Happy Birthday, My Bride

Happy Birthday to my bride!

I don't know why. But, I've been incredibly blessed to be married to a woman who is truly one in a million. Ouida's heart is set on seeking, hearing, and following the Lover of her soul. She has confronted many fears and found faith to keep walking. When we got married, Ouida had in mind that we would have a small family of only three children. I was thinking of maybe two or three. But, it seemed like Father kept calling us to have "one more". Ouida struggled with fears about childbirth, pregnancy, and taking care of each of them. We had more than 12 children but only 12 were born. Ouida is a true mother who has laid down her life for her children.

As the years went by, we began to feel that our heavenly father was guiding us toward something different in education. After various public, Christian and cooperative schooling attempts, we ended up home educating. This was a huge challenge for Ouida and was a great motivation for prayer. She has always wanted and sought the very best for her children. This has often taken her out of her comfort zone and beyond the boundaries of self-imposed limitations. Ouida is a diamond among grains of sand.

We have prayed together many times about many different things. Many times, she has prayed for me when I've been stuck for hours on some problem at work and, strangely, things seemed to clear up after a bit. We've prayed together seeking God's direction on many decisions such as whether to move into Christian community in the country, how to educate our children, whether to get rid of the TV, how to handle relationship problems, where to seek Christian fellowship and how to handle the challenges that children bring with them. My bride is a wonderful prayer partner.

I don't like to travel alone because I've experienced how much fun I have traveling with Ouida. A trip to China to visit our daughter would seem like a waste if I couldn't share all the experience with my bride. She gets excited about things I might not notice otherwise. I remember with joy the experiences of riding in taxis to unknown destinations, walking the streets of Shanghai, and trying out our hotel's foot massage business. She has also learned to travel into the unknown challenges of camping. They were unknown to her because she had not grown up with camping experiences. Tents, rain, cold, no showers, and babies to feed and take care of. Who wants to sign up? Ouida did. We've gone camping almost every summer for close to 30 years. We couldn't have done it if she hadn't embraced the experience and done all the planning and organized all the preparation required. Many say they couldn't or wouldn't do it. But, her work, camping supplies list, DayTimer, and camping preparation crew gave us camping experiences that profoundly blessed our family. Ouida is a rare and wonderful camper.

It's on her birthday this year that we begin to move into the new house we've been building. Ouida has been intimately involved in and prayed over everything about this house. We want it to be a place of ministry rather than just a place. When building a house, one wants every detail to be "just right". But, many details will have problems. Compromises are also necessary to meet the sometimes conflicting requirements and desires. Several neighbors have complimented various things about the house. Much of the appearance, layout and materials have been the target of Ouida's prayer, searching and discernment. Her sense of what looks good is much better than mine. Ouida is a builder.

I love you, Ouida. May the Father bless you with much fulfillment in ministry, rich family interactions and deep personal relationship with Him this new year of your life.

Happy Birthday!!

Psalm 24:3-4

Good Things Happen

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, (Jeremiah 1:4)

Like many of you, I frequently check my e-mail. Others of us like to check the mail box. We hope to get some interesting news or word from family, friends or business. God is trying to send each of us a message. If we have His Holy Spirit living in us, He is wanting to give us one or more messages every day. In fact, God is more ready to speak than we are to hear.

Thousands of years ago, Jeremiah was able to tune in. In contrast to e-mail, if we really hear God's word for each of us, we will be changed. His Word has power and does not return void. So, let's grab a Bible or pull up a devotional online and ask God to give grace to hear His voice in our soul. When He speaks and we hear, good things happen.

Who?

In my younger days, I felt completely independent and thought I knew what was best in my life. And, so what if I was wrong about some decision? After all it was my life to make or mess up. But, then I got married and soon we had a new son. Because of these loved ones in my life, I began to realize that my personal decisions extended to the help or hurt of others who were important to me. Of course, I was only just beginning to recognize a truth that had always been true. My decisions always impacted others, I just lacked enough love to perceive how much I could hurt my siblings, parents, and friends.

I reached out day after day
to a people who turned their backs on me,
People who make wrong turns,
who insist on doing things their own way.
(Isaiah 65:2)

There are some who are embarrassed about some of their past actions. So now, pride tends to hold them back from fellowship. Some have chosen to become "too busy" to be involved in spiritual growth activities. A person like this may be sacrificing his family on the altar of his pride. Except for the grace of God, pride will have its own way. May God have mercy on him and help him to have the love to see the truth that we are all sinners and have all done things that we are now ashamed of.

Other men are constantly tempted to make the "things that are seen" into important goals, projects and priorities. We want bigger buildings, nicer cars, prettier women, higher pay and better seats in the arena. And, please don't bother us with words about knowing God or spreading God's Kingdom. We're too busy and too proud. Solomon carried these kind of goals to the extreme and found only -- "smoke".

King Solomon had incredible wisdom and was able to organize huge projects, judge difficult cases and compose proverbs to guide others. He is even the writer of a few books in the Bible. Yet, his incredible personal wisdom was not sufficient to sustain him for his whole life. He failed to continue to seek to know God's ways, God's priorities and God's love. As a result, Solomon experienced the frustration expressed in Ecclesiastes. Which of us is wiser than Solomon and, therefore, no longer need to seek God? The "wisdom" of man doing things his own way has destroyed so many families, nations, and churches.

Look at that man, bloated by self-importance— full of himself but soul-empty.
But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive. (Habakkuk 2:4)

Let's move closer to God and start giving a little more time, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, every day reading His Word, seeking His priorities and knowing His love. Incredibly, the Creator, the King of Kings is reaching out to us. The great I AM is inviting each of us into a deeper relationship with Him while Pride calls us to trust ourselves. Who are we listening to?