Skip to main content

A Morning View Near the Wood Stove

I had the privilege of being able to stop and wish a Happy Birthday 103rd to a member of my church last night! He is a WWII Veteran and a kind gentle man. He loves Jesus as his Lord and I have never heard a harsh comment come from his mouth. He is thankful for each day he has left here on this earth. He has been anticipating this birthday for awhile, always reminding me that it was coming soon! 

He cannot do much anymore. He loves to play corn hole and each visit I am asked when we will be back in the sanctuary. He keeps telling me he wants to come to church again. I am sure there are days he struggles, but his attitude is always so positive. 

As I was leaving yesterday he told me a few simple things. First he said, "you will come back?" I said "absolutely!" Then he looked at me and said, "my next birthday I will be 104, you will come visit me then too?" Again I said, "ABSOLUTELY!" 

He lives in the positive. He seeks relationship with others. He treats everyone with respect and love. Even as his health is naturally slipping he anticipates another day forward with God and desires to be in worship with God. He could be discouraged and upset asking many why questions, but he lives a positive life looking forward to another day.

I drove away taking a lesson from my friend. I need to live each day with the best attitude for God and others. I desire to not be selfish and needy because I walk with the God of all creation. I need to live in the moment looking forward to the next celebration and gift from God set on my table!

My son, do not forget my teaching,

    but keep my commands in your heart,

    for they will prolong your life many years

    and bring you peace and prosperity.

 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

    bind them around your neck,

    write them on the tablet of your heart.

 Then you will win favor and a good name

    in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

    in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

                                         - Proverbs 3:1-6


Peace,

PB

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Morning View By the Wood Stove

If you proclaim Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then I must ask you a question. Are you seeking the deepest possible intimate relationship with God that you can ever experience on this earth? Because I know what I am about to say to be absolutely true. If you are not and if you are pursuing anything other than God you will not ever be satisfied and ultimately any other relationship will fail. It does not matter how deeply connected with another person you are without God it will fail. Failure may not mean completely walk away, failure can mean that a relationship will not be what it is intended to be and you settle for it because at least it is there, it's the best I can do, it could be worse and for many other reasons.  We are created to be in relationship with one another. We have many relationships and many depths within those relationships. We have social relationships. We have relationship with many forms of addiction and substitution. We have friends and we have FRIENDS...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Morning View Near the Patio

I believe Christians are called to live a different life in the world than those who are not Christian. I believe that no matter the circumstance of the world, the government and all the just and injustice we are called to be different. Jesus handled the Easter journey much differently than I believe the modern Christian in the USA would have handled it. The Apostle Paul lived as best he humanly could to model the path and life of Jesus Christ during the difficult times of persecution and injustice of his journey. A lot of thoughts are swirling in my head during our difficult time we are currently experiencing and all of those thoughts come back to my life as a Christian, believer and follower of Jesus Christ, and do my thoughts, actions and words model Jesus on the Easter journey to the cross? In Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus told his disciples to "take up their cross and follow me!" I am believing that Jesus is telling us to live like, act like, be like and love like Jesus did....
Post a Comment
Read more

A Morning View Near the Patio

Sabbath - to rest from labor, set aside as holy. Because we have less to do in our current situation, perhaps as Christians we can redefine what Sabbath looks like for us. I wonder how many of us traditionally go to church in our weekend routine, have lunch then get right back at it? After all, we have so much to do and so little time. It has been nice to sit and be. On the nicer days, when the weather cooperates, it has been so nice to sit on the patio and just be. I have sat and contemplated there more this year than I did all last summer. Perhaps a new normal of Sabbath can take place in our lives. As a child I remember going to church on Sunday morning and on the way home being dropped off at Grandma and Granddad's place. We would have lunch and quite often go for a ride. Usually the ride would end somewhere with ice cream! The routes must have been develops around the ice cream establishments in Northeast Ohio! We did very little, but for me as a kid we did a lot. I remember...
Post a Comment
Read more