THE RESET BUTTON

Last Wednesday was “re-set day” at the Decker house. The 21st of every month is that day to be exact. That’s because on the 21st, the minutes on the family cell plan start over as does the monthly cycle of the credit card. In some ways, it’s like a starting over, a sigh of relief, a fresh wind.


I guess the start of the new school year is similar in the new season of opportunities that are provided to every student, every teacher. Last year’s victories and defeats are just that – last years. That subject that your student struggled with has been replaced with a new course providing a fresh perspective on this season. For the teacher, the past challenges have been replaced with a fresh set of faces.

Both the family re-set and the new school year serve as fitting reminders of the new mercies God has promised us with each day. I don’t know, but that alone gives meaning to the morning, strength to each step and fuel to the faith needed to face the day.

The LORD’s kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
we would have been destroyed.
The LORD can always be trusted
to show mercy each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (CEV)

 

GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE...

As we stare blankly at Page One of the 2013 calendar, I’m sure each of us wonders what God has in store for the next year. For some, the past twelve months hold precious memories. Others are bidding a fond farewell to the calendar that now awaits some sort of recycling.

My prayer for the new year is the same that I have uttered for the past several: “Show Up God”…”Do Your Thing In a Way That Only You Can”…as the Old Testament Hero would say “So that all may know that there is a God in Israel.”

The challenge has been to pray for something that totally cannot be accomplished unless God steps in as only He can. Face it, every sickness will end in some sort of healing – be it eternal or temporal. Our needs will be met whether thru employment or the benevolence of family, church or the government. Strength will be found – if we look to the proper source.

It seems to me that the greatest area requiring divine intervention revolves around the hearts of men. Whether the relationship is horizontal or vertical, the age-old saying holds true that “only God can change a heart.” … I guess that needs to start with my own.

So Happy New Year to your family and how about a virtual toast to what God can do in the next twelve months! Besides...on His watch, that’s less than two minutes.

TRANSFER OF POWER

The Power Of Love

As parents we love our children. We give our best efforts to ensure they are prepared for life at every stage. We nurture them, discipline them, encourage them and go to great lengths for them we never thought possible. As they grow older and drift from our care more and more, one of the things we hope and pray is that the Lord brings into their lives those that love them as much as we do.


It boggles the mind to think about the love invested in our kids. How could anyone who didn’t go through each process of life with them ever have the affection and devotion birthed in the heart of a parent. When the time comes that God connects those hearts, it brings great joy and peace to know that one you have given your life for is truly loved perhaps even beyond your own capability.

Recent events to this end in our own family have caused me to reflect on how God must feel about His own children. Being adopted into His family gives eternal perspective on what it means to be loved, to be cherished, to be wanted. Knowing that there is nothing that can separate us from that love allows us the freedom to love beyond limits. In that family, we will never find anyone who loves us like the Father.

Dog Daze...

Whether or not you consider yourself an animal lover, it’s interesting how circumstances can stir emotions for our furry friends that may not have previously surfaced. In my four decade plus lifetime, I have owned 4 dogs. The most recent takes me back nearly a dozen years – the formative season of our family of five. Last night, we had to say goodbye as she lost her struggle with life.


The passing of a pet can be difficult in itself. Perhaps, for me, in this instance was the integral part she played through the years as our kids grew up. Flooding through the mind were memories of an attempt to make her an inside dog, snow days, neighborhood walks and such. It was not so much losing the dog as the permanent removal of a part of our lives that will not be regained. Nearly twenty-five years of in-home parenting is more than likely down to the final three – something in that demands my attention.

You might say it was just another reminder of the precious value of every moment we are given and how quickly the opportunities pass. Here’s hoping that many of us will find those moments and opportunities in the days ahead…maybe even at The Dixie Classic Fair.

What I Love About County Meet....

While I am not privileged to be a second generation competition swimmer, my family has spent the better part of the past decade around the chlorinated confines of said sport. In the winter, we dress for warm weather and head inside as if it were mid-June. Then during the summer, SPF-50 is king as the competition heats up outdoors. A fitting conclusion to the summer season is “County Meet”. Such a gathering of hundreds of swimmers of all ages and abilities brings out the best and worst of humanity within the spirit of competition.

However, there is one part of County Meet that I simply love – Saturday morning! As the sun rises and the migrant community comes to life, there is an aura that reaches beyond the competition to the heart of the athlete. The vendors are setting up, the coaches sip coffee and the smell of breakfast mixes with grass, sunscreen and the aforementioned chlorine.

Yesterday is over. It’s participants have received their accolades or licked their wounds. Either way, what’s done is done – there is no changing that. Today is a new day filled with fresh beginnings – new opportunities to claim victory…Each athlete with a fresh slate.

Maybe, I like Saturday morning at County Meet so much because it reminds of the fresh starts we are given in life. Sometimes we need the refreshment of the new day regardless of whether yesterday brought victory or defeat. As I “take my mark” to begin the next leg of this journey, I am fully aware that I must start in a timely manner and finish the race to completion.

So…breath in – enjoy the pauses of life. We’ve been restored to embrace the challenges of the step ahead.

The Color Of Love...

 
No email, no internet, no cell phone…no worries? That was the case on May 30, 1987.

If living on love could support an economy, how many of us would have pursued that investment?

Doesn’t it seem like almost every starry-eyed newlywed stands oblivious to what is beyond reach for a certain amount of time? That point in our lives is one of those few instances where we allow ourselves to focus on the immediate and express joy in what we find.

If we painted a picture of our marriages, the shades and hues will vary as the objects take on different perspectives with life. Hopefully though, the true colors that define the work of art remain vibrant and demand our attention.

Silver is the operative shade today as we celebrate our 25th Anniversary. You might say it’s the tone that frames the masterpiece previously depicted. It’s really quite fitting. When it comes to earrings and necklaces, Diane usually wears white gold or silver. For some reason, it just works better for her and I’ll attest it has worked for me for more than thirty years. Something tells me she’ll look just as good in gold…guess we’ll find out then.

…and the Middle-Aged Men will dream dreams…

Somehow I don’t think you’ll find it quite that way in Scripture – but have you ever had a dream you just can’t shake? A couple weeks ago, there was this dream in which a young friend of one of my children tragically passed away. It’s one of those that leave you greatly disturbed upon re-joining the waking world. As the days have passed, the memory lingers and so do the feelings. The greatest of which seems to be hurt on behalf of my child who I love so much. To see them lose someone so close to them really grieves my heart.

Pondering this has brought me to a greater awareness of how our Heavenly Father must feel. I have spent too much time this year in funeral lines and at memorial services to be comfortable thinking otherwise. It kind of stems from that whole “if we give good stuff to our kids, how much more does God want to do the same for us” (Decker Transliteration). As much as my heart hurts for a loss that doesn’t even exist, God’s compassion is so much greater for the real life experiences* we face.

*I almost wrote that these experiences end in grief. But you know, with the hope that Christ brings – we only pass thru grief in these experiences. The end result can actually be much greater.

I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have very many of them. I consider this glimpse into the character and love of the Father just another privilege of knowing Him and hopefully developing daily into more of the person that reflects the same.