A Slower Pace

The video below is appropriate today because it is a day of rest, a day of worship and a day made for the Lord. The adorable little girl belts out a very inspirational version of “The Lord’s Prayer” in song. Enjoy!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

While we were down in Florida last week, it rained one day. All the dads took the opportunity to take the kids to the movie Courageous. It is an inspiring faith movie that I highly recommend. I hope to actually spend some time and do a movie review on it.

However, if you are a dad, you MUST go see it — don’t wait for my summary. Just go!

And, if you must, for further proof, go watch the trailer at http://www.courageousthemovie.com/.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Yesterday was quite the unique day. I can truly say that I have never had a day such as yesterday. Let me explain why.

Some background first. Before we left home on Friday, we took my son to urgent care in Kentucky. He had a terrible cough for a week and a half and it wasn’t getting any better. It turns out he had bronchitis — just what you want to hear as you are leaving on a 10 hour road trip on vacation. But the service at the local urgent care was quick, nice and effective. Soon enough my wife had the prescriptions filled as I was finishing up getting cash at the bank (we were doing the whole vacation Dave Ramsey cash budget style — but more on that in another post).

Well, it seems that I have done a good job teaching my son values because he shared his cough with me. I first felt it Sunday during service at the local beach church. When Wednesday came along it was all I could do to keep the cough from going uncontrollable at times. I did not talk, did not laugh and did not take big breaths. After donuts at the local Donut Hole eatery, my wife and I headed to the local Destin urgent care. They, like the urgent care back home, were quick, nice and effective and within an hour we were out of there and had my medication in hand. So now I was relegated to rest in the beach house at least for the day as my body took the medication and fought the respiratory infection.

As I took a shower, I prayed that I would wisely use my day and even though I was sick, that I would make the most of it. And during my shower, I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me that I needed to be in prayer — and that I should pray for each person on my Facebook friend list specifically by name. And when I was finished I would post a status update to let each person know — believer or not — that they were spiritually covered in prayer that day. And what better way to spend a sick day on the beach.

So I grabbed my Bible, a tall glass of sweet tea, some Mission tortilla chips and my laptop and set up camp on the master suite balcony. I opened in prayer that I might be used as an instrument of God. That I might be obedient. That I persevere for however long it took. (I have 175 FB friends. At only 1 minute each, that would take 3 hours and I knew that if I were going to be specific and intentional with each beloved person on that list, it would easily surpass 3 hours and probably take up at least half the day.)

I then opened up my Bible to read specific Scripture passages on prayer. Below are a few that stood out to me:

” As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.” — 1 Samuel 12:23-24

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” — Ephesians 6:18

And then at 10:45am Central time I begun my prayers, starting on my FB friend list alphabetically. Now an interesting thing about Facebook is who is on your friend list. Of course, I have immediate family on there — my wife, children, parents, sister, etc. For these beloved people it was going to be very easy to pray specifically. I know their dreams, needs, and walk with Christ and could probably spend a hour for each one of them. However, there are others on my FB friend list that might be old acquaintances or neighbors or long lost friends or someone you met on a plane once (yes, I have one of those). For those folks it was going to be more challenging. Some of these folks might not even know Jesus or believe in God. However, I felt it my calling to pray even more specifically for these knowing that God knows what I do not, and He would fill in the blanks, so to speak.

My prayers came easily for these were all people who were woven into my life at one point and for some reason. Some had merely a scrap woven into my tapestry while others’ dominated the pattern of my life quilt. It was a peaceful time and really allowed me to feel each person and to pour love onto them, their situation, their needs, and their walk with God. There were challenges of distractions, of noises, of the beautiful beach scenery, and of biological breaks but I was persevering through my group of friends and deepening my prayer life. At the end of the first hour I had covered 29 people specifically by name in prayer. And being the type of person I am quickly figured out that this was easily going to take two, three or four times longer than I had imagined. I wondered to myself, “Did I bite off more than I can chew?”

But my job was to pray and be obedient. I knew God would take care of everything else.

I did take a few breaks. One for lunch and a nice turkey sandwich. Another 10 minute break to fly a kite with my son and my Accountability friend on the beach. And a nice walk to the convenience store with my son so he could buy a candy bar. That might be another post because we were able to have a nice conversation about God and his commandments. I was even able to confirm to my son that we were doing exactly what God wants us to do — Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” — Deuteronomy 6:4-7

The afternoon was consumed in prayer as I continued along not only praying but in amazement at the interwoven paths God had placed all of these people on. As the afternoon surrendered to evening and dinner, I took a break to dine with family and friends. Returning to my home stretch of special people and prayers I ended my prayer time with the sunlight retreating below the watery horizon and in darkness as I asked the Holy Spirit to fill my heart and to guide the message I was going to send all these people as my FB status. In His words, not mine it read — I TRULY BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER. Today I spent time praying for you specifically. I prayed for each name in my Facebook friend list by name. This is not a chain message cut and paste. I started at 10:45a and am just now finishing – from A to Z each one of you was spiritually covered in prayer today. Some of you might be encouraged by that. Some might be offended. Others might not ever see it because I am blocked. But I KNOW that my prayer got through because God hears all prayers. I pray this message arrives to you in God’s perfect timing and know that I love you and Jesus loves you.

I have received some beautiful comments from that post but must acknowledge that none of it was me. I was merely a broken vessel that God was using. My only act was one of obedience. I only wish it happened more often.

Jesus Loves You

To continue in the spirit of this post, please feel free to comment on any prayer requests you might have so that I might also pray for you. Or you can email me your prayer requests. I would be honored to pray for your needs.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This morning my Men’s Accountability group met at a local Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop instead of our normal location because we had a service project. As we are called and as the need arises, our group of Christian men break from our normal meeting to provide a service project that shows the love of Christ. These projects have varied from serving breakfast on several Emmaus walks to helping single ladies with a need move. Today was a move and the single lady was a staff member on my team.

Now moving is never fun. I tend to place it right next to paying taxes. It is something all of us does at one point or another but I have never heard of someone liking the task. After moving to Kentucky, I vowed never to move again. However, I do not know what God has in store for me and I have learned to “never say never”.

You might think that a boss helping an employee move is quite out of the ordinary. I have had bosses in the past that barely gave me the time of day. And I have had bosses who would give me the shirt off their back. In arranging to help my staff member out I was inspired by an act that a boss of mine did several years ago when we lived in California.

The year was late 2003 or early 2004. Our fixer up house in Thousand Oaks was on the back end of being “fixed”. I had redone every room (including scraping 70’s cottage cheese ceilings), renovated the kitchen and bathrooms, gutted and purged the garage, replaced the roof, installed new windows, and even enacted the “scorched earth” policy when I landscaped the front yard with new sod, plants, rose bushes and a camphor tree. I was on the home stretch working on the back and side yards. But these were probably my biggest challenges because a railroad tie retaining wall had collapsed after 20 years of rot (I guess there was reason I left the back and side yards for last). So my project was to build a new slumpstone retaining wall, wood fence, decorative concrete and patio cover. One note to mention — the only project from the list above that I contracted out was the roof. There is a reason there are no old roofers. That is one of the hardest jobs in construction.

So with the footer foundation dug out I had prepped everything — rebar, ties, suspension blocks, and measurements. It was the very first step of a very large project. And while I had done block and concrete work with my dad, there was still quite a bit of uncharted territory. And none of this happened overnight. It took several weeks and weekends of work just to get it to this stage.

My team and boss at work followed my progress. I would bring in before and after pictures or share stupid mistake stories that would make them laugh (ask me some time about when I half fell through the entryway ceiling). So with all this work and preparation, my boss Bruce, knew where I was in this project. So when I told him that I was all set for my concrete pour for the retaining wall footer, he surprised me when he asked what time the concrete truck would arrive. I told him that I was expecting them on Saturday at 7am. He said “Good. I’ll be there at 6:45” and walked away.

His response surprised me and I had forgotten about his previous life. You see, he used to run a concrete construction company and he had more concrete and masonry experience in his big toe than I had in all my years of life. And, luckily for me, he was going to impart his experience and wisdom on my retaining wall project.

I’ll never forget that Saturday morning. He was right on time and we plotted and planned how the concrete would be poured for the best foundation. When the truck arrived, the driver hadn’t even gotten out and Bruce scampered up the truck, stuck his arm in the concrete behemouth, took a look at it, and yelled down at me to get the hose. He was a concrete afficianado and was adjusting the concrete mix to his perfection. The look on the driver’s face was priceless as he got out and saw Bruce up there with a hose squirting it Emeril-like into the mixer.

I just stood there in awe and thankfulness that my boss cared enough about me, not as an employee, but as a person, to sacrifice his Saturday morning and come over to share his experience and knowledge. The rest of the day was spent with Bruce downloading his skills, tricks and tips on concrete and masonry. We laid a “hot course” of slump stone and he showed me the intricacies to laying smooth and straight bricks and blocks. He even gave me one of his trowels — which I still have today in my garage. I have used it several times since and think of him fondly whenever I have concrete and masonry work at my property. You see, all of this is even more special because Bruce passed away in Feb 2008. His caring and concern went beyond that day but it was a good example of how he was as a boss.

So fast forward back to our move today and you can see the model I was following. I had heard of my employee’s needs earlier in the week regarding her move situation. She is single and has only been in Kentucky for a year so she doesn’t yet have that extensive network you leverage (or sucker into) when you move. So I told her that I had a truck and double axle trailer that we could use to assist in her move. And when I informed my Accountability group that I was going to miss that Saturday, they asked why, and when they found out the reason they also offered to assist. So one turned into four and we were not only about to get everything moved in one trip with multiple vehicles, we were also able to share the love of Jesus with her. She said that as we were all loaded up caravanning to the new place down the freeway, her eyes welled up with tears thinking about the people who really didn’t know her but were helping her move. We were able to get all the large items moved and carried into her new place way before lunch. All in all a successful service project. But again, I had two good examples — Jesus and my old boss Bruce.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I saw this message on Facebook — it was so touching that it needed to be shared.

Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith’ in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’ Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.
Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I’m easy to find. I am wherever there is love.

Love, God

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Almost two weeks ago, I blogged a post about God taking pain and broken pieces and creating something beautiful from them (see Aug 6 post here — God’s glory in broken pieces…..). Well, our church newspaper has an awesome, more in depth article on that whole story and how God is working His plan. It is just amazing and I encourage you to go read it.

Allowing God To Work — Southeast Outlook article

Have a great weekend!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Last night after service I blogged about Ben Koier and the tragedy affecting his family that was transformed by our merciful God into a powerful change in other people’s life. Well, I promised another story about our Father taking broken pieces and pain and creating beauty and glory from them.

Rachel Beckwith turned 9 years old back in June. For her birthday, instead of the normal presents and celebration, she asked her friends and relatives to donate to a charity for clean drinking water for developing nations. Her goal was $300.

Her birthday came and went and she fell short of that goal only raising about $220 or $230.

Rachel and her family were involved in a large car wreck in Bellevue, WA and she died as a result on Saturday, July 24. As in Ben’s story, this could be the end and the worldly perspective blankets the future with pain, sorrow and grief. And Rachel’s family was thrown into that picture. However, her small dream was used by God to bring about more than any of us could ever have imagined. Her pastor communicated her dream to her church which made it’s way onto Facebook which went viral which was picked up by media outlets.

When I first heard about it on KLOVE, it was the Monday or Tuesday after her death and the amount raised by this small child’s compassionate heart was at $56,000! I was blown away! Her small goal of $300 was multiplied many times over. The following day I heard an update that it was at $82,000. It was amazing to see how many folks felt compassion for her family and wanted her memory and wish to be kept alive.

Now fast forward to last week. I had traveled for business and forgotten about the story even though I had intended to blog about it. But God wasn’t done with the story. When I heard a following update on KLOVE, the charity total was over 1/2 a million dollars!!!!! I was moved as was my son. Looking at her charity water fundraising site, my son and I saw that it wasn’t corporations or rich folks that were giving hundreds or thousands of dollars to her vision. It was many, many normal folks who were giving 9 dollars at a time — in memory of her 9th birthday wish. My son wanted to donate and brought down 9 one dollar bills he had earned from mowing. I matched his gift and we logged on to join her cause. At that time it was at $526,000!!!!! How merciful and mighty is our God! And while her family is definitely still grieving and experiencing pain of her loss, they can be comforted in the hope that so many people who do not have clean drinking water will benefit by Rachel’s vision.

Go check it our yourself. As of this blog post, Rachel’s clean charity water is just over $810,000!!!!! Go here to see where Rachel’s donation efforts are now — and also give to her cause.

Will you be the one that helps her get to over a million dollars.

Here also is a news link to an early article on the tragedy.

But in the pain and broken pieces, God is faithful.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

In the last few weeks, I have encountered some very painful stories where God has taken broken and painful pieces and used them to glorify Him and create other stories of beauty.

Last night this was most evident in our family movie night with Soul Surfer — the movie about teen surfer Bethany Hamilton whose left arm was bitten off by a shark (the painful pieces part) but then, through her faith and God’s mercy, she was able to persevere and inspire others while becoming a pro surfer.

I have another story which I will blog about tomorrow. But today’s story is about Ben Koier. Now I don’t know Ben, but I do pass his roadsite cross memorial every day now. You see, on June 26, 2011 this 19 year old was hit by a drunk lady and killed. For me, the story could have ended there. I saw the story in the paper and you see roadside crosses at many crash sites. However, Ben was different. His faith in Christ shined inside him so brightly that it spilled over into his life and onto others. Today would have been his 20th birthday.

Such a sad story you say. And it is. The family is in obvious pain dealing with the loss of their beloved one so early in his life. But Ben, in heaven with his Savior, received one of the greatest presents he could get — factual evidence of his positive impact on others’ lives. He brought people to Jesus and today many of those folks accepted Christ into their lives and were baptized at tonight’s 5pm service in honor of Ben’s birthday. His brother, his sister, his girlfriend, his best friend, his best friend’s dad, other family friends. The list was amazing. And there were over 100 people in that section that overlooked the baptistry that I hope will also follow Ben’s lead in the days and weeks to come. You see, in Ben’s death and the painful, broken pieces God was able to use them for His glory and bring other’s closer to Him.

Our temporary, time-bound, worldly vision views this with such pain and bitterness. But in the eternal vision and love of Christ, this is such a marvelous victory.

God bless the Koier family.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

While Slappy McSploder and I were arranging, sequencing and fusing fireworks in the garage this weekend in preparation for Thunder Over Finchville, we had the mancave TV on to Speed Channel and ESPN. One spot that caught my attention was a feature that ESPN did on ultimate fighter Rad Martinez. Now, I am not an ultimate fighting fan, but in watching this piece, I developed a deep respect for this young man and his commitment to something other than himself. I highly encourage you to watch the video clip below.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Turn on the evening news, hit up an internet news site, or open up a newspaper, and you will have reason after reason to be pessimistic about the future of our country. There seems to be no end to the stupid, violent, or pathetic stories that color our society. From Casey Anthony to Weiner to removing God from our Pledge of Allegiance, the vibe from today’s society paints one of the more depressing and pessimistic views of where we are headed as a nation in regards to values, ethics, unity, and beliefs. I could probably sum it up with the quote “Ask not, what your country can do for you? Ask what you can do for your country.” being replaced with the quote “What’s in it for me?”.

However, this weekend a small sliver of light and hope flashed in front of me. You see, I spent four days camping with the Boy Scouts and then finished the weekend at a Chrysalis closing. Both these organizations are properly centered on values and skills (Scouts) and Christ (Chrysalis). Both organizations are dedicated to growing our youth on those bedrocks rooted in a faith perspective. The Scouts are a faith based group tirelessly teaching our young boys how to be real men. Men who know how to tie a knot one minute, and dress a wound another. How to build something and how to serve others. How to respect nature and how to honor the God who created it. Chrysalis, on the other hand, focuses on building our youth’s relationship with Christ. They are given tools to further their walk and deepen their faith. They are then loved, encouraged, and equipped to go out into our world to love and serve others.

I cannot think of two organizations that are doing more for our very challenged youth of today. And because these two organizations are infusing faith and values into our youth, I actually have a bit of hope for the future of our nation.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net