Pray. Count to Ten. Walk Around the Block. Pray Again. Take a Deep Breath. Pray Some More!

Jim Gaffigan said of this coming holiday, "Thanksgiving is like we didn't even try to come up with a tradition. The tradition is that we overeat!" Then in a voice of another person he says, "How about at Thanksgiving we just eat a lot?" Jim then says, "We do that every day!" The other voice then says, "What if we over eat with people that annoy the (heck) outta us?"

David Letterman said, "If I wanted to negotiate with terrorists, I'd go home for Thanksgiving!"

Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks to God for all with which we have been blessed. The reality is that we do overeat, and sometimes with people that do annoy us or push us to limits we don't want pushed. Jesus did say, or meant to say, "Where two or three are gathered; there's going to be trouble." And there usually is. But should there be? Many we have not seen for a long time, and their comments or ours sometimes makes others feel bad especially if we make a comment of appearance. "You sure have gotten big!" Parents will say to children; some kids are sensitive, even at a young age, about their appearance. Some may already have a weight issue and the "big" comment really says to them, "You're getting fatter!" The child sensitive about his/her height hears, "Woah! You sure are tall!" Not what they want to hear. Some well-meaning parent may jokingly say, "What's the matter, son? That wife of yours not feeding you anymore?" Do I even need to explain that one? And yes, you can reverse the roles in that last statement. "Well, there's snow on the roof now!" Yes, our hair does get grayer/whiter with age. The classic is, of course, to the single people, "Why aren't you married yet?" in whatever "clever" form they may think of with which to torture those who have not yet, or have chosen not to, marry. You may have your own list, but the key is this: Jesus said, "Where two or three are gather in my name, there will I be also." The best Thanksgiving is to invite Jesus to sit with us at the table and to thank Him in genuine ways for all that Jesus has blessed us.

If a comment hurts, re-read the title of this post. Pray. Count to ten. Walk around the block. Pray again. Take a deep breath. Pray some more! Then smile, love back with a nice comment about them, and carry on. Oh yeah, the shirts begin with what Winnie said, "Keep Calm and Carry On."

May it be so.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shine, Don't Pine!

It is said that David, when he says in Psalm 121, "I look up towards the hills," was referring to his enemies encamped around him, and he knew knew to answer his own question by saying and knowing, that his help came from the Lord. Smoke of us sometimes, look towards the hills and see other churches and pastors, and we pine for the day we might pastor such a church. Where would David have gotten had his vision been cast so low? He would have met defeat in every battle. He looked beyond the challenge to the source of help. We are also called to look towards God so that we might find victory where God has placed us. For a reason and a season, we march faithfully.

look beyond! and look upward. Shine, my friend, where you have been place.

For a reason and a season.

¡Ganas!

Okay, boys and girls, today's Spanish word is ganas. It's a simple, but powerful word. It literally means desire, and can mean to win, when used as ganar. For our purposes in this posting, it means desire; but deeper the drive to win is found in that desire. We used to say (and still do; in fact, that's what I'm saying now) ¡dale con ganas!

Anything we enter into should be with the passionate desire to success, or as Paul say, to be more than conquerors in these things of God. To be in a relationship, one must have ganas; a fire of passion to enjoy the other person; in a church setting as pastor or leader or servant, one must have ganas or it will show very quickly that we don't.

It's your choice. But to succeed, ¡dale con ganas!