Friday, January 1, 2010

Erase that

12.31.09, 11:51 p.m. Four hundred miles from this morning.




Sitting in the dark of this hotel room I watch hotel clock roll off the last nine minutes of 09 and whisper happy New Year to my sleeping wife, exhausted from the first leg of our journey.




Strange place to start the New Year now only minutes old. But, here I sit in the bathtub, dry- bathtub; with lap-top. Here I’ll bath my mind of words needing to be written, words keeping me from sleep. Here I won’t wake my wife.



Forgive me for bringing in the New Year with an eraser – it’s not what I had planned. Folks are dancing, confetti’s flying and I’m sitting in the bathtub, erasing, cleaning up last year’s blog.


“Doug, forget it. That was last year. Last year was so…”


Yesterday?




Last year, yesterday I wrote: “This day, I pray for you dear reader to listen to that still small voice from your Creator. He has built into you a navigational system to lead you to the biggest and best life you could ever imagine.”


The words biggest and best life have given me insomnia.


I do pray for you and believe God desires to speak with you, navigate you and bless you. However, It has been brought to my attention that a simple one- liner; biggest and best life you could ever imagine may portray the wrong meaning.


I used the phrase to connect with an earlier statement about being in the Super-bowl and playing the biggest and best. I did not mean, God is a big genie and if you listen to Him all your problems will vanish into thin air.


In the not- so- distant- past my loved ones and I have suffered the pain of death, illness, rape, and heart-break to name a few.


Personally, I can imagine a better life without these woes. But, I cannot imagine living through them without the help of my Savior Jesus Christ.


So, as we enter the New Year, I can pretty much guarantee we’re going to have problems and lots of questions about which way to go and what to do. In every situation the answer is the same. He has a name.


JESUS.

The Word of God says it much better than I.


These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jesus ~John 16:33



Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16


Love


      Doug
.

5 comments:

Glynn said...

We took "biggest and best life" the way it was intended. Happy New Year, Doug, and safe travel to that place in Florida where you don't have to shovel snow.

S. Etole said...

yes ... be of good cheer .... He is with us ... always ... {you might enjoy FL more if you know you are missing -20 F predicted here for tonight!}

Anne Lang Bundy said...

The biggest and best life is walking as closely as possible to His perfect will, whatever it may be. Good 'nuff for me!

Much love bactatcha, Doug.

Karen said...

Doug,
Jesus is the brightest and best and our God is a BIG GOD. Thank you for these words of wisdom for 2010. Blessings to you and your family.

Anonymous said...

thanks for taking the tub time, this is a wonderful post.