Enjoy the moments

Question: How do you learn to appreciate the different stages of your life?

This is a questions that has been haunting me lately. I am trying to understand this concept as my life seems frazzled presently. My kids are going through some interesting stages, they are sick with seasonal illenesses, work is very busy and oftentimes difficult to understand, we have a new business that Paige and I have started and that has some normal concerns, I don't seem to have the time to spend on IronMen that I desire and the list goes on. I know there are good and difficult things to each of these circumstances and my human nature is to focus on the "difficult". I know this is the mind games the devil plays in our heads.

Lots of times, your thoughts go to extremes during stressful moments. Example: Your work gets you down and you instantly think about changing jobs, your commute is long and traffic is traffic so you think about moving asap, etc.... Why do we do this? Why can't we learn to appreciate the things we go through for what they are? We are not promised a simple, easy life. We know that the life of a Christian is going to be hard and those are the time that we grow so much. After all, once this day is gone, it's gone! And really how bad are things? Probably not as much as we make them out to be.

Being Positive! What a concept and what a difficult thing to focus on. It is so much easier to focus on the negative side of things. We must go through the valleys to get to the mountaintops. Have you heard the Third Day song "Mountain of God"? This song describes it perfectly and here are the lyrics:

Thought that i was all alone,
Broken and afraid,
But you are there with me,
Yes you are there with me,
And I didn't even know
That i has lost my way,
But you are there with me,
Yes you are there with me
Till you opened up my eyes i never knew
That i couldn't ever make it without you
(Chorus):
Even though the journeys long
And the road is hard
With the one that has gone before me
You will help me carry on
And after all that I've been through
Still I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley
To stand on the mountain of God
As I travel on the road
That you have led me down
You are here with me
Yes, you are here with me
I have need for nothing more
Now that I have found that you are here with me
Yes you are here with me
I confess from time to time
I lose my way
But you are always there to bring me back again
(Chorus again)

Here are the comments from Tai Anderson, the Bass Guitarist from Third Day about this song:

We've all had those mountaintop experiences. You feel so close to God. You can see for miles. Vision galore. Then life happens, the valley, the struggles. We often think that the valley is a consequence for the sin of our life. But, maybe it's just our life. We're all promised struggle. We all experience suffering. The hope that we have is wonderfully expressed in this song. "You were there with me." We don't have to go through the inevitable trials of life on our own.

Stay Strong, PLD!
STP, an IronMan

Dealing with difficult relatives - Max Lucado

Does Jesus have anything to say about dealing with difficult relatives? Is there an example of Jesus bringing peace to a painful family? Yes, there is.
His own.
It may surprise you to know that Jesus had a difficult family. If your family doesn’t appreciate you, take heart, neither did Jesus’.
“His family … went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind” (Mark 3:21).
Jesus’ siblings thought their brother was a lunatic. They weren’t proud—they were embarrassed!
It’s worth noting that he didn’t try to control his family’s behavior, nor did he let their behavior control his. He didn’t demand that they agree with him. He didn’t sulk when they insulted him. He didn’t make it his mission to try to please them.
Each of us has a fantasy that our family will be like the Waltons, an expectation that our dearest friends will be our next of kin. Jesus didn’t have that expectation. Look how he defined his family: “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants” (Mark 3:35).
When Jesus’ brothers didn’t share his convictions, he didn’t try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual family could provide what his physical family didn’t. If Jesus himself couldn’t force his family to share his convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?
Having your family’s approval is desirable but not necessary for happiness and not always possible. Jesus did not let the difficult dynamic of his family overshadow his call from God. And because he didn’t, this chapter has a happy ending.
What happened to Jesus’ family?
Mine with me a golden nugget hidden in a vein of the Book of Acts. “Then went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.… They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers” (Acts 1:12, 14, emphasis added).
What a change! The ones who mocked him now worship him. The ones who pitied him now pray for him. What if Jesus had disowned them? Or worse still, what if he’d suffocated his family with his demand for change?
He didn’t. He instead gave them space, time, and grace. And because he did, they changed. How much did they change? One brother became an apostle (Gal. 1:19) and others became missionaries (1 Cor. 9:5).
So don’t lose heart. God still changes families.

Two Fathers, Two Feasts - Max Lucado

Two Fathers, Two Feasts by Max Lucado The following is an excerpt from In the Eye of the Storm.Download Chapter 12 of In the Eye of the Storm to read even more.
I drove the family to Grandma’s last night for Thanksgiving. Three hours into the six-hour trip, I realized that I was in a theology lab.
A day with a car full of kids will teach you a lot about God. Transporting a family from one city to another is closely akin to God transporting us from our home to his.
A journey is a journey, whether the destination be the Thanksgiving table or the heavenly one. The fact that my pilgrims were all under the age of seven only enriched my learning experience.
As minutes rolled into hours and our car rolled through the hills, I began to realize that what I was saying to my kids had a familiar ring. I had heard it before—from God. All of a sudden, the car became a classroom. I realized that I was doing for a few hours what God has done for centuries: encouraging travelers who’d rather rest than ride.
I shared the idea with Denalyn. We began to discover similarities between the two journeys. Here are a few we noted.
In order to reach the destination, we have to say no to some requests.
Children have no concept of minutes or miles.
Children can’t envision the reward.
It’s worth it.
As we sat around the table today, no one spoke of the long trip to get here. Yesterday’s challenges were lost in today’s joy.
That’s what Paul meant. God never said that the journey would be easy, but he did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.
Remember this: God may not do what you want, but he will do what is right … and best. He’s the Father of forward motion. Trust him. He will get you home. And the trials of the trip will be lost in the joys of the feast.

Random Thougths - Stacey Pearson

1. Have you seen the movie "The 5 People you meet in heaven"? this is a great movie based on the book by Mitch Albom. Paige and I have watched it twice now and we both are intrigued by it. I don't know what heaven will be like for sure (see the latest newsletter by Joel for more on this), but this movie put and interesting take on it. This is one idea of what i may be like. In the extras, Mitch is interviewed and he does not tell you exactly what his faith is and what he believes, but he definitely believes in God and heaven. You should rent this movie and see what thoughts come to you. You might be amazed!

2. Paige and I got to go on a vacation this past week. We went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Wow! How amazing it was. Beauty like I've never seen before. You see, i have not had much experience on the beach, so i am somewhat of a rookie. This was a great experience for me and we had lots of fun. In the midst of all the fun, reality set in. Paige's stepfather died on Saturday and we got ahold of Paige's mom on Sunday morning (right before we were leaving) and found out. What a change of emotion. Though this world is so beautiful, it is not our home and we are just passing through. Paige and i went from a feeling of celebration to a keen sense of reality real quick. Please keep Paige's mother in your prayers. She is a wonderful woman and has so much on her plate!

3. Back to work. Why is it so difficult to get back in the swing of things. I was only gone for 4 days and now that i am back, i feel so lost. It was a great break and much needed.

4. Service. Let's work on opportunities to serve others this holiday season. I am working on some organized efforts for the IronMen as a group, but please think about the little things you can do every day to serve others. After all, that was Jesus' M O.

5. Next IronMen breakfast is Dec. 2 at LCCOC, 7:30 to 8:30am. Bob McKinnon will be leading us. Last time Ken Boggs led us and did a great job. Thanks Ken!

STP
Stay strong, PLD