Greetings,
I had a wonderful time officiating a wedding in Wyoming this past weekend. We stayed in Laramie and held the wedding at the University of Wyoming. It was wonderful to see some old friends of the Larsen family and to make new friends from the Yentes family. We got back home last night safe and sound.
Upon returning Christine read some of the Care Pages updates that she had been receiving regarding a colleague that had recently had brain surgery to remove a frontal lobe tumor. The surgery was successful and Christine has had the opportunity to share some of our experiences with her. After reading and speaking with her friend Christine was reminded, and reminded me, of how important the little things were to us after my surgeries. Honestly, I had forgotten. She reminded me of how, following my surgeries, the little things were so important and so unimportant.
What she meant was that, after a trauma like brain surgery, you are so thankful for life in general. Time with family, warm summer days, good friends, and the chance to be together with your children are things that we have a tendency to take for granted. Brain surgery tends to remind you of those wonderful times once again. However, you also realize that little things like a brown spot in your yard or the red sock in your laundry aren't big deals at all. I have to be honest, the further I am removed from my surgeries the more I have forgotten those pearls of wisdom. Time separates us from tragedy, or at least the immediate emotional response. I wish it were different! I wish that I would be able to remember what it felt like to be thankful for time I have been given. I guess, with the World Cup being so prominent now, you would call it "stoppage time". You know, it is that time that you are given when, in reality, the game should be over.
I do thank God for the "stoppage time" I have received. And looking at the trials and triumphs of another family that has been touched by brain surgery I am, once again, reminded of the little things. I am reminded of the important things and how it was and can be again.
I challenge you this day to remember the little things. I challenge you to find the joy of a sunset and to refuse to be saddened by the rainstorm. Each of these come in our lives, there is nothing we can do to change that. What we can change is the way we perceive and react to them. Christine was right, I had forgotten some of the lessons we learned from five tough years of health. And, although, the health is still a problem it is not the problem. I need to be more thankful for that in my life. So, enjoy the day because it is all we are given.
May God bless each of you this day with the little things!
Until next time,
Derek
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Pray For Me!
Greetings,
As I mentioned last time I have been having trouble coming up with the words it takes to blog on a regular basis. One of the reasons, I suppose, that I am finding it hard to come up with words is because I have spent a large portion of them in another manner. I am getting very close to finishing the book I am writing. It is a memoir of sorts and chronicles the journey that God has placed me on throughout my life. Christine has helped me separate my ideas and get them in a more chronological order. The title is The Prodigal Son and My Journey Home.
It still has a way to go until it is ready to be submitted to possible publishers but I am hopeful to get it sent out this fall. I want to let all of you to know that much of the book has been made possible by this very blog. Knowing that there are people out there reading my words give me hope and encouragement. I pray that your journeys to this site has made some small impact on your lives. I know that it has impacted me in a major way. Thank you!
I pray that you will, one day, be able to read what I have written. I think it is a testament to the love of God and that, all of us, are on a journey home. But, until the day that you have that manuscript in your hands you will have to settle with our chats on this page. Now that I think of it, I think that would be just fine with me!
I would ask for your prayers as I try and finish this project that has been five years in the making. May God grant me the words to share and the people to share them with.
Until next time,
Derek
As I mentioned last time I have been having trouble coming up with the words it takes to blog on a regular basis. One of the reasons, I suppose, that I am finding it hard to come up with words is because I have spent a large portion of them in another manner. I am getting very close to finishing the book I am writing. It is a memoir of sorts and chronicles the journey that God has placed me on throughout my life. Christine has helped me separate my ideas and get them in a more chronological order. The title is The Prodigal Son and My Journey Home.
It still has a way to go until it is ready to be submitted to possible publishers but I am hopeful to get it sent out this fall. I want to let all of you to know that much of the book has been made possible by this very blog. Knowing that there are people out there reading my words give me hope and encouragement. I pray that your journeys to this site has made some small impact on your lives. I know that it has impacted me in a major way. Thank you!
I pray that you will, one day, be able to read what I have written. I think it is a testament to the love of God and that, all of us, are on a journey home. But, until the day that you have that manuscript in your hands you will have to settle with our chats on this page. Now that I think of it, I think that would be just fine with me!
I would ask for your prayers as I try and finish this project that has been five years in the making. May God grant me the words to share and the people to share them with.
Until next time,
Derek
Sunday, June 20, 2010
When the Words Just Don't Come
Greetings,
As I look back at my blog activity over the past month I realize just how long it has been since we last shared our time together. I appreciate your patience and dedication to this site and I hope that you will continue to check it each day for new posts.
After realizing how long it had been since my last post I took an inventory of my life over the past month to somehow find a reason for my absence. After much thinking, investigating, praying, and self observation I came up with this one conclusion: I didn't have any words!
I know it may sound strange coming from a pastor but it is the truth. For an individual who seeks just the right words to share each week I found that I had nothing to share. I wonder if that ever happens in your lives. Do you go through dry spells without really knowing why? Are you ever face with a time in your life when it just seems that you have neither the energy nor the motivation to tackle a new project? If you know how that feels then you will know my mindset over the past month! However, since it is father's day today I have found that my heart is filled with words to share. So, I would like to share a few of those words with you about this day.
Father's day seems to be a different day than mother's day. On mother's day we speak of the strength of our mom's, the way they care for their children, and the way in which they support their families. I suppose you could say the same things about fathers. Yet, we, as a nation, are faced with countless families which have no father figure in their family dynamics. Too often we heard about fathers who have abandoned their responsibilities and have left their children to the care of their mothers. We find ourselves spending more time trying to hunt down deadbeat dads who ignore their support payments. We spend so much time trying to help the single mother who is raising five children by herself. And, we spend too much time trying to provide good role models to the children who have no father figure in their daily lives. We have become a fatherless nation! That is why it is so encouraging when we see dads doing what dads are suppose to be doing...loving their wives and their children. We need good role models in the present to show our young men the type of father they should be in the future. My dad is one of those men.
On this father's day I honor my father and the great lessons he has taught me. My dad taught me things. He taught me what it means to be a loving father and that, to be a loving father, you must first love your wife. He has taught me what it means to be a man and, to be a man, you have to love your family. Throughout my life he has been my coach on the baseball field and on the field of life. It makes it so much easier to be a good man, husband, and father when you have watched one for so many years.
I truly believe that I am the man I am today because of what my father showed me in the past. I feel privileged to call him "My Father".
I think that it is vital to stress the need for good fatherly role models. I believe that the way that we relate to our earthly fathers plays a major role at how we deal with our heavenly father. It makes it difficult for people to grasp the concept of a father who loves us more than anything when they have lived with an abusive, or absent, father in their earthly life. God has called men to be role models not cautionary tales. He created us to love him and our families.
My prayer would be two fold on this day of remembrance. First, I give thanks for the father that God has given to me. Second, that the men of our nation would rise to a higher calling. That men of our nation would begin to assume the responsibilities of being good role models for their children and that the men of our nation would seek to be Christlike in a country where Christ is beginning to become all but forgotten.
Father's have responsibilities to their wives and to their children. My dad knew this and he taught it to me! I truly believe that I can be half the man he is I should be doing alright!
So, on this Father's day I ask a blessing upon all of the Father's of our country. May we be light that shines in the darkness, the example that teaches others, and the men that God created us to be!
Until next time,
Derek
As I look back at my blog activity over the past month I realize just how long it has been since we last shared our time together. I appreciate your patience and dedication to this site and I hope that you will continue to check it each day for new posts.
After realizing how long it had been since my last post I took an inventory of my life over the past month to somehow find a reason for my absence. After much thinking, investigating, praying, and self observation I came up with this one conclusion: I didn't have any words!
I know it may sound strange coming from a pastor but it is the truth. For an individual who seeks just the right words to share each week I found that I had nothing to share. I wonder if that ever happens in your lives. Do you go through dry spells without really knowing why? Are you ever face with a time in your life when it just seems that you have neither the energy nor the motivation to tackle a new project? If you know how that feels then you will know my mindset over the past month! However, since it is father's day today I have found that my heart is filled with words to share. So, I would like to share a few of those words with you about this day.
Father's day seems to be a different day than mother's day. On mother's day we speak of the strength of our mom's, the way they care for their children, and the way in which they support their families. I suppose you could say the same things about fathers. Yet, we, as a nation, are faced with countless families which have no father figure in their family dynamics. Too often we heard about fathers who have abandoned their responsibilities and have left their children to the care of their mothers. We find ourselves spending more time trying to hunt down deadbeat dads who ignore their support payments. We spend so much time trying to help the single mother who is raising five children by herself. And, we spend too much time trying to provide good role models to the children who have no father figure in their daily lives. We have become a fatherless nation! That is why it is so encouraging when we see dads doing what dads are suppose to be doing...loving their wives and their children. We need good role models in the present to show our young men the type of father they should be in the future. My dad is one of those men.
On this father's day I honor my father and the great lessons he has taught me. My dad taught me things. He taught me what it means to be a loving father and that, to be a loving father, you must first love your wife. He has taught me what it means to be a man and, to be a man, you have to love your family. Throughout my life he has been my coach on the baseball field and on the field of life. It makes it so much easier to be a good man, husband, and father when you have watched one for so many years.
I truly believe that I am the man I am today because of what my father showed me in the past. I feel privileged to call him "My Father".
I think that it is vital to stress the need for good fatherly role models. I believe that the way that we relate to our earthly fathers plays a major role at how we deal with our heavenly father. It makes it difficult for people to grasp the concept of a father who loves us more than anything when they have lived with an abusive, or absent, father in their earthly life. God has called men to be role models not cautionary tales. He created us to love him and our families.
My prayer would be two fold on this day of remembrance. First, I give thanks for the father that God has given to me. Second, that the men of our nation would rise to a higher calling. That men of our nation would begin to assume the responsibilities of being good role models for their children and that the men of our nation would seek to be Christlike in a country where Christ is beginning to become all but forgotten.
Father's have responsibilities to their wives and to their children. My dad knew this and he taught it to me! I truly believe that I can be half the man he is I should be doing alright!
So, on this Father's day I ask a blessing upon all of the Father's of our country. May we be light that shines in the darkness, the example that teaches others, and the men that God created us to be!
Until next time,
Derek
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