Dreams vs. Goals

Dreams are funny parts of our lives. Dreams are scary parts of our lives.  Dreams are exciting parts of our lives.
Which is it? And what do you do with them?

Dreams are not just those moments that invade our minds as we lie horizontal after the daily routine of life. They can be, but they are what inspires us to take a risk. They inspire us to believe we really can fly. I can fly in my dreams. Can you? My dreams are in color. How about yours?

We are told from the earliest days to dream big. Swing for the fence. Live like there is no tomorrow. You know the lines. But at some point dreams become the ammunition others fire at us. "Dreamer." "Idealist." Perhaps you've heard them before too. Perhaps you are guilty, as I am, of firing that ammo a time or two. We usually allow people to dream until they reach a certain age. Then it is time to grow up. Stop dreaming.

Dreams, however, need not fade like the sunset or fade like a rainbow from some storm on the horizon. A dream planted by God, and lived out for God, can bring excitement, fun and honestly, a little humility into our lives. Dreams are not accomplished in isolation but with the help of others.

God authored some pretty big dreams in the Bible. Three boys not bowing down because they had big dreams of remaining faithful when all bowed. Dreams bigger than a fire. One man who would stay faithful to his Lord even as he was being pummeled with rocks. Dreams bigger than fear of death. Two of the many. And people used their dream as ammo against them.

So how can you determine if your dreams are the stuff authored by the Giver of Dreams?

First. Ask who will receive praise and honor for this dream? Our Father? His Church? Only You? If this is a team effort, how will you handle it if someone else receives credit or gets more applause? (tough question)

Second. How does this show the love of God?
This is a tricky question. I've known people who've accomplished the dream of being a CEO of a purely secular company, yet used their resources for Kingdom purposes and were Godly the whole way up the ladder of success. God's love poured from them at each rung on that ladder.

Third. Is your dream big enough? (Have you settled? Did someone fire ammo at you and cause you to alter your dream so it looked more like a "goal?" -more on goals in a future post-)

So I ask you, do you still dream big? Do you help others dream, or accomplish their dreams? Or do you fire ammo at those easy targets?

I dare you to dream big again, and share those dreams.

Fire and Embers

I blame it on the Rockford files although my fascination with fire started much earlier. But on the promo for that show a malataf cocktail was thrown and exploded in the back of some old car. It was exciting. Fringe exciting. My young mind thought, "I can do that. I can be in control of the damage!"

Fire never works that way. Just listen to the stories about campfires, discarded cigerattes, careless matches. They seem to always end with, "I thought it was out." Never is.

Fire and Embers. The hot coals left after the fire has used all the fuel it can to produce a raging flame. Raw heat just looking for something else to consume.

There is a sentence I used to really like for the wrong reasons. "Pray for your enemies and by doing so you will heap burning coals on their head." That is the image I like to see when my enemies are winning. You can count on me to pray if hot coals will be the result!

I'd missed the point I think of this way of living. Just before that it talks about "vengeance belonging only to the Lord." So how do these things work together?

I love the Old Testament. Lots of stories. And lots of Fire and Embers. Problem is the Fire usually represents the presence of God and the Embers represent something being offered to God for Him to take care of, however He chooses. Jonah waited for fire to consume Ninevah...Didn't happen. But repentance did. I am afraid I might have been like Jonah. Angry that God's fire didn't reduce his enemies to embers and ashes.

So what to do about enemies?
First, do like we are told. Pray for them. Offer them up to God as a "burnt offering," symbolic of course, and by doing so the whole "burning coals" imagery can really take place. A great thing about a real burnt offering in the Old Testament world was it could never be taken back! If I'm really offering up my enemies to God, then I need to leave them with Him to do as he pleases. Perhaps they will repent. I hope I handle it better than Jonah. Perhaps they won't repent. It is up to God to deal with either situation. (Plus, what if they are praying for me (think burning coals on your own head!)

Second, the Fire of God is uncontrollable. Watch it consume someone and repentance happen. Then watch that fire touch all those around that person when they see what God has done! Sounds a little like the Love of God we see in the New Testament. "Love endures" Paul wrote. Love also consumes.

People try to put out the Fire of God all the time. But watch it spark up when it's the least expected. That is exciting and powerful, and a little scary. But it's bigger than me. And that is a good thing. Dare to let God's Fire consume you, and those around you!

What do you find is the hardest thing about praying for your enemies?

Mystery and the Panic Button

Yesterday it worked as it was suppose to. This morning...push the trunk release button and nothing. Had to actually get out of the car and use the key to open the hatch! I can hear it trying to open. I push the button more...push harder...push the release inside the car...still nothing opens. No access.Why? I don't like the mystery. I don't like it at all. The red button is a panic button. I am tempted to push it. It won't open the trunk, but maybe it will make me feel a little better. Maybe.

In my world, maybe yours too, there is little room left for mystery...for the "why" of situations that don't work the way they seemed to in the previous moment. It is frustrating. "We use to talk," "Where did all the money go?" "What is wrong with our kids?" "Why are the schools so messed up?" "Why is my church so frustrating?" "Why can't we get along?" "Why won't God answer the way He use to?" "I'm talking God, are you listening?" "I'm singing God, are you hearing?" "I'm trying to be faithful, can't you fix this?" Then we (or just me) starts doing all these things at a frantic pace, pushing all the buttons as fast as I can...nothing. Then the panic button seems to be the only option.

God seldom seems to work the same way twice. That doesn't make Him unreliable. I think it just means He is not trainable. There is more to what he is trying to accomplish than just "open" some new access point for me. God was shrouded in mystery in the Bible. "In the cloud" "Behind the curtain." "On the mountain." Few people saw clear pictures. Most just saw glimpses. His back. And that was almost too much.

Jesus cleared a little of the mystery and showed us God in the best way we might understand. Father. Abba. His peers didn't like that much. They didn't get it either. And Jesus loved to spend time with the Father.  Each moment was fresh, alive, new, or perhaps for Him, old and new. Out of His everyday life He could say, "I've shown you the Father." and those moments with the Father allowed Him to state boldly, "One of you will betray Me." "All of you will deny Me," "Feed My sheep," "Not My will, but Yours." Oh, and He never panicked.

Jesus believed that the Father was doing something big, and He lived each moment in faith. Even on the cross, "why have you forsaken me?" was a cry wrapped in pain. But Jesus remained on the cross to lay his life down. No one could take it from Him. He trusted in God's plan. Talk about a mystery!

When nothing seems open. My trunk, the heavens, even at times the Father, I will trust that He is listening and has some greater purpose that I can't see. Some great mystery that will work out for the good, because I love Him. I may not "like" the mystery...not at all...but I love my Father.

And may I always remember that God is not trainable. Don't hit the panic button. Get out, try the key.

From A Thousand Feet and the Ground

They were doing a fly over at a parade this summer so I took a picture. There is a man in the back of this helicopter taking a picture of us on the ground. I'd like to see his photo, just to see if I'm visible taking his picture at the same time. I wonder what he was trying to capture? Did he see something that was humorous? Something curious? Just capturing the moment? But even though this was a parade flyover they were prepared for a situation. They were in full uniform. Waiting for the call.

Tomorrow morning my daughters begin another year of school. My wife another year teaching 3rd graders the finer points of...being a third grader! Lots of interaction in all kinds of real life situations. Humorous situations. Curious situations. Some situations requiring urgent care.

When I think about the gravity of what tomorrow means for the ladies in my life I can sometimes feel a little overwhelmed. Will the boys begin to call my daughters. What if they do? What if they don't? What if my wife gets a tough class this year? What if...?

I am reminded of two things:

First, my God does not slumber or sleep the Bible tells me in Psalm 121:4. He doesn't get the nods and get startled back awake as Head bobs!  Over and over in the Bible the writers took great pains to let those seeking God know that He was with them, watching them, loving them. Even in the darkest days. Days of pain. God was there. The call was for faith even in the storm.

Second, God sees even the smallest detail and cares. Jesus said in Matthew 10:29 that not even a sparrow hits the ground without the Father knowing it and He cares for us more than many sparrows.

Tomorrow as my girls, all of them, begin this new season of living, I pray that in the sunshine or storm they, we, will know that our Father is watching us, caring for us...Loving us thoroughly.

I hope to remember that tomorrow morning when I wave goodbye. And when I pick them up. May they see in me a Faith that points them to our Father. He is always awake, in full uniform, waiting for the call.

Weeds & Friends in the Garden

I have never liked gardening. As a kid it was my job, and my lazy brothers, to weed the garden. And we would always put it off, or do a crummy job, until the weeds had stalks like tree trunks. Tomorrow morning I'll be out in my own garden, and guess how big the weeds are? That is right. Huge. Some are about as tall as me.
However, I do like finding these little friends in the garden. Horned Frogs have always fascinated me. As a kid we were told they could spit some type of poison that would blind you. That is a cool friend to have. I found this one last time I was doing some yard work. He was running around trying to avoid the mower. He did, as did his family. He had taken refuge in my forest of weeds. Problem is, I displaced him because the weeds never let the garden grow. So when the weeds went, so did his home. He could have had a home in a bed of watermelon. Or corn. I left him with weeds. And then I took them.

Got me thinking though about my life-long tendency to procrastinate. The job almost always has to be done anyway. It is never as easy when it has been put off, especially when I've been reminded of it by a loving wife, or just by walking outside and wondering what was blocking the sun. And I rarely put things off because I'm doing something important. (Just trying to be honest)

A friend of mine, the amazing Sarah Stapleton noted one of the things we are because God is our Creator:
1. We are Stewards of the resources we've been given. Of those resources Time is the most valuable commodity we have. I can earn money, buy things, show off my stuff. But not Time. All you have is all you need for that moment. And I can't save it up like rollover minutes. And how much of it do we waste? Ouch. Someone once said, "the worst form of murder is to kill time." Tomorrow I'll spend a lot of it on really big weeds. And in all likelihood I'll displace a few critters. I hope I'll be a better about my allotment of time.

2. The second thing I'm learning is about displacement. Not just the little fellow in the picture. What could I be doing with my time instead of extra hours in the weed-patch. I could be not sweating inside with my kids on a Saturday morning. I could be playing with them and building some great memories of this fleeting time that I have with them in my house. I could be gazing at my wife as the sun breaks through the windows and gently falls upon her peaceful slumber. I've displaced some great potential memories.

Be a good steward. Especially with Time.
What out for displacement. Sounds awkward. But someone always looses.