tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71008260221350051912024-03-13T20:20:22.338-06:00Daddyspeak"The child must know that she is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there has not been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like her." Pablo CasalsDora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-79390843892854523112021-10-21T12:44:00.007-06:002021-10-22T10:50:25.352-06:00Parenting Manual<p> Long time no write. So long, my suspicion is, that the followers I have are no longer following. That's o.k., it served it's purpose and now can take on a new purpose. I've been lazy in my writing; well, that's not actually the whole story. I have been writing more in the past 2 or 3 years than ever before, it's just for other purposes. I think I have probably written that book I always wanted to write, it's just that it would never sell as a collection of some obscure Community College Associate Professor/Counselor/stand in preacher's ramblings (even if much of that rambling was pretty good if I do say so myself).</p><p>Early on, when I tried to think on what I would write, the words of my Mother would often come back to me: "Write what you know." Well, I knew a lot of different things, none to perfection, but I did often think I could probably write a parenting manual. In fact, I once wrote a letter to my Father in response to his lamenting raising a step-child. I noted in the letter that, while I was helping to raise my step-son Adrian, that I wished there was a book on how to do it. My Dad said later that when he read that he thought..."You're right Rich, why don't YOU write one." (One of the nicest compliments he ever paid me.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Io4zqC_QVH0/YXGjEuhNVsI/AAAAAAAABBw/kexH33YhN94YeRZmkP2IctOK0M1xG8SJACLcBGAsYHQ/s474/baby%2Bwaking.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="474" height="181" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Io4zqC_QVH0/YXGjEuhNVsI/AAAAAAAABBw/kexH33YhN94YeRZmkP2IctOK0M1xG8SJACLcBGAsYHQ/w181-h181/baby%2Bwaking.jpg" width="181" /></a></div><p>Now, there are literally hundreds of books on parenting out there. No real need for another one. Not to mention...I may know a lot about parenting a child and an adolescent, step and biological, but I have been confronted with the reality in the past 2 years that I know painfully little about how to be a parent to a young adult. That may sound cliche' but, I am used to being kind of an expert (in my own mind) in the area of appropriate responses to the needs of others. One of my super-powers has always been the ability to anticipate needs and feelings, and respond accordingly. I figure 8 times out of 10 I get it close enough that I am effective.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-asv1QRoQcCI/YXGj9PWuc7I/AAAAAAAABB4/BuyJfUnaL6gwbb2FmWuHikNVx0M917JLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/superpowers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="571" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-asv1QRoQcCI/YXGj9PWuc7I/AAAAAAAABB4/BuyJfUnaL6gwbb2FmWuHikNVx0M917JLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/superpowers.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br /> Now, my super power has failed me in a way which causes significant consternation (thought of that word which I haven't used in years and wanted to type it.) I literally am in a time of my life that I had NO idea would exist. Empty nest is not just the grief a parent feels when their child leaves home...it is the amazing adjustment to the reality that: They are not coming back. They do not need much of what they used to receive/require. There really is no official place in their lives for their parents (other than financiers for awhile). That is the way it's supposed to be.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--BUkZk48C9E/YXGijWpIJ-I/AAAAAAAABBo/FaMgs1KLHzYojTjc0stu10CeFmnEgagggCLcBGAsYHQ/s474/dollars%2Bto%2Bkids.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="474" height="104" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--BUkZk48C9E/YXGijWpIJ-I/AAAAAAAABBo/FaMgs1KLHzYojTjc0stu10CeFmnEgagggCLcBGAsYHQ/w185-h104/dollars%2Bto%2Bkids.jpg" width="185" /></a></div><p><br /> How did I not know that? How did I not anticipate that? Probably because if I had it would have made me very sad. I remember LITERALLY believing that when Dora grew up, her mother and I would move next door to her...well, maybe not next door, but close by. That may happen eventually when she is established. We could at least move to the same state to enjoy Grandparent duties, but I doubt she needs us to move next door!</p><p>Another strange and interesting byproduct...I feel kind of, well, useless most of the time. I guess that is a partially good sign that my true sense of identity came from parenting and not from my job. I have great jobs, don't get me wrong, but...that's just what I do for a living, not really where I draw my identity. I was commenting on this with my friends recently, saying I felt guilty that I wasn't really "doing" anything anymore, just hanging out with my wife and he said: "Yeah, that's what you are supposed to do now. Ya'll are "one flesh" after all."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aE45VjuqyZw/YXGlaaP2sgI/AAAAAAAABCA/816gdqJT51McYgIHl34caNHtLCO7C1a-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s849/one%2Bflesh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="736" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aE45VjuqyZw/YXGlaaP2sgI/AAAAAAAABCA/816gdqJT51McYgIHl34caNHtLCO7C1a-gCLcBGAsYHQ/w173-h200/one%2Bflesh.jpg" width="173" /></a></div><p>So there it was. What I have taught for 18 years. A couples closeness and marital satisfaction increases dramatically when their children leave home. Their job is done, and now they get to enjoy a well deserved rest, together. Of course "done" is not really accurate. "Changes" would be more accurate. The parenting job changes in ways they can't really understand until they step into and through the days, weeks, months, and years of watching their adult children engaged in their own "adulting."</p><p>"But what if she...?" That's the worst part. There are no more easy or quick answers. The ... is no longer our responsibility, it's hers. And the greatest gift we can give now is to say to that question, "Then she will handle it." Therein lies part of the feeling of uselessness. A large part of the job of parenting is providing an elaborate safety net that changes and narrows over the young years, to catch them if they fall. But now, they don't want or need the net. They don't want someone hovering with a helicopter ready to bail them out (any more than I do. I'm a grown up for crying out loud!) Yeah, that's what she is saying: "I'm a grown up...let me live my life."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRh2wMQ9PH0/YXGoIxwK6HI/AAAAAAAABCI/H3z9KUUEix0G9YaiqGpuY1RSNb-hTbtnwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/no%2Bsafety%2Bnet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="1024" height="127" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRh2wMQ9PH0/YXGoIxwK6HI/AAAAAAAABCI/H3z9KUUEix0G9YaiqGpuY1RSNb-hTbtnwCLcBGAsYHQ/w212-h127/no%2Bsafety%2Bnet.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><p>So, with that, some things I have learned that will scare the pants off of you parents of young children out there:</p><p>1) There will come a time when you will have to endure longer and longer periods of time where you will not know what they are thinking, feeling, or doing.</p><p>2) There will come a time when you will understand that you are not supposed to ask what they are thinking, feeling, or doing.</p><p>3) There will come a time when you will be unsure of how you are supposed to act around them. </p><p>4) There will come a time when they become aware that you are unsure of how you are supposed to act around them and they will interpret that as disinterest, or worse.</p><p>5) There will come a time when they will make choices and you will not be able to talk them out of it, or influence them in any way.</p><p>6) There may or may not come a time when those choices will result in a cluster-#@&$ that you will then be "responsible" for untangling.</p><p>7) There will come a time when they feel deep resentment for your intrusion in their lives, but they probably won't tell you, cause they don't want to hurt your feelings; but you will probably feel it.</p><p>8) There will come a time when you realize that they have outgrown you, even if you haven't outgrown them.</p><p>9) There will come a time when you find a picture of when they were younger, and cry.</p><p>I struggled to find a 10th cause I like nice lists of 10...but I haven't gotten that far in the experience to anticipate it. Of course, there is a simple yet agonizing solution to all 9 of the above. It's really not that hard to figure out but it is occasionally very difficult to implement. I'm talking of course about...</p><p>A steel box with a lock, and some pillows. The following are the steps to utilization of this clever solution:</p><p style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;">1) Acquire box</p><p style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;">2) Line with pillows (for comfort)</p><p style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;">3) Place child in box</p><p style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;">4) Close and lock box</p><p style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;">5) Throw away key</p><p style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;">6) Enjoy the feeling of safety</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZweclBZkbY/YXGsSLoLLOI/AAAAAAAABCQ/g7_5ZI-p7qY28-btV8KFJIFCz_mVBARKwCLcBGAsYHQ/s630/box.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="630" height="157" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZweclBZkbY/YXGsSLoLLOI/AAAAAAAABCQ/g7_5ZI-p7qY28-btV8KFJIFCz_mVBARKwCLcBGAsYHQ/w157-h157/box.jpg" width="157" /></a></div><p>Cruel and unusual you say? Just wait, I say.</p><p>No, the simple though difficult solution is this:</p><p style="margin-left: 200px; text-align: left;">TRUST THEM</p><p style="text-align: left;">They aren't idiots, they aren't fools, they got themselves this far with your assistance and guidance. If you can't trust them now, what good were you to them? A lack of faith in my adult child is a lack of faith in my own parenting. I had one job with a million and one sub-parts: to teach them how to live life independently, autonomously. Now, they must practice, and they must fail, and they must get up and brush themselves off and try again. Familiar? Yes, it should be, that's how you did it.<br /></p><p>The problem isn't them, it's us. They aren't generally terrified to be away from us. They got over separation anxiety a long time ago. The problem is with parent's interpretation or attribution (fancy psychology word there) ascribed to their behavior. With me, it was sadness and being slow on the uptake. For others, and I hear this often, it's anger. "They never call me. They don't listen to me. They are ingrates who think they know it all and don't need me anymore."</p><p>I say to that, and to myself, let's just take a deep breath and get over ourselves. We did it. We finished a very large part of our job. We graduated. Expecting our kids to fall over themselves thanking us for our awesome parenting, and calling us all the time and including us in every aspect of their lives would be like a High School teacher being upset with a graduate for not coming back to school the next semester and counting them absent for it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1IZbMWQIB8g/YXGxzcr7FCI/AAAAAAAABCY/Hsu7TxtBKiwVE2CJpjHrWQ91pDAbCKQwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1050/mortor%2Bboard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1050" height="174" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1IZbMWQIB8g/YXGxzcr7FCI/AAAAAAAABCY/Hsu7TxtBKiwVE2CJpjHrWQ91pDAbCKQwwCLcBGAsYHQ/w174-h174/mortor%2Bboard.jpg" width="174" /></a></div><p>Maybe I will write that parenting book after all, now that I know the very beginning of the grand rest of the story. Because the list of things that will scare the pants off of you is far over-shadowed by the list of things you will be Awed by:</p><p>1) There will come a time when you realize they don't need you anymore...because they are fine.</p><p>2) There will come a time when you get to sit and listen to them tell you all about what they have been doing, and thinking, and feeling. And you will just get to enjoy it and learn from it, because it's already happened.</p><p>3) There will come a time when you look forward to giving them some extra money so they can go have fun, and they will genuinely appreciate it.</p><p>4) There will come a time when they DO say thank you. (Probably proportionally to the extent that you have left them alone to live their lives for awhile.)</p><p>5) There will come a time when they demonstrate that they know more than you do about a wide variety of their own interests.</p><p>6) There will come a time when they introduce you to their music, and you will add it to your own playlist because hey, they have pretty good tastes.</p><p>7) There will come a time when they take you to their place of work and introduce you to their bosses and co-workers.</p><p>8) There will come many, many times when they tell you about how they solved problems all by themselves.</p><p>9) There will come a time when you realize at a very deep level, that they are your child. That they reflect your values and have put their own unique and ingenious spin on them to make them even better.</p><p>10) There will come a time when you understand that they did indeed learn from your mistakes, and know how to avoid them.</p><p>11) There will come a time when they understand the difficulties of adulthood, and choose not to go back to childhood...because, who would?</p><p>12) And, there will come a time when they start their own blog, picking up where you left off, just to tell the world, "I'm here."</p><p></p><p><a href="http://daughterdoraspeak.blogspot.com">Dora's Blog</a> </p><p>Man I love that kid...and I admire that young woman.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CADa83EZdwI/YXG3wJfgAFI/AAAAAAAABCg/pLmAN466doQq3Zz9NqzH6YOEhNAYsxbsACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Picture%2B013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CADa83EZdwI/YXG3wJfgAFI/AAAAAAAABCg/pLmAN466doQq3Zz9NqzH6YOEhNAYsxbsACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Picture%2B013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p>Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-30756269381001690712019-05-30T10:53:00.003-06:002019-05-30T10:53:35.850-06:00I Know Where The Time GoesIt is with proud father fanfare that I proudly announce, the primary source material and purpose of this blog in the first place, my daughter, my princess has graduated from High School!<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mq1BhH_uRyE/XPACaxJ5z-I/AAAAAAAAAqQ/nkmixSWGnuY-N9JeIKnYQB-GB5SE6nIKgCLcBGAs/s1600/dora%2Bvala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mq1BhH_uRyE/XPACaxJ5z-I/AAAAAAAAAqQ/nkmixSWGnuY-N9JeIKnYQB-GB5SE6nIKgCLcBGAs/s320/dora%2Bvala.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Oh whoops, did I choose to upload the picture of her with her Valedictorian sash in clear view...<br />
Yes, I did!<br />
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She can't possibly understand how proud of her I am. I have been reading back through my posts and have an even clearer perspective on just how far she has come. You should have heard her speech! It was a glorious demonstration of her heart. It wasn't about her at all, it was about her friends. The people who helped pull her through some very dark days of changing schools, and shyness, and self-acceptance.<br />
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I remembered something I fantasized about a very long time ago when it was clear she was a very smart young girl, and that she really was pushing for all As, every time. I imagined she might one day become Valedictorian and give a speech while I sat in the audience. I imagined her sharing how very important her father's role in her life had been. I remember as I thought those thoughts how important that would have made me feel, how valuable.<br />
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What an IDIOT I was, and am. I've always been honest with this blog and I will not stop being honest now. I am embarrassed of the part of myself that seeks such glory, any glory at all really. How many times do I have to learn and remember that "IT'S NOT ABOUT ME?" This incessant child within constantly clamoring for the spotlight needs to die. Really die. Finally die.<br />
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"Whatever it is that you think you need Richie, it's not glory. Glory is fleeting and empty and will not meet the need you have. So, please, go back to sleep while the big people talk."<br />
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(tip toes away)<br />
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Dora's speech was a perfect display of exactly what I want her to know (or believe), her father is a part of her and needs no mention, or glory, or awards. She has been told over and again that the honor is hers. She earned every A, by herself. She wrote every paper, well, many papers, by herself. She is a testament to grit and determination born of her own identity, her own drive. No one could have given it to her.<br />
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No one drives up to a beautiful home and gazes at the foundation saying what a wonderful job it is doing of holding up the house. No. They look at what has been built upon that foundation with admiration.<br />
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Dora's mother and I had a job and we have continued to do our job...To lay a foundation and then to help where we are able as she has builds something beautiful, marvelous upon that foundation. That is why I am so proud of her. What SHE has built within herself.<br />
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So her speech was not about her parents, no Valedictorian speech should ever be about one's parents. Her speech was about something over which I had no control, her friends. Her "real" friends mind you; the ones who believed in her before she believed in herself. Her friends who "accept her as she is." As she put it. And she continued, "I couldn't have made it without them."<br />
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God answers prayer my dear readers. It is what her mother and I have prayed for for a very long time: provision of good people who would continue to lead her into and through places we are not able to walk with her.<br />
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So I sit and type acknowledging that I have lived long enough to see my daughter surpass me in ways I never imagined. That is more rewarding than any nod in my direction. That is what every parent longs for. Loving your child, pouring yourself into your child is not the end in itself, it is the beginning of their own ability to be poured into by others, and to pour themselves out for others. This is one of her main goals: to make others around her happy.<br />
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A lofty goal, and fraught with peril, but who is going to argue with the desire?<br />
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I have also lived long enough for my daughter to become a caretaker of her father as I was and am a caretaker of her. She looks out for me, she is gentle in her rebukes of me (which I need from time to time). She forgives me, and she reaches out to me.<br />
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I will decrease in importance in her life and other's will increase. Why, because a foundation isn't missed until is broken and I choose not to be broken. I will remain in place, firmly planted, doing exactly what a parent is designed to do for their child. Providing firm, unwavering support. I'm not concrete, so I will fail from time to time, but the foundation is there. Through triumph, through storms.<br />
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Fly Dora. You won't need it often, but you will always have a place to land.<br />
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Dare Greatly!<br />
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Oh, and where does the time go? It goes into the greatness of those we spend it on.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-26963139988958678572018-10-25T11:43:00.000-06:002018-10-25T11:43:05.859-06:00Warrior Weekend talk October 2018<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of figures"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine that the US was invaded by ISIS. ISIS wins and makes
the US a subjected territory. They send troops and occupy our cities and towns.
In order to collect money for their ongoing terrorist activities, they send
wage collectors to each town. Soon, this massive undertaking is franchised out.
Local citizens are offered the opportunity to collect taxes from the citizenry
thus buying a tax collection franchise. They are now allowed to collect
whatever they want over and above what they owe to the ISIS and keep for
themselves the surplus.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These pathetic turncoats in your own town are known to be
among the wealthiest few because, if ISIS says you own $6000, they tell you you
own 7 or 8000. They drive the Cadillac’s, they live in the nicest homes, they
have all they want to eat and drink. And they are hated, but protected by the
ISIS governors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know the money they collect goes directly to ISIS
efforts to kill Christians and spread Islam. They are traitors to their
homeland, directly helping ISIS<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AND they
steal from their own countrymen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This, was Matthew. But in the time of Christ, Matthew was a
jew and he collected taxes for the Romans.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine his surprise when this happened:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Matthew 9:9<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Hlk528172958">As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got
up and followed him.</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk528172958;"></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Matthew became a disciple of Jesus and followed him for 3
years. He became close friends with the other apostles and had untold personal
encounters with Jesus. After Jesus’s death he preached the Gospel and some say
he traveled to other countries. He wrote the first book in the New Testament, a
telling of his personal experiences with Christ in most believe 60AD.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine how he felt as he wrote those words. “He saw <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">me</b> sitting at the tax collector’s booth
and invited me to follow him."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He saw me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s our story. He saw us drunk with wine and said “follow
me.” He saw us surfing porn and said “follow me.” He saw us committing adultery
and said “follow me.” He saw me, and he want’s ME to follow him. He saw us in despair
and fear and doubt and said “follow me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s the invitation to each of us here right now. He still
asks us to follow him every day, every hour. That invitation and command is
found in Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. It’s central to His message and mission,
to make followers of himself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what does that mean? Practically, on an hour by hour
basis?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span> I) Matthew 10:34-39 “Do not suppose that I have
come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her
mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law – a man’s enemies will be
the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is
not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses
their life for my sake will find it.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
“Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild?” There were
times when that was true:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Woman caught in adultery, with
children running to him, with Thomas who asked the risen Christ if he could put
his hand into his wounds!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
But what of weaving a whip of cords and
causing a riot as he cleared the temple, His father’s house? What of calling
the religious leaders snakes, hypocrites, blind guides, fools murderers? What
of His ongoing battle with demonic spirits?</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Jesus lived his life with brutal honesty
and courageous boldness in the face of certain danger. Everything he did was
perfect love in action, but it probably didn’t always feel loving.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
So, to follow Jesus is to understand that I
am an ambassador, a representative of the risen Christ on earth. My purpose is
to do everything in love, even when it will create discomfort, when it will be
inconvenient, when it will possibly result in a personal loss of money, respect
from the world, position…and yes, as it did for nearly all the apostles, death.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
John 15:20 “Remember what I told you: 'A
servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
John 16:33 "I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world."</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
In both cases he was talking to his
disciples, his inner circle, the ones who would continue to carry on in
teaching about him after he was gone from the earth. If I’m NOT being
persecuted, If things in my life are going along just peachy, I’m a little
worried…the life of a Christ follower is not supposed to be easy and safe.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
In C.S. Lewis’ the Lion, Witch, Wardrobe
which is an allegory or story about Jesus there is this wonderful conversation:
Between a talking beaver and the human child Susan:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great
Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is
he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a
lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about
safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” C. S.
Lewis in The LWW</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Doesn’t that call up something in you?
Would it not fill your warrior heart to described that way? That’s following
Jesus into peacemaking when called for, but also into making difficult choices.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
What are you running from that you know
Christ is calling you to? What are you reluctant to say or do in his Kingdom? A
preacher in Florida named Joby says it this way:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“Christian, what would you do if you knew
you couldn’t fail because the God of the Universe lives in you?”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2</span></span> II) To truly follow Christ, HE has to become
everything to us. Our guide-stone, our Lord and Master.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
We all follow something men. Some would say
we all worship something: Friends, women, our children, sex, alcohol, food,
fun, job/career, money… </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
The problem is as Jesus says in Matthew
6:24</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
"No one can serve two masters. Either
you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
None of us can follow/love/worship more
than one thing at a time.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
With a cross on my back, following Jesus, I
don’t have room in my life for sex, drugs, or even some rock and roll. I don’t
have room for arguments with my wife, fights with my kids, or relationships
that don’t build up the Kingdom of God. I have room for what Christ made room
for: His Father’s Kingdom, His Father’s business.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“I’ve been crucified with Christ and I NO
LONGER LIVE but Christ lives in me. The life that I now live in the body I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians
2:20</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Let’s get this out of the way. You are a
DEAD man. By expectation and command of the Father we are to be dead to
ourselves to make room for the life of Jesus in us.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
In the first season of the Walking Dead, a
show about a zombie apocalypse and a handful of human survivors there is a
segment where, in order to sneak past a large group of zombies, they hack up a
dead zombie and cover themselves in the guts.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I do that. I do that every time I lust
after a woman in person or on the internet. I do that every time I take that
one or two or three more drinks. Whenever I curse someone in anger. Whenever I
cheat or lie or steal…I’m coating myself in dead mans skin trying to sneak back
into the world in which I don’t belong.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
And the Father says: “Son, my beloved Son
whom I gave everything to save from that stench and that guilt, come here and
take a bath then look in the mirror and remember WHO I say you are.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Follow me.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
It’s about Authority. The Universe runs on
Authority. The angels have ranks (Archangel). The demons have rank
(Principalities, powers, forces of evil). Adam and Eve gave it up. Christ won
it back at the Cross by dying for my sin and in his burial room defeating
death. Recognizing the authority of Christ over my life is crucial, especially
as a man. If I am a truly a follower of Christ He shares His authority with me
to accomplish awesome and wonderful things in His name. So frankly, He does get
to chose how I spend my time and money. He does get to say what things I focus
on, think on, and work toward. I don’t have the authority on earth or in Heaven
to slum around here like I do sometimes.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
“Did I SAY you could do that?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No Sir, No Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Then don’t.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Honestly, that’s a healthy weapon against
the enemy’s temptations. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Turn on your computer and begin to think about
checking out what SHE looks like nude? “I don’t have the authority to do that.”
“I must be about my father’s business.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Guy cuts you off and you want to tailgate
him to show him how it feels? “I don’t have the authority to do that.” “I must
be about my father’s business.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Wife says something you don’t like and you
start to feel offended and get ready to tell her off and put her down hard. “I
don’t have the authority to do that.”</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Insert your own personal temptations….. I’m
sorry, but we don’t have the authority to do that. (Actually, I'm not sorry. I'm grateful that He loves me enough to keep me from the consequences of that lifestyle.)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
We do have the authority to tell Satan and
his angels where they can go. We do have the authority to spread the kingdom of
the Perfect, everlasting, all powerful God wherever we can take it. We do have
the authority to walk up to His throne, bow, and make any requests our hearts
can imagine.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3</span></span> III) How do we consistently live like that.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
One, we are maturing in this role as Christ
follower. Some of us have been living this way a long time and much has been
revealed to us. Some are just starting out on the road.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
In the world, we are taught to
mature toward independence and autonomy. In Christ we are taught to mature
toward total dependency. That’s a recognition that without Jesus we can do
nothing.<br />
<br />
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are
the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing.”<br />
<br />
No matter where we are in our
journey toward dependency, we all have one thing in common.<br />
<br />
John 14: 16-17 “And I will ask the
Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him
nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”<br />
<br />
When we become Christian’s we are
baptized, immersed in, the Holy Spirit. Ephesians says he take up residence in
our body, the new temple of God where he remains forever as a deposit
guaranteeing our entry into heaven. We are marked by Him and we are fueled,
empowered, reminded, counseled, and represented by him.<br />
<br />
He is the secret of the means to follow
Jesus. He is the “infrared goggles” which allow us to see the footsteps of
Christ along the path He has chosen for us. He is the eternal nuclear power
plant allowing us to never give up in our efforts to serve, and fight. The power and love of the Living God lives in US and empowers us every moment of every day.<br />
<br />
Pray that God will reveal His
purposes, His calling and prompting in your life. Boldly walk in peace, even when it's dangerous and to restore peace you have to be honest. Immerse yourself in His word
and accept His ultimate authority over your life, and His unfailing love for
you His son.<br />
<br />
“As Jesus went on from there, he
saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he
told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”<br />
<br />
Men, Jesus is asking us to follow
him. What is the response written in your heart?<br />
<br />
Even a tax collector knows a good
thing when he hears it.
Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-56892651207840043782018-09-24T12:04:00.000-06:002018-10-04T08:05:39.084-06:00Long Time - No WriteYou are a senior in High School, princess.<br />
<br />
Since you agreed to change schools I have watched as God has slowly and methodically restored your confidence in yourself, and in others who now have the good fortune to call themselves your friends.<br />
<br />
I know that it is not easy to accept friendship. It is a messy business trusting others with the small portion of our hearts that we reveal to them. It can sometimes feel like taping a neon sign which reads KICK ME, I CAN'T BLOCK YOU to our backsides; and then, leaving it there after we get kicked, and kicked, and kicked.<br />
<br />
People are imperfect. In fact, we suck. Mother Teresa once penned a genius poem which I share here:<br />
<br />
People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.<br />
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.<br />
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.<br />
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.<br />
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.<br />
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you have anyway.<br />
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It never was between you and them, anyway.<br />
<br />
I have always loved the simplistic truth to that. It is true no matter which friend group we find ourselves trusting: At work, at play, in our families, with our spouse.<br />
<br />
That's why I am so thankful that you have begun to trust again. I know it feels awkward. I know it feels risky. I certainly know that it feels false. I'm an old man and I still don't fully trust those I am around. My solution has always been to be as transparent as I can about SOME things in my life; and to hide the rest. We all hide, it's just that with those we allow in, they know we are hiding. They are too.<br />
<br />
We know much about the psychology of hiding or "impression management." It sounds something like, depending on our level of self confidence, this:<br />
<br />
I will let you see who I want you to believe I am.<br />
I will let you see who I think you want to believe I am.<br />
I will let you see who I think you will accept and not reject.<br />
I will let you see who I wish I really was, but know I am not.<br />
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What is most troubling about each of those however is that it keeps me locked in a cage, OR it keeps others locked in a cage. If we remain guarded and fearful of showing too much of our truth, we have to pile on layers and layers of false self in front of the other person to the point that, they don't really know us at all. They know our mask (our persona).<br />
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If you only fall in love with my mask, you are unable to love the real me. This inevitably leads me to then feel lonely and unaccepted.<br />
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There will be those trusted few people you will find who will not reject you when they find out you let them down, or you are not perfect. Rather, they will thank you for being real, and for allowing them to finally be real with you too. They will not scold, they will not prod, and they will not judge. They will trust that you are on the path of life just as they are on the path of life.<br />
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That's one of the great mysteries of my faith in God. He knows the real me. He knows the me I was. He knows the me I am today. He knows the me I want to be. More, He loves and accepts me in spite of, and because of it all. No mask can fool Him. No act can snow Him. No lie can distort the truth that He sees.<br />
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You know what makes it even cooler? He knows the you that you are becoming. He came here to allow that to happen. He died so that we would be free to be who we were meant to be all along, His children. His people. His beloved.<br />
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He doesn't want me to have to be the fake me, striving and failing and striving harder. The message which separates Christianity from all other faiths is this:<br />
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Once I am in Christ, I am free to be exactly who I am; on my bad days and on my good days because, when He looks at me, He sees the perfection of His son.<br />
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"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:6<br />
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Notice my little genius it doesn't say "And God will raise us up...." It says He already has.<br />
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"What? But God, I'm unreasonable, self-centered, accusatory, cheating, jealous, forgetful, and insatiable."<br />
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You know what He says? <br />
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"No son, No daughter. I can see all things clearly, as they truly are, and I can see you right now seated at My table. And you look perfect!"Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-10148118932948736202015-06-21T14:01:00.000-06:002015-06-21T14:01:08.757-06:00"Tell Me A Story"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wait, I need to back up and prepare you for this story. You often ask me to "Tell me a story" like I used to on the way to school. I have written about that previously. Well, I have one to tell you today. It is a very long story so it will probably take many days. It is also a VERY special story because, unlike other stories I tell, none of it is made up. It is all true. This story begins before any other story ever told. It begins:<br />
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A long, long time ago; before "time" was ever measured, before there was a "you", or "me", or anyone; before there was an Earth, or a Sun, or a galaxy, or any stars at all; Before there was anything else....there was God.<br />
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Have you ever thought of that? I had not. Only within the last few years, in my understanding as an answer to my prayer to Him that He teach me how to truly be a son of His, God has begun to reveal greater truths to me than ever before. Now, that is not to say that I understand them all or that I boast in this knowledge. Rather, He is telling me that things are going to be ok; that He, as my true Father is greater than I can ever possibly understand while on earth...and that I/we have SO much to look forward to when we get to Him. It is a great joy and excitement to learn about Him, yet of course creates many more questions.<br />
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For example: What was He doing before he created the universe?<br />
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I love this question because it is such a mystery. I have looked into it.<br />
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1) I believe that we can not know HOW LONG God existed before creation because we are dealing with eternity. Wrap your awesome mind around this...<br />
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Think of the point 0 as the creation of the Universe (as described in Genesis). Think of the point 1 as the end of the World as recorded in the Book of Revelation. We like to think of the arrow after that as "We get to live with God "forever," for all of eternity.</div>
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But look at the other end of eternity...before point 0. Yup, eternity goes both ways...forever before, and forever after.</div>
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Another level of this mystery is: God created the concept we know as TIME. </div>
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"God called the light "day" and the darkness He called "night". There was evening, and there was morning - the first day." Genesis 1:5</div>
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As the creator of time, he is not subject to it and thus...God does not have to respect the laws of time. In simplistic terms, He is the perfect time traveler. He can go forward and backward through time at will.</div>
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But then think of this...as the creator of all time AND matter, he doesn't have to respect the laws of matter and thus, He IS everywhere at once. (Omnipresent) He is at point 0, and the next line, and the next, and at point 1, AND before and forever after.</div>
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I know, I know, that is difficult to wrap the mind around...but don't close it off. We (humans) like to put God in a box so that we feel more comfortable understanding Him; that way we can feel safe and self-sufficient. But the truth is...we can NEVER understand God because we are created beings, created within laws of time and matter which HE created.</div>
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"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Cor. 13:12</div>
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ANYWAY, What was God doing before He created the universe?</div>
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Sitting on His throne? Yeah, sure. The all powerful God is a boring old man who likes to sit around all day.<br />
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Are you kidding? He is God. I imagine He was doing "God things." Solving great mysteries; creating other things; planning for the future (well, what WE think of as the future).<br />
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2) God was not alone.<br />
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"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light fall mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."<br />
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This is believed to be a different "beginning" than the Genesis "In the beginning." Genesis recounts the beginning of the Universe (as we know it), galaxies, stars, planets, earth in particular. But who are we to imagine that the God who created all of it just happened to have that be His very first act. Imagine being God (like that's easy), would there not be some things you would want to accomplish BEFORE you created free willed beings?</div>
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John points out, that God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were all together, from the "beginning." What he wants us to know is that the Trinity existed, was unified, and was the source of the Word. I sometimes go so far as to imagine that John is describing the three in that first sentence.</div>
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"In the beginning was the Word (Son), and the Word was with God (Holy Spirit), and the Word was God (Father)."</div>
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John Eldridge uses the opening scene of the movie The Last of the Mohicans to illustrate the idea of the Trinity: Three individuals with a singular purpose, a critically important purpose. They are intense, and they are completely unified in their intent. That, is the Trinity</div>
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What were they doing? I really want to know someday. What we do know is that they were together, that they were intertwined in a way beyond our understanding except that it is alluded to in a marriage ("And the two shall become ONE.") Something about our spirits overlaps, two become one so, in the God Trinity, there is perfect overlap, while there is still distinction.</div>
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Christianity is described as Monotheism: One Deity (versus Greek mythology which practices Polytheism: Many Dieties (Zeus, Athena, Apollo, etc...). I have wrestled with that in the past. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit would seem to be Poly rather than Mono. However...I don't get to decide whether or not an all powerful entity is separate and distinct from another. I just get to draw breath for awhile and trust that, when God defines himself, He says "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is ONE.</div>
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Honestly, it is exciting to me to think that the Trinity existed in perfect union, perfect cooperation, and perfect fellowship. It helps me understand my own need for others. I long to be in union with another. I feel most complete when your Mom and I are working as one. I count on her to "bear my name" as she so eloquently states. In that bearing, she is stating that her will is a reflection of mine. Who she is impacts others perception of me for WE are the Hickam's. That is unity.</div>
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Christ was the perfect picture of that while He was on earth (though I don't want to get TOO far ahead of myself): Christ said repeatedly: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself (referencing himself). He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever he Father does, the Son also does." (John 5:19) And: "I do not speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it." (John 12:49).</div>
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Isn't that amazing?! Jesus Christ, God the Son, is so in tune with, so perfectly unified with God the Father that He continually reminds those who hear him that the Father's will supplants his own. He gives full credit where credit is due. (Even to the point of accepting death on the cross despite being fearful, and grieved saying, "Not my will but yours Father.")</div>
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3) Are you ready for this one? Really ready? The bible does give us ONE very important, amazing, humbling detail of what the Trinity was doing prior to the creation:</div>
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"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will..." Ephesians 1:4-5</div>
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Yes. He was thinking of you. He CHOSE you before the foundation of the world. He predestined you to adoption. (Predestined means to choose before hand, to predetermine) Just as your Mommy and I wrote your name in the sand on a beach in Galveston Texas 6 years before you were born, God knew you before the creation. He knew all of us. He knew everything about us, and He saw our places in the plan He had for His creation.</div>
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God, in the perfect unity of the Trinity has existed for eternity, and will exist for eternity. He knew what had been and He knew what was coming, and He knows what is going on now, and He knows what will happen. He is already there.</div>
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Something else happened before creation though. Something else which, once we begin to understand it, will help us understand WHY life is the way it is. I will continue this EPIC story, this amazing adventure next time. But I will pose a question first:</div>
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What is with the angels...and why are they armed?</div>
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syla.</div>
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Love, Daddy</div>
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Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-8379058418134254432015-06-18T08:37:00.000-06:002015-06-18T08:37:50.485-06:00My Dear Princesss,<br />
Yesterday I woke up and you said your first words. As I was preparing lunch, you went to first grade. By dinner time, you were talking about boys (other than Daddy); and now, as I start another day, you are preparing to enter High School as a Freshman.<br />
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There is so much I wanted to say to you...so much I wanted to prepare you for...<br />
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Perhaps I have in spoken word, and hopefully in some of my deeds...but here, I have failed to keep up. I can't remember the number of priceless moments that have come and gone between us that are locked somewhere in my mind...rarely to see the light of day.<br />
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The wonderful truth of life however is...it is never to late to pick up where one leaves off...until of course we are dead. And I am not dead yet.<br />
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You went to camp without us for the first time this summer...just last week in fact. I can't explain it to you, but I missed you so profoundly. The house felt empty, my days felt empty. When you are asleep in the mornings this summer I so look forward to you waking up. I love being around you, even though you sometimes are busy on the computer. It was like that...I wanted to go wake you up and just spend a little time with you.<br />
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It got a little easier as the days progressed. I had to have faith that you were ok. That God had you in His care. As I prayed before you left..."God, I give Dora to you this week. You are a better parent than I will ever be, and I know you have good plans for her."<br />
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It is SO true that parents with children become so wrapped up in them that, when the children leave, husband and wife have to learn to communicate once again. Well, I want you to know that is a good thing...you deserve my intensity and focus. You deserve my undivided attention. Your Mommy and I will be ok, and we are ok. In fact we are really good sometimes...other times, God sustains us.<br />
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But this series of writings was never about us, they were designed to be about you, so that you could read them one day and have some memories, and some wisdom, and to know how much joy you provide...without even trying. So that is were we return.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-78652131146723397452015-02-13T15:05:00.001-06:002015-02-13T15:05:53.187-06:00Happy Valentines Day to My WifeJohn Eldridge, my favorite author who you are making it possible for me to go see in less than a month, says that a man can not find his true strength, his true nature in a woman. If a man does not know who he is, and takes this question to his woman, she will be unable to answer it for him, and this will eventually destroy their relationship.<br />
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I just want to say that in our relationship, Most Gorgeous, I am blessed that, though I did not know my true strength, had not been properly fathered to know what it meant to be a man, you were patient (mostly) and somehow knew that I would find my way to the answer. You have given me the support and freedom to explore this question over the past 18 years...and though I certainly have not answered it fully, I now know where the answer is coming from, and what it means to be able to bring my true self, and true strength into our marriage.<br />
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Thank you for loving me, and trusting in me. Let's find more adventures to brave together!<br />
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TQ<br />
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Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-18691629706513540852012-08-31T22:06:00.000-06:002012-08-31T22:06:03.185-06:00Who ARE you, and what have you done with the child I deserved?Long time no post.<br />
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Lots of reasons...but let me just say, if you need me to help you play video games, well, I am very good right now. LOTS of practice.<br />
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My video-game partner said something hilarious, and true the other day while we were playing. I had told him I had to leave at 9. Nine came, and went, and I knew it, but was....video-game intoxicated. He said, "Isn't it 9 o'clock there? And didn't you have something you had to do at work?"<br />
I agreed and said I was thinking about going in a little later but that I really should go now. So he says,<br />
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"Thank God I was here...to take the needle out of your arm."<br />
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Yeah. To some people, video-games are just like crack. Allows us to avoid the hard stuff of life, for just a little while, while pumping us full of euphoria inducing action.<br />
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Anyway, that's been one reason.<br />
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But this I can't let pass.<br />
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My wife and I have a friend who has not lived a very successful life. Not a very happy person, and is very much down on his luck. He has a talent though, one that really speaks to my daughter and she commented on this talent when she saw a letter from this friend to my wife. Well, my wife wanted to make this friend feel better so she mentioned my daughter's praise in her response letter. We get even more evidence of this talent in the next letter.<br />
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Well, me being an overprotective jerk father cautioned my little one, not wanting her to get her hopes up about this person, not wanting her to date this kind of person, not wanting her to get hurt...who knows; but anyway, I said something to the effect of:<br />
<br />
"This person has not lived a good life little one. We have to remember that. They are a nice person, but have made many, many bad choices."<br />
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So what does she do. She writes her own letter to our friend, shared one of her own talents, and witnessed to him. Told him a little about God.<br />
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I felt 3 inches tall and embarrassed to be in the same room with such a beautiful spirit. She is already set toward the good works that God has prepared for her....and is acting on them, rather than thinking about them. Boy can she teach me!<br />
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Then, this past Sunday in church, she does this (No, I do not have time to learn how to imbed this youtube video):<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q82qUwpClQM&feature=youtube_gdata_player">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q82qUwpClQM&feature=youtube_gdata_player</a><br />
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I don't deserve her....but then, God doesn't give us what we deserve, we'd all be dead. God gives us life. In this life are many hardships, anxieties, pains, and joys. As much as I would like to believe it is not true, my little one is here for God, not for me. He has plans for her, and will continue to shape and mold her towards those plans, if she can just stay moldable and shapable.<br />
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I have been feeling that I am not so much that person of late. Is it wrong that your own child is a better example of grace and peace and faith than you are? Thought so.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-62327844530821535212012-07-03T08:21:00.001-06:002019-06-03T06:14:10.862-06:00PointsI don't really know why, but I never really knew of, or expected to experience the capacity of a child to love his or her parents in the way that I now experience that love from Little One. I wish I could adequately communicate it to those who don't really know how to parent, or are just not very good at it. I would say something like this:<br />
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"When you do it right...or as near to "right" as you can, your child will know that they are precious to you, and, as they become conscious of other children around them whose parents are NOT doing it "as rightly" as you, they will come to appreciate you. And they will begin to repay that love with their own. Almost overnight, they will become less selfish, they will ask you how YOU are doing, they will bring YOU something from the store, they will grab YOUR hand. They will tell you that they love YOU, first. That is the point when you realize, among other things:<br />
1) At least you are doing ONE thing sort of correctly<br />
2) Kids do become less selfish as they grow older<br />
3) You need your child at least as much as she or he needs you<br />
This leads me to a funny exchange. Yesterday, my animal loving daughter once again began her apeal to let her have a cat. In fact, she offered to pay me $6 for the privilege. She even knows which one she wants. I said "no." (I will forever and always say no...there are many good reasons other than that I don't like the smell of kitty litter, like, my wife AND that same daughter are very allergic to cats.)<br />
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Anyway:<br />
Although she KNEW I would say no as I have every other time, she started to get herself worked up over it. I started to simply reflect how much I knew she wanted one and that I knew she was disappointed. Finally she stopped asking and stated simply that I had "just lost 50 points."<br />
"What do you mean?" I asked.<br />
"Well last night you told Mommy you had just earned points for letting me have desert" she replys.<br />
"So I just lost 50? How many did I have?" I begged.<br />
"5" and we laughed and laughed.<br />
<br />Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-75847477824100778822012-04-25T10:55:00.002-06:002012-04-25T10:55:41.062-06:00A Mirror, Not A Projector<div>
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I want to thank those of you who keep checking back to see if I have posted any blogs. I noticed this morning that I have just crossed over the 10,000 page view mark. I want you to know that I really appreciate that! Thank you for reading these words. <br />
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I'm one of those who has to "work myself up" to face certain situations...like life. No really, like dealing with other people. After I wrote <a href="http://dorasdaddyspeak.blogspot.com/2010/10/gift.html">The Gift</a>, I experienced an epiphany. It was as if a complex set of concepts all came together at once and now....I am pressed to view things a bit differently. It's not a complete change in my way of living (though there are things I need to change) rather it is a greater willingness...or responsibility toward boldness.</div>
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Someone once described me as a "nervous" person. I have to admit, though I dislike that that comes through...it is true. I won't go too much further, but I am the most introverted person I know. (That's kind of a joke since introverted people don't really get to know that many people.) It's been my excuse for not being more open and available to others. More that that, it's been my excuse for not being more open about and sharing my FAITH with others. My fear is an easy excuse to avoid boldness.<br />
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<br />Speaking of projectors (just trust me)...<br />
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Projectors are good. I use them every day to flash PowerPoint slides up on the screen while I teach about psychology. They project my ideas, and the many (better) ideas of others up for the students to see. I work hard on those slides and change them every time I teach from them. They represent the best information and the best method for presenting it that I can come up with at the time. You get the picture? (ha ha) I work hard on them, I change them, I put MY slant on the information. I like to explain things as I see them (as you can tell).</div>
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Mirrors are different. The mirror doesn't lie, and won't allow me to put MY slant on what is seen, or not seen in the reflection. What is reflected is a perfect representation of what is causing the reflection. I may or may not like what I see in the mirror..but it is the truth.<br />
<br />
I am here (on earth) to be a mirror...not a projector. I am here to reflect the Glory of my Creator, my Father God.<br />
I think of the encouragement in the Bible:<br />
<em>"But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."</em><br />
Matthew 10:19-20<br />
<br />
That was Jesus talking to his 12 best friends, closest confidants, and brightest students. He didn't want them speaking out of their own wisdom in the most dire times in their lives...He reminded them that they just needed to mirror what God wants them to say, not project what they think they should say or do.<br />
<br />
Projecting my own interpretation and "wisdom" into my witness is bound to be filled with inaccuracies. The mirror though, the mirror reflects the truth. Despite the mish-mash of genetics of which I am a product; despite the limitations of my personality, I was designed to be a perfect mirror of His Glory.<br />
<br />
Even as I type that I imagine a broken, spotted, cloudy, mirror which fractures the image it is mirroring...but so did Paul:<br />
<br />
"<em>Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking round high and mighty!</em><br />
<em>At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,</em><br />
<em><strong>My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.</strong></em><br />
<em>Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size -- abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10 (The Message version)</em><br />
<br />
I don't have to, nor am I designed to project myself...I am uniquely faceted to reflect Him.<br />
<br />
I was created to be a mirror, not a projector.<br />
<br />
It allows me to greet people a little more often. It allows me to step into someones life AS I AM, not as I think I am supposed to be.<br />
<br />
It is hard to imagine this, but, in my Father's eyes, I am exactly what I am supposed to be...just right...His masterpiece...His child.<br />
<br />
And so are you.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-20534435725818893552012-03-23T10:34:00.000-06:002012-03-23T10:34:43.833-06:00One Very Special StudentI was reminded yesterday how special it is to have you in my classes. There I was, sharing information I thought was interesting, trying to explain the concepts involved to, what seemed like a room full of very bored, very distracted students.<br />
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Some were just too busy with their cell phones (cleverly hidden under the desk, or behind their backpacks) to care what I was saying. Others were locked in fascinating conversations with each other, either out loud or on paper (cleverly passed back and forth when I wasn't looking).<br />
<br />
Sure, there were the "eye-rollers" too. Those are fun. I guess they don't realize that I am not trying to keep them from their more important activities outside of the classroom...I'm just trying to concentrate and give them the best chance of understanding the information they need from my class.<br />
<br />
Now, to be fair, a few were listening. They looked at me, read what was on the board, even took a few notes. I appreciate them. I appreciate them so much that I give them extra points at the end of the semester. Look at me while I am talking to you and you can not fail my class, I won't let you.<br />
<br />
About a year ago I was so distressed by the fact that most of my students don't seem to like me (yes...I take it personally, even though I know that 90% of the time it is not) that I was seriously contemplating dropping the whole teaching gig.<br />
<br />
Then I remembered the incredible amount of time off I am afforded and decided I could put up with almost anything. It's a good trade off. I also realized that I can't possibly reach everyone in the class....not even 50%...not even 25%. In reality, I am speaking to 10 to 15% of the room. I may be under-estimating...but I am afraid that is the truth.<br />
<br />
Then there is you.<br />
<br />
You never nod off. You never text. You never look bored, in fact, if I didn't know better, you look like you are fascinated by every thought I share. You care what I am saying. When I stumble, or mis-speak, your smile is so encouraging. You've given me so many "breaks." Just having you there seems to make it all worthwhile. It re-energizes me; helps me to feel like I am there for a reason, that what I am doing is important, whether parts of it are boring or not.<br />
<br />
So I just want to say "thank you". You being with me gives me the joy I've always wanted to feel in my work. You know, without you I don't think I could do it. In fact,<br />
<br />
I'm sure of it.<br />
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Thanks Jesus.<br />
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"Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people." Colossians 3:23<br />
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Jesus) Matthew 28:20Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-8023116251038768342011-12-13T11:07:00.000-06:002011-12-13T11:07:22.774-06:00Drowning...Never<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-6Abnt8Zh8/Tud-0Coa0gI/AAAAAAAAAQA/6-i0AzawwUY/s1600/ocean-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-6Abnt8Zh8/Tud-0Coa0gI/AAAAAAAAAQA/6-i0AzawwUY/s320/ocean-9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Things have been kind of crazy lately.<br />
<br />
Delma had major surgery and came through it very well. She is doing wonderfully in her recovery. At the same time, Little One somehow either injured her leg...or there is something else going on in there that IS NOT welcome and she has been limping for almost a month. Has another appointment, a referral to an Orthopedic specialist tomorrow. If you know my sinful nature, I tend to be a worrier so...I've conjured up every horrible disease known to man for the pain to be a symptom of. (I do know better than to go on WebMD though: "Don't tell me it could be cancer! I my sick, worrisome mind KNOWs it could be cancer...tell me how unlikely that is, tell me how it just has to be something else."<br />
<br />
Another incredible possible blessing in the financial department has turned into a nightmare. Not only is there to be no financial blessing...but it is looking like it could cost us quite a bit (no I did not try a get rich scheme....I was just minding my own business).<br />
<br />
My car is broken. Like, put her out of her misery broken.<br />
<br />
Delma lost perhaps the most important parent-figure in her life over the weekend and this was certainly taxing on her and her family.<br />
<br />
But God is FOR me and my family. He is present in these trials that come to "test" my faith. He answers my questions with real reassurances. And praise Him, He reminds me to be wary of self-pity and fear.<br />
<br />
These trials are the trials of life...just bunched a little closer than I like.<br />
He is using, and will use them to train me to be the servant I asked Him to make me to be. (WHY did I pray that!?) He is and will use them to grow Little One out beyond herself (sorry Little One...but we all need that kind of training). And He is bringing about His perfection.<br />
<br />
I was grumbling to myself last night during a particularly unpleasant part of the weekend and, after rebuking the self-pity and frustration suddenly thought, clear as a bell, "What blessing is there without suffering?"<br />
<br />
What knowledge is gained without trial and difficulty.<br />
<br />
What good is the tool that never gets "dinged?"<br />
<br />
I'm done living in the tool kit, safely tucked into the pockets, all shiny and polished, never used.<br />
<br />
God has every right to use the life He gave me however He chooses to do so. There is no drowning in His arms.<br />
<br />
"Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 40:31Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-31419083691193866852011-11-03T09:16:00.000-06:002011-11-03T09:16:30.965-06:00I Don't Love My Wife.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Xz_WKL1dF4/TrKm4QFQ3lI/AAAAAAAAAP4/BJ8MId8Bty0/s1600/Sleepless+Nights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Xz_WKL1dF4/TrKm4QFQ3lI/AAAAAAAAAP4/BJ8MId8Bty0/s320/Sleepless+Nights.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>3:30am...I was awake, and knew I was going to be awake for quite awhile. By now I know very well when I am NOT going to be going back to sleep.<br />
<br />
Of course I didn't know why...so in "crazy" Christian style, I asked.<br />
<br />
"What do you want to say to me Jesus?"<br />
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Silence....and more silence....<br />
<br />
"What a stupid question." I punishingly chided myself.<br />
<br />
Then, as my mind was wondering, I started thinking about couples I have seen recently and what I would tell them if I thought it would help. In each and every case I would pull the man aside and say,<br />
<br />
"The only way you can save your marriage is to love your wife more than you love yourself."<br />
<br />
I was shocked at the simplicity of this statement. It was suddenly so very clear....if they could just get that point...if they could put it into practice in even a small way, they would save their marriages.<br />
<br />
"Ha!" I thought to myself, "That will be the day when you can say that and expect them to listen, learn, or understand."<br />
<br />
Then I must have dozed off, had a disturbing dream, and woke up.<br />
<br />
"What do you want to say to me Jesus?"<br />
"The only way you can save your marriage is to love your wife more than you love yourself."<br />
"But my marriage isn't at risk...I didn't know it needed saving."<br />
.....<br />
<br />
I read that the bible tells husbands to "love your wife" 32 times in 32 different passages. It only tells wives to do so twice. I like to think that that is because women are so good at loving others, whereas men are not naturally inclined to do so.<br />
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I also know that it is because we men are 95% of the time responsible for "checking out" of our marriages. Coasting. Moving on to other things (job, money, children, fun, wine, whatever).<br />
<br />
I believe we are called to be men of power, men with voices, men of love.<br />
<br />
Why is that so hard?<br />
<br />
Because somewhere along the way I forgot to put my pride, my fears, my self-adoration on the cross. It's a wonder my wife and child can even see me.<br />
<br />
Rather than the armor of God, I've put on the armor of Richard.<br />
<br />
The belt of silence, the breastplate of "Leave me alone." The shoes of solitude, The helm of escape. The sword....<br />
<br />
Now where did I put my sword?<br />
<br />
Dear God let my daughter be found by someone better than me.<br />
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Dear God help me to love my wife the way you love me.<br />
<br />
Oh, and that disturbing dream: My daughter was sick. I was sitting on the couch and my wife came and was displeased that I was not helping her. She wanted me to read something she had written and I refused and stormed out of the room. I went in our room and found that she had purchased new clothing for me, and rearranged the room to look very nice (and the bathroom was probably finished too right hon?).<br />
<br />
She had come to me asking me to take care of her, when she had already taken care of me.<br />
<br />
"Husband's love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."<br />
Ephesians 5:25Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-34015594687440500792011-10-12T11:35:00.001-06:002011-10-12T11:59:15.034-06:00What, Me...a Warrior?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0posG1AZm9M/TpSComHY3GI/AAAAAAAAAPw/GM9LsNDgyVI/s1600/spartan-total-warrior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0posG1AZm9M/TpSComHY3GI/AAAAAAAAAPw/GM9LsNDgyVI/s320/spartan-total-warrior.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
In his book <u>Wild at Heart,</u> John Eldridge puts forth the thesis that all men, being created by God, in His image, are motivated by three fundamental needs: a battle to fight, an adventure to live, a beauty to fight for.<br />
<br />
Of late, I find myself returning over and over to the warrior heart within me. I used to believe that my battles were fought pretty much in front of the TV while playing PS3 shooters. I never really found too much to awaken my warrior at work, in class...(though I am sure some of my students see me as a villain.)<br />
<br />
In counseling, I guess my fight is against depression, divorce, abuse, hopelessness...but, after all, talking never really felt like "fighting."<br />
<br />
But that's the illusion isn't it; the lie. In my case, and in the case of many others I'm sure, the lie provides a double wound:<br />
<br />
1) "There is no battle for you."<br />
2) "You aren't equipped to fight anyway."<br />
<br />
So, I have looked for countless substitutes:<br />
<br />
I spent over $2000 and 2 years getting a brown belt in Karate ("Not even a black belt, just a brown. Guess you just aren't good enough.")<br />
<br />
I have several guns and a license to carry a concealed handgun ("Weapons which just sit there, impotent without a battle.").<br />
<br />
I spend hours each month playing video games in which I get to "fight." And I don't write, and I don't talk, and I don't love...just "fight" battles which mean nothing.<br />
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And then I go to work, give a lecture to blank and bored faces...and I feel defeated. ("You suck at this...and you're boring.")<br />
<br />
I counsel the couple trying to fend off divorce, and they get divorced. ("FAIL: You let them down. You let their kids down.")<br />
<br />
I reflect on how far I've come, and remember what a loser I was... ("Once a loser, always a loser.")<br />
<br />
I am proud of my earnings one month, until I remember how I have already mis-handled that money, being buried in debt. ("You are going to ruin your family.")<br />
<br />
FAIL "I am a failure." "I am pathetic." "I am a loser." "I am not a warrior, I am a casualty."<br />
<br />
<br />
The voice! It sounds like my own. It YELLS at me, constantly indicting me with such malicious, hostility I could bend and easily break. "End it. Give up." The whisper is sickening to me. But it is there, in the dark, in the worst of moments. Suddenly; catching me by surprise.<br />
<br />
What if the voice were not my own...?<br />
<br />
What if that is part of the lie...?<br />
<br />
What if the voice is the voice of the enemy, with whom I have agreed for so long that I can't tell his voice from my own?<br />
<br />
<br />
No one has ever spoken to me like that, my father came close but not overtly. No one would ever say those things to me...unless they wanted to hurt me. Why would I want to continue hurting myself? Why, at 44, do I keep trying to tear myself down? Why, as a husband to a wonderful wife would I allow myself to weaken to the point of being unable to lead the family? Why, as a father of a 10 year old daughter would I ever put myself through those lashings, whippings, psychological beat-downs?<br />
<br />
"Curb every passion, and be on the alert. Your great accuser, the Devil, is going about like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour." 1 Peter 5:8 (Weymouth NT)<br />
<br />
In other versions the word "accuser" is translated adversary. I certainly experience the "adversary" as an accuser. Not a fair fight at all. He knows my wounds, knows my weaknesses, and seeks to use them against me.<br />
<br />
Now, for those who scoff...I have too. I don't want to be one of those people who gets freaked out about Satan, and demons and such. I know I'm not going to be demon possessed and you won't ever find me trying to cast one out.<br />
<br />
But, if I believe that the bible is the infallible Word of God. Then the words found therein ALL apply to my existence.<br />
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Back to 1 Peter 5:8. One other word there rings true to me. "Devour." Peter, (the guy who denied Christ 3 times before the rooster crowed; 1st person observer to the life and teachings of his Master, Jesus) didn't say, "he's prowling around to scare" or "to give you bad thoughts." He said, he (the Devil/Satan) is prowling around looking for someone to eat...chew up and destroy.<br />
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That's pretty intense. So, how do you destroy a man?<br />
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Tell him he's weak. Tell him he's not equipped. Tell him to give up. Remind him of his failures. Convince him you don't exist. Convince him he's got plenty of time. Call him a failure.<br />
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It's worked so many times down through the ages.<br />
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And it could work with me too. Just lull me into hopelessness, and I'll piddle my life away; along with the gifts and talents God purposefully blessed in me.<br />
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Ephesians 2:10 “We are his works of art, created for good works in Christ.”<br />
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But my Warrior spirit stirs.<br />
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Next: Am I equipped?Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-86600627045728789672011-09-16T12:15:00.001-06:002011-09-16T15:43:54.099-06:00Abba! Father!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em>Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a
slave although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers
until the date set by the father. So also we, while we were children, were held
in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the
time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that
He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption
as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our
hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son;
and if a son, then an heir through God. </em></div>
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<em> (Galatians 4:1-7)</em></div>
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I'm 44 years old and it has taken this long for God to move me to the point that I begin to contemplate this concept: That God did not just create me as I might "create" a SeaMonkey (remember those?) God created me IN HIS IMAGE. He created me to be His SON. Not the Christ, but His Son by adoption. And he didn't just give me His name...He gave me the Spirit of His Son so that I might really understand what it means to look up to Heaven and say "Daddy! Father!"</div>
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That thought strikes so deep at the wound from my own earthly father that I have spent much of my silent time letting the words wash over me.</div>
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"You are my Son...I chose YOU. I love YOU. I saved YOU from slavery. I want you to recieve Sonship. Take the gift of My Spirit into your heart and know that YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES!"</div>
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Thanks Dad.</div>
Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-67132230347304392982011-08-25T09:18:00.001-06:002011-08-25T09:20:25.075-06:00IronI have a friend. Let's call him....Ken.<br />
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Ken is going "under the knife" soon and I thought I would share a verse that has been rolling around in my head (which I don't believe is coincidence by the way).<br />
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"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17<br />
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If I could chose a friend for my own daughter, I would choose someone just like my friend Ken: Someone who loves you as you are; someone who is genuinely interested in what you think; someone who would never speak ill of you to others; someone who makes you better for having known them; a true friend.<br />
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I, as a father would choose just that kind of friend for my daughter.<br />
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I'm glad God, my Father, choose someone just like that for me.<br />
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And, God may not "move the chess pieces," as my friend Ken likes to say, but He is powerful enough to get <i>us </i>to move them where they need to go, when we are listening.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-15824563329373948902011-07-22T18:13:00.001-06:002011-07-22T18:14:37.651-06:00Spiritual Retreat Part IV - the endHere it is, the end!<br />
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Now, what are the qualities of a Life of Piety. What does it look like, feel like to be plugged into an intimate relationship with our Father?<br />
Our investment in the relationship is met with Blessings we never imagined pouring out into our lives. Christ says “I came that you might have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) That’s what’s “in it for me.”<br />
That abundant life through Life of Piety increases my <br />
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Awareness – I become more aware of myself, of Who and Whose I am.<br />
Ephesians 2:10 “We are his workmanship, created for good works in Christ.” My understanding of that word translated “workmanship” means as if a work of art. We are his works of art, His songs, His sculptures created specifically for good works.<br />
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I also become more aware of others, who and whose they are.<br />
I begin to see the guy who cuts me off, the rude co-worker not as an idiot, or a fool, but rather, perhaps as a broken person, a wounded person in need of the Good News.<br />
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God may have a role for me to play in the sharing of that news with them.<br />
Desire – King David wrote a song: As a deer pants for water, so my soul pants for you Oh God.” Psalm 42:1<br />
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The more I experience total relationship with God, the more I want it AND, I want other’s to have it as well.<br />
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“A life of piety is powered by the fire of God’s love in our hearts.” (say twice)<br />
Not my will, not my good deeds, not even my own love.<br />
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Philipians 2:13 is one of my new favorite versus so full of intrigue:<br />
“It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purposes.”<br />
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“It is God who works in you to will” My desire to get to know God, my very interest in Him in the first place is a gift from Him.<br />
God created us, God loves us, chooses us, woos us, makes us hungry, teaches us, puts us to work, rewards us, We go home to live with Him forever when we’re done. That’s a good deal!<br />
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Action – “It is God who works in you to will and to ACT, according to his good purposes. Through relationship with our Father, we are blessed with a desire to ACT. The bible often refers to this as “bearing fruit.” Again from John 15:5 “I am the vine and you are the branches. He that abides in me and I in Him, He will bear much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.”<br />
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So what Actions are these that God has planned. When I’m in relationship with Him, He uses our closeness to reveal them to me. When it’s not about me anymore, I can smile, encourage, serve, pray, speak, and more as I am empowered and prompted to action for God.<br />
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Though many of my actions may seem small, there is a spiritual economy and, directed by God, the seeds I plant through my actions are spiritually nurtured and grow to change/save lives.<br />
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Just as a seek to empower my daughter through the power of my relationship with her to make the right choices in friends. I also seek to teach her how to restrain herself when appropriate.<br />
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Inaction – restraint, can often be as important as Action.<br />
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Direction – In an age of GPS, we can go our whole lives without ever having to refold a map. In relationship with God, I never have to rely on my own understanding or sense of spiritual direction. As Psalm 119:105 says: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” When I’m in communion on a daily basis with the God of the Universe, true north is clear, remember the WWJD bracelet craze? When we know our Father, the answer is almost always clear. The direction for my life is from him, I might turn left or right off the path every now and again, but I always know the way back to the path.<br />
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Naturalness – Some of us learn it on the playground…some of us learned it in the home. Either way, as men, we learned there are right ways and wrong ways to look and act. “Just be yourself” is often said, but often ignored.<br />
Praise God that one of the first things He does as we enter into ever deepening relationship with Him is teach us that we are each works of art. Each a priceless treasure that is created to bring glory to Him. Who I am, my nature doesn’t have to be hidden.<br />
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I’m sure the inevitable argument with my daughter about makeup will arrive one day. As I think about it, I know that, in part, I will be saddened that she feels the need to put on a mask, in her natural state, she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.<br />
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God is calling us to be the men He created, not the men society thinks we should be. What does He see when He looks at us: His works of art, His warriors, His sons.<br />
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Courage – If it were up to me, I could be afraid of a lot of things. I’m kind of afraid of what might happen if I lose my job. I’m afraid of getting sick. I’m afraid that my wife or children might get hurt, or not turn out right. I’m afraid of public speaking.<br />
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Truth be told, fear is one of my biggest vices. But I have a power looking out for me, not just above me, but in me.<br />
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1st John 4:4 reminds me: “Greater is He that is IN you than is in the world.”<br />
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And I know that, when in relationship with this power, fear does not belong.<br />
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2 Tim 1:7 says “He has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, and love, and discipline.”<br />
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My true courage comes from living as the man I was created to be, and trusting God to take care of me in the here and now, and in the here-after.<br />
Joy – We live in a society which is desperately seeking “happiness.” We have pills that offer it, and we have an epidemic disease called “depression” which is the total absence of happiness. Almost like we are under attack.<br />
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The bible promises many things, the happiness the world is seeking is not one of them. The bible promises something better than fleeting moments of being happy, it promises JOY.<br />
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In John 15:11 Jesus tells us “I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have, and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.”<br />
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“I have told you these things so that you can have the SAME JOY I HAVE.” Not just any joy, Christ’s joy that comes in being a child of the King.<br />
Talk about a lopsided relationship, I give God my heart, and He gives me His Kingdom and everything that goes with it.<br />
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I know I’ve given you a lot to meditate on. I want to share with you one more example of Life of Piety alive and operating in the world.<br />
As I was growing up, my mother took me to church, but my father was a hostile atheist. He actively worked to tear down my mother’s faith, and my own. When I left home we were estranged. 7 years ago we learned he had Lou Gerigs disease, a neuro-muscular disease which causes the muscles to waste away, paralyzing and ultimately killing it’s victims.<br />
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By that time, God had brought me to the place where my role was perfectly clear, restore my relationship with my earthly father, and be Christ for him. We had many talks, and I wish I could say that before his death I saw him accept Christ as his savior. I can say, that the last thing he ever asked me to do, 2 weeks before he died, was to put a link to an internet bible on his computer desktop.<br />
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God doesn’t just have a plan for our lives, God has a fulfilling lifelong, personal relationship with Him for us if we will accept it and invest in it. <br />
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Life of Piety, a whole life lived, a whole heart given to relationship with God in Christ. It’s already there, waiting for you to accept it.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-34799351350784195492011-07-21T09:02:00.000-06:002011-07-21T09:02:00.997-06:00Spiritual Retreat Part IIIHere is part III of the talk I gave at the retreat I attended recently. Just one more to go after this one.<br />
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Ok – great. How do we build this relationship.<br />
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For me, first, before anything else, I had to realize that God is already there. He’s my Father, standing in the road, waiting for me to come home to be in relation with him. It was a relief to know that all I had to do was accept…not EARN the relationship.<br />
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What I can to is devote the time to ENHANCE the relationship and abide in it with Prayer – Searching the Scriptures – Meditation – Worship – Holy Communion – Spiritual Direction<br />
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Prayer – I was used to praying in church on Sunday, maybe at big meals<br />
Think about your own children for a sec. If your own child only talked to you one day a week, they wouldn’t get the benefit of your understanding, your acceptance, your wisdom…and you’d miss THEM!<br />
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I want to hear my child’s fears, joys, requests, etc.<br />
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1st Thess. 5:17 offers a solution “Pray without ceasing.” <br />
I’ve learned to pray with my eyes open, while I’m talking with someone, driving (and my wife said I should pray more while I’m watching the news). Any time...I always have His ear.<br />
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Searching the Scriptures- I have several favorite authors (Max Lucado, Phillip Yancy, John Eldridge) and I would love to meet each one and be their friend. I feel like I know their character from their books.<br />
Likewise the heart and mind of God is woven in the pages of the Bible. It contains God’s thoughts.<br />
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Albert Einstein once said “I want to know God’s thoughts, all else is detail.”<br />
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In His word I find His thoughts about Himself, and I find myself as He reveals my purpose, my value.<br />
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Meditation – This isn’t the legs crossed burning incense saying Ommmmmm kind of meditation. This can take several forms:<br />
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Sometimes I’ll find a scripture that I repeat over and over to myself throughout the day, or paste it to my mirror, on my phone so it can penetrate my mind.<br />
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Other times it might be spending quite time, with my head cleared of others concerns listening for the prompting of the Holy Spirit, that “still small voice of God”<br />
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I’ve heard more than one influential pastor say that their prayer life involves their prayer to God, and then their silence, listening. I’ve found more often than not, when I do listen, a scripture will come to mind which applies to predicament or concern at the time. Let me tell you, for a guy who’s scoffed at a lot of people for saying that God “talked” to them I’ve had to recognize that God does “communicate” with His children in many and various ways, if we are quite and discerning enough to listen.<br />
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Worship – Whether I’m prostrate on the ground praying, kneeling, singing songs, clapping, raising my arms, attending church, tithing, I’m engaged in worship.<br />
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There are countless ways to express our Thanksgiving and love for God. In part, through worship I am reminded of my place in the spiritual hierarchy, GOD is on the throne…worshiping Him means I acknowledge Him there.<br />
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Also in part, worship to me is like the game you may have played with your child. You say I love you, and they say I love you more, and you say no I love YOU more. When we worship God, telling Him we love Him, Psalm 22:3 “God inhabits the praise of his people.” says He’s not just listening and receiving high on His throne, He’s there, saying I love you more. And we say we love YOU more, and He trumps with “I loved you FIRST.”<br />
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Holy Communion – We humans’ are designed to learn in many ways: We learn by reading, by watching, by hearing, and by DOING.<br />
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I’ve heard the crucifixion story many times, I’ve seen it in movies like Passion of Christ, But, when I bite into the bread, chew, and swallow, I feel his body broken for me.<br />
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When I drink the wine, I feel his blood spilled for me.<br />
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I share that humble drama with my brother’s and sister’s in Christ “In remembrance of Him” (Luke22:19) and feel restored in purity (relationship). <br />
Spiritual Direction – If my AC breaks this summer, I’m going to call a trained, knowledgeable professional. When I’m lost in an unfamiliar city, I check a map. When I’m unsure of a spiritual issue, or unsure of life’s path, I can seek the direction and counsel of experts. This means spending time with mature Christians. I may annoy him but I try to visit with my pastor in his office, one on one, at least once every two months. Reading books by mature Christian authors is another source of spiritual direction (C.S. Lewis, Max Luccado, Phillip Yancy).<br />
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God gave some the gift of teaching and encouraging and we can utilize those people and take advantage of their insights and encouragements. Of course this can also include other Christian people…God doesn’t just use “experts,” he’ll use anyone available to share His truths.<br />
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Part IV, the end, tomorrow...Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-44518153445935968672011-07-20T08:00:00.002-06:002011-07-20T08:04:52.509-06:00Spiritual Retreat Part IIHere is part two of "The Talk"<br /><br />Attention – Time – Honesty – Deep Commitment – Sharing<br /><br />Attention - Any married man knows that our wives crave (demand) our attention. If we fail to let them know we value them by paying attention to them, they hear “I don’t love you.”<br /><br />The more attention I pay to God, the more the relationship flourishes, the more I learn, because the more He can reveal.<br /><br />Time – My wife shared a quote she heard the other day “Love = Time” (probably a hint)<br /><br /> Kind of turns the old idea about quality over quantity on its head.<br /> The average man in America spends 15 min./day with his children, 20 min/day with his spouse and ? min/sec a day with his God.<br /><br />Any wonder our children have no direction, we have a 53% divorce rate, and our churches are in decline?<br /><br />My best relationships are maintained and nurtured with TIME and I’ll mention time doing what in a second.<br /><br />Honesty – Of course God knows the truth so why do we need to tell Him? True honest for me makes me vulnerable. I admit my fears, anger, and weaknesses before Him and His knowledge of me becomes real to me.<br /><br />If I had prayed “Thy will be done” in my Mom’s death but never admitted to Him that I was pretty ticked off that He didn’t heal her, I would have Reverence for God, but not Relationship with my Father.<br /><br />My daughter has full permission to be angry with me, and to tell me about it. Once when I wrongly accused her of not being honest with me she broke into huge tears and yelled, “You’re such a bad Daddy!” Far from hurting our relationship, that opened us up for reconciliation, and she saw my love for her could handle it.<br /><br />In His relationship with us, can God want any less? (He deserves our reverence and craves relationship)<br /><br />Deep Commitment – Exodus 20:5 says in part “…for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.” His first commandment on the stone tablets was “Thou shalt have no other God before me.” That means anything I worship other than him, money, TV, friends, work. Just as I expect my wife to keep her wedding vows to me and be committed to maintaining and building our relationship, God seeks for that same type of deep commitment in His and my relationship.<br /><br />Sharing – Two heads are better than one. When my wife and I share in our bearing of each other’s burdens we have greater strength to face them.<br /><br />Listen to this awesome source of strength Jesus promised us as we remain in relationship with him found in John 15: 4&5<br /><br />“Abide in me and I in you. As the vine branch can not bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”<br /><br />In this relationship with God, we share our HEARTS with HIM. He gets our burdens, we bear the fruit. And God is glorified.<br /><br />Part III tomorrow...Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-71328371843170508992011-07-19T08:19:00.004-06:002011-07-19T08:36:16.036-06:00Spiritual Retreat Part IOk, I've been "gone" awhile. Summer break is supposed to be a "break" but it hasn't really panned out that way. But, I have been writing, just not in my blog. I spent oh, about 20 hours writing and practicing this "talk" for a spiritual retreat with 40+ men from which I just returned. Although I was given an outline, we were to make the talk "our own" and I did. I thought that since most of it is "mine" that it would not be such a cop out to share it here. It kind of encapsulates much of what I believe about just who a man is, in Christ.<br /><br />And since this is a blog for my little one.....I guess I'm going to have to contemplate how many, if any, changes I would make to make it apply to women.<br /><br />The great thing is, the talk was 25 min. long so, I get to post it over several blogs!<br /><br />So without further pause (don't know how to spell adueu): PART I<br /><br />Life of Piety (PART I)<br /><br />I had just celebrated my 30th Birthday. Having been raised a Christian by my mother, that was the year I had decided I would really begin to serve the Lord. Just like Jesus had begun his ministry at the age of 30, I would begin my “real” service, form a “real relationship with Him.<br /><br />Things were pretty good in my life at that time, I celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary, I had a 10 year old step-son, I was “happy.” Then one night I got one of those phone calls. Many of you have had one like it. One of those phone calls which divides your life into, life before and life since.<br /><br />It was my grandmother who, with worry in her voice was calling to ask me to “call your mother…something’s wrong.”<br /><br />“Something’s wrong” what could be wrong.<br /><br />It only took a minute of talking and listening to my mother for my heart to sink to my feet. Her disjointed-nonsense speech made me imagine for a second that my Mother, who had never had a drink in her life had started with a whole bottle of Jack Daniels.<br /><br />After a midnight race to Dallas I got her to the emergency room where she was immediately admitted to the hospital. Less than 24 hours after that call from my Grandmother, I learned that Mom had brain cancer.<br /><br />Now, apparently there is brain cancer and “nasty” brain cancer. I learned this from a Neuro-surgeon after he evaluated Mom’s biopsy. “These are the nastiest tumors there are.” he shared: Aggressive, fast growing, devastating.<br /><br />Two weeks after that phone call, my Mother was dead.<br /><br />Something was wrong. That’s not how it was supposed to be. She was a good person, and, no offence to Billy Joel, good people don’t die young. My infant faith was shaken and I realized that I didn’t know God at all.<br /><br />My name is Richard Hickam, and the title of this talk is Life of Piety.<br />What I had mistaken for a relationship with God was nothing more than a Sunday Morning church, meal time prayer acquaintance. He was welcome when He fit into my life…or when I had a problem. Other than that, he did not have my heart.<br />That shallow, surface level acquaintance couldn’t bear the weight of loss. Though I was shaken, My God was not. He was working in me powerfully wooing me, teaching me about the relationship with Him that I was meant for, that would pull me through life’s tragedies.<br /><br />When I was a teen, I had a favorite Christian singer named Keith Green, one of my favorites of his had the first line:<br /><br />“I’ll make my life a prayer to you.”<br /><br />I thought that was a beautiful, intriguing sentiment, but totally impractical.<br />I’ve learned though that that is exactly what we are invited, called to do.<br />A life of piety is a whole life lived in deliberate, open communion and relationship with God. It means God is number 1 and all else is off the throne of our lives.<br />A life of piety, in which I give my whole heart to God is the first leg of a three legged stool upon which a Life of Grace is maintained. Not in and of itself enough to sustain that life, but note, it is the First leg. The leg we start with. An intimate, real relationship with my heavenly parent.<br /><br />In college one of the most popular guys lived on the same floor in my dorm. He was friends with anyone and everyone. A servant to others before I understood what a servant was. Inside his room, above his door were two words.<br /><br />I’m Third<br /><br />He’d tell anyone who asked what that meant: “Father God first, other’s second, I’m third.”<br /><br />Putting God first, maintaining his relationship with Him brought all his other relationships into focus.<br /><br />Through parenting my own child, God has revealed so much about His longing for relationship with us.<br /><br />My child is not designed to go it alone. She’s not equipped unless I and her mother equip her for life. She is designed for an intimate connection – relationship with her parents. It shapes her character, it shapes her relationships with others, and with herself. <br /><br />All over the Bible it refers to us as children of God. Galations 4:5 says:<br />“God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Hear that – You who are redeemed are son’s of God by adoption.<br /><br />As sons, we are designed, were created for an intimate father-son relationship with God, mirroring Christ’s relationship with His own father. Out of Christ’s intimacy with his Father flowed everything that He was, everything that he knew and said:<br /><br />John 7:16 “The things I teach are not my own, but they come from Him who sent me.”<br /><br />As in any relationship though, GIGO, garbage in, garbage out. The relationship is there, my acceptance and maintenance of it requires that I give it my best.<br /><br />I want to share the characteristics of a life in piety with you. How do we nurture and grow this relationship? As you can imagine they mirror characteristics of our closest, most successful meaningful relationships on earth.<br /><br />(Part II tomorrow)Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-22198348041417618452011-04-04T15:15:00.010-06:002011-04-08T10:55:50.977-06:00Getting Her Hair Wet on SundayJust got back from "the meeting with the Pastor."<br /><br />I guess there are many reasons for those meetings...I've met with him twice since he came to our church a couple of years ago. This one involved my wife, myself...and yes, little one. She's decided that she is ready to be baptized. She has already "invited Jesus into her heart" about two years ago so, I already know I'm seeing her in Heaven.<br /><br />I wondered when she would stoke up the courage to go ahead and get baptized, or dunked in the water in front of the church. For some kids...it seems they can't wait to get up there in front of people. For her...she's had some significant anxiety. Part of it is the "getting up in front of people" but that can't be everything given her ability to stand on the stage by herself and sing a song.<br /><br />I think it came out one evening when she was talking to me about it. She brought it up...I never did. I wanted it to be ALL her decision. As the talk wound along, she started to ask more questions; specifically:<br /><br /> "What if God doesn't really exist?"<br /><br /> "What if someone just wrote the bible to tell people there was a God, but they were just trying to make people feel good?"<br /><br /> "What if they made up Jesus?"<br /><br /> "What's my purpose?" (not kidding)<br /><br /><br />Whoa kiddo. I haven't quite figured out those answers for myself. Let's go back to you asking if you can have a kitty.<br /><br />I wish I could say I cleared it all up for her. As I recall, I said something like: "Daddy had...and HAS those same questions sometimes. I've decided to have faith that God and Jesus exist. And, you're already accomplishing your purpose right now...to be Daddy's girl. You'll find more purposes later."<br /><br />Then she was off that track and wanted a drink of water.<br /><br />The whole baptism thing...It's a big moment...a spiritual marker.<br /><br />I was older (13) when I got dunked. I remember thinking that at that moment, I was totally pure for the first time ever. If that was true, I reasoned...then I better not ever sin again or...what a waste of a "washing." (Of course right after I came up out of the water I tried to see if I could think of anything bad...just to see if I was really "clean.") Lo and behold...I could still sin. Da...I mean darn. I didn't really understand the concept of it being a SYMBOL not a salvation moment.<br /><br />Since it is such a big moment for her I'll try to make that day a really big one...<br /><br />thinking of going all the way to Lubbock to eat at Joe's Crab Shack (her favorite place).<br /><br />I want her to remember the day she asked Christ into her heart...<br /><br />and then the day she was "buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to a new life in Him."<br /><br />You'll still sin Little One...and I'll still notice them, and fret over them. But the coolest of cool things is:<br /><br />He won't.<br /><br />(Oh, and yes, now you can eat the bread when they pass the plate for the Lord's Supper.)Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-65962025156827667182010-12-09T09:00:00.003-06:002010-12-09T09:23:56.109-06:00String<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TQDvL7cSiXI/AAAAAAAAAO4/1KPwh0jux1k/s1600/gold%2Bstring.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548697729134397810" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TQDvL7cSiXI/AAAAAAAAAO4/1KPwh0jux1k/s200/gold%2Bstring.jpg" /></a> My mother used to kind <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">heartedly</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">chastise</span> me about not writing more often (way before the days of email). We always agreed that I would...but I used to make it such a BIG deal...had to write a book or I didn't feel it was worth anything.<br /><br />That's part of my problem with blogging...have to write a book or it's not worth anything.<br /><br />Not true...my Grandma wrote to me in college every week: one page. Just to say she loved me...(and to send me money).<br /><br />One page. I have great ideas...Really great...I promise...but for now, just to prove I'm still here:<br /><br />I opened my coat pocket just now to pull out a tissue and saw my piece of gold string. Well, it's not really my gold string...I have it there for Dora.<br /><br />What does she need with gold string? Well, she might be bored one day and I could pull it out and relieve her <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">boredom</span> by showing her the string.<br /><br />That's why it was put there 6 years ago. She was 4.<br /><br />Every year around this time (when it gets cold) I pull out my coat and, there it is. Never been used for its magic purpose. I should probably throw it away.<br /><br />However, 30 minutes ago, when I saw it again, I thought of her...and remembered me.<br /><br />Most self-respecting boys of 5 and older know that you can't leave the house without some string, a rubber band or two, a rock and a toy car. My pockets were always full when I left the house. I remember thinking that the string would be useful if I got lost, or stumbled into an adventure which required string.<br /><br />And here I am. I finally found my adventure which might require string...her name is Dora.<br /><br />I think I'll just hang on to it.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-90793669947143900692010-11-10T11:40:00.006-06:002010-11-10T12:15:33.322-06:00Evidence of The GiftSorry I have been away loyal readers. Several things have happened which have pulled my attention away from blogging. For posterity sake, a quick sample:<br /><br /><br /><br />We who practice here in Big Spring moved our offices. We moved into offices which are far superior, but it has taken a full two weeks to feel like I have a handle on everything that was moved.<br /><br /><br /><br />Along those lines:<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537978484624275266" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TNraFx3JN0I/AAAAAAAAAOQ/yDVTRWO9ocU/s200/Office.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><p>I fell backwards into an awesome office space (that picture is not it but): huge, private bathroom, two walk-in closets, a main office and an outer office. This was made much sweeter as I have been "officing" from home for the college as the building housing me is being ripped apart for a year or so. Either way...I feel like Patrick Stewart when he first started filming STTNG. He once said in an interview that he thought it was too good to be true, that he would be replaced any day, "I didn't unpack for weeks." <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 152px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537981877079307858" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TNrdLPvc9lI/AAAAAAAAAOY/eBfh5W2Q_yA/s200/picard03.jpg" /></p><br /><p>So, that's "all good."</p><p>But then I got sick. As I type this I can't speak above a whisper. I don't feel as bad as I did...but, well, I TALK for a living!</p><p>Yesterday morning, little one asked why I have to go to work when I am sick. We talked about it and she was excited to know that, when her college prof. is sick, she will get to get out of class. I also let her know that if I was REALLY sick, I would stay home.</p><p>So last night I'm sitting on the couch (after eating the excellent food my wife cooked...big deal, she doesn't like cooking) watching the news. Little one is off doing something somewhere and then runs in with a sign which says "This Way -->" I follow and...well...I was blessed. Her favorite stuffed animals were holding signs which said "Get Well!" She had two back rubbing tools available for my choosing and a stack of children's books to read to me.</p><p>So for the next 20 minutes she read out loud while rolling a wooden wheeled device up and down my back.</p><p>Yup. Sometimes things just go really, really well. I am thankful for those moments of joy and know they have and will make up for other moments of crud.</p><p>I wish you all the same: many moments of joy. The stories I read on your blogs are inspiring and humbling.</p>Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-73394839773571883412010-10-23T09:53:00.015-06:002010-10-23T11:35:59.839-06:00THE Gift<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TMME_9bzNNI/AAAAAAAAANo/4J86Jvro15k/s1600/gift.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531270264210535634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 178px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TMME_9bzNNI/AAAAAAAAANo/4J86Jvro15k/s200/gift.jpg" border="0" /></a>My wife always says that I think too much. That if I would just accept things at face value, I wouldn't have these long periods of time when I am agnostic. I know everyone experiences times of doubt and skepticism...I would just like to have them less often. And when I have them, I would love to find the evidence lean in favor of my belief in God.<br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531272446142776514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 161px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 160px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TMMG-9w_BMI/AAAAAAAAANw/1QmDVaBcCGs/s200/scales.jpg" border="0" />But much of the time, I look and see more to dissuade me from my faith than to validate it.<br /><br /><br />Like...why do I have to keep praying for faith...and then feel that I have it, only to lose it again. How about just giving me a lifetime measure of faith which is always there...always secure? Going back and forth from "Yeah, I love God!" to feeling Freud may have been right, that I am just another neurotic soul who has bought into a mass delusion. Am I so afraid, so discontent with my life that I have to delude myself that there will be an afterlife where I get to do all the things that I don't get to do here on earth?<br /><br />{Example: After hearing of a friend's lavish vacation, made possible by his impressive six figure salary I thought: "Heaven better be pretty impressive because down here, I'm missing out on some great stuff."}<br /><br />So then, of course, I remember that my 5 figure salary is a king's ransom to 85% of the rest of the inhabitants of this earth. Boy, I bet they REALLY look forward to heaven. But wait, a huge percentage of them don't believe in Christ and thus...for all their suffering here, they are going to hell.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531280649646651154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 131px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TMMOceMuNxI/AAAAAAAAAN4/uHtGvEbhJ6I/s200/Hell.jpg" border="0" />Christian's can be really sick and self-serving. In fact, most Christians I know are just as sick and self-serving as non-Christan's...but just convinced that they are not.<br /><br /><br />The problem is, my faith is in something that doesn't really explain God.<br /><br /><br />A most unfortunate thing has happened to the Christian faith. Christianity has become just a way to get through the day, to feel better about being bad, and to reassure us at the end that we haven't really lost our loved ones...we'll see them again. It's comforting to imagine that someone really is in control of all of this mess, that we will be rewarded as long as we believe the right things.<br /><br />So. The faithful have come to, at the deepest core belief level, expect Christianity to serve us. When it doesn't (or doesn't seem too), we blame it for our problems. "What can you do for me God?"<br /><br /><br /><br />I have my faith on backwards.<br /><br /><br />We weren't created to be served...we were created to serve. Whether we like it or understand it or accept it, God created us to glorify Himself. We are the sculptures, He is the artist.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531288303676178210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TMMVZ_rkPyI/AAAAAAAAAOI/Ib2NmmYCBIc/s200/david.jpg" border="0" />The sculpture doesn't get to ask for things from the sculptor. It just stands there and looks pretty. People look at it and say "Oh my! That is so incredibly beautiful and amazing...that sculptor is incredible! What talent!"<br /><br /><br />Of course the sculptor takes VERY good care of his works of art...makes sure they have what they need. But it is the sculptor who decides what each work of art needs. The sculpture is just a stupid piece of rock...it can't possibly understand what it needs. If it could come to life and ask the artist, why am I here? The answer would always be: "Because I made you."<br /><br /><br />"Yeah...but what is my purpose?"<br /><br /><br />"To reflect my skill. To glorify me."<br /><br /><br />"That's it?"<br /><br /><br />"Well, I guess I could hang clothes on you..."<br /><br /><br />Being a Christian means that the bottom line is, I must accept that my very existence is a gift from the Creator. As such, I'm just here to look pretty. I'm here to serve. I am a mirror to reflect HIS glory, HIS wisdom, HIS power.<br /><br /><br />I am here to proclaim that GOD IS.<br /><br /><br />The fact that something went wrong in the museum and a few of the sculptures are lost means that my purpose is also to help find them. To restore them for the ARTIST'S glory.<br /><br /><br />That is why Christian's thank God for the rain, the sun, their jobs, their spouses, and especially their children. For an artist to provide His work of art with JOY...now THAT's an impressive piece of workmanship.<br /><br /><br />"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10<br /><br /><br />Thank you God.Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100826022135005191.post-43167209659353161972010-10-11T17:28:00.003-06:002010-10-11T17:39:20.968-06:00Some Really Good News<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TLOeBjalAJI/AAAAAAAAANY/S__F2jzfVT0/s1600/superdaughter.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526934917237506194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 184px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RBuCPvspn1g/TLOeBjalAJI/AAAAAAAAANY/S__F2jzfVT0/s200/superdaughter.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><p>So, we go to our mandatory meeting with little one's fourth grade teacher. Right in the middle of my day...not really looking forward to it because I have nothing to say...no big problems. She doesn't really LIKE school...but she excels at it.</p><p>Beyond her Mommy's and my wildest dreams, little one is a natural in school. She makes straight A's with ease. She earns frequent honors for reading, singing, acting, drawing, etc. You know, the things I wish I had been for my parents, she is for me (not fair really...for my parents).</p><p>So we get in there, and the teacher who seemed so gruff and distant to little one at the beginning of the year started gushing.</p><p>Now, I've blown my share of smoke in my day. You know, gotta paint kids in the best light for parents. But this teacher knew we already knew our daughter. She gave us real feedback about her strengths beyond her natural intellectual gifts.</p><p>I learned that Dora is a nurturer...helping her friends when they fall behind. I learned that she is practical, ready with plenty of questions. I learned that she is a little "less mature" than her peers. (Thank God...literally. She'll have plenty of time to be "mature" when she gets older.)</p><p>Above all, I learned that, though I know I have a great kid...that other people think so too.</p><p>I'd like to take credit (and secretly, let's face it, I do). But what I know is that Dora's mother and I have been blessed with a beautiful, precious, fragile, wonderful gift when what we really "deserved" was nothing.</p><p>Thanks God.</p>Dora's Daddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04703516543301383104noreply@blogger.com10