Day 360- An Embankment First

We traveled to see family and celebrate Christmas with them today.  We had a wonderful trip and a delightful Christmas celebration with my parents, siblings, and their children.  It was a joyous occasion for us.

On the way I was thinking about a "first."  We did not have a lot of time to spend searching for and doing a "first."  I have discovered in this year of "firsts" that doing a "first" while traveling in the car with family is not the easiest thing in the world.  It's not real easy to find one while stopping at a fast food place or a gas station. 

We stopped at a gas station and was turning on the ramp to get back on the Interstate when I noticed the tall embankment that led up to an overpass.  I pulled the car over to the side of the ramp and told the children to get out of the car and follow me.  We ran up the embankment and rolled down for my "first."

I can honestly say this is something I've never done before and would not have done if it were not for the year of "firsts."  When I was growing up I spent some time in and around the bayous of South Louisiana where there are a lot of levees.  I've laid down and rolled down plenty of levees before, but never an embankment near the Interstate.  It was rather stimulating to do this in the middle of a 5-6 hour trip.

I was surprised that my children did not know how to roll down a hill.  We are pretty much flatlanders in South Alabama and we don't live near a bayou or river with a levee.  I guess they have never been exposed to the fine art of rolling down a hill.  They watched me to see what I was talking about.  Joel did pretty well but somehow got turned sideways after a few revolutions.  Hannah Grace did well till she hit a wet spot.  They both claimed they rolled over some stickers (one of the hazards of rolling down hills).  When we got back in the vehicle, they were both laughing.  Laura, the photographer for this "first," was laughing pretty hard as well. She may have had the most fun part of the "first."  Both children said it was a lot of fun and it sure broke up the monotony of a long trip.

 

My brother Dwayne and his family

My Mom with my children

 My sister Darla, my brother Dwayne, and me

Darla with her daughter Nicole, granddaughter Kadence, and my Mom

Mom and Dad

When I finished rolling down the embankment, I was a bit dizzy.  That can  happen to you if you go round and round enough times without stabilizing yourself.  It took a moment to sort of get my bearings.  If I am not careful, I can get a bit dizzy spiritually living in this world.  Even during the time of celebrating our Savior's birth, there is so much materialism, busyness, exchanging of gifts, etc. that I can get a bit dizzy spiritually.  It sure helps in the midst of the celebration to spend some time with Jesus and make sure I am oriented to Him and His purposes for my life. Otherwise, I can get caught up in what people have, what I want, how I look, how people perceive me, how I can get afford more stuff and not give sufficient attention to God's purposes for my life. God created me for Himself and for His glory.  I am most fulfilled and most joyful when I live for Him and His glory.

Here's a Bible verse that helps me a good bit when I get a bit dizzy spiritually.  It is Hebrews 12: 1-2 which says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

When I fix my eyes on Jesus it sure helps me get my bearings spiritually.  If you are feeling a bit dizzy from the holidays, why not spend some time with Jesus and fix your eyes of faith upon Him? The next time you are on a long trip and it gets a bit boring, look for an embankment. A trip down one of those might be just what you need.   

Keeping a steady footing in the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. The privilege of celebrating Christmas with family
2. Jesus endured the cross
3. Comfortable couches

Day 359- A Horse First

Today is Christmas. Happy Birthday, Jesus!!  We had a wonderful time celebrating Jesus' birthday with our family and some close friends.  I hope you did, too.

One of the gifts that Hannah Grace and Joel received today was a basketball goal and a basketball.  Joel and I had a lot of fun playing basketball together today.  I challenged him to a game of horse. Once I thought about it, I've never  played a game of horse with Joel and it's been over 20 years since I remember playing a game of horse  with anyone.  I played a game of horse with Joel today for my "first."

If you've never played horse before in basketball the rules are pretty simple.  One person goes first and takes a shot. If they make it, the other person has to make that same shot or they get an "H."  If they miss, the other person gets to shoot. If they make their shot, then their opponent has to make that same shot or they get an "H."  The game goes that way. Every time someone makes a shot and the other person can't make that same shot, they get a letter. The first person to get all the letters of horse loses.

As a boy of Joel's age and into my teen years, I loved playing horse.  At my house, I had a basketball goal and practiced a lot of shots from different places so I could make them fairly regularly.  For Coolidge Street, I played a pretty fair game of horse.  Today I noticed that a lot of my shots were falling short. I guess I could attribute that to either age or that it's been a long time since I've shot a basketball. I'm going with it's been a long time since I've shot a basketball.

Joel won the first game.  Hannah Grace asked me if I went easy on him. I honestly told her that I did not.  He's been shooting basketball almost every day at school.  It seems that he would be favored in the first match-up.  I won the second game. We were pretty competitive after that.  I've not lost my shot altogether though it is seriously rusty.  Also, after several games of horse my knee kind of hurts.

Joel doing the figure 8

Lay-up

Good for 2 points

 

 

This is so Laura

You've heard the expression "Use it or lose it."  If you don't use a certain skill you will deteriorate in that skill. Those skills can be things like playing the piano, riding a bike, or shooting a basketball.  It's also true that if we don't recall Scriptures to our mind we will lose them to some degree.  That is one reason it is good to meditate on the Scriptures. The more I call Scriptures to mind, the more I remember them. I usually try to read a couple of chapters from the Bible in my time alone with the Lord.  I also try to grab one verse or so to carry with me to think about through the day.

It is also good to talk with people about the Scriptures as much as possible. That helps us from forgetting certain Scriptures as well.  The more I can say something like, "That reminds me of a verse in 2 Corinthians" or something like that the more those verses stay in the front of my mind.  This is why it is good to have conversations with people that ask questions about the Bible or Christianity.  It will force you to try to think of verses that deal with certain subjects. If you can't think of one, that is good as well because it will encourage  you to go look some verses up.  The more we think and talk the Scriptures, the more likely we are to keep those Scriptures we've read and studied.

Isn't it amazing that God has given us His book. Let's be faithful to study, think, and talk about it and in turn talk about the One whose birthday we celebrate today.

Celebrating Jesus in the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. A loving Christmas with family and close friends
2. Jesus was born as a human being
3. Jesus knows what it is like to be a human being

Day 358- A Candle First

Today is Laura's birthday.  Yes, she is a Christmas Eve baby. I'm so glad God brought Laura into the world.  She's an amazing lady and an amazing wife.  We celebrated her birthday today.

That's not a "first." We celebrate her birthday every year. Today Joel and Hannah Grace asked if they could put the candles on the cake and light them. That sounds a bit dangerous.  Joel seemed a bit more excited about this than he probably should have been. It is a year of "firsts."  I let Hannah Grace and Joel have free rein with the birthday candles for my "first."

I will admit to peeking in once or twice to make sure nothing but candles were on fire.  There were a couple of "Ow's" that came from the kitchen area; mostly Joel.  They took a pretty long time to put this candle masterpiece together. The only restriction I gave them was they could not put a candle decoration that had anything to do with Laura's age.  Some things are just off-limits.

They made a cross inside of a heart.  Everybody say "awww."  How sweet is that?  The heart standing for love and the cross sanding for Jesus is just an adorable way of decorating the cake for Laura.  Laura loved it.  They did much better than I would have if left to myself.  This "first" was a big success.  Nothing even got burned; except one of Joel's fingers just a little bit.

Their cake decoration speaks a lot about Christmas. It was out of a heart of love that God sent Jesus.  He sent Him with the foreknowledge that He would one day die on a cross that people's (like you and me) would have the possibility of having our sins forgiven and entering into a real relationship with God.  Acts 2; 23-24 says, "This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.  But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."  The cross was not an accident or an unforeseen tragedy.  It was a major part of the plan for Jesus coming here.  Without the cross, the Christmas story would not be full of such joy for us for then Jesus would not be a Savior.  Praise God there is a heart of love than sent Jesus to a cross that you and I would have a Savior. Isn't it amazing that God would do something like that? What an amazing God we serve!!

Amazed in the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Laura's birthday
2. Excitement of children on Christmas Eve
3. God has a plan to forgive us

Day 357- A Tacky First

Today I wore the tackiest shirt I own for my "first."

This shirt was given to me a few years back. I have yet to decide if this was meant to be funny or if the gift was serious.  I've never really had an occasion that I thought, "This shirt is just right for this occasion!"  Early on in the year of "firsts" I decided I would wear this shirt. It has taken me until now to actually wear it.

I needed to go to Wal-Mart this evening.  It hit me that I could wear my shirt now.  I did not have a "first" for today so it was time for the shirt.  Of course there would be a lot of people at Wal-Mart tonight.  As it turned out, I saw very few people I knew. In fact, I did not see any close acquaintances; especially those who would be likely to give me a hard time. I did see one guy that told me I looked like a tiger.  What could I say to that?  I chose to say, "Well, see you later."

A nicely dressed little buddy I saw in town

Most people try to wear something fairly appropriate to the occasion they are attending.  Notice I said most do.  I may be stretching that some. There are a lot of things I see people wearing that I'm not sure what occasion the outfit would be appropriate for.  There are some people when I see them in a particular outfit I'm convinced they do not own a mirror.  It would seem hard for someone to look in a mirror with certain outfits on and say, "I'm looking good today."

The Bible does tell us what Christians ought to wear.  In Colossians 3: 12-14 the Bible says, "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."  Now, that's an outfit that looks good on everyone and is right for every occasion.  It might even impact how we look.  Methinks everyone will be more attractive dressed in this outfit. I think I'll go change shirts now.

Dressing for the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Spiritual armor
2. Toothbrush and toothpaste
3. Apostle Paul

Day 356- A Pathway First

Today I did a puzzle called "Change A Word" for my "first."

This puzzle gives you a word to start with and a word that ends the puzzle.  You have to change one letter at a time on the beginning word to get to the word at the end.  For example, if the first word is take and the last word is part the sequence would be take, tare, tart, part.  Another example would be if the first word is sand and the last word is pile the sequence would be sand, sane, sale, pale, pile.  When I found this puzzle in a puzzle book that Laura had it seemed like a good "first."  May I add that these first two puzzles were by far the easiest on the page.

The hardest part is when you have to use a word that one hardly ever uses; like ayes.  Who says that?  Yet, that was one of the links to get to the desired word. How do I know this?  I did not cheat (the answers are in the back of the book). I asked Laura to look in the back of the book and sort of help me along.  That's when she told me I was going to struggle with a particular word.  After she gave me that word (OK, and one more) I was able to solve that sequence. I will say that was the hardest sequence. 

Today I've had a head cold and felt sluggish all day. This puzzle really helped my head cold. Now, my headache is about twice the size of when I started.  This year of "first" is not for the faint of heart (or head).

The puzzles challenged me to form links from one word to another.  My brain was trying to make connections it usually doesn't make. It was fun on the first couple of puzzles.  As the puzzles got harder, the fun level went down.  Of course, the sense of accomplishment went up except for when Laura looked in the back of the book for me.

I was reminded that sometimes growing in Christ happens differently than I think it will.  I tend to think growing in Christ will happen when I am in a quiet place praying, worshipping in church, or reading a Christian book.  I do believe I grow in Christ when I do those activities out of a love for Jesus.  God also uses disappointments, irritating people, betrayals, and puzzling situations (seemed like a good phrase for this "first" to help me to grow. 

The Bible says in James 1:2-5, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  It is hard to remember in the midst of a trying time that God will use this to help me become more like His Son.  Jesus certainly had His share of irritating people, betrayals, disappointments, and puzzling situations in His life.  I need to be able to trust God and react the way He did with my trials.  I know God will give me the grace to do that. I need to remember that the trial is not just some stupid thing I have to put up with but a way to become more like Christ.

Puzzling my way through the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. The way Joel laughs at the Andy Griffith show
2. Deer sausage (and the sweet folks who brought me some)
3. God can use any situation to make me more like Jesus; in His providence there are no wasted experiences.

Day 355- A Rolling First

We had a good day of worship on the Sunday before Christmas today.  After church, we had a meal tonight.  We got through around 9:00 which was a pretty long day for the pastor.  Joel asked me what my "first" was today.  Alas, I had none.  He and I got to goofing around in my office and before you know it, we had a "first."

Today my children and I took turns pushing each other down the hall at church in an office chair for my "first."

This is what happens when it is late, you don't have a "first," and it is up to you and your 10 year old son to come up with an idea.  We are at  odds about who came up with the idea. I think it as my idea and Joel thinks it was his idea.  I guess we'll share credit for it tonight.

It turned out to be pretty fun.  One of us would ride in the chair, one would push, and one would take pictures.  We did this after everyone else had gone home. This is probably not a "first" I'll do when there are other people at church and probably one I will tell my children not to do anymore.  Yet, it was actually pretty fun tonight and we had some laughs with it.  It seems that Joel and I are the fastest pushers and Hannah Grace is the best photographer and screamer.  I would like to issue a disclaimer that no church property or furniture was destroyed or hurt during the execution (hmm, not a great choice of words) of this "first."

When we got in the car to go home, Joel said, "That was cool, but I still like my deer first the best."  If you don't know what the deer first was please see yesterday's blog. I agreed with him. Not every day can  be as exciting as killing your first deer, but you can still look for ways to have some fun with each other. 

  

 

My children spend a lot of time at church.  One thing I want is for them to have fun at church.  Of course, I want them to worship God, fall in love with Jesus, and learn to serve God by serving others.  If we are not careful as adults we can constantly be telling children things not to do at church.. Things like don't run, be quiet, don't be loud, and so on.  While sometimes we do have to tell children those things I don't want that to be the main thing my children hear at church. I love the fact that they love to go to church. They love their teachers and friends.  When they were smaller, I told them not to run at church when there were grown-ups (especially senior adults) close by, but they could run, laugh, and play otherwise.  They have to respect others and church property, but I want them to enjoy life at church.

I think Jesus is OK with this.  There was a time when people wanted Jesus to bless their children.  The disciples were trying to keep them away.  They probably thought Jesus had more important things to do other than spending time with children.  Here's what the Bible says in Mark 10: 13-16, " People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them."

I love that Jesus took the children into His arms. He loved children and it seems they must have loved Him. He could not have been too much of a grump if the children love Him.  Maybe He would have even pushed office chairs with us tonight.

Laughing in the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Office chairs that roll
2. Laughter in church
3. Jesus loves children