By the numbers - Post 355

My wife Julie posted on my Facebook Timeline - "TEN more blogs!"

About this time last year I felt moved by the Holy Spirit to face a new challenge for the upcoming New Year 2013...

Write a blog every day about where you see God at work in the lives of everyday people.

It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to face this challenge head on. With "spiritual antennas" on "high" each day of 2013, it has been simply and profoundly amazing to see God at work in so many ways. I have written on 354 ways I have seen God at work. Believe me when I say, I could have written 354,000 ways I have seen God at work.

Today is Post 355...

To date here are the numbers...

Number of posts - 354
Number of bloggers - 1 (me!)
Number of page views (number of times the blog was viewed) to date - 61,485
Highest month of page views - October with 8,120
Lowest month of page views - February with 3,949
Highest viewed post - October 22nd - "She's My Daughter" - 961
Average number of page views per day - 61,485 divided by 354 = 174

As of December 21, 2013...
That's iWitness by the numbers...

My iWitness...

Quick question...

In what, who or where do you find your value and/or your worth?

We all know the "right" answer!

But what is "your" answer?

I find this to be one of the toughest confessions to share.
Too many days in 2013 I found my worth and value "by the numbers."

Every day in the year 2013 I have spent one to two hours a day writing.
Each day I have been tempted to place a value on my self worth by the number of "page views" that each blog records.
When a blog post has over 200 page views the temptation is to feel really good about myself.
When a blog post has under 100 page views the temptation is to feel not so good about myself.
On top of the number of "page views" there is the added pressure of paying attention to the number of "Likes" and/or "Comments" on my Facebook page. The higher the number of likes and/or comments the better I feel and vice versa.

I like to think of myself as faithful, strong, confident, unfettered by the opinions of the populace.
Some days I am.
Some days... not so much.

I have "TEN more blogs."

Perhaps in the next ten days I will finally learn that my value doesn't come from "page views" but rather from the One who spends 24 hours a day, every day, every month, every year for the past 50 years, 9 months and 16 days writing on the pages of my heart these simple words...

"I dare you to trust that I love you just as you are and not as you should be, because you're never going to be as you should be...I love you David!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139. 13-16)

Peace

I saw a Christmas card that said, "Peace on Earth."
The heavenly host of angels sang something to that effect to the fearful shepherds back in Luke, chapter 2...

According to one source the world has not been at peace since 1914.
I would beg to differ.
The world hasn't been at peace for much longer than that.
Will we ever be at peace?

My iWitness...

One of my strategies in talking to couples who were planning on getting married went something like this...

"In order to have a healthy marriage, we need to be healthy people.
Two unhealthy people cannot have a healthy marriage. One healthy person and one unhealthy person cannot have a healthy marriage."

We would then spend some time talking about what it meant to be a healthy person.
Sometimes we would spend weeks talking about what it meant to be a healthy person!

Would that strategy somehow apply to peace as well?
It's hard to be at peace when we have people waging war on each other.
It's hard to be at peace with others when the other side has no peace in their own life.
It's hard to be at peace when I am not peaceful with myself or with others.

My question for the day is...

Am I at peace...
with my God?
with my family?
with myself?
with my workmates?
with my friends?
with my past?
with my present?
with my convictions?
with my mistakes?
within my own heart?

Jesus says you can be...

Are you at peace with that?

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you..." (John 14. 27)

Desire

I met with the wrestling coach of the University of Dubuque the other day. I asked him, "If you could narrow it down to one thing and one thing alone, what makes for a successful and great wrestler."
He didn't even hesitate for one second...

"Desire!"

My iWitness...

I am reminded of a story my Youth Pastor Jim Burns once told me.

There once was a swimming party and the youth group had gathered together for a wonderful backyard bible study accompanied by hot dogs, chips and cookies.

One of the young people asked the Youth Pastor what it would take for him to grow in his faith. The Youth Pastor jumped at the chance to illustrate his point. He invited the young man to join him in the shallow end of the pool while the rest of the youth group watched poolside.

The Youth Pastor brought the young man beside him in the pool and asked him to submerge himself underwater. He obliged.

Immediately the Youth Pastor put his hand on the young man's head. The inquirer thinking this was some kind of joke played along for a good 30-40 seconds until he started running out of air. He then pushed up, but the Youth Pastor held him down. The poolside youth group started becoming nervous and agitated. The young man became panicky and tried to push harder but the Youth Pastor was stronger and held him down even longer. With a burst of energy that the young man did not know he possessed he shot up out of the water gasping for the much needed oxygen for his body and soul.

He turned to look at the Youth Pastor, but before he could say a word the youth pastor grabbed him with his big hands and got right up in his face and said, "David... when you desire a relationship with Jesus as much as your body desperately desired a breath of air then... then... you will find yourself having a growing and dynamic and incredible relationship with Jesus."

On a scale of 0-100 what is our desire for a better relationship with God looking like these days?

What would it take to improve our desire?

What would it take to lessen it?

My word about desire for you and for me is this...

"Don't ever lose it..."

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God. (Psalm 42. 1)

Locked out...

We were enjoying homemade pizza last night around the dinner table still trying to figure out why having walrus teeth (see previous post) would save us money. In the middle of dinner the doorbell rang. It was our neighbor Diane from across the street. The temperature was in the mid 20's and little snow flurries were fluttering around. We quickly invited her in. She had been outside for over an hour. She asked if she could use the phone to call a friend. She had gone out to feed the birds and the door had closed behind her. She was locked out.

My iWitness...

Have you ever been "locked out"?

This time of the year reminds us of the story of how Mary and Joseph were "locked out" of all the inns, hotels, motels, hostels and bed and breakfasts. They found refuge in a stable of all places.

Let's revisit the previous question...

Have you ever been "locked out?"...

From a group?
From a church?
From a relationship?
From a friendship?
From a marriage?
From a job or business?

Have you ever been on the "other side" looking in while being "locked out?"
Have you ever been on the "inside" looking out making sure those on the "outside" stayed "locked out?"

I have...

I've been locked in and locked out...
Neither of which is a very enviable position.

I am wondering today if you would be willing to take the key and let yourself out from being locked in...

I am wondering today if you would be willing to take the key and let someone in who has been locked out...

Both situations warrant our attention, our prayers and our actions...

(Warning: Please be advised... setting yourself or someone else free can cause incredible joy and ecstatic happiness accompanied by wild flailing of arms, excessive hugging and dynamic dancing)

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"For freedom Christ has set us free..." (Galatians 5. 1)

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." (Matthew 25. 35-36)

I am the Walrus...

We were all enjoying a wonderful homemade meal last night when all of a sudden Joshua blurted out, "You could save a lot of money if you had teeth like a walrus."

My chili almost went spewing across the table...

My iWitness...

We tried to get to the bottom of where such a thought would originate and why would it be shared at such a tranquil moment.

We got nowhere.

Oh sure... Joshua had all sorts of explanations of how and why you would save a boatload of money if you had the teeth of a walrus.

But the "why"... "Why" would you think of something like that and then "why" would you share it at the dinner table?... We never found an adequate answer.

Does God perform such random acts of nonsense?
I remember back in the summer of 2003 I was out of town somewhere and Julie called me on a Tuesday to tell me that she had just received a phone call from a local nurse in town who was looking for a home for a 10 day old little boy. The birth mother would like to meet us on Saturday. The nurse had heard that we were childless and might be interested in adoption. My mind was racing and within hours I had named the little boy and had all sorts of visions of what life would be like with a son. The nurse said she would call back later in the week to set up the visit.

Julie and I prepared for the visit. Friday and Saturday came and went with no phone call from the nurse. The silence of the phone on Sunday was excruciating. On Monday the nurse called to tell us that the 15 year old birth mother had chosen another family. That boy was ten days old. Now he is ten years old.

For the last ten and half years I have often wondered, "What was that all about? Why did that event come and go in our life? What possible purpose did that serve?" My questions could go on and on.

Was that some sort of random act with no base or purpose for Julie and me?
Was God playing some sort of random trick on us?

For whatever the reason might be I have to believe that with God nothing is random.
Nothing is purposeless.
Nothing is a waste of our time and energy.
Nothing comes our way that doesn't somehow and in some way shape us and form us.
With that in mind I am going to close this blog post and ponder about how much money I could have saved if God had only made me with the teeth of a walrus...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

ps - There was nothing random about the birth of Jesus...

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1. 18-25)

It all started in a Manger

At church yesterday the sermon was entitled "It all started in a Manger" and was acted out by members of the church. Members of the cast ranged in age from 2 to 62. The costumes were homemade. The crowns and shepherd's crooks were of the department store variety. Baby Jesus, once again was played by a doll with a plastic head and his blue eyes fixed... wide open! The acting was at times stilted and felt "staged." Some of the lines in the story were downright comical as the congregation laughed out loud (LOL) on several occasions. My kids watched with great intensity and attention as did I. The message came through loud and clear...

It all started in a Manger...

My iWitness...

Twenty three years ago today a dear friend of mine in Augusta, Georgia gave birth to a little girl. This little girl entered the world with some major medical complications. She would spend her first month in the neonatal intensive care unit.

I will never forget coming into the recovery room and looking into my friend's deepest of deep brown eyes which were filled with fear and anxiety. She grabbed my hand and her quick question struck deep into my core..."Is my baby girl going to be okay?"

In the midst of a being in a foreign town, there being no room at the inn, the cattle lowing, the smell of animals surrounding her, shepherds paying homage to her newborn son, I often wonder during this time of the year what Mary went through that first Christmas.

Mary had already been told that her son was going to be something special by the angel Gabriel.
"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1. 32-33)

And now the time came for Jesus to be born in this most unusual setting.
I can't help but think that Mary with eyes filled with wonder and fear might have asked God the same question my friend asked me...
"Is my baby son going to be okay?"

Jesus turned out to be more than okay...
In fact he turned out to be perfect.
There would be incredible heartache and immeasurable joy for Mary along the way...
And it all started in a Manger...

Praise be to God!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

ps - Happy 23rd Birthday Anna!
And for my deep brown eyed friend Denise...
My answer today is the same as it was 23 years ago...
"Yes... the answer is YES! She is going to be okay!"

A Dollar Short...

It was such a simple gesture.
It barely even crossed my mind before offering.
Julie was working this morning, which meant I took the kids to Donut Boy!!
We were fourth in line and the gentleman at the front had just had his "dozen" donuts carefully and delicately placed inside the box. The cover was put on it. The cashier politely said, "That will be $5.00.
The gentleman reached into his pockets and pulled out a wad of one dollar bills.
Guess what?
He was a dollar short.
He panicked a little bit and offered, "I have another dollar in the car. I will be right back." With that he quickly made his way to the door. He had his hand on the handle when I shouted, "Hey! Hey!" He turned to look at me. With a big smile on my face I said, "I've got you covered. Grab your donuts." He did.
Walking out the door he graciously said, "Thank you very much..."
I couldn't resist. My teeth exploded through my wide grinning lips as I waved and said, "Have a Merry Christmas!"
As quick as the wink of an eye he was merrily on his way with a dozen donuts under his arm.

My iWitness...

This is the gospel story in a nutshell.
We come before the Grand Cashier of the Universe and it matters not how much money we have to purchase the donut holes of eternal life and fellowship with God, there we stand with our pockets empty... a dollar short.
When out of the blue Jesus steps up and says, "I've got you covered" as he pays the rest of the debt.
Jesus accomplishes something we couldn't have done on our own.
We are indebted to the one who covers us and grants us the privilege of finalizing the ultimate transaction of eternity.
Whatever "gap" existed is now "covered."
And we go on our way...with a big smile on our face thanking the One who proclaims, "Merry Christmas!"

Is it really that simple?

Yes...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3. 21-25)