do people want what you have?

As Christians, we are called to let the light of Christ shine through us.

This old saying is still true today.  We may be the only Bible some will ever read.

What are they reading when they look at my life?

Do people want what I have?

I’ve given a lot of thought lately to those two questions.

We were at the zoo the other day.  We had no idea what was about to happen.

Curt was bombarded by a bunch of birds.  They wanted what he had.

He had a small cup of nectar but, as you can see there were many birds descending on him.

I also was there.  Yet, not one bird came to see me.  Oh this was a really good thing!! 

However, it does  show that I did not have what they were looking for.  I was not given a second glance.

I get a kick out of the one on his head.  Clearly he is not eating but, he wants to be a part of things.

Here are a few more pics.  It was so much fun.  Curt was a great sport about the whole thing.  What a guy!!

Yes, that bird is chewing on his ear.  Poor Curt, he did not have a free hand to brush him off.  I was too busy laughing and was not going to get close enough to brush him off.

Time for the other ear to be chewed on!!

As ministers,  we are pretty much living our lives in a fishbowl.  Yet don’t think for a moment that people aren’t watching how you handle things.  They are looking to see if there is truth to God so loved the world that He gave.

Do people want what you have?

What do people see when they look at your life?

til next time

getting out of Dodge

Sometimes you just have to get out of Dodge.   This is true for many people.  It is especially true for ministers. It seems there is always something that needs attention or one more thing that needs to be done.

On Friday, I talked Curt into getting out of Dodge.  It didn’t take much convincing.  We had recently been discussing the lack of spontaneity in our life.  When you both work two jobs, there isn’t room for much spontaneity.

Here is the plan.  Yes, with my husband you still need to have some sort of a plan.

It was a beautiful day for a bike ride.

I would pick where we eat lunch and our first stopping place.  He would pick the next stopping place.  Then it would be my turn and so forth.

My pick for lunch was Taco Bell.   I love Taco Bell!!

Then it was off to the local zoo.

Last time we were there I couldn’t decide if I wanted to start a new collection.

I have fallen in love with the giraffes.

See my baby giraffe?

A new collection has been started.

Our living room now has a wild animal theme.  It works!!

Curt’s turn to pick.

His pick was this little ice cream parlor.   It is family owned and has been open everyday for the past 100 years.

The owner was a hoot!  His wife came in before we left and whispered to me that he was 90 years old and not ready to quit.

He makes the ice cream and candy.  It was wonderful.

I love fountain pop and this was the real deal.

From there I chose the Amana’s.

It was a bit of a drive but it was such a beautiful day for a bike ride.

As we were going down the highway at 70 mph,  the semi we were following blew a tire.  Scary!! This was a first for us.  It was loud!

Thankfully, Curt doesn’t follow real close and he was able to swerve around the tread.

Peace Park!

Just what I was looking for when I felt the need to get out of Dodge.

Walking around the Amana’s was a big help too.

The weather man was wrong again.  It wasn’t to rain until midnight.  The sky was changing.  Do we head for home or continue?

We decided to go ahead and eat supper with the hope that the storm would blow over.

Curt’s pick for supper was one of the local restaurants.  German food at its finest.

However, the rain didn’t blow over.

In fact it was a cold rain.  We were quite a ways from home.  It was a long drive.  Yet I wouldn’t trade the day for anything.  What’s a little rain?

til next time

to build or to burn?? how about neither??

If you live in America, unless you have been hiding under a rock,  you are aware to some degree of a couple of news stories that keep making headlines.

Should an Islamic center be built  close to the tragic 9/11 site? (click here to read Free to offend?)

Should a small church in Florida burn the Koran on 9/11? (click here for Burning Korans on 9/11)

There seems to be a common theme running between the two stories.  They are both within their rights to do just what they have set out to do.  They both believe strongly that they are doing a good thing.  They both will be offending people should they continue down this path.  Neither one of them seems to care that they will be breaking the hearts of people who are not like-minded.

So the question comes up.  Just because you can do something, does that mean that you should do something?  If you know that your actions, as a group, will smack pain in the hearts of another group of people, what does that say about the type of group you are?

We have been told (and I  believe it to be true) that the actions of a few do not speak for a whole.  The suicide bombers and other radical Muslims do not represent my “neighbor” down the street who is a devote Muslim and is not out to kill the “infidel”.

Yet there seems to be all this talk of how this small church in Florida  will endanger the lives of our military.  So I guess the actions of a few, in this case, speak for the whole?  Come on, those groups that are bent on destroying America do not need an excuse.   That said, I do not agree with the burning of the Koran.  Nothing about that speaks of love.

The issue, as I see it, is that both of these groups need to look beyond their own interests and see what their actions are doing.  Actions speak louder than words.  Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do it.  Certainly there are better options.

There are plenty of places to build a mosque.  Pick a different location that won’t be forever a source of contention.  Unless of course that is your plan all along.

Don’t burn someone’s most treasured possession.  There are other ways to get your point across.  An offended brother is much harder to reach than one whom you have not offended.  Unless of course you really don’t care about your ‘brother’.

To build or  to burn?  How about neither?  How about love your neighbor as yourself.  Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.   Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

til next time