10 years

you took my hand and gazed with me at the moon
in front of your house as we sang "God will make a way..."

you took my hand and walked with me down the aisle,
out of the church and toward our new life together.

you took my hand and laughed with me as we sat in
a stadium waiting to walk the stage as graduates together.

you took my hand and mourned with me
when the news came that my dad was gone.

you took my hand and trusted with me that our Father
would lead us to a place of new opportunities.

you took my hand and experienced with me the joy and
miracle of the birth of our two amazing little boys.

you took my hand and journeyed with me back to the
lone star state with no promise of a better tomorrow.

you have taken my hand so often, so faithfully,
and so courageously over these past ten years...

thank you for never letting go!

(a poem to Adrienne in honor of our 10 year anniversary)

"I don't want to be a burden..."

How many times have I heard that from someone who was about to be completely crushed by their burden(s)? It is the last thing people say before screaming, "I NEED HELP!!!" That's what they say when bones start breaking and the blood starts flowing.

No one wants to be a burden, and very few people are comfortable sharing their burdens. But the Bible tells us to "carry each others burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)

Recently I was speaking with a well meaning friend who, without realizing it, encouraged me to stop sharing my burdens, "because people get tired of hearing it". At first, I thought that was wise advice. I know how much I hate to hear that one special needs person bring up their struggle EVERYTIME we talk. And I don't want to be seen as that person, right?

OR have I been missing something that is now becoming a reality for me? I have never understood chronic pain because I have never had it. I don't know what it feels like to be single into my 40's and desire more than anything in this world to be married. I have never been in a job that I hated for over a decade with no new opportunities in sight. But for the last 10 months, I have been earning considerably less money than our family needs to live on... and my perspective is changing.

It is humbling to make our burdens known, but we have seen God provide exactly what we need, when we need it, through people who care about us. And I now realize how callus I have become to others who are carrying burdens.

When that teenage girl tells me again how messed up her friends are who are doing drugs and having babies, instead of adding it to her list of sad stories, I should take this as an opportunity to help her carry her burdens by offering to pray with her, and by asking the simplest of questions, like... what do they need? how can I help?

When an old friend laments about not being able to find a wife, I can preach a sermon about a relationship with God being all that he needs or I can offer to pray with him and start looking for opportunities to introduce him to single women that I know.

When my neighbor's car breaks down, I can offer my condolences, or I can pray for him and offer to take him to work... or let him borrow my car if he needs it!

May you lose any fear in sharing your burdens and may you lose any doubt that you are the hands and feet of God designed to help carry the burdens of others.

I wrote a new song and Adrienne is working on the music for it. Steal it and make it your own if you so desire. Feel free to make changes, write your own music to it. Use it however you want.

Coming Home

staring into the sky
wondering why I feel this way
longing for a place of hope
where love and grace wash over me
in Your arms, in Your embrace
I know that’s where I’m home

and I'm coming home
to the place where I belong
now I'm coming home
where Your love washes over me
I’m not running anymore
my life is Yours
No, I’m not running anymore
I'm coming home

life can be hard, it seems
I’ve been down this road before
can’t get past the hurt I feel
But You make my heart beat again
and it’s there in Your presence
I know that’s where I’m home

and I'm coming home
to the place where I belong
now I'm coming home
where Your love washes over me
I’m not running anymore
my life is Yours
No, I’m not running anymore
I'm coming home

how many times have You
forgiven this foolish child
can’t forget the love You’ve shown
so my prayer is come Lord Jesus
cause when You are here with me
I know that’s when I’m home

Lord I'm coming home
to the place where I belong
Lord I'm coming home
where Your love washes over me
I’m not running anymore
my life is Yours
No, I’m not running anymore
I'm coming home

Treading Water

It is an odd time of year to be observing things that occur in and around swimming pools, but I have had a rather aquatic week. It all started when, as I was sitting in the dry sauna after a hard work-out, I noticed a lady doing laps in the pool. She was flying! From where I was sitting, only the last 5 yards of one end of the lap pool were in view. I didn't notice her at first, but then as my 20 minutes was winding down, I suddenly became interested.

It was her speed and her transitions that captured my attention. She had to be moving pretty fast... she was more than lapping everyone else in the pool. And on the turns she would do that flip that swimmers do... and she did it with such grace and precision. I stayed longer to see if this lady would slow down or maybe rest... she didn't!

Some would say that I am easily impressed. Maybe I am. Perhaps she was only an average swimmer and I have just never paid too much attention to those water dogs that do all those laps. Maybe she is training for the Olympics! I don't know. And I will admit that there is a possibility that my interest was peaked because I could train with the best water instructors in the world for 12 straight months and I would still not be able to do what that lady was doing.

The reason... partly because I realize that some people are born with more athleticism and some are born with less (me!)... BUT mostly I couldn't do it because I am lazy! I see the side of the pool and I don't want to do that tricky flip and go move... No, I want to reach out grab the wall and stop (after one lap!!!)

Last week, I saw a movie that showed these men and women attending advanced training for the U.S. Coast Guard... they had to tread water for an insane amount of time. The #1 recruit was a muscle-bound man who cramped up and became the first recruit to wash out on the first day of training when he couldn't stay afloat in the pool.

Today, I heard a guy say that he was growing weary of treading water... figuratively speaking. I encouraged this man to swim over to the side of the pool and just hold on for a while. He said, "I didn't realize that was an option!"

Sometimes in the pool of life we try to maintain an unrealistic pace. We seem to be swimming faster and faster or else we are attempting to tread longer and longer. Just like the man I spoke with today, so many of us do not realize that stopping for a little bit to catch our breath is permitted. Maybe you have been going and going and going... give yourself a break and reach out for the side of the pool. No one wants to admit they are weak, but the truth that is revealed in God's Word is that "when we are weak, God is strong." The hard part is letting go of our medals and achievements long enough to realize that apart from these things their is joy and life in the pool.

May you be a fast swimmer with exceptional endurance in the pool of life... and may you find hope and peace and grace while grasping for the walls when your strength fails you!

Off Your Sleeve and Out of Your Mouth

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve”?

The issue is not what’s on your sleeve. The issue is what’s in your mouth! Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). Is Christ in your conversations, in your emails, on your myspace or web blogs? Do you find yourself thinking and speaking to others about Jesus? Do you ever share what God has done in your life with your family members and co-workers?

“But Chris, you don’t understand… that is not my personality.”

“If you knew how I was raised, you would understand that our family doesn’t operate that way.”

“It’s easy for you. You are a pastor!”

I want to suggest that it is not an issue of personality or family
up-bringing or even calling… it’s very simply a heart issue. The Bible says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21) A few chapters later, as we have already read… the mouth speaks about what is bubbling up inside our heart, that which we treasure!

Let me give you a few illustrations… What do sports fanatics talk about? What do young lovers write about? When a passionate activist goes to the nation’s capital to participate in a million-man march, is there even a slight chance that the people who know her will not know why she is going?
The truth is, we are created to worship. Since the beginning of time, people have never ceased to worship. The world is not lacking great worshippers. Everyone, everywhere has something that takes the highest place of value in his heart. We all treasure something!

Some people live for their wealth or health. Some place most of their time and energies into a significant relationship. Others value a cause above all else. Riches, people, ideas… we all place the most value on something or
someone. And that is the object of our worship… our treasure! The mouth speaks and we worship!!!

Is Jesus important to you? Do you value God’s Word? Are you interested in being used of God to build His Kingdom?

Don’t tell me what you believe… live what you believe and you will find yourself sharing your life with others!

We cannot be silent concerning who Christ is… the Son of the living God! The gospel message is that Jesus is God and there are no others! We have to stop making excuses for our inactivity, shyness, and lack of boldness in proclaiming the works, claims, and character of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is your treasure, proclaim Him with your mouth!

All-in-One

Last year, I was introduced to a new drink while having dinner with a friend. It is called vitaminwater. There are a number of different flavors, but the one that I prefer is the multi-v lemonade. I don't get it often because it is too expensive, but I always make it a point to check and see if it is on-sale when I visit the grocery store.

I think the reason I like this mystical beverage so much is because it is water with a subtle lemonade flavor... and it is designed to be good for me! It supposedly has it all! In fact, the label says that this all-in-one product contains more of the nutrients I need... from a to zinc... "think of it as a drinkable swiss army knife". That last line actually disturbs me a little bit! Who wants to drink a swiss army knife?

The boldest claim made about this refreshing beverage is "vitamins + water = all you need". Maybe I am over-thinking this, but as much as I like multi-v lemonade, it most definitely is not all I need! I am a man of many needs!

Still this concept has me wondering... if I could ever truly get "all I need" from one drink or pill or double-chocolate brownie fudge sundae (much closer to the dream)... would I want to sacrifice variety for convenience sake?

Our society pays good money for convenience. Just the other day, my wife said if we ever lived in New York City she would want to be wealthy enough to be able to take taxi cabs and get door to door service instead of having to take the subway (forget about walking 5-10 miles in a day like the average New Yorker).

Consider how technological advances have eliminated the need to open doors and gates or turn on lights. We have all-in-one remote controls that allow us to change channels, volume, switch back and forth between dvd player and cable programming. The latest cell phones are also cameras, camcorders, calculators, personal gaming devices, hand-held computers capable of accessing the internet, and mp3 players. Hopefully, it won't be too long before the cell phone and the TV remote are merged together as an all-in-one device.

If I have given you the wrong idea, I am not anti-convenience. Even if I was against the all-in-one approach, who am I to stand in the way of "progress"?

As technology continues to get more and more advanced, we will see crazy, creative, and even healthy all-in-one products... from a to z! Just one observation... the latest, fastest, most convenient does NOT always translate to the best solution. Sometimes we are supposed to take the less traveled road. Occasionally the longest and most difficult path is the one that is the most rewarding.

Christmas Cheer... Not So Much!

I have been accused of being a pessimist, but it isn’t true. The glass is not half-empty, but neither is it half-full! I demand there be a third category in which the glass is not all the way to the top but there is hope! Someone could argue that my position is basically that of the pessimistic half-empty variety, but that would discount a vital attribute that my point of view offers… there is hope that it can become full!

Over the last week, I have heard and read stories about real people that are gut-wrenching… heartbreaking… and seemingly hopeless. In the news nationally, there was a story about a young family taking the wrong road in Oregon where they got stuck and stranded for a week. The mother and two little girls were found in bad shape but alive on Monday… the young husband and father was found on Wednesday face down in the snow. In the Austin news this week, a mother of two young girls ages 4 and 7 and her friend were both killed instantly when a garbage truck plowed into the back of her vehicle as they sat in traffic at 11 a.m. on their way to lunch.

Last night I spoke with a friend whose wife had a horrible seizure the day before Thanksgiving while she was baking pies with her young daughters… she cracked her head open and bled all over the kitchen floor while her daughters watched in horror. The following Monday, this same family was awoken at 2 a.m. by a police officer who came to inform them that her 69-year old mother was brutally beaten, almost to death, on her way home from work. She was attacked by a man who had every intention of raping and killing her. Police caught the man as he was stuffing her into the back of a van. She barely survived.

Today my mom called me to ask me to pray for the family of a young father who committed suicide last night after he was unable to convince his wife to reconcile with him. The only thing that can make someone go to such an extreme is a feeling of complete despair. They see no hope for their situation.

I realize that these stories are extreme and hopefully outside of your experiences, but I also know that there are a lot of tragic stories in the making all around us. We may never get stranded in extreme conditions… we may never experience the fatal car accident of a loved one… we may never be brutally beaten on our way home from work… and we may not know someone who is on the verge of taking their own life… but the same feelings of hopelessness and despair that result from major catastrophic events in our lives can also be caused by a series of smaller events or disappointments.

The holidays always seem to magnify feelings of loneliness or pain. There are people who are unable to find work, family members who haven’t spoken in years, couples who can’t afford to buy gifts for each other, students who won’t be able to return to college because the loan wasn’t approved, friends who can’t make it to work because their car is broken down again, and the list goes on.

I know I’m not exactly fanning the flame of holiday cheer here. I guess my point is that we live in a broken and hurting world full of broken and hurting people. We can pretend that the glass is closer to full, we can whine about it being too empty, or we can do everything in our power to redeem and restore others by sharing the reason for the hope we have! There is hope in Jesus Christ! May God increase your hope and fill you with courage as you extend His love and hope to others who so desperately need it!