Month: September 2023

Every one of us shall give account of himself. Romans 14:12 Take responsibility for your own life. Every one shall carry their own loads. Galatians 6: 5

This household loves college football, and we love Saturdays duirng the fall when we can gather on the deck and cheer on our favorite (Bulldogs) team. The University of Georgia has been fortunate to have some long time winning coaches such as Vince Dooley, Mark Richt, and now Kirby Smart! I’ve no idea how their styles of coaching compare, but I know that each of them has taken the guys on their respective teams and helped bring out the best in each of them.

A couple of weeks ago when UGA was playing South Carolina, we were taken aback that South Carolina was leading 14-3 at halftime. I mean, UGA is #1 in the country! We all know that halftime is just that, and we know that the game is far from over, but it was totally unexpected.

The next week, I saw some pictures and a write up about the frustration of the coaches on the Georgia sideline. It was obvious that there was a lot of frustration and the blame for the sub par performance seemed to be passing from one coach to the other. As the team left the field for the locker room, someone asked Coach Smart, “What will you say in the locker room since the team is performing so poorly?” In other words, “Who gets the blame?”

Fortunately, it went on to say that on the way to the locker room, the team psychologist (who knew a team has a psychologist?) pulled Coach Smart aside and said, “Remember the only way you get 14 points back is to take it play by play.” I translate this into, “Let’s not play the blame game, but rather get the team back to basics.”

Obviously that is great advice not just for football but for life as well. While parenting and teaching kindergarten I learned that kids instinctively play the blame game. Anytime we had an incident and I asked the question, “OK, who started it?” The answer was always the same, “The other one did!”

It’s easy in this life to shift the blame when things don’t go according to plan. Instead of taking responsibility for our decisions and actions, we begin to shift the blame to others. For example, My business would have succeeded if the bank had loaned me more money..I wanted to give more to the church, but my spouse wouldn’t let me..I would be doing great if the doctor hadn’t botched the operation..This team would be winning if we had better assistant coaches! We tend to blame our circumstances for our character deficiences on others.

The problem with blame game shifting is that it stops us from taking constructive action and moving on with our lives. Psychologist Dr. Brenda Shoshanna observes: “Each person you blame is holding on to a piece of your personal power and self respect. Taking responsibility for what’s happening in your life is one of the most empowering things you can do. New choices become availabe…your anger is redirected..you see people and events with new eyes. Remember, responsibility can also be read as response-ability, the ability to respond instead of reacting.”

We will probably never know what happened in that Georgia locker room at halftime, but I have to believe the blame game was probably not a method. When I was growing up, we had a saying, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” meaning it is much more effective to be positive and affirming than negative and demanding. What I do know is that the second half Georgia put 21 points on the board and held South Carolina on defense to win the game.

When we constantly blame others for the things that don’t turn out as we had planned, it makes us appear weaker rather than stronger. It takes strength to admit that everyone involved played a part, and the blame should be shared. Otherwise, we begin to think we are the strong one and everyone else is flawed. When we stop blaming others, we develop compassion, and we begin to realize that mistakes are natural and inevitable. They can always be corrected.

It can be really intimidating to take charge of our life, but when it comes to God there’s no wiggle room as far as his word is concerned. In Romans we find these words, “Every one of us shall give an account of himself.” God would have us step out in faith, take responsibility, and with His help, take the next step toward eliminating the blame game in our lives.

For it is written, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

Sometimes in this life questions are posed to us that cause us to stop and take a long look at our lives, past, present, and future. The realization that we have more days behind us than ahead of us is sobering, but it is a reality for many of us. Someone recently started a discussion and asked, “What is your best day so far? What is your worst day so far?” The only rule was that your best day couldn’t the birth of a child, and the worst day couldn’t be losing a loved one.

I posed this question to Randy, and he said, “My best day was our wedding day, isn’t that right?” It’s better to err on the side of caution when answering questions some time. After stating the obvious, he could come up with many “best days” and almost as many “worst days.”

I am not as quick, and my mind immediately went to movie City Slickers! This movie is the saga of three friends who are experiencing a mid life crisis. In order to get away from it all, they decide to go off together to “get their smiles back,” so the guys head off to a cattle ranch in New Mexico for two weeks to take part in a real cattle drive along with others who are there for the same experience. The movie is a comedy, but there are some moments where the three friends, Mitch, Phil, and Ed, make one think about life by asking questions and revealing such emotional truth that it sticks with you forever.

The three guys are long time friends, but they are as different as can be. Mitch is a pessimist who dwells on everything that he hates about every aspect of his life. Phil is going through a messy divorce. Ed is an adventurer who is constantly testing his limits. They each tell about their best day and their worst day, and each one tells a differenet story.

In their conversation, MItch begins by telling the story of his best day. His Dad took him to see Yankee Stadium and watch a game. Mitch describes in detail the green grass, the brown dirt, and the green copper roof. It was marvelous he says, because their family had a black and white tv, and he had no idea how colorful a stadium could be. He says that he spent the entire day sitting next to his dad learning how to keep score, and Mickey Mantle hit a homer. He still has the program. Mitch’s worst day was when his wife thought she had breast cancer. It turned out to be fine, but that time was his worst. Sometimes our worst days turn out to be our best days!

Phil says his best day was his wedding day when he felt like he had made it. He wasn’t a goof ball anymore, but a man. He remembers that it was outside, his bride was beautiful, all the groomsmen were smiling at him, and his Dad (who wasn’t the warmest of men) winked at him. He follows it up by saying his worst day has been every day since that day!

Ed’s best day is the day he told his abusive father to leave. He told him that they didin’t love him anymore, and that he would take care of his mother and his sister. His father raised his hand to hit Ed, but he stood his ground, and his father left. Ed did take care of his Mom and help raise his sister. His worst day was that same day!

The best days for me are those days spent making memories and making every day count. A friend from the Ukraine asked me the other day, “Why do some of you Americans say, “Well, I’m here” when they are asked “how are you?” He continued, “They should be grateful for this day, but they sound like they are wondering why they are still here?” I have to agree. God isn’t only interested in our final destination. He wants to work in us and through us on the journey.

First, a Christian’s best day should be one where we are clear about our assignment. So, the best days should be when we feel like Nehemiah when he said, “I am doing a great work, so..I cannot come down.”

Next, we should prioritize tasks in the order of importance. When tasks take on an urgency rather than an importance, we miss great opportunities to have our best day.

Finally, we need a definitive timetable. One of the biggest excuses that prevents us from having our best day is, “I’ll do it later.” Tomorrow isn’t promised, so make every day count!

God has promised us that our best days are still ahead of us, and that none of us can begin to imagine what He has prepared for those who love Him.

Keep listening, Job. Don’t interrupt, I‘m not finished yet! Job 33:31

In this high paced world of today, it seems that interruptions are the norm instead of the exception. I can remember my mother instructing us girls to “never interrupt adults when they are talking, never interrupt when she was on the phone, and never interrupt our teachers.” We tried our best to obey these rules, and so we spent much of our childhood standing and waiting to be recognized.

There are so many interruptions today. It is common to have someone who is talking to you on the phone receive another call and say, “I am sorry, but I have to take this now. I will call you later.” Newscasters contiually interrupt their guests while they are speaking in an effort to get another word or argument inserted in the conversation.

One of the two biggest interruptions in my life occurred in 1960 when John F Kennedy was assasinated and twenty two years ago today when our world, country, and life was interrupted by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the hijacking of United Flight 93. We can all remember vividly where we were (if you are old enough) when we heard of the assasination and when we heard the twin towers had been attacked.

Everyone has a story of that fateful day on September 11, 2001. I was at school and had just taken the class to specials when I noticed a group of teachers surrounding the televsion in the hall. I walked up just as the plane hit the tower. Everyone went completely quiet as we tried to figure out exactly what just happened! Almost immediately, parents began calling or just coming to pick up their chidren. My thoughts went immediately to my own children who were in Montgomery and Oxford at the time. It is amazing the relief that comes over a parent when you hear your child’s voice and know they are okay.

Randy immediately called for a prayer service at the church, and the staff and volunteers swumg into action to make it happen. The community poured into the sanctuary to pray for our country that evening. There were tears, disbelief, and a general sense of confusion and helplessness among us all.

How do you contain the sense of anger, the bitterness, the sense of revenge or retailiation, or even the sense of betrayal by God? The future of our country was so uncertain and the grief so intense, but in the midst of all the emotions, God interrupts our doubts and calls us to forgive and move forward.

The story is told of a photographer named Joel Meyerowitz who spent nine months photographing and documenting the recovery and wreckage of the south tower inside the World Trade Center. On March 30, 2002, Joel was taking photos inside the area of the south tower when a fireman called to him and handed him the remains of a Bible he had found in the debris. The front of the Bible was obliterated, but the remaining fragments sat open faced and melted into a piece of heart shaped steel.

While most of the Bible was destroyed, the little more than half a page on top was miraculously preserved. The melted King James version was open to Matthew 5. The first thing Joel noticed was the word “Retaliation” in Matthew 5:38-39 where Jesus says, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, you turn the other to him also.”

Joel was stunned. How remarkable that of all the fragile pages that had survived, it was this passage in the midst of such an unspeakable act of evil.

Many things in our lives were interrupted that day, but God continues to show us that evil should never interrupt the doing of good. Jesus’ message of forgivness endures even on this day twenty two years later. No matter what we’ve been through or what’s been done to us, it still applies to our situation.

It is the church’s responsibility to not only remember that day and to work hard every day in praying that this sort of thing might never happen again, but also to be ambassadors of forgiveness in the midst of our interruptions.

As we remember the souls who lost their lives on that fateful day, may we be comforted in knowing that Christ still calls us to forgive just as he has forgiven us. One thing is for sure, interruptions happen, but God is with us through it all. God Bless America!

(The picture above is of American flag found in New York in the rubble of September 11, 2001.)

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immoveable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the work of the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Corinthians 15:58

Today we celebrate Labor Day which, besides being a holiday, is the unofficial kick off to the college football season. The holiday was begun in the late nineteenth century when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well being.

American labor has raised the natiion’s standard of living and contributed to the greatest production the world has ever known. When I think of all those among us who labor every day to bring us closer to the realization of traditional ideals of economic progress, it is certainly worthy of a day of celebration.

There are so many whose hands are a part of all this! The “greatest generation” who served in WWII and were products of the Great Depression, “Baby Boomers”, “Generation Xers”, “Millennials”, “Generation Z”, and on down the line have benefited from the hands of those who worked and came before them.

It matters how we use what is in our hands to preserve this country and its ideals. I read somewhere of just how much our hands can matter in this world. The piece related how different hands can enhance the worth of ordinary objects. For example, in our hands, a basketball is worth about fifteen dollars, but give to LeBron James and it’s worth millions. In our hands a football holds little value, but put it in Peyton Manning’s hand and the worth increases exponentially. In our hands, a golf club can be worth little, but Tiger Woods can change the worth. copied

Jesus taught His disciples to use their hands to be distributors of His blessings and “first responders” to those in need. In the miracle of feeding the five thousand, the miracle of multiplication did not take place when the food left Christ’s hands, but rather when it left the disciple’s hands. Christ blessed the five loaves and two fish, gave it to them, and they set out to do what seemed ridiculous; feeding a multitude with a boy’s lunch!! As they watched what was in their hands multiply to feed the five thousand, they experienced the miraculous!

This parable proves that when the Lord blesses what is in our hands we will succeed despite the challenges and obstacles that confront us. Sometimes, we don’t recognize the gift that is in our hands or we even doubt its worth. We might conclude that we don’t have the right thing or enough of it in our hands to do what it takes, but we do.

God has deposited different gifts in our hands that He wants us to recognize, nurture, and use for His glory. When we take the time to develop that underdeveloped gift we have been running around carrying, we will be amazed at the potential there.

The miracle began when a boy found an unmet need and decided, “Hey, these people are hungry and need to be fed.” That is also when the disciples discovered what Jesus could do with what they held in their hands. It might have looked hopelessly inadequate, but not with God.

On this Labor Day, we need to remember that our labor is not in vain. When we use our hands to do the work of the Lord for His purposes, the work is never in vain. Our labor no matter what it might be, is not meaningless or worthless because God gives it meaning and worth.

God has given us each something in our hand that others need. It is our job to use what He has put in our hands.