What If…

Last week I was reminded that in January of 1994 I’d signed up to attend the JB Hunt truck driving school.  I was totally into truck driving and the transportation industry back then, and I was searching for where God was wanting to lead me professionally and personally.  If I remember correctly, attending that truck driving school required me to drive for JB Hunt for the next 3 years after graduating.  For some reason I changed my mind about 10 days before the school was to begin.

A month ago I was also remembering how I’d signed up for the Navy ROTC program when I was a college freshman.  I’d initially applied for NROTC for the tuition scholarship that came with the program.  But, I ended up getting another full scholarship that didn’t require me to sign over my life after college.  So, after the first 2 weeks of college and NROTC, I began to question why I was still in NROTC and ended up dropping out of it before I had any commitment to our US military.

While ‘signing over’ a few years of your life to a trucking company or to the military might not sound like your cup of tea, I think either experience could have been good for me.  I’m sure my life would have been both better and worse from either experience and I’d likely be in a whole different situation, better or worse, than I am now.

I really like where I am now.  It’s not perfect, but it’s good and God has definitely worked some big stuff in my life over the past few years.  I don’t regret any of the big life-choices I’ve made, but I sometimes just wonder how things might have been different.

God, thanks for leading me along my life’s journey.  Often times life’s choices are hard and unclear, but you are willing to offer us guidance and wisdom about such decisions.  Thanks so much for your guidance in my life.  I can’t wait to see what lies ahead along our path!

Loving My Family

I’d do almost anything for my mom if I know she really needs my help.  If an emergency comes up, I’ll take off from work and drive 100 miles to go be with her at the drop of a hat.  She’s family and I love her.  And I’ll do just about anything to help my family when they’re in serious need.

As an unmarried, only child, my physical family is pretty small.  But, as a child of God, my family is ginormous. God asks us to live life together as a family and share and help one another as need arises.  Unfortunately, either I often don’t see the needs of my family, or my family doesn’t express their needs to me.  But, I know various people in my family are hurting and needing help.  How can I better realize their needs and help them in both practical ways and lifting them in prayer?  I want to grow in this area.

Last week my mom had several physical needs and I took off several days from work to help her and be at her side.  About the same time, I learned of 3 families at church who had deaths of close friends and family.  And I also learned about 2 marriages that were going through some pretty rough times.  Normally I’d probably say a quick prayer for these situations, but this past week God has somewhat broken me over these hurts and needs.  I’ve actually spent many different times praying and crying over these hurts and needs of my ‘family’ members.  It’s been an eye and heart opening experience to be broken by these hurts.  I want to continue to grow in noticing and helping my family.

Lord, continue to work in my life so that I’m broken when my family is broken.  Help me to notice when my family is hurting and broken.  Help me to grow in my willingness and passion in practically praying and assisting when my family needs help.  And, continue to lift up and strengthen these 6 groups of people in my family.  I especially ask you to bless these 2 troubled marriages, as well as 2 others that came to mind tonight.  Touch them in a mighty and miraculous way as only you can!

I’m Mistaken for a Rogue Spy

Apparently the Illinois Department of Information had a computer glitch and now I’ve been flagged with a Burn Notice.

Watch the video featuring my burn notice

Thankfully this is just a clever viral video promoting the 2nd season of Burn Notice on USA.  But, I enjoyed how they created the customized video on the fly.

God’s Funny – I’m Slow

I was telling a friend just last night (or maybe the night before) about an opportunity that I felt like I’d missed out on.  I ran into an aquaintance last week that I hadn’t seen in several months. We were making small talk and he asked something about my church.  Afterwards I realized that I think he was opening the door to me inviting him to church or to take the conversation a bit deeper.  So, I was commenting to my friend that I felt like I’d blown the opportunity that God had placed before me — in fact I didn’t even recognize the opportunity till after it had passed.  Yeah, I’m slow.

Well today I’m out to lunch with my coworkers and I see this same aquaintance come walking into the restaurant.  We eventually make eye contact across the crowded room and exchange friendly waves.  So, after lunch I went over and said hello again.  I think I said something about it was odd to run into him again so soon.  Then I took off back to work.  Like I said… I’m slow.

So, tonight as I’m thinking about my day it hits me… God crossed our paths again today for some reason.  Maybe it was for me to open the door a bit more with this guy.  Or maybe it was just so I’d start to recognize opportunities that He puts in my day.  Whatever the reason, God’s funny that way.  He orchestrated my day and this other guy’s day so that we’d run into each other, just a day after I’d realized the first meeting was a God opportunity.  God is funny.

Well, I’m pretty sure I’ll take advantage of the opportunity if I run into this guy again in the next few days.  But, the bigger question is… How can I better recognize God opportunities when they show up?