Thinking of my Father, who died Jan 21, 2009 at age 79

We have been expecting this for about a year, but you are never quite ready to receive the call that one of your parents has passed away. After reflecting on my dad’s influence on me, I focused on these three things:
1) He was friendly to almost everyone. He was interested in them and in their stories
2) He believed in hard work and being dedicated to whoever you agreed to work for.
3) He thought that you could continue to improve and he learned to be a better person all throughout his life.

My neighbor shared with me today that “you know you are mature, when you see your parents as people”. I have wonderful support from my church family and many considerate friends. It is my hope that these life lessons are part of my character too, and are a blessing to them, as well as to my children.

Aquariums and Health

To help me (and others) relax and lower stress levels, I added an aquarium to my office. (I tried a small water fountain, but the sound seemed to encourage frequent restroom visits.) Now I could easily spend an hour looking into an aquarium at all the different colors and shapes and how they move. The green of the plants provides a restful appeal along with the splendid colors of the fish and their interesting patterns of behavior. The observation that watching an aquarium makes people calmer and healthier is backed up by studies. However, “the actual fish seem to be the key; take away the animals, and a gently bubbling tank of water and ornaments doesn’t do the trick.”

I especially enjoy a community tank, where we see different types of fish living in harmony together. In many ways the local church is like an aquarium. We are made up of colorful, friendly people from different backgrounds and walks of life. We move thorough our world in unique patterns and at different speeds. As a faith community, we are often fed together, worshipping and sharing fellowship in groups. And we rely on a superior Being for our care and survival. God even decides those that will share our environment with us, our “aquarium” - our part of God’s Kingdom we call: Grace Crossing, a Community Church of Christ.

The Shredder - “Give it Up & Let It GO!”

Before services Sunday we set out hundreds of scratch pads and pens in the seats. I asked people to write down anything that was personally “weighing them down”, including worries, doubts, fears, resentments, sins or shortcomings. At the end of the lesson, I invited them to place their burdensome thoughts into baskets to be brought front and center to where we had brought in a big, commercial shredder! (It was even called the “ShredMaster”).

Since I had no idea how many would actually participate, I had written down some of my own stuff on a dozen pieces of paper. It was such a relief for me to physically act out what the Lord does spiritually for us when we give our grief to Him, and He replaces it with grace and peace.

I was even more encouraged when I turned to see several baskets with hundreds of pages of personal pain being brought up to get rid of. You could feel the level of relief rise in the room as we shredded our grief into tinny pieces (we even put a microphone on the shredder). And when I held up the empty baskets, people broke into applause!

I believe that those things are now in HIS hands more than before – and so are we! (I know I am.)