Bridges

I am neither an engineer, nor an architect, but I am fascinated by structures and the way they fit into our physical landscape.  One of the most intriguing of the structures we see each day are bridges.  We go from the most basic wooden bridge crossing the creeks and streams on our country roads, to the elegant structures such as the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston, SC (pictured below).

Not only do bridges provide utility in that we are able to cross from one side to another over chasms or bodies of water, but they often add to the landscape by providing points of reference, and there is the physical beauty of the structures themselves, when we step back and observe the genius involved in their construction.

So you may be asking how does that relate to my faith?  I am glad you asked!  When others look across the landscape of their lives what do they see in you?  As Christians we can be a bridge helping others across the ditches, depressions, and canyons of sin.

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Galatians 6:1-3

One of the key features of most bridges is the fact that they are set on pilings.  These pilings are driven deep into the ground, built upon the bedrock below.  This puts the bridge on firm footing and provides strength and stability.  In order for us to live to our full potential as Christian bridges we too must be built upon a solid foundation.  Our faith must be deeply rooted upon a firm foundation in God’s Word.  A surface level faith will limit our utility in His service, and not provide the clear beauty of an amazingly constructed bridge.

Bridges in our modern world are typically conceived by engineers who put a great deal of time, thought and detail into their design.  For us to reach our highest potential, we too should look at the pattern of the engineer and determine that we will design our lives in such a way as to serve well and create beauty.  This is not easy, and it requires that we live with intention.  

Yes, living intentionally, seems to be a buzzword at this time but it is an important concept.  I don’t believe we need so consumed with structuring and planning every detail of our lives in such a way that we don’t have room for a bit of spontaneity.  I do, however, believe that most of us could stand to add more structure to our world.  This takes a careful examination of every aspect of our lives and mapping out the path from point A (where we are) to point B (where we want to be).  What substructures and superstructures will we need to set in place to provide the strength and flexibility necessary to weather the storms, and aid others who seek us out for calm, Christ-assured strength, and love to heal their wounds?

You know the standards here for Christians are prayer, meditation, and study of scripture.  It goes beyond that, to build the most impressive bridge, it will also take a look at your schedules (how you use your time), your health (are you physically/emotionally/mentally able to be present), your finances (does your budget permit you the flexibility to assist financially), and can branch into every aspect of your daily activity.

Now as you pass through this world I want you to be aware of the bridges around us, and then think about how, you too, might become a bridge for others.  This is another way that we can Make Today GREAT!

Eclipse Hysteria

Tomorrow August 21, 2017 is a day being marked by tremendous anticipation by oh so many across this country.  Why?  There will be a solar eclipse across the skies of the good ole U.S.A., and for a small swathe of the country it will reach totality.

Yes, this is an interesting phenomena, but no it is not a reason for the obsessive commentary and actions that we are seeing, and have seen for weeks now.  There are those doomsayers out there who are proclaiming that this is the end of the world.  Okay, no problem, my soul is in order with God and I know my eternal destination.  Next!  
Eclipses have been occurring on occasion since the beginning of time.  They are a just another part of the evidences of creation.  God put things into place and set the universe in motion in a tremendously intricate, orderly fashion, and scripture tells us about it in many places such as the three I have listed below.

 Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Proverbs 3:19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;

By understanding He established the heavens

Ecclesiastes 1:1-8  The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

3 

What profit has a man from all his labor

In which he toils under the sun?

4 

One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

But the earth abides forever.

5 

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And hastens to the place where it arose.

6 

The wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.

7 

All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.

So, if you must get worked up about the eclipse that's fine, just put it into the proper context.  It is a unique celestial event that is evidence of the order that God set in motion with the creation.  This is not a doomsday scenario, and it is not anything that can be directly tied to biblical prophecy.  Disclaimer, please recall that I am not a bible scholar.

Make today GREAT!

Back to School 2017

I think this captures my

daughter's thought processes 

pretty accurately, maybe?

It is now that crazy and exciting time when our kids head back to school.  For me this year will be especially interesting as my daughter moves to high school.  Last year as a freshman she began accumulating her credits toward graduation, but it all gets very real from here on out.

The next three years will hold many questions about the future, and lots of exciting times as we experience her growth and the challenges she, and every other student, will face.  Are we ready?  It is likely that no one is ever ready, but we believe that the base upon which her life has been built will serve her well.

So you might ask, what is that base?  It is a base built upon a solid Christian faith, the importance of family, learning decision making by actually making decisions, and not biting off more than you can chew.  Sound simplistic, well it probably is, but so far so good.  No we don't have it all figured out, and there will be plenty of opportunities for our daughter, or us as parents, to totally blow it.  That is when we will learn the very difficult lessons of forgiveness, grace, mercy, and reflection.

Are these characteristics present in your life and home?  Each of these are essential in order to move forward after the errors, failures, and letdowns that we face.  How we respond to adversity is a powerful revelation of character, and can also be a difference maker in the eventual outcomes we see.

So as back to school time comes and quickly leads to the routines and flows of the school year take a moment or two and think about where you are with your kids.  Consider that each school year that begins marks another step closer to their leaving home and walking in the world as adults.  Will they be ready?  We cannot live their lives for them, so our goal must be to prepare them daily to be ready for this coming eventuality.

Pray for all our children and be there as a friend, mentor, or listening ear.  Just as we need those things, they need them in spades!

Make today GREAT!

Here are a few links to help:

27 Back to School Organizing Tips

American Academy of Pediatrics Back to School Tips

Princeton Review Study Tips

Coming Back! - A Work in Progress

Coming Back!
 A Work in Progress

Its been several months now since I signed off leaving you with an expectation of a return to the blogosphere somewhere in the future.  That time is approaching.  

Today I would like for you to know that I am coming back.  I anticipate my first full length post will be released on Sunday August 13, 2017.  This blog space will become a weekly look at faith and family, and how a full life revolves around those two priorities.  I hope you will rejoin me as I bring "Workout Your Faith" back to life.  Also, I am working on a separate blogging project entitled The Nerd's Niche which will be launching soon with a different focus.  More on that one as it continues to develop.

Make today GREAT!

Season for Rest

In the classes I am teaching for our church one of the things I have emphasized on multiple occasions is the idea of not over-committing yourself or your children's time.  The world is too busy and we see burnout far too often.  The non-stop schedules that are kept often impede the growth of the family unit, and the vital development of an array of necessary skills.

Today I am taking my own advice.  In order to keep my mind sharp and to better protect my time I will be signing off from this blog, for a season.  During the off time I will be looking to rejuvenate my mind and allow some additional margin into my schedule.  This will also allow me to have more capacity for the things that remain on my calendar, including some upcoming challenges in my workplace.

At some point in the (not too distant?) future I expect to return to the blogosphere.  It is not currently clear to me whether it will be with a renewed focus or intent on the Workout Your Faith concept or if it will be starting with a clean slate and a new concept.  Time will tell and for now I will leave you with this thought:

Be willing to say no, selectively.  Involvement is a great and wonderful thing, but over-involvement can be crippling.  Take care of your relationship with God and He will help you take care of everything else.

Seasons of Success

The writer of Ecclesiastes said that here is a season for everything under the sun.  As I grow a little older, and hopefully wiser, I am beginning to understand this more and more.

This weekend has been an amazing time of celebration, dedication, and fellowship.  My family along with 20 something others from our church, and around 9000 others from across the country descended upon Nashville, TN for the annual Lads to Leaders Convention.  L2L is a youth leadership development program within churches of Christ that offers a variety of events structured to bring out the best in our youth, preparing them to serve in the church.

As to the season thought, this was the first convention without one of our kids who went very successfully through the program and is now a freshman at the Naval Academy.  It was hard to adjust to not having him around bit his season had changed.

We also, as our tradition holds, saw off one of our seniors who has now completed his course and will be moving to another season better prepared for the fight.  I and my church family wish him well in that future.  I am grateful  to have had an opportunity to observe the growth in each of these young men over the past 7 years.

There are still a good number, including my own daughter who are still around and walking in this season.  Each with a different direction and varied talents or interests.  My prayer is that each will continue to follow God's paths and grow to serve well in the church, create Godly families, and serve their communities as the Light of Christ is reflected in them.

May we all have a heart for service and take the lead, using the complete set of tools at our disposal to raise up children, not to be good kids, but to be great Christian adults.  If we can do this, then we will make today, and many more days GREAT!

The Christian Journey: Part 3 Marriage

Outside our relationship with God, no other relationship carries more weight in scripture than marriage.  In Ephesians 5:23-32 it is compared to the relationship between Christ and the Church. That is a pretty weighty comparison!

Unfortunately, marriage has seemingly lost its luster in our modern society.  Not only have forces been hard at work to redefine it, but many are choosing to forego marriage in favor of a variety of other relational options.  We are paying a high price for our abandonment of God's initial and eternal plan for this beautiful institution.

The toll being paid is found in several arenas.  The gradual destruction of the traditional home over the past 50+ years has been seen in a roughly 50% overall divorce rate that has immense implications for the children so often involved.  There is a tremendous emotional burden on the former spouses, not to mention the financial consequences of the legal proceedings and the resulting arrangements.  Often there are also implications to other relationships that may be strained due to friends/family members taking sides,

So what is the answer?  First it all starts with God.

I do not have all the other answers, and many would say that I likely don't have any.  But here are a few thoughts:

• Marriage needs to be valued - it is not intended to be disposable
• Marriage needs to be modeled for our children and our younger generations
• Marriage needs to look back at The Bible for its basis
• Dating should be more selective, you are not likely to marry someone you don't date
• Laugh if you will, but dating/courtship is really a job interview/audition process
• Get back to the basics (God-fearing, trust, loving, kind, sense of humor, provide/protect, compassionate) and away from physical appearances

Today think about what brought you into your marriage.  Then consider how to build upon those foundation blocks and if necessary begin repairs upon the structure you have built.  Understand that no good marriage was built overnight, and that most troubled marriages slipped in that direction slowly over time.  That being said any necessary repairs will also take time.

If your marriage is strong I am thankful, and you should be too.  I ask that you do all that you can to keep it going.  Our children and our society are counting on you.  If your marriage is troubled take a hard look and make the often difficult choices it takes to shore it up.

If you will do these things you will Make Today GREAT!