ordinary? ...not a chance :-)

As we bring 2010 to a close I felt it was my duty to end the year with a blog post...I believe my last post was back in January :-)

Many things about me are very...normal...un-exciting...maybe even boring...I don't have a problem with any of those words describing areas of my life...but there is one word that I have heard a lot lately that I am not ok with.

Ordinary. Ordinary. Ordinary...according to Merriam Webster's dictionary, one of the definitions of this word is: " the regular or customary condition or course of things —usually used in the phrase out of the ordinary" .

I will not go there with you...sorry...I am many things (and you are too), but ordinary/common/is NOT ok...I am ok with not being the most exciting, not being the most talented, not being the most of anything. But I don't believe for a minute that you & I were made to be (in my best eyore voice) just average.

God didn't have to make me...or you...he chose to make us...I don't know everything about what that means, but I do know that the God that placed the stars in the sky and molded the earth to get it just the way he wanted it, if that God chose to make me (and you too) that it is worth me believing in what He started when he created me. Maybe I won't cure cancer, or play in the biggest game/series of my favorite sport, come up with the next dance craze (ala kid'n play, macarena, or the dougie...it's on youtube...I'm not making it up :-), but the God of the universe created you & I for extra-ordinary things!! In the world, in the country, in the state and city he has placed us for this time-He has created us for something amazing, not because he needs us to pull it off, but because He never sends his second best. I will say that again. God never sends his second best...if you and I weren't the best person for the jobs God has given us for this season-he would send someone else!!

When I sing my favorite Steven Curtis Chapman song or attempt to cover a John Mayer tune at an event, there is nobody better to sing/connect with that group of folks for the purpose God has than me...or he would send his best...

God is not at all surprised or caught off guard at the things that we never saw coming...the easy stuff, the hard stuff, he allows us to walk through and some times run through our day-while he is beside us. Riding the highs with us, and crying with us in the valleys. He is 100% engaged with us.

I tell kiddos and their parents all the time, 1) God made you & me the very same way-out of nothing-in our mother's body (Ps. 139:13), 2) the same God that made us has a plan to take care of us and not to hurt us-to give us a future and a hope, and he will answer us when we call on him/search for him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13), and 3) the same God that made us out of nothing even when he didn't have to, has a plan to take care of us and not to hurt us, to give us a future and a hope-is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

I don't always believe the truth about me, sometimes I just believe the facts...my circumstances, my "stat sheet" and forget the truths of who Jesus says I am...the truth of what he did for me. My prayer for you & me as we close out this year and get ready to dive into the next, is for us to believe that there is nothing ordinary about us or the God we serve. Still working on progress, but am so glad to remember the truth of who God is and who he wants me to be :-)

mike in-progress

Virtue over their head?

...it was 11:48pm and JD (our almost 4 yr old prince) had been to bed and asleep for a few hours...so I help him get situated and ready to go back to bed he whispers something, and after the 3rd time of asking him to repeat it I finally hear him say "Daddy...what is discipline?" (Discipline is our virtue of the month for our kids ministry) I squeezed him tightly as I carried him back to his bed, and told him "Discipline is doing what you need to now to grow stronger" (again, the virtue of the month), and JD squeezed me back and said "yeah, that's right" virtually in his sleep : )

So glad our kiddos (yours & mine) are open and receptive to God's word in a variety of ways...

Father help us to be intentional about the kids ministry you have given each parent. Help us take advantage of the teachable moments and blank slates you provide us with. Thank you for the sweet times you give me with my family.

Glad to be a work in progress.

Fearless...and FAITHFUL

My bride is one of the most confident, capable people I've been around...for example she goes to stores not necessarily to purchase things...but more to get ideas and then try to do the same thing (or better) for less money. She loves the challenge, and is remarkably successful!



Let's take cooking for example. Some folks MUST have a recipe and will follow it very closely...her recipies tend to involve "a little bit of ___" and "just enough" of ______, or my favorite, I'll ask how much _____ do I put in, she replies "until it looks right"...until it looks right? I murmur (sometimes under my breath...I'll admit it : ) My bride is fearless.



She is an inspiration to me as one of the faithful. The faithfulness she serves her God with is remarkable. Over the years she has been great walk with me through my struggles with God and trying to find his will for me/us. I am so grateful for her heart, compassion, generosity, and at the very center of it all is her faithfulness to the God she knows so well.



I love the journey. Father I hope you find me faithful today. Help me 1) hear you, 2) trust you (action required), and 3) rest in you.



Mike...progressing to faithful

frustration

so progress is not always easy to measure...right? One immensely difficult part of my life is finding ways to measure progress in a certain area so I don't get frustrated and quit...I am needing to learn to work through the frustration(s)...my bride depends on me, my kids depend on me...how does a man/husband/dad/church staff guy work through his frustrations and come through the process with a successful marriage, relationships with children, career of actually ministering to people and not losing sight of the purpose and mission that God brought me into, and be able to look himself in the mirror when he shaves?



Jehovah-Jireh, you know me inside and out...you have always provided and taken care of me and my family...help me to 1) hear from you, 2) trust you (requires action), and 3) rest in you...Jehovah Shalom I need your peace.



trusting that I am still a work in progress

Acquaintence? Friend?

intimately acquainted...intimately acquainted...I pondered this morning as I was reading on of my most familiar scriptures in a different translation. The passage ususally reads "...you discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways (Psalm 139:3-NIV). There is a song Mercy Me did about 14 years ago from this Psalm that is one of my all-time favorite quiet time songs...back to this morning...

"...you scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways...(NASB)

as I ponder...meditate...stop and just think (nothing wierd or creepy about pondering/meditating) about what this is saying...what God is saying to me.

He scrutinizes (examine closely and minutely) my path (course; way of life--my choices) and lying down, and is intimately (one's deepest nature) acquainted (to know) all my ways...I don't get the vibe that God has the clipboard and excel spreadsheet with all of my choices and his red pen tallying up my every decision to see if it impacts His kingdom...that sounds more like what I do when I worry over what I look like, or who I'm trying to please...that makes me tired and stressed out just thinking about it!

I know intellectually that God knows all about me, but this morning the freshness of intimately acquainted,..the God of all the universe, not just the God of me and my family, or the town where I live, or the church where we serve, but God of all the universe knows me...knows me well...He is intimately acquainted with me, that is monumental to me this morning. Because eventhough he is is intimately acquainted with me-knows all the good and the bad, he wants to remain intimately acquainted with me. He's not going anywhere. Regardless of how remote I feel some days, not to mention how selfish I am with all things Mike, 1) God created me out of nothing (Ps. 139:13) 2) He has a plan to take care of me and my family (Jer. 29:11), and 3) He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).

Abba Father,
Thank you for taking the time to know me...to be intimately acquainted with me and not turn away from what you see. Thank you for drawing close and speaking with me and listening with me this morning. I need your help today to be a good man and take care of my bride, be a good example for my children, and make an impact on my community for you in a positive way. Since you are intimately acquainted with me, you know that is overwhelming to me. Help me to honor you with my attitude and my choices.

I believe mike-inprogress is much better than just mike : ) Have a great day!

BIG revelation

On my way to work this morning I had a BIG REVELATION. I was not anticipating the magnitude of this revelation or what it says about who I am. It has everything to do with my personal and professional life, my mission statement, my vocation, my roles as husband, daddy, and leader in the church. It's one of those things that makes the old 'could've had a V8' commercial seem like the understatement of the century. I can't share something this personal online before I share it with my family, my friends, my support group--but I would like to share it with you...after I meet with my home group this Sunday night (6/7).

The process to the big revelation I would like to share with you now and see if you choose to put it to the test in your life.

I asked God to reveal Himself to me today and help me focus on His goal, His tasks for me today..."God please forgive me..., and help me to focus on what You have for me to do."

That was it...nothing frilly, no big new testament evangelical prayer that will be published on the cover "the prayers that Jesus really hears" weekly... It was almost instantaneous...as I have thought about for a little while, it was like something He had been wanting to tell me for days but was waiting on His opportunity to share with me. Jesus, please forgive me for being so selfish with my time.

...after I prayed the prayer (in Emeril fashion) BAM!! . . . big revelation :)

I hope the revelation in your life today is God sized, not just something you can do on your own.

I like what Paul to Timothy when he knows there time together is limited-"How I thank God for you, Timothy. I pray for you every day, and many times during the long nights I beg my God to bless you richly. He is my fathers' God, and mine, and my only purpose in life is to please Him. (2 Timothy 1:3-Living Bible)

Be good.
mike (always a work in progress)

The Eyes of a Father

I had a rare occasion to stay home with my family today...ok...let me rephrase...I took advantage of an opportunity (that is more than likely under my nose more often than I realize) and stayed home with my bride and kiddos today. Great day! Got to play with all 3 kiddos, time with my lady :)...I fixed my "famous ham & cheesy eggs" according to JoJo (our girl). Scrambled eggs with ham and some cheese on top-was my breakfast of specialty when our family life seemed less hectic than it is now. Always was a big hit with the offspring.

Today nino #3 got his first taste of the breakfast treat...and was mostly unimpressed...UNTIL I broke out the Marshmellow Maties (Lucky Charms in a bag). So finally all the kiddos were satisfied and we tried to give Mommy a little break.

After we all ate lunch...together...as a family (highly recommend) JD was getting ready to lay down for his nap and asked me to lay down with him. (in my best Simon Cowell voice) If I'm being honest...I stalled for a bit, thinking once he laid down I would have a window to check some e-mails and make a few phone calls, so I told him "I"ll come check on you in a few minutes." Again he asked me to lay down with him...I couldn't say no. So I come back 5 minutes later and he was out-so I was in the clear to do my stuff I had already planned...but I couldn't leave the room...I was locked in on his beautiful little face while he was sleeping.

I lay down beside my oldest sleeping prince (Mommy is the queen, of course I am the king, JoJo is the princess, and the boys are princes), and I watched him sleep, I listened to him breathe...he wasn't singing to me, he wasn't playing his guitar like we do together, not playing the drums, not telling me how much he loves me or trying to make me laugh...he was resting...he was doing what a young boy his age is supposed to do at nap time :)

Then it hit me...If a selfish, anxious, judgemental, short on patience Daddy like me can sit in the symphony of my son's breathing while he is asleep and feel the pride, love, and joy I felt in that moment--how then must my God, my Abba Father feel about me and you. Even if I am not performing for Him, specifically praying to Him, or wondering how I can do more for Him or attempting to "grow His Kingdom"...how much more does He delight in my. Delight is not a word I typically use, but that is precisely the word I thought of this afternoon, and the only word I can think of from My Father toward me...He delights in me...in spite of me and my actions. He just loves me. Let that marinate for a bit. In spite of my failures...daily failures, my best intentions and most selfish actions...He loves me just the way I am.

Father forgive me now as I am still trying to impress You. I try to word my prayers so that I get pats on the back. I want you to be impressed and wowed by all that I am doing "for You" and the excellence that I do it with...I forget...or don't purpose to guard my time with You. Please grant me and my amigo(a)s that are reading this some time with You...help us to see our time with You through the eyes of our Father.

Even though I am still a work in progress...I am His.

Blessings to you.