A Slower Pace

I am on the road — first for business travel Monday and Tuesday, and yesterday and today for personal business. Between yesterday and today I will have driven 20 hours and over 1000 miles.

I enjoy road tripping and was able to spend all yesterday with a dear friend of mine in wonderful conversation while seeing our great country. Today I am on the way home and currently at a Chick-Fil-A in Arkansas. I love this company not only because of their great food, but because of their values and their unashamed claim of Jesus. Because I was road tripping, in each Chick-Fil-A men’s room I have been in I have heard Christian music. What a simple way to reach those who need the message and encouragement (which is all of us). Additionally, I have been listening to K-LOVE. If you don’t know, KLOVE is a Christian radio station that is nationwide through a network of local radio stations. Throughout my driving I have been able to jump from radio station to radio station listening to encouraging words and uplifting music. Again, what a simple wonderful way to get the message out to those who need it. Go check it out yourself at www.klove.com — you can even stream what I will be listening to for the next 10 hours and 3 states.

THANKS Chick-Fil-A and K-LOVE for being lights to our dark world!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Marriage is a very important gift given to us by God. Through it He ordained the commitment of a man and a woman to join together as one for love and for the raising of a family. In this healthy union, joy, empowerment, and fulfillment are experienced by both the wife and husband.

If you are lucky, like me, you have several successful models of couples to follow. I can count my grandparents, my folks, my in-laws, and many treasured friends as role models of support and encouragement. I know what marriage should look like and what I, as a man and husband, need to contribute to my marriage for it to persevere, flourish and produce fruit.

If you are someone whom marriage has had a negative impact — your folks were divorced, or you have been through a divorce — get out there and find a role model couple whose marriage has withstood the test of time. You will also benefit if you surround yourself with marriage committed couples. I can tell you that in my day to day living it is nice to be in the midst of great family and friends who have the same marriage ideals as I do (and will hold me accountable to them).

Here is the link to http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/

Additionally, last year I wrote a post on marriage and aggregated quite a few online marriage resources. I am regurgitating them below because of the importance of the topic.

Fireproof – The Movie

Fireproof Couple Resources

Fireproof Your Marriage

Marriage 911

Christian Counseling of Mansfield

Focus on the Family – Free Marriage Booklets

Crosswalk Christian Resources

Christian Marriage Today

Marriage Rocks

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

My wife shared with me a letter she wrote to a friend who has had some very rough times lately. And while we all come across rough spots in our lives, many of us have enough resources, friends, or wherewithal to not spend too much time in the valleys. While they sharpen and grow us, the valleys, like mountains, aren’t places to remain in and live, but rather locations and times to make our journey through.

I share (and anonymize) this letter for those who might benefit from my wife’s wise and Scriptural counsel.

My Dearest Friend,

I have been praying for you daily, as have been my friends. I am part of an accountability group and what we do is we hold each other accountable for living a Christian lifestyle. I really want you to have an open mind and an open heart as you read my letter.

First off I cannot even begin to fathom or understand what you have gone through in the last couple of years. It breaks my heart when any couple under any circumstances ends up in divorce. In talking to you, I know this has been a very dark and hard time for you. The bitterness, lies and deceit you have been going through surely have taken its toll, both on you and the kids. And although I don’t know all the details of your final settlement, I get from you that you are clearly unhappy and disappointed with it. I have empathy for you.

~But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. ~ Galatians 5:22

Now here is my advice and my challenge for you. The courts have made their decision and no matter how unhappy you are with it, you must pick up the pieces and move on. You have no choice but to do so. Your health and your well being are at stake. You have to start from this moment to make it the first day of the rest of your life. You have to give all the bitterness, anger, hurt, disappointment, and frustration to God. This is the hard part. You need to get on your knees and pray to your Savior, tell Him to give you peace, go ahead demand it from Him. Tell Him to take your worries, your pain, tell Him to surround you with His love and light. You need to pray continually. You need to focus on the positive and count your blessings. You have to see what is right with your life and move on. You need to get that Princess smile and laugh back. I know what makes you happy, surrounding yourself with fabric, painting your treasures, creating, reading, your children. Live for God first, put Him at the center and then everything else will fall into place. God wants you to live a life of joy, He loves you more than any person and His love is all the matters. Take the strength that He offers you and kick Satan to the curb.

~Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.~ James 1:12

Here is the harder part. Let your ex go. Be nice, take the high road. You don’t need to keep track of everything he does anymore. The courts don’t care anyway and it consumes you. If it’s his turn to have the kids just send the kids out. Keep your contact minimal and civil. If he wants to track what you are doing, so what? Let him. He is controlling you right now, you have to move on. He will continue to do things that upset you, you need to pray for strength, you count to 10, you find your joy and you move on. You love on your kids and don’t bad mouth him. Your kids will respect you more for it. I hope and pray you can do this. You must in order to move on with your life. You are starting over, make it a good start. I know you can do it. Princess Power!!!

~For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.~ Jeremiah 29:11

Nothing new can come into your life until you are grateful for what you already have. So find your gratitude. Go volunteer in a shelter, serve meals, help those in need. Do something that makes you feel good. Don’t do it for your glory but for God’s glory. Then God will bless you. What are you grateful for at this moment? Your beautiful children? A roof over your head? Clothes? Books? Pets? Food? Even at your lowest point you are better off than millions of other people.

~but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.~

Isaiah 40:31

Keep your faith, your hope and your dreams alive! Be happy for everything that happened for it strengthens you, you are God’s warrior. Never give up, hold your head up and walk straight. Join a book club, a quilting club, a painting club, a Bible study, you will make friends. Wonderful friends who love you and understand you, friends God will bless you with.

~For we live by faith, not by sight.~ 2 Corinthians 5:7

Lastly you need to forgive. God has already forgiven both you and your ex. Without forgiveness you truly can never move forward. You need to forgive everyone who you feel has let you down during this entire process. They don’t have to say they are sorry, you just need to forgive them. God sent His only son to die for our sins, that is how much HE loves you. God expects you to forgive, so do it and free yourself completely.

~Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.~ Colossians 3:13

You must choose to trust God with your problems and your fears. To be successful at this, it is necessary to set aside time in your day to be still-be quiet before Him. He will lift the weights from your shoulders and carry your problems and fears for you. Peace that is at rest in your soul, calmness in your heart, trust that radiates through your very being comes from your relationship with God who loves you so much. God promises to never leave you, he will walk with you with whatever life brings. He will be your strength when you haven’t enough strength to lift your head.

~I can do everything through HIM who gives me strength.~ Philippians 4:13

I love you Princess, it is time to move on, to forgive, forget, find happiness, start over. You will always be one of my best friends. I wish I could bottle you up and move you closer to me. I know you have it in you, I believe in you. You are a very special lady, a very beautiful strong woman. I will continue to pray for you, I have faith in you and so does God.

Peace, Love and Blessings,

Kentucky Princess

The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.

Nicely said, wifey!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Last night we had Family Movie Night. The movie on tap was Letters To God. It is a tear jerker movie with a very good message. I thought the story was kinda choppy but you cannot downplay the message of how any one of us can positively impact those of us around us — no matter what happens to us. Because in the end, it is not about us — it is about God’s plan and His glory.

So this morning, I went to my men’s Accountability meeting and came home to find this in an envelope from my 10 year old son.

Dear God,

Thank you for that movie we watched last night. I think that boy was a really cool boy. I pray that you can help the Doctors find a cure to heal all the sick people. Please make the Doctors heal my Opa, he is very sick. He does not deserve this and my mom does not deserve this either. My mom needs to at least have a parent with her. I want the best for her. Tell my Oma in heaven that mom misses her so much, she really really does. I want the best for my family, I really do. Thank you for Jesus who died such a painful death for me.

Amen

ps: I love you

ps: I also prayed this out loud

Love, Danny

Here is my son with his Opa before the Alzheimer’s really had a grip on him. My wife cherishes this picture for so many reasons.

I look forward to our time in heaven with Jesus where every moment will be like this picture — healthy, happy, joyous, with loved ones, and in God’s presence.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I love Christian radio! 88.5 FM WJIE is my first radio love. Recently, I have also been listening to K-LOVE at work. (Both radio stations can be streamed from their respective web pages.) Today while listening to K-LOVE I stumbled across one of their interesting news story links about “How to Spot a Healthy Church”. It was written by a pastor/cartoonist from Louisiana who also has a blog. And while perusing his blog I came across one of his postings that I thought summed up a true relationship with Jesus…..which is so crucial not only for salvation, but for true living the way He intended.

Here is his original post. However, I am quoting the end part which impacted me.

Two things need to be said about knowing the Lord.

1) It involves a dual relationship. The individual comes to a personal acquaintance with Jesus Christ and in the process the Lord Jesus comes to know that person and enters his/her life. From that moment on, the two are intertwined in a spiritual way that defies most attempts to categorize it.

2) It results in a different way of life characterized by fair-thinking and honest-dealing, by compassion toward others and a love for God.

Anything less may be religious, it may be impressive to the world, and it might even be said to be miracle-working. But it will not stand up at Judgment.

To sum it up, Jesus wants your heart, not your actions.

I think I am going to enjoy reading through some of Pastor Joe’s blog archive.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I am in a severe growth phase with my walk with Jesus my Savior. He has set me afire for Him and I #1 – want others to know of His love and #2 – want to serve Him by serving others.

Where I am struggling is my past life in growing up in the church. I have quite a church heritage. I was baptized by my Grandfather who was a pastor, my great-grandparents were missionaries to China, I attended parochial schools and universities, and am fairly well versed in doctrine. And I have had many moments in my journey where I felt God’s touch in my life. He has always been there for me, but I was not always on fire for Him. There were parts of my life that He was not a part of or parts of my life that I did not surrender to Him. I was a “Christian” and might have been saved but I was not the disciple He had called me to be.

So in an effort to dig into this and better understand it, I have drawn up some “visual aids”. I am very visual and also use analogies extensively. The series of white board drawings are a way for me to describe my journey. It is my hope to actually make this a little 30 second video mimicing the UPS white board guy.

As I stated before, I grew up in the church and God has always been a part of my life. This picture depicts that relationship and the slice God had.

Attending church, youth group, confirmation, summer camps and retreats, God grew in my life.

There were times were God was a huge part of my life. However, as you can see, there were still slices of my life pie that did not include Him in them. I had not completely surrendered.

Once I became set on fire for Christ, you can see my heart changed. Jesus became my core.

And I grew as a disciple.

And now, no matter how you slice my life, there is a piece of God in it — family, friends, work, service, church, neighbors, commuting, Lowes, airport, Wal-Mart.

While some might just say this is symantics, I believe this is a huge mind-shift…..even more so, heart-shift. I call it the difference between knowing ABOUT Jesus, and knowing Jesus and walking with Him every day. Don’t just give Him a slice…..give Him your core.

Now there is also a whole tangeant to this discussion about how I still fail and sin every day and am far from perfect. All the more reason to need a Savior I say. But we will save that discussion for another time.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

In my life, I have seen many times where God alone provides for his faithful. He has done so for me — sometimes miraculously, other times mundanely — and he has done so for many of those who touch my life.

I haven’t heard of HeartCry Missionary Society. However, take a look at the video. Their mission and story is an amazing one.

God’s Extraordinary Provision for HeartCry – Paul Washer from HeartCry Missionary Society on Vimeo.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

A dear friend of mine shared this with me and I thought I would pass it on.

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (“who really ought to get a job”) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day That of all the gifts you give us Lord, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those that are close to us, but to all humanity.

Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Working for God on earth doesn’t pay much……but His retirement plan is out of this world.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him. – Luke 2:10-14 MSG

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net