This Won't Last Forever

This won't last forever...

That thought popped into my head about 90 minutes into our trip.  A trip that usually takes a little over on hour, today will take us just under 3.  Winter won't let up. 

I am the designated driver for my parents, shuttling my mom to an outpatient surgical procedure.  And we are running late.  And mom is worrying.  And letting me know she is worrying.

This won't last forever...

It will get warmer.

The snow will melt.

We will get there.

Mom will stop worrying...ok, 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

I was a teenager the first time I can remember using that phrase...

Someday I won't have to listen to my parents.

I'll get out of this town.

I will run my own life.

This won't last forever...

The baby will sleep through the night.

The baby will stop crying.

We will figure out the car seat.

We will stop feeling like idiot parents...ok, 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

You will find a new career, adventure, security...You will sleep through the night again.

You will stop feeling like a failure, like damaged goods.

Those plans God has for you haven't changed.

Neither has He.

This won't last forever...

Mark Twain once said,

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years."

The eyes of your teenager won't always roll when you say something.  

This won't last forever...

All over the place, the Bible tells us that our trials are temporary.

But so are the kind of moments they make Apple commercials about.

What are you going to do with a moment that won't last forever?  

Nothing lasts forever.

The rolling eyes of your teen will soon be rolling out into the world on their own.

Those parents who try your patience will one day be gone.

And you will someday try the patience of a once eye-rolling teen who now drives you around in the snow.

You won't stay here.

This is a tragic at times, beautiful in moments, hot mess of a circle of life.

This won't last forever.

A Church, A Mouse, And A Stuff-Crust Pizza

I knew what she was going to ask.  I'd been hearing her hint at it for the last 2 days.  
"What do you want to do about church?"  
These days, for me, that is a loaded question.  
My responses border somewhere between social disobedience and civil unrest.  
I didn't want to go.  
I was really liking this whole 'staying in bed on Sunday' groove I had going.  
Really liking it.

But she was asking...
And offering...
"Well, we could...?"
"Maybe, we could...?"

Finally she says...

"I don't really want to go.  Let's stay home."

Thank You!  
Now I can drift back to sleep.  
I had a plan to win points back with my wife, Kim. A showing of "Saving Mr. Banks" later that afternoon should do the trick.  Genius
  
So I struggled to go back to sleep.  Problem was, my head was now fully awake.  
It went like this...
"Saving Mr. Banks" is about Walt Disney.
Walt Disney once said, "Let us never forget, this all started with a mouse."

And then I remembered...

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." 

- Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

I was confusing the mouse with the mess.

After 16+ years of being in full time ministry...  

After 16+ years of preaching almost every Sunday...

I found myself without a job, without a church home, and without an identity.

And dangerously close to forgetting "this all started with a mouse"

See...

My 'mouse' was the fact that I was once lost and God never gave up on me.

So I got up.  
Bellowed at my daughters to get out of bed.  
Smiled as they grumbled about it.  
We all got ready and went to church.

Can I leave you with 3 things I learned yesterday?

• My wife, Kim, is amazing.  There was no nagging about my lack of enthusiasm towards corporate worship.  Don't get me wrong, after soon to be 19 yrs of marriage, I knew what she wanted to do.  Kim let me lead our family.  She left the decision up to me.  She actually looked surprised as I came down the stairs after waking up the girls.  Bible in lap, coffee in hand...she was already worshipping.  If I would continue to sulk over the next several weeks I know that she would have taken the girls on her own somewhere.  But not today.  Today she let me lead.  Guys...if your wife honors God by giving you space to lead...Man up and lead in a way that gives God honor.  Then give God praise for the Godly woman your wife is.  Then give yourself an 'atta boy' for marrying so well over your head.                                                                                        
• Your kids will grumble.  Its ok.  Don't 'Jesus Juke' them into shamefully going.  They are hurting.  They are scared and unsure.  They grew up in that church you're no longer a part of.  It is fully ingrained into the very fabric of their lives.  They don't know anything else.  They're hurting.  And they're mad...but not at God.  At least not yet.  Be gentle and consistent.  Guide them to the car, the sanctuary, and then the Throne.  They want that connection back.  They want to know that their relationship was with God and that hasn't changed.
• Soak, dont' dispense.  You're not there to critique.  You are there to worship, learn, and heal.  They will do things differently.  If you had cornered the market on this whole how to do church thing...you'd probably still have a job (cue the self-inflicted shin shot).  Do something you haven't done in awhile...just worship

And afterwards, let the kids pick where you eat lunch.  
Laugh.  
Laugh some more.  
Talk about the church service.  Ask what they thought of it.  
Listen for what they need out of a worship service.  
And then laugh some more.

And when they ask for the cheese stuffed-crust pizza...order it.  
You'll have enough of a fight on your hands when they realized the family has started a low-carb meal plan that kicks off that evening.

God is still God.  You're going to be ok.

Correction

Tried to write something just now
Even posted it

Took it down
Maybe I'm a coward

Or getting wiser

or a combination of both

If the last post makes it out there...I'll own up to it
If it doesn't...you'll think what you will.

We're fine
We're blessed

Pray you are as well

Maybe there'll be more later...