A Blessed Life - Year 3

One of my most vivid memories from my young years was spending time at my babysitter's house. Mrs. Hensley lived less than a mile away and as I got older my brother found ourselves playing there quite a bit. My love for a certain food goes all the way back to Mrs. Hensley's house. ----Cold Biscuits.

My mother and father both worked day shift at the time and I was dropped off at Mrs. Hensley's house early morning. The Hensley's had a farm and so they had always eaten breakfast before I got there, but there were always biscuits left on the stove and I was always offered one. To this day I still love cold biscuits. I guess to me it is a comfort food that takes me back to childhood.

The other memory from Mrs. Hensley's is helping her daughter Elizabeth learn to walk. Elizabeth was only one I guess, but I held her hand and walked and walked around the house.

I had many memories from my time at the Hensley's - farm life, riding a horse, apple trees and lots and lots of love. I am so appreciative for a loving place to go when I was so young.

Strangely Warm Theology

I have called myself a Christian most of my life. I had a salvation experience when I was 13 at a revival at my home church in Nicholasville, Ky. That being said, it didn't become real to me until the next day or two when I realized what I had done. I feel my faith has ebbed and flowed quite a bit in my 45 years. There have been times that I have felt far away from God and times that I felt I could almost audibly hear him speaking to me. I would say I have been a believer all of my life...i would also say I have sometimes been a doubter and a skeptic.

My personal belief system is in line with most basic Christian beliefs. I think the Apostles Creed is a good statement of what I believe. I also fall pretty closely in line with a quote by Augustine an early church father.

"In Essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love" - Augustine (354-430 AD)

There have been times in my life I have been ultra conservative, times I have been liberal and currently I would call myself middle of the road. I don't get to worked up over issues on either side. Some would say that I am not taking a stand on important issues, but I see it that I am taking a stand on neutral ground.

I also try not to worry about what I would call "minor' differences in beliefs among Christians. I have preferences and I have at times voiced those preferences, but I am not going to argue over something I consider "non-essential".

So, this brings up a question. What am I willing to argue about? Argue is a strong word, so what would I be willing to address? I would say injustice and unwillingness to see the "big" picture. It truly aggravates me when people get so wrapped up in their "idea" of what church should be like, that they cannot see beyond that. I also cannot stand for others to be used, abused, ridiculed, etc.

Why am I sharing this? It is all part of my pulling back the layers of who I am and what makes me tick. The disclaimer here would be that as I do this, I may uncover other layers that I need to address. Thanks for staying for all the fun! :)

A Blessed Life - Year 2

One of my earliest memories happened when I was 2-3 years old. My mother was putting clothes in our washing machine (which was in our unfinished basement), and I was sitting at the top of the stairs leading down to the basement. I remember talking to her (not sure what about, but I'm sure it was very important to my 2 yr old self). I apparently leaned over to far and went tumbling down the stairs.

I remember the big knot on my head and laying on our couch with an icepack. This was the first of many hits to my head through the years. Not sure what this explains or says about me.

As I think back on that (and many other similar experiences) I realize how even at an early age it could have been much worse. I don't understand being spared a much worse accident, but I guess I would just sum it up by saying I am blessed.

I have a friend that when asked, "How are you?" his response is always, "I am blessed". I guess truly we all are blessed in one way or another. It just all depends on how we look at life.

From Friday Night Lights to Sunday Morning

Tonight is the first Home football game of the season, I really haven't had a whole lot invested in High School Football for a couple of years, since I haven't had a child in high school since 2008. Tonight I am back to the Friday Night Lights, the crowd, the cheers, the excitement.

I love football, I wish at some point in my youth that I had played. To me, it is much more exciting than 9 innings of baseball or even 4 quarters of basketball.

On Friday nights there are people that I come into contact with, that have a common goal. People from all walks of life, coming to cheer on their team. It doesn't matter at that point if a person is a Doctor, a Lawyer, jobless or even homeless. Heck, you can even be a preacher! At that point, there is a common goal, to cheer on your team. There is excitement when that crowd gathers together.

I think church should be very much like a football game with one exception. We should be excited, we should have a common goal, we should be supporting others, we should have everything in common. The one BIG exception is that there should be involvement. In a sense, instead of just observing, we should be INVOLVED by either playing or coaching.

There are too many churches and christians that have created an atmosphere of observing instead of participating. What would the church look like if we all got a little dirty and got busy? Is it time for some Sunday Morning Lights?