Power

Last Monday, a construction worker was digging with a backhoe on our property preparing the foundation for our new church addition. I don't know if he just wasn't paying attention or if he didn't see the warning flags, but he got a jolt when he hit the main electrical feed to our building. Fortunately, he wasn't injured, but the damage to the power line had been done. The construction superintendent told us that they had to turn off our electricity while they got the line fixed and the office would be without power for the rest of the day and even the next morning. As the lights went dark we started to realize how dependent we are on electricity. Since there was no power to our email server, no one would be getting email. Since the phones have to be plugged in to work, nobody could talk on them. The offering from the day before couldn't be processed because it had to be done on the computer. Basically, the day was over. Everyone went home because we couldn't do much without power.

It occured to me that electrical power is something we often take for granted. In the U.S. our power supply is pretty stable and we don't wonder if a light is going to come on when we flip the switch, we just know that it will. As I was sitting in the dark that day in my office, I realized that there is another power that I often take for granted. Acts 1:8 says "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere..." As a Christian, I have access to the greatest power in history, and I truly believe that Jesus can make a difference in the everyone's life, but because I have become so accustomed to His presence in my life, I sometimes lose the awe and wonder that I should have. It wasn't always this way...

I Kings Chapter 8 tells the story of Solomon dedicating the Temple. The priests brought the Ark of the Lord's Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple-the Most Holy place. When the priests came out of the Most Holy place, a thick cloud filled the Temple. The priests could not even continue their service, they were so overwhelmed at the Lord's presence. Clearly, they understood that God had chosen to inhabit His Temple and they had nothing but reverence and awe for the power that represented.

Now, because of Christ's sacrifice, I have the opportunity to pray to a God who is present and not distant. I have the opportunity to access power beyond all description.

God forgive me for taking you for granted. Thank you for your presence in my life. Give me the power that I need to live for you daily, and to tell everyone about your love. Amen.

Trip Recap

I wanted to take some time to reflect on how blessed I feel to have had the opportunity to go on vacation. The five of us in our family had some much needed “together time,” and we were able to connect and catch up with a lot of our extended family and friends. I’m grateful that I work in an environment that values families and allows me to take off of work to recharge my batteries. I won’t bore you with every detail, but I thought I’d share some of the highlights of our trip. So far, we have traveled 2000 miles, and by the time my family drives home at the end of the week (aided by my wife’s parents) we will have logged more than 3100 miles on the Odyssey. By the way, the Odyssey drove great with no problems! As I mentioned before, our family loves road trips and this was no exception. The first night we had the opportunity to stay with Anne's brother's family in Little Rock. Their boys are growing up fast! Then it was on to Bardstown KY. My sister's in-laws were very gracious and hosted us in their "hill house."


We met up with my sister's family and her in-laws, my parents, some friends from Colorado, and Anne's parents came in later in the week. The views from the house are incredible! It's is such a great location and the Kentucky hills are really beautiful.

While we were at the house, the girls enjoyed fishing for the first time.



There is an amphitheater in Bardstown where we saw "Stephen Foster-the musical". Stephen Foster was a famous songwriter in the 19th century who wrote "My Old Kentucky Home", "Suwanee River", "Oh Susanna" and a bunch of other songs that are a part of our heritage. The girls dressed up in period costumes and got a picture with the performers.



We went to a July 4th parade in Springfield, KY and made quite a splash with our fashionable hats. In fact, this picture ended up in the local paper.



I had fun driving an RTV all over the hills!



I Can't wait to do it all again!

Break's Over

My vacation has ended and I’m reminded of a joke that my friend Rick in Nashville told me a long time ago…

A certain man died and went to hell. (That could happen, the rest of this, probably not.) At the entrance to hell, he was met by a demon who told him, “Welcome to hell, you must now choose between any of the three doors in front of you to choose your place of eternal torment.” Behind the first door was people screaming and wailing while flames burned all around them. “Ouch” the man thought. Behind the second door snakes and rodents climbed all over the people in the room. “EEww.” He had always been afraid of snakes. As the demon opened the third door, a bad odor hit the man’s nose. The people inside were standing in manure up to their waists, but they were sipping coffee out of nice cups. The man thought,”Well the smell is awful, but I think I can get used to it. Besides, it beats getting burned or having snakes crawl on me, and I do enjoy coffee!” He told the demon, “If I have to choose, I’ll take this door.” “Great,” the demon replied. “Enjoy your eternal torment.” As he waded into the room, he wondered to himself where he might find the coffee maker. At that moment, a loud voice boomed over the intercom and said, “Okay everybody, break’s over. Back on your heads!”