The Steadfast Love Of The Lord

One year ago, an event occurred that significantly changed my life. I was working for a corporate bank, struggling to fit in their culture. It was affecting me in many ways, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. My relationship with my wife and my kids suffered. I went to bed at night and woke up each morning consumed with all the things that needed taking care of. I thought I was too locked into this job to consider doing something else. After all, it provided me with a good income, it had a lot of good benefits, the retirement plan was great, and the stature in the community was important. But, I was miserable.

I went to a Walk to Emmaus in April of 05, and looking back now, I can see God's hand in preparing me for a change in my life. I prayed a lot over that weekend that God would make things better at work, and I had the sense that He was telling me that everything was going to be all right. I took that to mean that things at work would get better.

Little did I know that what God had planned for me was to lose my job. The way I figure it, God decided that since I didn't have the guts to remove myslf from my situation, He would do it for me. On May 26, 2005, I learned that the bank had eliminated my position, and that effective immediately, I had no job!!

I dreaded calling my wife, thinking that she would be devastated and ashamed of me. I think the Lord gave her insights and wisdom for the situation, because she immediately saw this event as God working in my life. She didn't allow me to wallow around in self pity, but encouraged me to seek God and His will. She and I immediately began praying that God would reveal Himself to me, and show me direction on what to do with my life. A passage of scripture really spoke to me. It is Jeremiah 29: 11-13. It says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

I called on the Lord, and He was gracious and steadfast in His promises of this scripture passage. To make a long story short, I now have a great job that I look forward to going to each day, I have a peace in my mind and my heart, I have a much better relationship with my wife and kids, and most importantly, I have a refreshed, renewed and much deeper relationship with my Lord and my God.

As the familiar chorus goes,

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness oh Lord,
great is thy faithfulness!

I never want to go through something like this again, but I thank God that He gave me the shove, then gave me the strength to make a significant change in my life.

Thanks be to God for His steadfast love that never ceases!

De Colores

In Memory

Memorial Day is coming up soon. Time to think back and remember those who made an impact on our lives and honor them.

I think of my mom, who was a hard working farmer's wife. She never complained about the difficulties and long days they faced while farming. She was a very spiritual person. She shaped the foundation of my life, and along with dad, helped establish and nourish my faith walk with God. She died "way too soon" from cancer in 1995.

I think of Rev. Charlie Hanes. He was a "tough old bird". He was a no nonsense pastor, who deeply cared about the Lord and his Church. He died "way too soon" from a heart attack while pastoring our church.

I think of my grandpa and grandma Fruechting. What special grand parents they were! Many, many memories were spun from the holiday gatherings at their home. My most precious memories, however are from the quiet times I got to spend with them "one on one". I learned a lot about family, dignity, honesty, and compassion for mankind from them.

I think of the kids in Amanda and Erin's high school classes who died "way too soon" in tragic accidents. I hope that through these tragedies, our young people will learn life lessons that will help them make smart decisions as they continue their journey in life.

I think of the soldiers who answered the call to duty throughout history. They are oftentimes called heroes, but if you would ask them, they would probably merely say they were doing their duty and following orders.

If you have a family member who is or was in the armed forces, take the time to stop and thank them for their sacrifice they made. If you have a family member who helped shape you into the person you are, tell them thank you. If they have passed away, stop sometime this weekend and thank God for the time they were on this earth and for the guidance they gave you.

I know I will.

De Colores

Patience

I had another portion of my yard seeded to grass 5 days ago. The ground was carefully prepared, the grass was drilled in, fertilizer was applied, and I have been faithfully watering it, being careful not to let the ground dry out. Each morning I go out into the newly seeded area and look for the first signs of new grass coming up. I have no patience!! I want a lush green yard, and I want it now!! Even though I have done everything I know to make a nice yard, I need to have patience and let nature do it's work to sprout the grass seed and make it come to life.

How much like this yard is our spiritual journey!! We pray, we read our bibles, we go to church on Sunday morning and expect God to give us all His blessings right now!! But, we need patience so that we may learn to grow in Christ.

Colossians 1: 9-14 says "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

In today's world of instant gratification, may we have the patience to wait on God, and enjoy His blessings as we persevere in doing His will.

De Colores.

Happy Mother's Day

Ah, Mother's Day. That wonderful day of the year that we husbands, fathers, sons and daughters make a clumsy and oftentimes inept attempt at showing our wife/mother how much we appreciate them in our lives. To be sure, the days previous to this and after this special day are just like any other to moms - filled with expectations of keeping the house picked up, having meals ready and on the table at the prescribed time, wiping dirty bottoms, soothing hurt feelings and body parts, oftentimes all within the scope of one day. In today's world this is commonly expected and achieved in a day that includes a full day of work outside the home.

Hey guys and kids, let's try a bold move and make every day "Mother's Day" for our wives and moms. Let's lift them up daily with encouragement, love, prayer, praise and especially HELP in their daily routines. Tell her you love her every day. My mom died in 1995, and even today, I wish I could call her up and tell her I love her. Somehow I think she probably knows, but it probably would have been most helpful to tell her more often while she was here.

President Teddy Roosevelt once said: "When all is said, it is the mother, and the mother only, who is a better citizen than the soldier who fights for his country. The successful mother, the mother who does her part in rearing and training aright the boys and girls, who are to be the men and women of the next generation, is of greater use to the community, and occupies, if she only would realize it, a more honorable as well as more important position than any man in it. The mother is the one supreme asset of the national life. She is more important, by far, than the successful statesman, or businessman, or artist, or scientist."

Guys, let's honor our wives and mothers all day, every day. Happy Mother's Day honey, I am thankful that God chose you to be the mother of my children. Happy Mother's Day mom, may you continue to enjoy your eternal rest in heaven that you so much deserve.

Marion Middle School - Boys MCAA Track Champs!

Congratulations to the Marion Middle School Boys track team for winning the Mid-Central Activities Association (MCAA) track meet!! There are 12 schools in central Kansas in this league, so the boys are to be commended for being the best!! Here is a picture of my son Brian throwing the shot put. He threw a personal best of 40' 1 1/4" to take 4th. He also took 4th in the discus. Now, if he could just run a 4.4 second 40, he'd be in good shape!!

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

My wife and I had the pleasure of going to a Mercy Me concert at Central Christian Church in Wichita this past Friday. What a blessing!! The tickets were cheap (only $15), and they were selling their newest CD (Coming Up To Breathe) for only $5!! The church held 3,000 people, and it was full. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear you were at a church service, not a concert. They would play a few songs, talk about the ups and downs in their own lives, lead the "congregation" in some choruses and then play some more of their songs. They had a very interesting story to tell about their beginnings, their struggles in traveling in a bus for 12 years before they "made it big", and their desire to serve God even now when they are on top. They are just a bunch of guys like you and me (OK, maybe they're quite a bit more talented than the average guy), and they love to serve the Lord. All in all, we were blessed to be ministered to by them for 2 1/2 hours. What a concert!!

De Colores

"Clutch" performance

I opened the top of our bluebird house yesterday and was surprised to see that the eggs have hatched!! Mom and dad bluebird are nervously and ferociously guarding the nest against other birds. It seems that all kinds of birds must want to get a close up view of them, and they won't let any other birds near the nest.

Dad says that the term for a nest of baby bluebirds is a "clutch". I have no idea how that got started, but I guess my bluebirds have just delivered a "clutch performance"!!!!