why do some still bet on anything else save for a sure thing? Well, perhaps;

1. We have been misled about God

2. We have not read what God has said about himself

3. We have read wrong what God has said about himself

4. We have judged God not by his actions but by the actions of those who claim to be his

5. We are looking at weather and ignoring the pattern 

it is a sure thing.

 

 

nothing is wasted

my friend heard in her heart a word from God awhile back...

"nothing is wasted"

If we have been given the faith to believe that God is indeed sovereign, our entire perspective will be effective. 

All things will pass through the lens of redemption. All of every things collective histories will  somehow culminate in God"s Masterpiece. 

Our questions will change from "why is this happening" to "what am I to see"

At times we will see the answer to both;

Six years ago I was in the midst of my best snowboard run of my life at Mount Snow. I had just ridden the chair with a guy who had finally passed on to me how to really lay my ride out. 

...and then I was down so hard that when I finally had my wits about me I sat back down to use my back-country responder training to asses myself. I'm goofy foot so I hit hard on my right shoulder. I could barely move it.

I made it down to the base and sat. Out of nowhere one of my regular  Starbucks customers ( I was a Batista at the time) walked up to me out of the crowd and asked me to take a run with him. 

I explained I just took a hard hit but I would love to so we made plans to catch up the next run. I gathered myself up. I hurt, but I had a longing in my heart for over a year to share the story of God's Rescue with him so enduring the pain I went.

I took one run to meet up with him on the backside of the mountain. I went down on the same shoulder and we never met up. I am told that was the day I destroyed my shoulder, and that the second run is what did it. I drove home with an arm I could not move.

A few months back  I finished the tear completely putting a new canoe  I bought for my girls on top of my truck. It was a heavier boat than I was used to. It's a flat water family boat with a center seat where a portaging yolk "should"be. I gave the rest of my shoulder for my girls.

And today I was able to share the snow boarding story with two people in two separate parking lots. We spoke about the Good News of salvation, the redemptive suffering of Jesus, of Him bearing my pain and death. 

So, you see, nothing is wasted. God is not pleased with our suffering and pain. Like a Tanzanian wife, He uses everything for his family. May we all have the grace to do the same.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
 

And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death —
        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 

Nothing is wasted, even if it is broken