Observations from Shenandoah

One of my favorite movies is the 1965 version of Shenandoah starring Jimmy Stewart. There are several memorable scenes in this movie but one I recollect best is when Lt. Sam (Doug McClure) is talking to Mr. Anderson (Jimmy Stewart) about marrying his daughter. Anderson asks Sam if he likes Jennie and is answered with "Yes sir, I love her." which leads us to this discussion:

Charlie Anderson: Do you like her?
Lt. Sam: Well, I just said I...
Charlie Anderson: No, no. You just said you loved her. There's some difference between lovin' and likin'. When I married Jennie's mother, I-I didn't love her - I liked her... I liked her a lot. I liked Martha for at least three years after we were married and then one day it just dawned on me I loved her. I still do... still do. You see, Sam, when you love a woman without likin' her, the night can be long and cold, and contempt comes up with the sun.

I am so thankful that I have people in my life who like me and love me. I know how flawed I am and am grateful that these people choose to look past my flaws. I am even more grateful that I have a Savior who loves me even when I was unloveable, covered in my sin.

I'll leave you with a little more Shenandoah wisdom:

Charlie Anderson: It's no easy job, Sam, to take care of a woman.
Lt. Sam: No, sir.
Charlie Anderson: They expect things they never ask for. And when they don't get them, they ask you why. Sometimes they don't ask... and just go ahead and punish you for not doing something you didn't know you were supposed to do in the first place.
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Charlie Anderson: If we don't try we don't do. And if we don't do, what are we on this Earth for?

In Him,

David

Everyone that Labors

In Matthew 11 Jesus says: 28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." We are given this promise and still it seems hard at times to be a Christian. We talk about "working hard for Jesus" and "bearing our cross" and yet we want an easy Christianity. We want a loving savior who allows no harm, no pain, no suffering. We hear people say "if God is a loving God, why would he allow this to happen?"

I think many "churches" are guilty of teaching what I call the true Voodoo Economics. They say if you contribute regularly, pray regularly, do as you should that God is going to reward you economically far more than you can imagine. Logic would dictate that the counter to that would be that if you suffer you must be doing something wrong.....hmmmm isn't that exactly what Job's friends told him? I believe the apostles gave far more than I ever have in service and probably of their economic blessings and still they were persecuted and executed.

I'm not discounting the pain that we feel in this life. I know, I questioned God as to why my father died when so many faithful people were praying for him. I questioned why our congregation had to experience so much loss this summer. I constantly worry about the health and safety of my family. When the pain starts to subside and I wipe the tears from my eyes, there is God with his arms outstretched, loving me.

At times its hard for me to see now but the promise that I have, the reward that I will be given is far superior to any labor that I might have to endure in this life. I believe the promise of Mt. 11. I believe that viewed from the other side, what I went through here will be seen as very easy.

In Him,

David

Monday's Storm

Monday night we had a series of storms blow through Nashville. Our house is located in the center of the path where the weather service was noting upper air rotation and calling for tornado warnings. The storm woke Christopher up from a late nap and he asked me "Daddy, what's wrong with the house?" I told him the house was okay, that there was a big storm outside. We ended up spending about 15 minutes huddled in the bathroom as a family and about 2 and 1/2 hours without electricity. That's the thing about storms, they can cause damage. They can reveal unseen flaws and disease. A tree that is weak or dying can be toppled or broken in a storm. We had a tree that came down last year in a storm, it looked perfectly healthy with lots of green leaves but once it was down you could see the decay and rot in the center. We hear lots of news reports about the damage created by the storms and may fail to recognize how much went undamaged. More trees survived than were toppled. All those leaves that I was going to have to rake in the upcoming days.....many of them are a 1/2 mile or more away by now. :-) The point is, we all encounter storms in life, how we respond to the storms can be very revealing. Do we break like the tree with decay in the middle, are we a healthy tree that gets toppled over or do we stand strong?

In Him,

David

Orientation

I like Google Maps especially when you toggle between the map and the satellite image. You can find the general area that you are looking for in map mode and then see all the buildings from a satellite image. I was playing around with Google Maps today looking at my old house in Gulfport and noticed blue tarps on many of the roofs. Obviously this satellite photo is post-Katrina so I decided to look at some friends homes in the area as well. One of these homes that I know very well and have visited often looked much different from above. Actually my perception of what part of the house faced north was off by 90%. When you are looking at a pond that you thought was on the east side and find that it is actually south of the house, it can be somewhat confusing while trying to orient yourself to the satellite image. I wonder how many other things there are in my life that I think I "know" the answer to when in fact if I looked at it from a different angle I could see how wrong my assumptions are.

In Him,

David

a cup of water

I was sitting in the office when from out of the blue came the words "just a cup of water". What a weird thing to think about. For me, giving someone a cup of water is as easy as turning on the tap but to think that to do so could get me a reward, that's amazing. Look at Mark 9:41 (I know, I'm taking it out of context) but go along with me please, "I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward." So often I look for the BIG things to do and Christ keeps reminding me that the small, simple things that we think are not significant ARE important. It's not the size of the service, its the fact that I am willing to serve. Water anyone?

In Him,

David

Home

Where is home? You ask me and it is in Maryville, TN. I moved away from Maryville in 1994 but I still consider that home. When I lived on the Gulf Coast, home was East Tennessee. I have a wife and family here in Nashville but home is still East Tennessee. I know, I know, my home is where my family is; which is Nashville but I get a feeling of home back in East Tennessee.

I am a person who loves to travel but Janelle can tell you, I need to get back to the mountains every so often to renew myself. In East Tennessee I feel myself, I feel my roots, I feel the hand of God as he sculpted this beautiful landscape that I so enjoy and it gives me peace.

So my home is in Nashville but my "home" is in Maryville. It's weird being a person torn between two homes. I love my life here in Nashville, my family, my friends, my Church family and I don't want to give any of it up but I also long to be back at home in the mountains of East Tennessee. Isn't that the reality for all of us? We are all a people torn between to homes. We love our life here and don't want to give any of it up but we also anticipate and long for our home in heaven. For now I will be happy at home here but I can't wait to go "home".

In Him,

David

Am I judgemental

In my last post I wrote that I am not my job but how often do we judge the person by what they do? When we first meet someone usually within the first 30 seconds of the conversation we will ask them "so, what do you do?" We form an opinion of that person based on that answer. We think we know something about their intellect, financial status, etc based on their occupation. "You're a doctor? Wow!""You dig graves for a living? I need to go call the sitter and check on the kids." How can I be so hypocritical to say that I am not my job and yet base my opinion of someone on what they do?

Sam Walton used to go to town in a beat-up old pick-up truck and wearing overalls. Here was one of the richest men in America dressing like a common man. How often do I judge a person by what they wear? How often do I judge them by how they look? If you are overweight people think you are lazy. If you are taller than most, they are inclined to think you possess leadership qualities.

We are judged by the size of our house, how neat the house is, what car we drive, where our kids go to school.......... No wonder we have depression in this country! Who can keep up? Maybe its time I got out of the business of judging and got to the business of loving. If I begin to show unconditional love to everyone I meet then people will begin to see not me, but Christ. I've got a lot of internal house cleaning to do!

Maybe I should begin to answer the question "what do you do?" with something like "I love God, I try to follow his commands. I love my wife and kids and am attempting to be a better example every day." If I start with that then it won't really matter what the occupation of the other person is.

"Father, give me the eyes to see people, not as I have always looked at them but the way that you see them. Help me to value them as you value them."

In Him,

David