What is it we need in our lives to cause us to grow in to all that He believes for us in us?
I have been giving this a lot of thought. We are better than we think. We are more loving, more powerful and more loved than we know. We are better than that!
I find that I am saying this to a lot of people lately. “You are better than that.” Not just because of a “bad choice” but some of the “settling for choices” as well. Continue reading You Are Better Than That
A conversation came up last night about being married, being a parent. My wife said that people often talk to here about how she and I do things. She said “people that flow together have learned to flow during times when ‘flowing’ was not happening”. We had some difficult times in our marriage. But we had to put aside the “d word” (Divorce) and decide that it was for our children. That the legacy of marriage and security was greater than the desire to be separate.
I share the following story from June of 1997. Continue reading Praise Him…Even When It Is Tough
Tonight a dear friend was gracious enough to allow me to go treasure hunting. It had been many years since I took a metal detector out to a field and just walked around. How much different are they than they were 30 years ago. (And thirty years ago you could not tell the difference between a coin and TV dinner tray!)
So armed with one of the latest models of metal detectors and a little instruction, we headed to different parts of the meadow. It was only moments before the tones started indicating metal. First a nail… Continue reading Treasure Hunting Can Be Work
Too often in our lives, we come to the place where something no longer makes sense and we want to give up. Perhaps it is loss or injury or illness. But it takes the life “out of you” and you want no more.
I recently began something new, something different. In this case the casualty was my creativity. What I do has little opportunity for creativity or coloring outside the lines. Continue reading What Were You Created For?
Many years ago, much as I do, I wrote about the moments with God. I recently uncovered a couple of years worth. I was reading the following one.
Miracles
They happen all the time, when we least expect it. How many of you have children, particularly teenagers? My stepdaughter and I have had ongoing battles over her dad. Actually, she takes the defensive and I try to walk carefully. What happens usually is she comes home from there with an ATTITUDE. So does my stepson, but that is a different story.
The scriptures say, “the seed of the righteous shall not perish”. I stand on that. I have five children, two whom are stepchildren, 3 teens.
Last night at home group, things were getting very intense over certain subjects, and walking in the world, and maintaining your Christianity. She began to tell us some things and asked for prayer. She cried as I prayed over her, and began to pray for her friend. She received prayer and returned to her seat and we continued on. (Oh, to have known then what I know now!)
People left around 9:30-10 and she was doing the dishes. I asked her how she was doing. She said good, and then looked at me and said, “what you did today changed my life.” I asked her if she meant prayer. She said the release came there, but it had happened earlier in the day.
She had heard me on the phone witnessing to a young man about the Lord. She heard me at one point say, if you have a car and drive down the road 100 miles an hour, there is probably a consequence, whether it be the law, or accident. Just because someone does not believe in the law, it will show them their problem. I compared it to the Word of God, and consequence. This conversation went on for 45 minutes. I am who I am through and through. And when I speak to someone about the Lord, I feel the power. Well, my daughter felt it, too.
She said, “you always tell us to be a witness, but it was never quite as powerful in that moment. I realized you do what you tell us”. She said she was going to tell all her friends about Jesus. Glory.
“The seed of the righteous shall not perish.” I am not a great dad, trust me, ask my kids. But I know the power of prayer and consistency in it. My daughter may still slip and slide, but yesterday, she saw the reason behind what I do. His name is Jesus. She has friends and a father who dabble in the occult. Its real hard for the young people to stand some times.
If you have a child (I am not dismissing friends or adults!) who you are concerned about, engage in warfare. Begin to pray as never before. See your prayer as a hedge around the person. My miracle has taken a lot of prayer, being a stepdad is difficult and uphill. I have compassion for those out there in that position. One of my friends preached on “doing all things as unto Jesus”. It is important to get perspective. We need to claim our miracle and receive it. My stepdaughter wants to go to the hospital now with a woman whose husband is there and pray. She asked me if she could change her plans today!!
Brothers and sisters, your miracle is just around the corner. I believe for it. It is just as easy to believe for a miracle as it is to believe the negative. If you need help in prayer, write.
She is my miracle, and yet God is going to provide more and greater miracles. I believe that our community will never be the same, that my state will never be the same. This is a summer of miracles coming. This 15 year old is going to radically change lives about her. She is not going to stop. She saw her friends, lost, and her compassion rose up and said NO!
Miracles-God’s testimony to His power and what we can not accomplish without Him.
Now, I lost that particular battle (But, I still will win the war.). My emphasis on a lot of things then are considerably different than they are now. My stepdaughter took off to live with her biological dad. She came back 7 years ago. She just celebrated 7 years off heroin.
I tell you that because as you read the above story, you might have thought “wow, how great is that”. But it ended and pain came in for many years.I made mistakes, but she is still my daughter. Always precious, always worth it. When I talk about the “trials” of being a parent, I get it. I made ALL the mistakes. (And how naive was I?)
Let me tell you the greatest understanding I have received in nearly 25 years of walking with Him. “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:42, NKJV). Goodness. And over the years I have come to realize that His goodness in us, through us, is the answer. Ephesians 4:31 says, Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
A young woman who walks with me said, “you love me into change”. Isn’t that it? Loving people into their destiny?
Perhaps the hardest thing for me was to get over my own guilt, my own pain, allowing the Lord to love me, so that I might be able to love others. Being a father or a mother is more than just putting on your big kid pants. Sometimes it requires change. Anyone can put on “big kid” clothes. But it is who is in them that counts.
Many will ask, why did you republish this? Does it not reflect failure? Well, yes, yes, it does. Mine. And keep in mind, it was about hope, about belief. Not necessarily the prophetic. Many things that summer were amazing, but as a friend said yesterday, “what value is revival without reformation”. It is the question. We all love the touch, but is it the spark to character and change?
Diving at Powers Pond
When I was a young child, one of my favorite things to do with my dad was swim. He was a powerful swimmer. Often he and others would swim across Schroon Lake and back from the point where we stayed. And he loved to dive. He would often go out and recover things dropped in the water at what seemed to be astounding depths to me as a child. One place was sounded at 32 feet and yet he recovered the missing part that had fallen into the water. Continue reading Proud Moments With Dad
It is Fathers Day Weekend. I actually was reviewing some pics of my dad, shots with my children over the years and some letters I have received and such. I guess nostalgic would describe some of it. (This past week I actually put together a series of 5 articles on dads.) But now I have 3 of my children married (Two who are the dads.) and I think what was it like to be a young dad. Continue reading Drill A Little Deeper
Too often in our lives we are confronted with the idea that we don’t count. That what we do does not matter.
The last week I watched yet one more crazy incident affect the lives of neighbors, school children and a community. The issue is not the incident itself but the feeling of hopelessness that has gripped the community. As I read the blogs, the articles, the comments, it is clear that the “insecurity” that has prevailed is increasing rather than decreasing. “Doesn’t God love everyone Lee?” Absolutely! I believe that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Continue reading Where Does My Hope Come From?
I am a dad. I want the best for my children and my grandchildren and all the generations to come. And as I come up to Fathers Day next week, it is my heart to write on 5 things that I think are important to dads. As I listen to my grandchildren pray for their “dad” to return to their life, I cry inside. I hurt for them. So, if as a dad, I can stop one child from going through that, then I feel it is all worth it.
Continue reading Fathers Day Week Part 5 – Love As The Father Loves You
I am a dad. I want the best for my children and my grandchildren and all the generations to come. And as I come up to Fathers Day next week, it is my heart to write on 5 things that I think are important to dads. As I listen to my grandchildren pray for their “dad” to return to their life, I cry inside. I hurt for them. So, if as a dad, I can stop one child from going through that, then I feel it is all worth it.
