"SIGN" column

We had an incident a few nights ago that temporarily forced one of our bathrooms to be closed. I was notified of the necessary closing when my son caught me in another bathroom of the house and beckoned me to help him find he tape. He needed tape because he had designed a sign to hang on the bathroom door that read “Caution: toilet overflowing. Do not use toilet.” We have a great deal of cause and effect in our house at night. One thing leads to another and so on. Luckily, the maintenance crew, I was evidently the only member on call, was available and the repair job was completed relatively quickly and easily. The sign served its purpose and was taken down. The sign at the Elementary school says just what my heart has been thinking. Its pretty lights spell out “Give thanks. Go Eagles.” Thankfulness, faith, family, friends, and a community supporting its kiddos is kind of like my own personal mission statement. There are several other signs around town right now too that in my own humble opinion are doing their jobs well. Ward Prairie Baptist church says “Giving thanks for Jesus.” Round Prairie reads “The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us.” Wouldn’t it be nice if we could each have a personal “Sign of the Day” to clearly inform us about what we should expect for the next 24 hours? The morning bulletin might read “Easy day… just rest and enjoy the ride” or “Warning to the adult in this house: A child today will test the boundaries. Get ready!” We have all experienced loss in life when we are sure the word of the moment on those days might have been “Grab the tissue box when you walk out the door. You will need them.” The good news here is that a few minutes with the Lord in the morning is the best chance we have of a daily forecast and it is much more reliable than the weather man will ever be. Even when we do not know what to expect and it is not clearly spelled out for us in black and white letters or blinking lights, we are more prepared for whatever may come our way when we have had time in the Word and in prayer. So…What do we do when we do get a “sign” or a “check” in our spirit? We have to obey the warning and flee from the dangerous situation if need be, stay if the Lord tells us to stay , say whatever it may be that needs to be said, or absolutely say nothing at all. We must be obedient no matter our mood or current attitude. We also have to refuse to justify our actions or make up excuses that we just are the way we are. A famous comedian, Bill Enval, has made millions and made us all laugh from the simple saying “Here’s your sign.” We are not looking for a sign or a nod from man, but from Jesus Christ. Today mine seems to be “Be still and know that I am God” from Psalm 46:10. What about yours?

"car wash" column

We had a good chuckle last week at a drive through car wash in Dallas. It is a fancy one where an attendant meets you at the front to loosen the bugs and presoak your vehicle before you enter. I was thankful that the guys were there ready to assist because my car was covered with Freestone county sludge an inch thick from the rain and bugs must think my car is attractive or a magnet because they flock to it. I also needed help guiding my car onto the medal railing system that pulls you through the car wash. When I was in high school, I tore the fender off of a Chevy and I have not been the same since. Right off the bat we noticed a red truck to our right that was sparkling clean. We thought it was totally absurd that the guy would waste his time and money on a wash. His truck was as shiny and clean as a fire truck ready for duty after a hand washing at the station. My kids joined in and called him a “city boy.” They said he needed a trip to our pasture to discover the meaning of mud and dirt. I looked at him in line and thought: I am dirty. He is clean. How often do we do that in life? We judge people and compare our “dirt” or sin to theirs? God must get really annoyed with us when we waste all of our energy judging and analyzing other people and never take the time to examine ourselves personally. I allowed the situation with the red truck to get even worse in my mind. I pictured my dirt spraying back and getting him filthy. It was a visual of the old throw dirt on someone else to make yourself look cleaner or at least pull them in the muck with you. In the judicial system or with the law we may be guilty by association; however, in the eyes of the Lord, we are judged individually and on a personal basis. We are fully responsible for confessing our own sin and we can’t clean anyone else up or make them look worse for that matter. I awoke from the comparison game when I heard a startling loud noise. The lone attendant had to call for help with his emergency buzzer. My car was a two man job for sure. We held up the line and had cars backed up to Northwest Highway. Maybe I could pen a country song about the country folk coming to town with their dirt and make my family proud. On a more serious note, sin is serious and when we are dirty, there is always a way to be washed clean. We need not let layers and layers of dirt or sin to build up because it makes us miserable. We also do not need to look over at someone’s sin and be their judge. Will the car wash turn me away if I go back this weekend? I do not think so. Will Jesus turn us away and refuse to wash us free and forgive us of our sins? I think not. He will take us back time and time again and clean us up. There are always consequences to sin so we may have a few chips, scrapes and dents, but we can and will be clean again if we call on the name of Jesus. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Christmas column from Recorder

Christmas is a season that leads up to a day. The season may begin for you and yours when the last ornament goes on the tree, when Charlie Brown’s Christmas comes on television or a when a certain song is playing on the radio for the first time since last November. I have to admit that this year even though my tree was up before Thanksgiving and I attended several programs that should have ushered me into the Christmas season, I just was not there yet until the last minute. (Shame on me, I know, but I am being honest.) Last Sunday at church, only three days before Christmas Day, I planned a children’s birthday party for Jesus, but my mind was still more random than ready. It was like my attention span had been mounted on the huge spinning color wheel at the fair. You know the one that spins and lands every few minutes on a different color. In my case, the color was a topic that ranged from Eagle football, needing to clean up my filthy car, more online shopping that needed to be done, packages that needed to arrive at the gate delivered by UPS, the menu that needed to get planned, the food that needed to get bought, catching up on our Jesse Tree devotional book, and the energy that it was going to require to get it all done. All of a sudden, everything changed. Ivy and Ally Robinson, the special guests I invited to lead the children in music, stated singing and playing their instruments. They sang “Silent Night” first. By the time about fifty kids and I joined in with them to sing “Happy Birthday Jesus,” it was like I had drawn a line in the sand, and I had stepped over the line and entered into CHRISTMAS. The line separated the hustle and bustle of the season that had been consuming me and the real reason for Christmas, the birth of a King. I realized as the girls were singing that ONLY in my own heart could Christmas begin. Christmas is more than just a warm and fuzzy feeling too wrapped up in a pretty red and green package. Christmas is a TRUTH. It is the reason I am free, forgiven, loved, redeemed, secure, chosen…the list goes on and on. After I got my heart right, Christmas got right and everything slowed down here. There has been an array of family visits, Hallmark movies, dogs sleeping in the house chewing on new rawhides, laughter, and sunshine. Our days have been spent shooting new bow and arrows, jumping on the trampoline, building a deer stand, and eating leftovers. I have used the extra family time at home to talk about patience and kindness on a regular basis as needed and to drink extra coffee on the back porch. Our Jesse Tree devotional on Christmas Day had a prayer that I read. It said “Dear Jesus, Christmas Day is such a special day because you were born on earth! We thank You for coming as a little baby to be our Savior. Help us to make room for You in our hearts, this blessed Christmas morn.” That is just what I had to do. I had to make room in my heart for Jesus. He has lived there for many years now, but I allowed Him to get crowded out and quite honestly, nothing felt right. Maybe that prayer would be a good way to start every day of 2014. “Dear Jesus, help me to make room in my heart for YOU today.” A list of resolutions will come and go. More of Jesus will remain forever.

Eagles: I wonder... from Fairfield Recorder

Anytime I receive a compliment for the normal, run-of-the-mill stuff I write in this column, I usually humbly say thanks and then offer two explanations for why I am doing this. The first reason I write is because if I can make one person each week feel normal and to know that the Lord is involved in everyday life, then my purpose has been served. The second thing that I say is that this column helps me clear my head because thoughts come constantly to me and I have to get them out or I would go crazy! In saying that, I better clear my head about the Eagles or I may go crazy. Here are a few final thoughts for the boys and coaches. I wonder if you know that there are many families, mine included, that will probably never go to a Dallas Cowboys game, but thanks to you all, we visited Jerry’s World. I wonder if you will ever know that today, the day after game day, that there are grown men with hoarse voices from screaming. Many of the men who were in the stands previously wore and Eagle uniform with pride. I was sitting with an old Cougar from Bryan Adams High School in Dallas and although he was never an Eagle, he has supported you along with many “move-ins” for years now. Because of you, many men traveled back to the good old days of high school football in their minds and hearts and you took them further than they had ever been on their own. I wonder if you will ever know that you carried a band that shined, marched, and played their hearts out and a group of awesome cheerleaders who jumped, cheered, and chanted like they never have before. I wonder if you know that the student body who traveled north with them will never be the same. I saw hands clasped and tears shared in the last minute of the game that bonded a student body of Jr. High and High School kids like super glue. I wonder if you will ever know that a new category of laundry has been created. Moms have forever sorted lights and darks. We added one this year because of you. The past few months, we have had lights, darks, and maroons. My living room every Saturday morning has looked like an explosion of maroon and gold. On that note, if we ever add a third color to our traditional maroon and gold, in honor of the 2013 Eagle team, it needs to be camo. We were asked in Waco when we stopped for a snack where we were going hunting. We smiled with pride and said that we were not hunting, but going to watch the Eagles play ball in the cold. I wonder if you know that kids in our town want to be just like you. For many years to come on school playgrounds and in backyards when a football is thrown, a tackle is made, or a touchdown is scored, there are little boys who will for the moment NOT answer to their own name, but they will answer to a name from the 2013 Eagle football roster. I wonder if you will ever know that every time we see Romans 8:39 or the phrase “Keep it Simple” that we will remember the year that you as a coaching staff and a team reminded us to “Keep it Simple” each week. Will you ever know that because of your openness about your faith in Jesus Christ, we as a community, prayed on the courthouse lawn as a group of believers. Every church in town was represented at the pep rally and for once, we were one. I wonder if you will ever know win or lose, state champs or not, that we are proud of you. The Eagles wearing the red, black, and white may have won the game, but the Eagles and the coaches in maroon and gold won our hearts.