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More Exodus Fun: Moses’ In-Law Edition

May 19, 2011 in Fun, Spiritual Matters with 0 Comments

Exodus 18 provides us a great picture into the family life of Moses. Of course, I have the greatest in-laws, I think I like it so much because it is so much the opposite of my experiences with my in-laws.

So Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came to visit Moses in the desert after God delivered them from Egypt to “observe (takes some nerve for your father-in-law to show up at your work…geez).” It’s bad enough Moses had to deal with all those whiny Israelites, his father-in-law showed up to start giving him “constructive criticism”. Poor fella.

Moses is leading the Israelitesin the desert (ok, well God is doing the leading but Moses is sort of his right-hand man).

There are a lot of them. Six hundred thousand men plus women and children (yes, ladies and children, I know, but I didn’t write the book nor did I do the head count). Moses served as the sole judge, so whenever anyone had an issue Moses had to deal with it.

That’s a lot of stress, and to have your father-in-law show up to “help” on top of that three-ring circus, well that’s just too much for any man to bear.

So Jethro (of course) has some ideas he thought he’d share with his son-in-law.

But, in Jethro’s defense, he did have a pretty good idea. He recommended Moses build a judicial system by appointing several levels of judges to handle the claims. That way Moses would have to only deal with the major issues. Again, not a bad idea. Let’s face it though—any idea coming from your father-in-law, however brilliant it may be, is still an idea that came from your father-in-law.

So Moses did what Jethro suggested (could you imagine if he didn’t…he’d never hear the end of that at the next Passover get-together) and yes, Moses life got a little easier. And I’m sure Jethro reminded him of that fact repeatedly.

My favorite part of chapter 18 comes at the very end. It’s a very subtle sentence that every time I read I laugh:

Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country. (Exodus 18:27, NIV)

Family visits are nice but the shorter they are the nicer they are (I’m really digging myself in a hole here). I can just see Moses, rolling his eyes, tired from all the “helpful suggestions” from Jethro that finally he says, “You know what, this visit’s been nice but I think your sheep are calling you back in Midian. See ya!“

Now would be a good time to re-iterate: this post relates to Moses and in no way relates to my family life. This would never never happen. Like I said before, I have the best in-laws.

Besides, they don’t have any sheep.

—-

YouVersion

Spinning Plates

May 5, 2011 in Family, Featured, General, Marriage, Parenting, Spiritual Matters with 4 Comments

Spinning Plates Photo

Ever feel like this?

Like your life’s sole purpose is to keep all those plates spinning?

You give one a few flips of the wrist to keep one plate going only to find another teetering on the brink of falling.

You rush to that plate and give it a few whirls only to notice another wobbling.

Your attention quickly turns to that plate but yet another plate has almost stopped completely and ready to abandon its post.

About the time you save that one the first one you spun is slowing down.

And so it goes, on and on. Spinning plate after plate. Never making progress.

You’re tempted to let one plate fall but something is stopping you.

You give it one more spin. One’s not enough though.

You’ve spent so much time and energy keeping that one going you just can’t let it go.

Just one more spin turns into another that turns into another.

Round and round they go.

Have you been there?

Are you there now?

I am.

I follow Christ. That’s a plate.

I am a husband. That’s another plate.

I’m a dad. There’s plate number three.

I am a web developer. Plate four.

I volunteer at church. Number five.

We’re trying to dig our way out of debt, so we’re trying to figure out different ways to make more money and spend less. Plate six.

We are new homeowners. There are a lot of projects that need done. Seven

I’m writing a book. There’s eight.

I’m developing an iPhone/iPad app. That’s plate nine.

I’m trying to get back in shape. Ten.

I’m a blogger (well at least I try to be). Number eleven.

I’m a Beachbody Coach. Plate number twelve.

These are just the plates I can think of off the top of my head.

That’s a lot of spinning. I’m not sure the ideal number of plates but I’m sure the smaller the better.

There are a few main plates that I will keep spinning no matter the cost.

However, figuring out which ones to let fall is the difficult decision.

How about you? How many plates to you have going right now? How do you decide which plates to let go?

 

A Portrait of Christ

April 26, 2011 in General, Spiritual Matters, Videos with 0 Comments

A Portrait of Christ from Jeremy Cowart on Vimeo.

Thanks An Idol Heart & Donald Miller for sharing this!

Happy Birthday to Another King!

January 17, 2011 in Causes, Gracenomics, Spiritual Matters with 0 Comments

Last week was Elvis Presley’s Birthday. Today is the birthday of another King.

I remember in high school I went on an inner-city mission trip to Atlanta. The missionary there took us on a one-day tour of the city. He took us to the eternal flame dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. Of all the experiences during that trip, that visit may have been the most moving for me.

Watching the above speech, like watching Jimmy V’s ESPY award speech, gets me every time. I can remember watching an episode of the Cosby Show when, at the end of the show, the entire Huxtible family stopped and took time to watch this speech. That is probably my favorite scene from any sit com ever.

The “I Have a Dream” speech reminds me of a song I learned in Sunday School, I hope someday we can realize that this world really would be a better place if we all embraced it.

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his site.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

The Digital Nativity

December 17, 2010 in Spiritual Matters, Videos with 0 Comments

Brilliant! My favorite part is “Avoid Romans.”

I’ve Always Wanted a Goat

December 14, 2010 in Causes, Family, Gracenomics, Spiritual Matters with 1 Comment

Ive-always-wanted-a-goat.jpg

I am rich! And even though I’ll fight tooth and nail to argue the contrary at times, I’m wrong.

The fact is, according to whoarethejoneses.org/ our family is more wealthy than 95.3% of the world’s population.

whoarethejones.org Results

So basically, when I complain about how poor I am, it’s me against 6,564,066,343 people (6,887,792,595 is the world’s population at of the time of this post as recorded on http://www.census.gov). I don’t have much of an argument.

Our annual Chritmas gift budget these past few years has been over $1,000 (all cash thanks to Dave Ramsey). I would say that 95% of that budget goes toward wants, not real needs (the number is probably closer to 99.9%; by the way $1,100 per year is still more than 33.4% of the population makes in a year).

I’m not writing this to make you and I feel guilty.

I’m writing this to inspire you and me.

I’m writing this to challenge you and me to action.

There are several things that can be done to help others around the world. There are many worthy charities dedicated to help the poorest of the poor.

This year, though, I’d like to challenge you to think about providing a food for a family for a very long time. How you ask?

How about a goat?

Yes, a goat.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted a goat. Word Vision has a program that provides goats for families. This goat would provide milk, cheese and yogurt as well as offspring and excess dairy to sell at the market.

Here’s the best part. You can buy a goat for family for only $75! How awesome is that!

I mean, think about it, our family goes through about 2 gallons of milk per week at about $6 a week, which is over $300 per year. Add cheese and yogurt to that and we’re talking anywhere from $400-$500 per year. But somewhere else in the world $75 will provide all that and more.

So, how about it?

I’ve challenged our family to chip in for one.

Our small group is all going in together for one.

How about you? How about getting together with your family or friends and doing this together? What a great way to remember this Christmas. You’ll be like, “Remember that time we gave that family a goat? That was awesome!!!!!”

Jimmy V

December 7, 2010 in Causes, General, Spiritual Matters, Sports, Videos with 0 Comments

jimmy-v-week.jpg

This is Jimmy V week.

I am not a big college basketball fan. Every year, though, the Jimmy V Week rolls around and I find myself watching.

And every year I watch I tell myself that I’m going to be able to watch Jimmy’s ESPY speech without tears.

Every year I’m wrong.

So, in case you haven’t seen it this year (or ever), here you are.

It’s good to watch this. It reminds us of this simple, but often forgot and difficult to practice, lesson:

Life is short, so make the most of it.

Visit Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research’s web site for more information on the foundation or about Jim Valvano and to make a donation.

Josh Hamilton Wins 2010 AL MVP

November 23, 2010 in Gracenomics, Spiritual Matters, Sports with 0 Comments

josh-hamilton-wins-mlb-mvp.jpg

Watch this video to hear Josh Hamilton’s take on his AL MVP award. Talk about a witness!

Burn Down the Bar

August 25, 2010 in Books, Spiritual Matters with 1 Comment

These past few days I’ve been reading Craig Groeschel’s book The Christian Atheist: When You Believe in God But Live as if He Doesn’t Exist. Groeschel provides the following account in his book concerning prayer.

A pastor once asked his church to pray that God would shut down a neighborhood bar. The whole church gathered for an evening prayer meeting, pleading with God to rid the neighborhood of the evils of this bar. A few weeks later, lightning struck the bar and it burned it to the ground.

Having heard about the church’s prayer crusade, the bar owner promptly sued the church. When the court date finally arrived, the bar owner passionately argued that God struck his bar with lightning because of the church members’ prayers. The pastor backtracked, brushing off the accusations. He admitted the church prayed, but he also affirmed that no one in his congregation really expected anything to happen.

The judge leaned back in his chair, a mix of amusement and perplexity on his face. Finally he spoke: “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Right in front of me is a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and a pastor who doesn’t.” (Groeschel, Craig, 2010. The Christian Atheist. Grand Rapids:Zondervan)

This story is quite an eye-opener for me. I’ll have to admit, there are several times I pray expecting nothing to happen. I’ve found myself praying for things that I really don’t think God will come through on. It’s not that I don’t believe God can fulfill these requests, it’s that I just don’t think He will. I don’t know which is worse, but I can tell you I am not so thrilled with my response.

Nate, our 10-year-old, when he asks for things he almost always starts his question with “Why can’t we…”. As a parent that drives me crazy. Let me clarify something here. It’s not that he has already asked for something and we’ve said no so he asking why. He’s asking why we can’t do something before he’s even asked the first time for it. I always tell him he needs to change the way he asks for things because usually the way he asks them makes me want to say no, even if I would have said yes.

Whoa. Hold it right there. Let me re-read that last paragraph.

[I'm serious, don't read any more until I'm done.]

[Ok. Done. Carry on.]

Well, don’t they say (whoever “they” are) that the things that drive you nuts about your kids are usually the traits they got from you? If nobody has, let me be the first:

The traits that your kids have that drive you the most crazy are in fact traits they inherited from you.

Could it be our Heavenly Father feels the same way? Could it be that God is less inclined to answer some of our prayers the way we want because we already are thinking He won’t?

Now there are times I give Nate what he’s asking for despite the way he asks. I’m sure God does to.

Is there something you’ve been praying for that you really don’t think God will come through on?