Pappa-isms

Why would I title this blog "Pappa-isms"?  You might have to be a member of our family to understand completely, but Pappa is my official name for Grand Pa.  You guessed it bloglodytes.  I'm going to muse for a bit about being Pappa.  Why you say?  I'll tell you later, but for now let's just look at what being "Pappa" is all about.

I find it very similar to being "Daddy" only with a greater sense of peace and accomplishment.  There's something about seeing my family grow that makes me feel good about my life.  You start with a marriage, have some kids, the kids get married, the kids start to have more kids.  What a great blessing this life can be. 

If you know me at all you probably know that I have a spiritual slant on just about everything, but I can't think of anything better to draw spiritual insight from than being Pappa.  You see, I'm convinced that being a Pappa gives me some insight into God's kingdom.  With 5 children, two heaven sent grand daughters and another one on the way I occasionally get a small glimpse of how God must feel being Father to us all.  I'm totally connected to each one.  Heart, mind, body and soul and it's no different for my grandchildren.  I see how much I love them and want to extend that love.  I see how easy it is for me to forgive every little error they make.  I see how much I want to bless them, help them, protect them, provide for them and do everything I can to ensure they realize the very desire of their hearts and I can sit back and say "Abba Pappa,this must be a small glimpse of how you feel about me."  And if I feel this way, how much more must God feel this way about His very creation.  What a treasure it is to be Pappa.  I can only pray that each one of my own children will experience the taste of heaven that I have seen in my life.

I know I know.  You're asking yourselves what could possibly cause me to muse of all things Pappa.  Simply this-

Our daughter Brittany and son in law Jamie are adding another branch to our family tree.  We found out last weekend during a skype session when they showed us a picture of what was supposed to be some great decor idea for their kitchen.  Turns out it was a picture of their pregnancy test results. "Positive".  Yea!!!

You know how people always say that pregnant women glow?  Personally I believe it is true.  What's more, I'll say why it is true.  In Ephesians 2:10, God's word says that we are His workmanship.  The word workmanship translates from the original greek to mean a masterpiece poem.  In other words, each one of us were created in the same way the earth was created.  God spoke us into existance.  We are the result of God speaking our lives into the wombs of our mothers and each one of us is a unique poem.  The Psalmist says in Psalms 139 that "Your (God's) eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them".  In other words, even when we were still baby badder, God was speaking His design over each one of us.  How miraculaous.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the light of the world.  Well doesn't it make sense that if the light of the world is personally speaking creation into the body of a woman that she would radiate?  In fact, I don't know how we could keep from seeing it.  It can't be contained.  You might say, "Well yea, I get that for any woman who believes in God, but what about the ones who don't.  How do you explain their radiance?  Simple, belief in God is no prerequisite to God's masterpiece poem being spoken into to you.  Believe in God or not, you can't help but radiate the light of the world.

To my daughter Brittany- I couldn't be happier about your pregnancy.  I pray you revel in the months ahead while the creator of all the universe and those in it is giving special attention to you, speaking His very "masterpiece" into you.  Draw near to Him and worship Him more than ever now, giving thanks for what He is doing inside you and glow baby glow so the world will see and know that He is God.

All my love, Pappa!

We, the Beloved!

I said in my first blog that I figured out I had a lot to say.  Well guess what?  Daddy got some talkin' ta do... so here goes.  Ephesians 1:6 says...

"To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us ACCEPTED in the beloved."

When Jesus came up out of the water He heard His father say "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased".  He leaves and immediately goes to the wilderness where satan says "If you are the son of god..."?  Notice that satan conveniently leaves out the word "beloved" when he throws his darts of temptation.  He won't remind us because when we truly know we are "beloved", whatever he throws at us can not succeed.  No temptation, no trial, or no weapon can succeed against us.  Not even the giant ones.  Consider David and Goliath.  That story is such a beautiful picture of Jesus and His grace.  Let me explain.  Names in the Bible are significant.  They mean something and can point to a message that God wants us to get.  In this case, the name David means "Beloved" or Grace.  On the opposite side we have Goliath.  His name means "disgracefully stripped and held captive".  The place where the two of them met was in the battle field at what was considered the "blood line".  Are you seeing the picture yet? 

Like Goliath, since the fall of man we have been stripped of the glory of God that was with us and we all have been held captive to the clutches of sin, legalism and trying to abide by laws.  Yet when we get born again in Jesus, the "beloved" we are set completely free from not only our captors but all the guilt and shame (disgrace) that comes with it.  It happens when we see the truth of the blood (blood line) of Christ.  It is THE truth that sets us free.  It takes a David to knock down a giant.  In other words, it takes someone who KNOWS that he is God's beloved to win the fights of life!

We are God's beloved not because of what we do.  Christ did it all.  He is God's Beloved.  But God put us in Christ.  That is why we are "accepted in the Beloved."  By the way, the word accepted here in the original greek form means "highly favored" so we are highly favored in the Beloved.  Wow!  And what God said to Jesus, He says to us today: "You are My beloved son.  In you, I am well pleased." When was the last time you saw yourself as well pleasing to God?  Here's the thing. We have the assurance that it is not based on what we have done, but what Christ has done.  We are still God's beloved no matter what we have done.

No one understood this more than the woman caught in adultery.  I used to wonder how she could "go and sin no more" after doing something she most certainly must have really enjoyed.  I fully understand this delima.  What power could possibly trump the pull of sexual sin?  Then I saw it.  The power of "nor do I condem you".  Jesus took away her judgement and sentence of death.  That is what the beloved did for us all.  He took our judgement and sentence for our sin and said I accept (highly favor) you and placed us in Himself.  Out of His enormous Grace, God highly favors us and covers us with His love.  His Beloved.

Wise Aker!

In one of my recent blogs I left you a brain teaser regarding the summation of life from the wisest person who ever lived.  I'm talking about King Solomon.  He said  "Everything under the sun is all vanity".  While it appears cynical and depressing, it is actully a road map to the hope of all hopes and true purposeful living.  Did you see the clue?

It was the term "under the sun" that is the dead giveaway.  His point is that everything that man diligently strives in pursuit of within the world system leaves you empty and desolate.  Fame, fortune, looks, prestige.  These are all fleeting.  Vanity is the only reason for such driven pursuit.  So how do we escape the fruitless ending of life pursuits?  Simple!  Set your sites on what's "above the sun", or above worldly pursuits.  Jesus said, "seek first the kingdom of God and it's righteousness and all the rest will be added".  Jesus is the King of the Kingdom and our righteousness comes from having faith in the work of what He accomplished on the cross.  So in other words, seek Jesus first and all the rest (health, relationships, prosperity, protection) will be added.  God wants us to have all the wonderful blessing of this life, but He just doesn't want all the blessings to have us, if you know what I mean.  Seeking Jesus first paves the way to the former while protecting us from the latter.  What's more, once you have entered into relationship with Jesus, who is our hope of all hopes, life will have ultimate purpose and fulfillment.  We get promoted from successful to significant.

Yes & Amen!

I'm Falling

Isn't fall the very best time of year?  The trees are beautiful, there's a nip in the air, there's the excitement of football, and yes the Chiefs won again today.  I have every reason to be happy.  Janet and I took mom on a drive today to look at the pretty countryside.  It was great.  She had such a good time.

Now you should know that I'm not writing about fall just to be newsy.  Truth be told, I have two sons and two lovely daughters in law that live in Austin, can you say hot, Texas.  As such, they have two basic seasons of the year down there.  Hotter 'n Hell and drabby.  Neither of which are what you would call beautiful. (spoken like a true Kansan)  One of my sweet daughters in law asked for photo's of the fall colors up here, so here's to you Brenna.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Caffiene and Other Things

In my last blog I mentioned there would be subsequent blogs about my wife and family.  Today I'm compelled to tell you something of Janet my wife.  A dream come true, and no it's not a night mare for all you comedians out there.  She possesses so many qualities that I admire.  Qualities that are polar opposites of who I am and I'm so grateful she is in my life.  I remember when we first met how attracted I was and how it was mostly about the physical attraction.  I even thought I could imagine what she would look like as we grew older and baby was I right.  See what I mean.  Good God Y'all.

She still takes my breath away.  But after 26 years, even though the attraction hasn't waned, other qualities have risen up considerably in the spot light.  Things like admiration, respect, appreciation,  deep abiding friendship.  The kind that doesn't give up on you no matter what.  The kind that won't let you give up no matter what.  A true life long mate.  So much that if she weren't here I'd feel I'm moving in circles like a dog chasing its own tail looking for the best part of me that went missing. 

You want to know what prompted my desire to write about her tonight?  Two things, refinished furniture and fully caffinated coffee from McDonald's.  Regarding the former, I submit evidence A and B.

A local church asked for volunteers to refinish furniture that could be given to the less fortunate so she took these and did her magic.  Janet has such a creative streak in her for design and decor.  It comes naturally, but she has an undying passion for learning new things.  A broad scope of things.  Anything from understanding Hebrew to better translate the Bible to, you guessed it, learning how to faux finish wood work.  Whether it comes from taking a class to reading it in a book or watching a "how to" video, she is always about learning something.  I've never seen her match.  I admire this so much and would be a fool to not appreciate the many blessings that she has brought to our home as a result of her study.  I have so much more to say about her, but I'll leave it for future blogs. 

Let's get on to the second thing that prompted this blog about Janet.  Caffiene.  That's right, caffiene.  I gave it up over 3 years ago as a step toward better health, but once in a while I allow myself some caffiene in the absence of decaf.  Guess who had 2 large cups of regular Joe this morning and is still buzzing at 2:00 AM.  As I can't seem to sleep I thought I would blog and when I saw her work in the basement I was inspired.  Boring right?

I think I've bagged my blog limit for tonight.  I will, however, leave you with this one thought.  Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived.  In ecclesiastes, his summation on life is as follows:  "Everything under the sun is all vanity".  At first glance you might think this pretty cynical and down right hopelessly depressing, but alas my fellow bloglodites, there is a clue in his statement that points to the hope of all hopes.  True purposeful life in fact.  See if you can figure it out and post your thoughts before my next submission.

The Age of Grace

What do you think of when you hear the word age?  The number of years of your life, or maybe someone that is "not" young, or maybe even a season or period of time of some duration such as the ice age.  For me, I'm thinking a culmination of all three.  A couple of weeks ago Janet & I went to the wedding of one of our nieces (1 out of 18, count em, 18) and enjoyed ourselves immensely catching up with family and friends.  I say friends, not just because some of our best friends are family, but I actually was blessed with the pleasure of meeting up with my best friend from childhood.  Daryl and I had not seen each other for about 22 years.  You know the drill.  Life hits you and your old friendships can fade into the history books.  Well thanks to the magic of facebook, I caught up with my friend.  The last time I saw him we were both young and verile.  We actually had hair on top  of our heads instead of inside our ears and mine was brown and his was browner. (I know it's not a word, but I just loved saying it)  Point is, I didn't know if I would recognize him but when he came around the corner I saw this old guy that had Daryl's smile looking back at me.  I couldn't get over how he looked like the guy I see in the mirror everyday.  Hairless, glasses, age spots, the whole deal.  The conversation was short but very sweet.  I felt like we picked right up where we left off so many years ago and, as usual, before we were done he had me laughing my butt off like he always has done.  Since our meeting I find myself reminiscing a little more than usual.  Did you know Daryl was the instrument of introduction that God used for Janet & I to meet?  True true.  He lived in St. Louis and I came in from Wichita to be best man and sing a solo at his wedding.  I sang the Lords prayer for them.  The night before his wedding I took Daryl out clubbing in Central West End, which was pretty ridiculous considering Daryl is a recovering alcoholic, but party we did and that's where I met my beauty.  Sorry for the memory bunny trail, but I couldn't help it.

Anyway, what does this all have to do with age?  In years, I'm 57.  Is that old?  No! But what is it?  The Bible says that a man's day's shall be 120 years.  I consider this great news because it means I'm still 3 years away from being middle age.  This is especially sweet information because I feel like I have a boat load of livin' yet to do.  There is so much I still get excited about doing.  Am I "not" young as aforementioned?  No! Thank God!  Well what about age as a duration of time or a season?  To that I say the 50's are the best so far.  The number 5 in scripture is the number for Grace.  Does this give you any clues about the name of my blog?  If 5 is Grace, then what is 55?  Double portion, baby.  I like that part the best because that's what the 50's have been like for me.  (Oops, another bunny trail)

Biblically the term Grace means "unmerited favor".  More on that in blogs to come.  Suffice it to say relative to my season of age I feel like a favor magnet.  First of all, is my relationship with my Creator, Lord, King, and Master just to name a few.  That's right, I'm talking about Jesus.  I've never been so close or known Him so intimately as I do today.  What a rich blessing.  And how about the favor in my marriage.  Let me just say thank the Lord and Daryl.  I definitely have to write more about Janet in future blogs.  Believe me when I say you'll be glad to know her.  Can I tell you about even more favor?  I'm talking about my children and their spouses.  More on them later too.  And I sure can't overlook my little precious grand daugters Sammy and Morgan.  They're heaven on earth.  I have so much I want to share about my marriage, children and grand children on future blogs.  Yeah, I'm living in the age of Grace for sure.  An abundance of great family, friends and friends to come.  Just over labor day Janet & I met a new couple about our age at a B&B and had a blast with them and they're from KC.  They're coming over next week for an evening of enjoyment.  The favor just keeps piling on.  Did I mention that Janet & I are completely healthy?  There's favor for you.  AAAAHHHHH the 50's.

Here's my summation of age.  It's great and it just keeps getting greater.   We're surrounded by such richness and fulfillment and the older we get the more rich and fulfilling it gets.  The book of Genesis often refers to the person of subject, such as Moses or Abraham, as sleeping with their fathers (when they die) and being full of days.  When I go to sleep with my fathers on the last day of my 120th year, I plan to be "Full of Days".  By the Grace of God, I'm well on my way.

Wassup World?  In the past year or so I have been somewhat re-inventing myself.  A new outlook on my faith, a new career, some new computer explorations such as facebook and now, wait for it....

...My very own blog site.  I'm really stretching myself here.  I have decided that I've lived over half a century and I have something to say.  In fact, I have a lot of somethings to say and thanks to the wonder of technology I have a forum to say as much as I want.  Truthfully though, now that I have the technical know how and the passion to pontificate, I'm drawing a blank.  Give me a break though.  This is my very first blog.

More later when I can actually think of something to say.