Thankful for Opportunities

I realize that it's a few days early, but it seems a good time to think about Thanksgiving.  Actually, every day should be one of thanks, but what I plan to do is to have a week of Thanksgiving.  On each day this week I intend to write of something for which I am thankful.  I would encourage any of you who read this to do the same.

I will begin with being thankful for opportunities.  We don't all have the same abilities, or talents, but we are all given opportunities to use the ones that we have.  It seems the more times I step forward and accept an opportunity, the more of them come my way -- and the more rewarding they become.

Through the years I have had numerous opportunities to do things that have made a positive difference for others.  Some have been small and some much larger (at least to me).  They seemed to increase in frequency the more that I stepped out in faith and accepted them when presented.  They also came after prayer.

Sometimes I think we fear opportunities because they usually come with risk.  One risk is that of failure.  Another is that they take us out of our comfort zone.  That's where faith comes in.  God gives us opportunities in order to help us to grow.  Until we attempt what we have never done, we don't know that we can do it.  If it is something you are comfortable with doing, it really isn't an opportunity.  Real opportunities stretch us beyond our comfort zone into a place where we must trust that God will provide what is necessary to get us through.

My prayer is that God will continue to bring opportunities my way and that I will have the faith to accept them when they come.  I pray the same for you.  I am thankful that God cares enough about me to provide opportunities for my growth.

"...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you." -- Matthew 17:20

Facing Struggles

There are a number of people that I know who are going through struggles right now.  Challenges are a part of life and they are one of the ways in which our faith grows.  If everything was easy we would find it even more difficult to depend on God than it is anyway.  I think we are genetically wired to depend on our own strength and efforts for survival although that seems to have disappeared in many of the young people today.  Maybe allowing the proliferation of ignorance and stupidity is nature's way of correcting an imbalance of some kind -- such as overpopulation.

I suppose that being aware of more of the struggles of friends and acquaintances comes with awareness of my own aging.  I hope to have many years left and I intend for them to be productive years, but I also acknowledge that I am older and sometimes my mind and body aren't as "in tune" with each other as they once were.  I certainly can't do as much physically as I could at one time, but I do try to get exercise of some fashion almost every day -- usually in the form of some type of physical labor.  When you have livestock that's fairly easy.

Not all struggles are physical, or health-related; some are mental.  The mental struggles are often the ones that drive the greatest growth.  Realization of our limitations is a mental challenge.  Recognizing that we are not "the center of the world" is something most people go through at some point in their life.  It is an ego check that helps us to gain perspective.

One of my struggles has always been to be sensitive to other people's view of things.  Those who know me closest will argue the following is not true, but I tend to see in black and white -- something is or it isn't -- there is little, or no gray area.  Again, those who know me best would say that I often point out the "gray area" in my discussion of various things, but to me they are subtleties, not core to most situations.  I have learned to accept that my view is sometimes incorrect, but it requires facts -- hard data -- to convince me otherwise.  I usually will question the data and the sources, but with time, if my own investigation supports what was presented, I will change to accommodate the new information.  It doesn't mean I will come to the same conclusion.

I have strayed a bit from my topic -- struggles.  I went here simply because there was a series of verses that jumped into my head this morning as I was contemplating the day.  They are:

"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you."  -- Philippians 4:4-9

I hope that whatever struggle you may be going through, you will remember these words and that they will bring you comfort.

Timing, Patience and Faith

Timing is important.  Many things hinge on timing.  I'm sure everyone experiences it occasionally.  We wait in anticipation of some event that must occur before we can move forward.  If that event is within our control, it is much more bearable than if it is not.  Right now, for me, is one of those times of waiting.

Waiting is something that has always been a bit of struggle for me.  I hate standing in line, or waiting for an event to begin.  I am not naturally patient.

I have learned through the years that patience is a partner with faith.  Faith is one of the most important things -- if not THE most important thing -- that God wants us to learn as we grow in our reliance on Him.  Faith is putting your trust in someone else (Him).  Patience is trusting that something will happen that is out of your control (His control).

The key to patience is faith.

Strength comes through exercise.

A Wooly Rodeo

Years ago, when just a kid,
There were some crazy things I did
That kids today will never have the chance.

Like going to feed my first show calf
On the edge of town, about a block and a half
At Smitty's house because he had some pens.

We lived on the edge of town
And twice each day I would walk down
Or, ride my bike to take care of that calf.

Smitty kept some sheep there
And succumbing to a friendly dare
We one day had a mini rodeo.

Riding on those wooly sheep
Upon whose back we'd quickly leap
Until we ended in a dusty pile.

Now, Smitty was the sheriff
And we had not asked him if
We could ride those sheep he kept there in that pen.

He happened to arrive at home
With lights flashing on the dome
Of the sheriff's car in which he drove.

It seems someone had seen us
And called him just to discuss
What we were doing to his wooly herd.

We thought we might just go to jail
Or, maybe that our hides he'd nail
To the side of one of his old rusty barns.

While we stood and waited
For the judgement we were fated
My mother showed up 'cause she had been called.

To say she wasn't happy
Was as understated as could be
And she said, "Just wait until your father gets home."

I think you know the rest
Of how a leather belt will test;
I don't think I could sit for 'bout a week.

Growing Up in a Small Town

Shotgun streets laid in a grid,
Out of doors was where you lived.
Playing football in the yard,
Riding bikes and falling hard.
Tempers flared, some fights broke out,
Quickly over with a shout
From someone's Mom you didn't think
Could see out the window at the kitchen sink.
Skins and scrapes and ripped blue jeans
Were common part of summer scenes
But, growing up was mostly fun
Playing in the summer sun.

Perils of Progress

It seems sometimes
That personal growth
Is always followed
By a swarm of attacking
Challenges that continue
Until I succumb. The
Problem is that I don't
Realize the attack is
Underway until I have
Failed. It is then that
I seemingly awake to
Realize that the series
Of events leading to
Failure could not have
Been coincidence but
Could only have been
Organized against me.
Like Paul, I find
That the things I wish
To do, I do not do, and
The things I wish not
To do, are what I do.
Such are the perils
Of progress.