Sons of the Shepherd

When the Evenings Get Darker       My oldest son and I have been going on evening walks in the woods near our home.  These walks have become precious to me because not only am I building up my physical health, but I'm also building a healthier relationship with my teenage son.  I'm constantly amazed that he wants to spend time with his dad.  I know this probably won't last forever, but for the time being I'm going to treasure it.  We started our walk a little later last night then normal.  It didn't seem like a very big deal but after about a mile in I noticed that it was noticeably darker.  It wasn't because of cloud cover, it was simply because we are drawing closer to Fall.  We did finish our walk.  We did 2.25 miles, but the last half mile or so required us to be use a flashlight to navigate our path.  The evening getting shorter is a reminder that Autumn is coming.  My pumpkin spice loving friends are starting to buy ...

  Writing Your Chapter Two Are You Ready?  The Questions No One Asks Out Loud       "Is everyone ready?"  Those are the last words out of my mouth before we go on a family road trip, and more then likely the answer is no despite multiple warnings.  As a family of seven there are a lot of things to get ready before finally putting the car in reverse to go down the drive way, and sometimes it means driving down the street only to turn around to find out that we were not ready.  Five kids require a lot of readiness.  Things like making sure everyone has their shoes on, that everyone indeed did use the bathroom, because if this box isn't checked, we will be visiting the gas station right down the street.  Leslie will be packing snacks, water bottles need to be filled, GPS needs to be programmed. It's amazing how the older children can say "I'm ready" while they are still getting ready.  I give this illustration to let you know that lif...

  Getting Honest with God  and Your Grief   Psalm 62:8, Psalm 34:18, Lamentations 3:17-24, Psalm 13       I grew up on the glorious day of hot blacktop on a school playground.  Playgrounds are sort of like the Hunger Games at times.  There seems be different districts fighting for their own form of dominance on the concrete jungle.  Elementary playgrounds aren't just filled with swings, dodgeball, tetter totters, and slides.  It's also filled with insults that are flung back and forth.  One insult that was tossed out when your honesty was questioned was "Liar, liar, pants on fire."  Mic drop sound effect inserted here.  If it was an especially deep cut they would continue with hanging on a telephone wire.  There is nothing that hurts more then hearing insults, especially when your honesty is being questioned.  Sometimes maybe we did lie, other times were didn't.  But being condemned of lying is hurtful. ...

  The Financial Fiasco:  The Cost No One Talks About       I was recently having coffee with a widower and we were recalling some of the things we never expected after losing our spouse.  One of the things he said was  "Nobody told me grief would be expensive."  Finances is one of the quiet areas where loss sneaks up on you.  One of the reason why is that you don’t plan on losing your spouse.  You take a 'death do us part' vow, but we never really think about someone actually passing away.  To complicate matters is that the grieving person isn't thinking clearly.  They are not running on all cylinders, but despite that fact they are asked to make major financial decisions, typically alone.  These conversations are hard enough when a man is at his best, but post losing a spouse he is at his worst.  He can barely remember where he parked his car, let alone being asked to pay out thousands upon thousands of dollars....

  The Brain and Grief The Great Hijacking Part Three       I'm a sucker for old Western movies.  There is something special about watching a cowboy chase down an outlaw.  There's nothing better then watching Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, or Henry Fonda.  The Magnificent Seven and Tombstone will always stand as some of my all time favorite pieces of cinema.  The music, the scenery, and the stories are all captivating.  But my absolute favorite part of a western movie involves trains.  I love old steam engines.  The sound of the train chugging along the tracks and the loud whistle coming from the engine draws me in every time.  Sometimes there's money on the train and the outlaws need to hijack the it in order to get the loot.  You can picture the scene.  The outlaws are in the distance, tracking the train, and then all of a sudden they rush down on their horses.  The horse is covered with sweat and fr...

"A Lamp to My Feet" A Daily Point to Ponder from the Bible by Pastor Dennis Whitmore      When you're in a valley, it's hard to see anything that's over the wall.  If the obstacle is a mountain before you, it's hard to imagine being out of the valley and over on the other side. "My soul melts from heaviness: Strengthen me according to Your Word. Remove from me the way of lying, And grant me your Law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth;  Your judgments I have laid before me." Psalm 119:28-30        The line that jumps out to me is: "Remove me from the way of lying.  You probably skip right past that one; you're not a liar.  Right?  Can't be you.  Take a long look at this whole passage again.  The way of lying is only known to you and the Lord.  Because it's been your way.  If you are open to Him, the Holy Spirit will reveal to you the way you've been lying to yourself.       If God has b...

  Sometimes God Answers No       There are a lot of things that I miss about Tiffanie, things that I'm pretty confident that will never be satisified on this side of heaven the way that they were on earth, things that only heaven can fulfill.  Things that are distinct, memories forever etched in my mind that will make me smile and laugh.  One of them was Tiff's love of childrens music. Children's ministry ran through Tiff's veins.  She was created by God to reach children with the Gospel, and one of those ways was song.  She would lead chapels and teach the children songs like 'Salvation', "Inch by Inch", 'God's Power', etc.  I can still picture her singing Jesus love is sweet and wonderful and leading the hand motions, or Baa Baa He's the Good Shepherd.  But the song that comes to mind the most is a song about prayer.  It goes like this, 'Sometimes God answers yes when I pray, sometimes God answers wait when I pray, sometimes God a...

  Preparing Your Heart for Valentine’s Day When Your Person Is Gone Valentines Day 2020       If you were to ask the people nearest to me they would tell you that I am a hopeless romantic.  I am the guy that loves to pull off the side of the road and pick flowers, make cards, buy a favorite snack on the way home from work, and leave the cheesiest flirtatious comments.  I didn't need Valentine's Day to be romantic with my wife, I wanted her to feel like Valentine's Day was everyday.  Tiff and I typically went pretty low key.  We didn't buy many presents but we enjoyed each others company.  I vividly remember our last Valentines Day together.  She was just diagnosed with cancer and needless to say there wasn't a lot of things worth celebrating.  It was the darkest most depressing Valentine's Day, but it was also one of my favorites.  We didn't discuss the future because her diagnosis crushed our hopes for that, but instead we tal...