Matthew TwoSix:ThreeNine

This past week my wife had a medical procedure.  Don't worry. Everything is fine.  However, the day was an interesting test of patience. We arrived for check in at her scheduled time of 11:00 am.  After three hours of waiting they finally brought her back to do pre-op procedures.  I was not permitted to join her because of COVID precautions.  We then waited another three hours. After six hours of waiting she was finally getting the procedure we went in for. Of course, the procedure only took minutes to perform.  As the day and waiting dragged on, I grew frustrated and impatient. Minutes seemed like hours and hours like days. As frustration turned to irritation, I could feel it filling my heart with a feeling I didn't like.  Do these people have no respect for my time?  Do they just not care about other people's schedules? I have kids who need their parents to pick them up. I'm hungry. I have things I want to do. Instead of doing these ...

This is something that has been percolating in me for a while.  I have tried numerous times to put my thoughts on paper.  Each time I do, something happens.  I get distracted and do something else instead or I tyoe it but completely fail to save it. I have found that happens when I am writing something and it's just not right because God is still working in me.  So if you are reading this, I finally did it! It seems you cannot say COVID-19 without insighting a STRONG emotional response. For many, fear moves in. Others experience sorrow from the loss of a loved one. Many times it immediately shifts to a soliloquy about mask mandates violating personal rights or failure to wear a mask recklessly placing others at risk. Certainly a debate will begin about the vaccine.  Let me assure you I am not here to debate either polar end of these topics.   Rather, I suggest we need to OPEN OUR EYES!  We might just be missing it. We might be missing ...

We have a pop up camper and enjoy traveling around staying at different campsites. A few weeks ago we were camping and saw a family of racoons in the distance. The mother was walking through the woods with her kids following closely. Cute is probably the best term to describe how they looked. Of course, we know that those mischievous cute critters have a way of finding food at your campsite. To prevent this we have a really good cooler that we use to stow our food away in. As a precaution, we even put a padlock on it at night. We have another cooler that we put drinks in. It is flimsy, to be frank. It's only job is keep drinks cool for the hot Florida days. One night on this trip, we errantly placed the grapes in the drink cooler. I woke up that night to the sight of my wife standing at the camper door saying, "Shoo buddy, you got to go buddy" in the softest most gentlest voice. Would you believe they listened? I would be the one who thought you'd ...

 This morning as I sit down to write this, our nation celebrates our Independence Day. A country born on the ideals of freedom for all. I might suggest it is an ideal we still strive to achieve.  This 4th of July is a bit different than most.  To the south of us loomes a tropical system.  It brings wind and massive amounts of rain with it.  As it passes over the Carribean Islands we pray for the people who call those islands home. We ask for their safety from harm and the impacts of this storm.  Independence Day is a celebration of a bond of an oppressor broken.  The Monarchy in England strived to take care of itself at the expense of the colonies in the Americas.  As our forefathers signed the Declaration of Indepence, they announced that those they represented were free from this bondage of oppression. The ideal of freedom is realized only through Christ. At our baptism, we make a similar statement as our country's forefathers did. W...