The Vacation Chronicles

I love the mountains! I have always loved going to the mountains for time away. The mountains around Santa Fe are unique, because this is still high desert country.

The one drawback to my time away here is allergies. The mountains are covered with pine trees and my nose is running like a faucet. Thank goodness for Benadryl.

Monday, we packed up a picnic lunch and headed to the Pecos river. We had been told that you could follow the river up to one of the peaks (about 13,000 feet), so that is exactly what we did. What a beautiful view. The river was very cold and the banks were lined with trout fisherman. Carol and I could have sat there all day,but the 9 and 5 year olds had different ideas. Monday evening Carol and I left the little ones with our 16 year old (they went and played miniature golf) and we went on a date.

Yesterday, we all headed out in separate directions. Collin and I had a dad day and went to the Bradbury Museum with the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Nuclear science is fascinating, but it sure does cause you to stop and consider your values and ethics. I was impressed that within the museum they allowed for a display of opposing opinions and even provided a book to voice your own. Los Alamos is a very pretty place though, in fact I liked it so much I'm taking the family back there today.

Christopher took a 6 mile round trip hike up "baldie." His total hike took about 6 hours to complete, but he said it was well worth it.

Carol and Caitlyn stayed around the apartment and painted toe nails and finger nails and played on the playground.

We all came back together last night to grill hamburgers and watch season 2 of Seinfeld on my laptop.

I don't feel any older

Yesterday I celebrated my 37th birthday. Now I still have the same creaks, groans and hair loss that I had last week, so from a feeling standpoint I don't feel much different. The one thing that does remind me of the seasons of life is my current location.

My family and I are on vacation at our denomination's conference center in Glorieta, NM. The last time I was here was 23 years ago. I was a freshman in high school and my main objective was meeting cute girls with a minor emphasis on spiritual growth.

Now I'm here watching my 16 year old son scouting out the high school girls who are here with their youth groups. Oh the joys of teenage boyhood.

My other children have been challenging me to miniature golf and are desparate to find a video game console somewhere. Sadly for them there are no TV's at Glorieta.

It has been a wonderful vacation so far. Friday night we went to watch the bat flight at Carlsbad Caverns. What an amazing sight to watch literally hundreds of thousands of bats take flight simultaneously. All heading out in different directions and by God's amazing design they find their way back to the very same cave the next morning.

Saturday as we drove Carlsbad to Glorieta, we took note of the antelope in the fields and enjoyed the changing landscape. Once we arrived we went into Santa Fe and enjoyed the free spirit of the plaza. There are many artisans and Indian craftsman who sell their wares in the plaza each day. We finished off the our tour of Santa Fe with a tour of the Saint Francis of Assissi Cathedral. What a beautiful, ornate sanctuary that is!

Yesterday was my birthday so we celebrated with a trip to Wal-Mart and Albertsons for groceries. After presents, a power nap and rousing round of mini-golf, I made bbq ribs on the grill. There is a Sunday School class from a church in Albuquerque staying at our apartments so they invited us to join them and we celebrated our time away together.

This morning I am sitting on the back patio of the Holy Grounds Cafe, which proudly serves Starbucks coffee. It is a beautiful morning. The sky is blue and cloudless the birds are chirping and the air is cool and crisp. There is a youth conference going on, so I am coming across pockets of young people doing their daily devotions and Bible study. Brings back alot of memories. I think today we are going to follow the Pecos River up to a 13,000 foot pass.

Need Wisdom?

Good morning! I hope you had a refreshing weekend and are starting your week with your batteries recharged.

Life is very fluid and situations change sometimes from moment to moment. Just when you think you’ve got the course lined out and all the answers in hand the situation changes or another scenario is presented. I find in leadership that this fluidity of circumstances tends to be more of the norm and less of the exception.

Times of uncertainty and ambiguity can be very stressful and tiring. There comes a point where your insight and wisdom just don’t seem to be enough. No matter how much you massage a matter over in your mind, you just don’t come to a conclusion that seems to provide some measure of peace or closure.

So what do you do with times like these? For some of us we just choose to mentally mull it over further. Others of us allow these things to become a point of worry and pre-occupation. The Bible, however, gives us this bit of instruction:

James 1:5 (NLT)

If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.

Ask for help…now that’s a novel idea!!!! God invites us to allow Him into our problems and quandaries. God is giving us permission to tap into His wisdom…which by the way is unlimited and immeasurable. Notice the words…ask him, and he will gladly tell you. The King James Version states that God gives wisdom “liberally.” Unlike others, God won’t even look down His nose at you for asking.

Let’s face it, the greatest counsel you can receive is the wisdom of those who have been there or have a greater vantage point than you do. God fits both of these criteria. He has been there, is there and will be there. He sees not only the past and the present, but He sees eternity in the same picture. He sees the things 1, 3, 5, 25, 100….years out, and He sees the effect of today’s decisions on tomorrow’s future.

This week you may be facing some dilemmas of your own. The invitation has been extended. Why don’t you spend a few moments and ask for wisdom from the source.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Are you ambidextrous?

Good morning! I hope you had a great Mother’s Day yesterday. For me, Mother’s Day is always a time to reflect and to give thanks for my own mother. Her example to me of how to live by faith has been instrumental in seeing me through the joys and trials of life.

As a pastor I am daily faced with the choice of being a “Lone Ranger” in the ministry or utilizing a team approach to ministry. For me this is generally a very easy choice. I have had to fly solo on many occasions, but have learned that my single efforts pale in comparison to the synergy of a corporate effort. Too many of us fail to tap into the strength, talent, ability and accountability of being a part of a strong team.

Today I want to focus on this idea of team building with you. This weekend during my personal Bible study I was reading in the book of 1 Chronicles. The 12^th chapter of 1 Chronicles describes the fighting men who went into battle with King David:

1 Chronicles 12:1-2 (NLT)

The following men joined David at Ziklag while he was hiding from Saul son of Kish. They were among the warriors who fought beside David in battle. [2] All of them were expert archers, and they could shoot arrows or sling stones with their left hand as well as their right. They were all relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin.

The 2^nd verse of this passage caught my eye: “All of them were expert archers, and they could shoot arrows or sling stones with their left hand as well as their right.” Now this doesn’t seem like a very “spiritually deep” thought at first, but let’s think this through for a moment. When I was police officer one of the things that we often trained for was the scenario in which your dominant hand was injured. I am left handed and I can remember the first time I had to shoot my sidearm with my right hand. Talk about feeling akward…the feel of the gun in my hand was not natural. I had to constantly readjust my grip and my shooting stance never felt comfortable. As if the sidearm wasn’t bad enough, trying to use the shotgun off handed was even worse. Everything seemed clumsy and backwards.

In spite of the discomfort with offhanded shooting and off handed baton swinging, these were still critical skills to develop. Those who worked along side of me needed to know that I could continue in battle even if my dominant hand or arm were injured and I needed the same assurance about them.

So what does this have to do with you? Every day we have a choice to go it alone or to surround ourselves with others who can assist us in the journey. When David chose those who would surround him in battle, he chose those who were both skilled with their weaponry and those who were adaptable to the changing battlefield. In my ministry I am constantly on the lookout for those who can enhance our ministry team. I watch for those who are skilled with the gifts, talents and abilities that God has given them. In the end the ministry team is able to do much more for the Kingdom of God than I could ever do on my own.

Today I want to challenge you to look at who surround you. Have you chosen to surround yourself with quality people? Are you always on the lookout for those who have displayed great skill and passion, so that they can enhance your team?

Secondarily, consider yourself. Are you skillful with the tools, gifts, talents and abilities that God has given you? If not, I challenge you to hone your skills and become an ambidextrous warrior.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Search and Rescue

Good morning! I hope you had a fantastic weekend and that your week is off to a great start.

As most of you have seen on the news this weekend, the small town of Greensburg, Kansas was devastated by a powerful tornado this past Friday. This report hit very close to home for our family as we have friends who live in Greensburg. Even as I am writing we still have not heard from some of them. This is also very personal to us, because 6 years ago we lost our own home in a devastating tornado, so those images conjure up many memories.

Today officials continue their house to house search in Greensburg. They are looking for those who are trapped and unaccounted for. It is with this thought of search and rescue that I bring you this morning's encouragement.

Search and rescue, this phrase may bring to mind a variety of mental pictures. You may see men with bloodhounds looking for missing child in the woods. Perhaps you see a Coast Guard diver being hoisted from the water via helicopter with a sailor who has had to abandon ship. Maybe you envision a firefighter climbing to the top of a ladder truck to perform a high angle rescue or a group of good Samaritans digging through a pile of rubble with their hands after an earthquake. No matter what you envision, the principle is still the same, seeking out and retrieving those who find themselves trapped.

For me the ultimate example of search and rescue is found in Jesus. Read His words as recorded in Luke:

Luke 19:10 (NLT)

And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost.

Jesus came to actively seek those who are separated from the love of God. The mental image of the word seek is similar to the action of sifting through the dirt by hand to uncover a victim, just like the images we see after an earthquake or a building collapse.

The search, however, is only the first part of the equation. The task is not complete until the rescue has taken place. That is why Jesus said that He came to "seek" and "save" those who are lost. For us, the rescue took place at the cross. Jesus offered Himself as a living sacrifice to bridge the separation between God and man. We could not bridge that gap on our own. Our best deeds and greatest works still are not enough;it took Jesus to remove the barriers that kept us trapped.

Today as you reflect upon the search and rescue that was done on your behalf, take time to say thank you once again. Take comfort in the fact that Jesus continues to go heart to heart on His divine rescue mission and every day people are being given a new lease on life.

Until next Monday keep the victims of the Greensburg, Eagle Pass and other recent tornadoes in your prayers. May God's richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl