Day 226- An Eel First

Today, I ate eel for my “first.”

I had never eaten eel before. I’ve caught an eel or two while fishing.  This is not a particularly attractive animal.  They really are ugly. It looks too much like a snake for me. Eels kind of give me the “heebie jeebies.”  Once in a while we would catch one while fishing and typically, that particular one the Lord would see fit to call him home. 

Tonight, Laura and I ate at a Japanese Sushi Bar restaurant.  While looking over the menu, I saw  bar-b-q eel. It was a sushi kind of thing. You can get 2 for $3.25 so Laura decided to join in on my “first” and try one with me.  The eel was on some rice.  Let’s just say that the rice was the best part of this meal.  Laura said it tasted too fishy and only ate one bite (there is really only about 2 bites to the little eel roll/rice thing).  I ate all of mine, but declined to finish hers for her.  She had ordered hibachi beef and I had ordered hibachi shrimp and we both enjoyed our main course much better than we did the eel.  Still, it was an interesting “first.”

 

 

There were other first options besides eel

 

 

 

 

Bar-b-q eel sushi

 

 

After I ate the eel, the thing that I thought about was how I really don’t like eels.  So today, I struck back.  I ate one. There are times when there are things in my life that are ugly, unattractive, and not helping.  You probably know what I’m referring to.  The ugly and unattractive things can be impatience, anger, talk that is not edifying, sour attitudes, and things like those. At times, I’ve just sort of let these things sit there in my life without really doing much about it.  I knew they were not helpful or a very good witness for Jesus.  They were not helping me to have a strong family.  There comes a time where I have to fight back in the power of the Spirit and do something about it.  Those ugly things will not usually just leave without a fight. I have to be filled with the Spirit and fight back.  Ephesians 6:10 says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”  I need to hate the ugly and unattractive things in my life like I hate catching an eel.  I need to hate it enough to do something about it.  Sin should repulse me.

The good news is that God has given us spiritual weapons to fight back with. We are not alone in our fight against the sin that steals our joy in the Lord.  We have the weapons of prayer, faith, the Bible, and godly friends that can help us.  When we do win a battle, we need to be sure that we allow God to fill that place where that ugly thing used to be with something beautiful.  Instead of the anger, we can have joy. Instead of the impatience, we can have peace.  Instead of the sour attitude, we can have a loving attitude.  The things that God wants to fill our lives with are so much better than the ugly stuff. That is why I ate one small piece of eel, but I ate a lot of shrimp tonight. You can know that there is one less eel in the world today.  Of course, there are more to deal with just like we have more ugly stuff to deal with. Starting today to get rid of the ugly stuff is way better than starting tomorrow.

 I read a quote a few days back that said, “God’s will is what you would choose if you knew all the facts.”  Let’s choose His way over the ugly!

Choosing the abundant life

Barry

3 things I thank God for today

1. Grilled shrimp

2. I live in a place where I have a lot of food choices

3. Knees 

Day 225- A TV First

Today, I watched a new TV show for my "first." 

At church a few weeks ago, I heard a couple of people talking about the Duggar family. They are this family that has like 19-20 kids or so.  They've written a few books and have a TV show on TLC titled, "19 Kids and Counting."  The people at church were talking about this family's commitment to Christ and godly living as a family. The more I listened, the more intrigued I became with this family.

Laura had given me one of their books a while back (like at Christmas). I never read it because I don't like to read things at night that might give me nightmares.  When I heard a bit more about their love for the Lord and commitment to family, I decided to give the book a try. I'm very glad I did.  It is very obvious this family is committed to Jesus Christ. 

The book (A Love That Multiplies) starts by telling about a time a few years ago when there was a big ice storm; trees fell on their property, no electricity for 9 days. It was so bad with trees and tree limbs falling they could not allow any of the smaller children out of the house for the first few days. They had 21 people in their house at that time including a one month old and a set of grandparents; the grandfather was sick with a brain tumor with only a month to live. 

Here’s what nailed me as I read this.  Jim Bob is the husband (I thought he was a Walton). Here's what Michelle wrote about him, "Thankfully, I am married to a creative and smart husband who’s also a devoted father. He knew that lots of little eyes were watching how he would cope with the ice-storm disaster, and his optimism and good humor never waned throughout that long, difficult time. Jim Bob rarely gets rattled; he’s always rock solid in his beliefs and in working toward the parenting goals we have set for ourselves. He looks at everything as an opportunity to teach our children something new. The ice storm was no exception. We hold to the truths of the Bible, in which the apostle Paul wrote, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). How could we teach our children those words and then show frustration, fear, anger, or some other destructive emotion when an ice storm made our lives a little more complicated?

Seeing the vast amounts of damage to the trees in our yard, Jim Bob might have had a few moments when he felt completely overwhelmed, wondering, How am I going to get this huge mess cleaned up? What if the power stays off for several days? How can I get my family through this calamity? But those little eyes watching him never saw him hesitate. Instead they saw him thank God that everyone was safe, fed, and relatively warm, and then ask Him for strength and wisdom to meet the challenge. And through it all, the smile on his face and the love sparkling in his eyes never faded.

That sounds like a guy committed to leading his family in God's ways.  So, I decided to watch the TV show "10 and Counting" for my "first."

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed watching the TV show.  Michelle Duggar seems to have such a sweet spirit.  In the episode I watched (reruns that I taped on the DVR), Michelle and Jim Bob went on a marriage retreat and Grandma and the older children took care of the younger children. It was cool to hear Michelle and Jim Bob talk about the fact that they had a good marriage, but wanted it to be even better.  There was a sense of authenticity about following Jesus. The older girls were invited to a birthday party to talk about some of their moral convictions.  I don't feel God is calling me to have 19 children, but I sure do admire the way these guys are trying to do family.  We may not all be called to families of the same size, but convictions like godliness, purity, and respect are attributes that all followers of Jesus are called to pursue.

 

I'll let them do 19 (and it may be more by now) and I'll work with 2 but we all need to seek to be fully surrendered to Christ in whatever we do.  I'll watch the show more often provided I don't have any nightmares.

 

Thankful for the abundant life

Barry

 

3 things I thank God for today

1. Books by the Duggars

2. Boiled peanuts

3. Pens

 

 

 

Day 224- A Pedicure First

Today, I took Hannah Grace to get her first pedicure for my "first."

Early in my year of "firsts," I told Hannah Grace that I would take her to get her nails done as one of my "firsts" and that she could pick the date.  She starts back to school on Monday and so she chose today to have her first pedicure.  Neither of us really knew what this meant other than she would get her toenails painted by a very sweet lady. I liked this better than Hannah Grace painting my toenails. She did that a couple of Christmases back when I offered to play whatever she wanted to on Christmas. Well, she had received some nail polish for Christmas and wanted to paint my toenails. She did and painted a couple of toes with a glow-in-the-dark polish that kind of freaked me out in the middle of the night.

She picked a very pretty green color. She put her feet in what she called a "hot tub for feet."  She said, "Daddy, it's warm and has the little jets and everything."  That sounded pretty cool.  She had several different types of gels or lotions applied to her feet to make them soft.  Her feet were scrubbed to get rid of dead skin. This was very ticklish to Hannah Grace.  She said it felt good and ticklish at the same time.

Hannah Grace had a blast.  She loved her toenails and how pretty they were.  She loved how soft her feet felt.  In her words, it was "awesome." It was really cute how often she said, "Aren't they pretty?"  This was a really fun "first."  I'm very glad I did this "first" with my daughter.  She loved Mrs. Melanie and the sweet way she did her pedicure.

Joel did other things today

I read a book by a guy named Mark Batterson one time and he wrote that we ought to collect experiences not possessions.  That's a unique way to look at life.  Our experiences become our stories.  Our stories become our testimony to God and His working in our lives.  Laura likes to say, "Never pass up a chance for a life adventure."  The fun times of life are the experiences and adventures and then the telling of them.  Not many nights spent in front of the TV are nights that I'm thrilled about and talk about with great fondness. Not many times have I missed an opportunity to do something for Jesus and been glad about it.  There have been times when I was scared, unsure, full of doubt, and worried, but I trusted God and went for the life experience and was so glad I did.  Sometimes it is not what you do that you regret, but what you don't do.

Mark Batterson writes about a lady in his church that was feeling led to go on a mission trip to Ethiopia but had some real fears about it. What if the plane crashed? What if she got sick?  She pushed through her fears, trusted God, and had the experience of a lifetime.  Here is what Batterson wrote about it, "In retrospect, it’s hard to imagine how many memories Sarah would have forfeited if she had run away from her fears. One of the greatest tragedies in life is the stories that go untold because we don’t face our fears! But she decided to live her life in a way that was worth telling stories about!  For what it’s worth, none of things she was afraid of happened. The plane didn’t crash. She didn’t get sick. And she wasn’t eaten alive by wild animals. The only bad thing that happened to her was getting pooped on by a baboon. I kid you not! I’m not sure if the baboon was aiming or not, but what a shot. I know that is a nasty, but what a story! That is living life to the fullest!"  I just think about her at a party and having that story to tell.  Nobody can top that, right? 

So, follow Jesus and gather some experiences with Him. It will grow your faith and the faith of those around you.  They will give opportunities to speak highly and much of Christ.  Who knows, you might even get your toenails painted, but watch out for baboons.

Loving the experiences of the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Hannah Grace's pedicure
2. Mark Batterson's book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day"
3. People who inspire to reach for more adventure

Day 223- A Completed First

Today, we finished putting our 500 piece puzzle together as my "first."

Last week we were out of town for several days. The puzzle work had to rest for a while.  Yesterday was Sunday and that's a busy day for us.  This evening, I started working on the puzzle for the first time in several days.  Laura saw me and she pitched in to help.  Then Joel got excited about it and started helping and Hannah Grace got in the action before we were done.  It was a fun evening and we felt a sense of family accomplishment that we got our puzzle finished. 

Joel said it was fun to do and he thinks it looks awesome.  Hannah Grace said it was a lot of fun. Laura said she felt a sense of accomplishment.  I'm relieved.  That unfinished puzzle was starting to bug me a bit.  It was fun to start, but it does feel even better to finish.  I did not take my pocket knife to even one piece. It was tempting a few times to trim a piece or two so they would fit. Several times I was convinced that a piece was missing because I could not find the one I was looking for.  Joel said a piece he was looking for was missing and he started looking and indeed it was. He found it under a cactus we have on our table.  All the ones I thought were missing were eventually found in the pile.  I have a suspicion that Laura may have put her hand over a couple while I was looking.

Putting the puzzle together reminded me that I need to trust God when life doesn't make sense to me. I only have a few pieces of the puzzle of life. God has all the pieces and knows exactly where each piece goes. It would be very difficult to take 3 pieces of a 500 piece puzzle and know what the puzzle looks like or where the pieces would go.  I live in a very small piece of the world. I know very few of the 7 billion plus people that live on this planet.  I know nothing of the future and not much of the past. Yet, there are times when I question God's wisdom and wonder why certain things happen the way they do.  It does not take me long in a children's hospital to wonder why these children have to suffer and why God does not do more to help. Of course, I have many other things that are mysteries to me that I would love to know the answers to.  Yet, I trust that God has the answers.  One day, He will allow those who follow Him to see the completed picture and I believe we will say that God knew best and did best.

One of the men that seemed to grab this truth and really hold on to it was George Mueller.  When his wife died, Mueller preached her funeral.  I have no desire to follow him in those footsteps. In the  funeral sermon itself, Mueller took as a text Psalm 119:68, “Thou art good and doest good.” He divided it like this: "The Lord was good and did good: first, in giving her to me; second in so long leaving her to me; and third, in taking her from me."
Mueller wrote, "What I have to do, as His child, is to be satisfied with what my Father does, that I may glorify Him. I was satisfied with God.”

I have a lot to learn from Mr. Mueller.

Glad that God knows what He is doing in the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. His wisdom
2. George Mueller's life and biography
3. Chairs

Day 222- A Puzzle Box First

Today, I used a puzzle box as a visual aid in my sermon for my "first."

Of course, I did not do this to have a "first."  As I was thinking about my day and what "first" I might be able to do, it occurred to me that I was planning on preaching with a puzzle box as a visual aid and I've never done that before.  It worked for a "first" on a busy Sunday.

This past week, the family and I started working on a puzzle as a family project.  One of the most important parts of the puzzle (other than not losing a piece perhaps) is the box.  The box tells you what the picture looks like. It’s a lot easier if you know what the picture is like. 

 

I thought about that-it would be a cruel thing to sell a puzzle with the wrong picture on the box. For example, selling a puzzle about a waterfall and having a picture of New York City skyline on the front.  Or worse, sell a puzzle with the Alabama or Auburn mascot on the front and put the pieces for the other one in the box.. That could be very frustrating and even cause some type of injury or lawsuit.

 

 

 

 

It occurred to me that sometimes our frustration and dissatisfaction with life is that we are putting together the pieces of our lives and looking at the wrong picture.  Here’s what I mean by that. We all, hopefully, have some type of picture of the life that we want to or believe that we should live.  If that picture is off, the pieces of our life will never seem to fit.  Some people have some of these pictures as the life they want/should live. The picture on the box is the:

·        Happy life

·        Pain free life

·        No conflict life

·        Lots of money life

·        Everybody likes me life

·        Entertainment life

·        It’s what I want to do life

·        Every day is fun life

 If that’s your puzzle box, then some of the pieces are not going to fit. If your puzzle box is the happy life and your fiancé breaks up with you, you don't get your dream job, your best friend moves away, you don’t get the teacher you wanted for math, you can’t afford the vacation you wanted to take, or you get sick on vacation, then, those pieces don’t fit.  You are looking at this piece and it just does not look like anything on the puzzle box. 

 The puzzle box for all of us who are followers of Jesus looks like a life that glorifies God by loving Him, loving others, and telling the world about Jesus.  Then, when life hands you a puzzle piece like you get sick on vacation, you can say- this will fit in that glorifying God section. When you don’t get the math teacher you wanted, you can say that piece fits in the loving people section.  When your life turns out way worse than you thought, you know that piece fits in the "count it all joy when you encounter various trials" section (see James 1: 2-4). Those pieces may not be fun, but they do fit in the puzzle.

 

So, let's make sure we know what God wants our lives to look like.  Then, we can make more sense of the various pieces.

 

Putting the pieces together for the abundant life

Barry

 

3 things I thank God for today

1. Cute children in our church

2. Clothes hangers

3. The song, "How Great Thou Art"

Day 221- A Diner First

Today, the family and I drove home from La. where we have been visiting with our family. In addition to driving home, we also did some shopping for school clothes. That means Hannah Grace and Laura shopped in stores for school clothes. Joel and I went to McDonald's where he played games on his DSI and I read on my Kindle while drinking coffee.

Of course, we had to stop and eat somewhere.  I saw a Steak and Shake close to where the shopping was going on. Hannah Grace and Joel had never been to a Steak and Shake so I took them there for my "first." 

They loved it.  Hannah Grace had a grilled cheese with fries; the fries had sea salt and cracked pepper.  Joel had a burger with cheesy fries. The fries were a bit fancier than usual. It is not fancy dining, but it was a better than our typical traveling food.

After our meal, we decided to splurge and get a shake. After all, it would seem to be an incomplete Steak and Shake experience to skip the shake.  When I asked the family if they wanted a shake, the vote was unanimous.  There's a big surprise.  We are shake lovers around here.  Of course, Steak and Shake offers some really unique choices in shake options.  We had Reese's peanut butter cup, Mint Oreo, Strawberry, and Peanut Butter Banana. Can you guess who had which? The kids said this "first" was awesome.

Reese's peanut butter cup- Hannah Grace
Mint Oreo- Laura
Strawberry- Joel
Peanut Butter Banana- Me

Guess who assembled the car they gave us first?

 

It was really tempting to skip the shake on the Steak and Shake experience due to the deadly C's- cost and calories.  We don't have a Steak and Shake where we live and it just seemed to fall short of what the experience should be to leave the shake off. I knew I would regret it for the kids' sake. As I type this on a Saturday night, tomorrow is church day for us.  I'm reminded of some things that just should not be left off on church day.  I love to start the day off in prayer.  It seems wrong to expect God to move and speak if I don't ask Him to do so. It somehow seems odd that if we go to church to meet God and then spend time getting ready physically (shower, shave, make-up, etc.) and not spend time getting ready spiritually.  If I was going to meet with someone important (pick someone- favorite sports star, author, politician, music star, etc.) I would take time to get ready for that.  God is way more important than any of those people.

I also like to try to encourage others on church day.  I do that in my preaching.  If people are going to give up an hour or two of their time on Sunday, I sure don't want to waste it.  I try hard to feed people the truth of God's word in an understandable way.  In addition to that, everyone needs to be loved and encouraged so I try to let the Spirit help me to see a few people I can speak an encouraging word to on Sundays (really everyday, but especially when we are gathered for worship).

I also need to try to hear God's voice as He speaks to me. It is easy for church to turn into a spectator event.  There are people at the front of the building doing stuff (preaching, singing, praying, teaching, etc.) and others are watching. That seems like a spectator event.  It is not supposed to be a spectator event.  God is the audience and all the people gathered are the worshippers. That's why when people ask things like, "How did church go?" I honestly have a hard time knowing.  That depends on God- was He pleased, honored, welcomed, and obeyed?  We can all have a great time but if God was not happy with it, it was not good.  Let's seek to please Him and consider if God is pleased on church day (and everyday).

So, steak is good; steak with a shake is even better.  Don't forget and leave something off that God would enjoy on your next worship day.

Worshipping in the abundant life
Barry


3 things I thank God for today
1. Shakes
2. Happy family experiences
3. A wife who is willing to do the clothes shopping

Day 220- A Cream Soda First

Today, I drank an IBC Cream Soda for my "first."

I used to love Cream Sodas when I was a kid.  I have not had one in a long time.  One of my rules for something to qualify as a "first" is that I have either never done this or have not done it in at least 15-20 years.  We were visiting with family in La. today.  Uncle Mike had purchased some "old-timey" drinks for our supper tonight. He had some IBC Root Beers, Orange Crush, and things like that. I found an IBC Cream Soda.  I remembered that I loved these when I was  kid but did not get them very often. I wondered if I would still like them or if over time I had lost my taste for Cream Sodas. I am happy to report that I still love IBC Cream Sodas. Uncle Mike had grilled burgers and we had some fries and some of Uncle Mike's famous baked beans to with the burgers. Uncle Mike's baked beans are in a different food group from baked beans you buy in a can.  The Cream Soda went really well with this kind of meal.  Joel and Hannah Grace went for the Orange Crush.  Hannah Grace tried my Cream Soda and said it was pretty good but she liked the Orange Crush better. I was glad because that kept me out of the quandary of "should I offer her to exchange drinks with her or not."  Of course, if she wanted to you probably know what I would have done.  If you do, you know better than me because I'm not really sure.

The old-timey drinks and visiting my family at home inclined my mind toward fond memories of growing up here in La.  I remember when I was about 6 years old at Ryan Airport in Baton Rouge they had a deal called a penny a pound. What that meant was you could go to the airport and get a 15-20 minute airplane ride and it costs you what you weighed- a penny a pound.  I remember it cost me about 60 cents.  That's a pretty good deal for a plane ride.  They flew us over our house and also over the Mississippi River. I think the plane sat about 4 people or so. As best as I can remember, my sister and I rode together. It was a lot of fun.

Great-grandson Camden wanted to help Nannie to the car

As I thought about this today, I am aware that we live in a time of fast change.  So many things are changing so fast; technology, the way we communicate, entertainment, and travel just to name a few.  Some of the changes are for the better, some are not, and some are just what you do with it. The changes in communication are not good or evil. They are morally neutral; it just depends on what you use it for.  The way we do church has changed a lot in the last 50 years.  Some of these change are for the better and some are not.  I think that it is very healthy to think through our traditions and the way we have always done things and ask the question, "Is this the best way to glorify God?" If it is, then let's keep doing it that way. If not, let's change it for the better.  We are to be constantly changing to be more like Jesus.

In a day of fast change and tossing out traditions, I am reminded that there are some things that we need to hang on to. It is real challenge to know what to hang on to and what to toss in our lives, families, and churches.  We know that spending time together and developing deep friendships and strong families is something worth hanging on to.  I have great memories of our family eating supper together when I was growing up. Yes, there were times when we were busy. There were times when my sister, my brother and I were all playing ball games at different ball parks.  Eating supper together every night was not always possible, but it was an amazing number of days.  Laughing together, sharing good memories, playing with the children, and expressing our love for each other is something that never goes out of style.  The way we spend time together may not look like the Andy Griffith show, but we need to work hard to make that possible.  Yes, times are changing, but in the words of Barney Fife, we don't' want to be "some kind of a nut."

Making time to spend with Jesus never goes out of style either.  Lately, I've been looking at small group studies because I want to teach one this fall at Hopewell. What I've noticed over the past 10 years is that the amount of time small group studies are asking the participants to put into the study is continually dwindling.  It used to be that most of the small group studies I looked it required the participants to have 5 daily study times a week that would take 30-45 minutes a day.  That way, when the group came together everyone had spent time with God on the same subjects and had things to share that God had been teaching them that week.  More and more, the studies are requiring less and less. Some ask for just a few minutes a day 5 days a week.  Some ask for a few minutes three days a week. Many ask for no commitment to study during the week; rather you watch a video and discuss it.  All of these formats are good and have much merit. My concern is that if we don't spend time with God we are not going to have a very deep and meaningful relationship with God.

So, as you look at your habits and changes, pray and ask God what to keep and what to toss. And, if you get a chance to drink a Cream Soda, I say go for it.

Tasting the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. IBC Cream Sodas
2. Grilled burgers by Uncle Mike
3. Camden helping Nannie to the car