Emily's Thankful Leaf

I got an email from my youngest daughter the other day. The family is building a thankful tree. Every day the grandkids tell momma what they are thankful for. She then writes the words on a leaf, and they hang it on the thankful tree. On this particular day her oldest child, Emily, said she was thankful for Grandpa's new knees. What an honor to be so loved by my grandkids that they would be thankful for my new knees.

Today, I need to remember to be as thankful as my grand daughter. It is a bit more difficult to be thankful on the days where the cobalt and plastic, don't feel very good inside of my legs. The healing process takes time, and I want it to be better right now.

Being thankful is therapeutic. It takes the focus off of the pain and directs our focus on a different subject. Being thankful activates your mind, brings strength to your body, and produces joy in your spirit. How many times have you visited a person in a nursing home or hospital thinking you were going to lift their spirits only to have them lift yours. The person you visited has been through the problems and the pain. They live with it every day. Yet they decide that being thankful is a better way to live.

I remember my younger years. Back then, I could be much more thankful than I seem to be today. It is so easy to focus on the internal pain, and the problems around us. Perhaps that is a reason why Jesus held a child and said, "Unless you become like one of these, you will not enter the kingdom." Life isn't so difficult that I can't be thankful. So what if I have to sit down and wrap my knee in ice. So what if I don't have the stamina to stand on my feet for long periods of time. This pain is only temporary.

So today, I have decided that I am thankful for my life, a wonderful wife, a great family, the roof over my head, good friends, and oh yes, new knees.

Who Are You When You Think Nobody Is Looking

We all have a public persona, the way we want others to view us. We have our Religious persona, the way we want people to view us at church. It would be nice if those two persona's were the same, but quite often they are not.

There is a third persona, the person we are when we think nobody is looking. I used to have young people that I worked with say, "Come on Mr Bittner, when you hit your thumb with a hammer, what do you say?" My response is a very loud, "OUCH!" This is of course followed by, "Yeah, but what if nobody is around. Don't you let off with a cuss word or two?" "Oh, when nobody is around, I do say it differently. OUCH THAT HURTS!"

We have been challenged to the core recently. Our family income situation has gone through a very unplanned change. Lightning hit our house, charing some of the electrical lines. And, I went through knee replacement surgery.

I approached the surgery with as good of an attitude as possible (having already had one knee replacement, I knew what I was in for). But, pain and hospital stays are not my strong suit. I tried to be nice, not let the nursing staff suffer my wrath.

In the middle of my hospital stay, Kim had to leave (a job related thing). Apparently on her way out of town she stopped at Sprinkles (a well known cupcake shop in the area) and bought cupcakes for the 3rd floor nursing staff, a special thank you for the care they were giving.

For two of the tree-day hospital stay, a young 30'something nurse named Ray (her Tagalog name was much longer) took care of me. She was very kind, and considerate. She seemed very dedicated to my comfort and I was grateful to have her take care of me. The night nurse was a young man named Michael who was equally caring. Perhaps the most patient of all was an aid name Maria. She was particularly kind because I dropped a full Urine bottle three different times in one day. It made quite a splash but she never flinched. All of this is to say that life has not been smooth lately. We have been hit by trial upon trial. Through it all, what are we like? I was about to find out.

The day before checking out, Ray came into the room. She informed me that she would be off the next day and that she would miss taking care of me. Then she said something that really shook me into a new reality. "I am very interested in getting to know Jesus. I think that you are the person to help me. Could you please send me a book that will help me know Jesus the way you know him?"

How did she know? Did she Google me? Did she read my blogs? I do not remember much, if any, discussion about my faith. Yet at my worst, she still knew.

Faith is apparently not determined people's acceptance or rejection, lightning strikes, jobs, titles, or income. It is not shaped by pain level or a body that has needed major surgery each year for the last five years. It is refreshing to know that when I am at my worst, people who look still see that Christ in me, is my hope of Glory.

Who are you when you think nobody is looking?

Theology: For Beginners

The education system does not take a five year olds, and place them in high school. They know that a child must start from the beginning, and pass K through 8 first. New Believers need a Theology book for beginners. A book that explains theology in simple terms. Discover why going to church is important, why we sing, and take an offering. Learn the Biblical theology of the sermon, and the Lord's Supper.

We do the same things over and over at our church, but why? Do you know why? Leave Greek words, commentaries, and Lexicons until later. Learn the basic first. Build a solid theological foundation, then the rest will take care of itself.

Perhaps that is what Jesus meant when he spoke about wise and the foolish man. The wise man built his house on the firm foundation of the rock. The foolish went for beach front property, so he built his house on the sand. Understanding what goes on in church is building your spiritual house on the rock.
Basic theology from The Art of Worship will give you that solid foundation,

If you invited a friend to church, and they asked you why your church did a certain thing, would you know how to answer them? The Art of Worship will give you the answers to those questions, delivered in a completely understandable way.

Click this link to order your copy: www.2t2ministries.org.

A New Project For Men's Ministries

          Women's ministries thrive in churches across the country. No matter the size of the church, Women find strength in each other. There are groups for women with small children, women who have special talents, make quilts, and enjoy deeper studies in the Bible. Women's study guides, and women's devotionals, and specialty books for women line the shelves of bookstores. But try to find a good group study guide for men, and the picking is much slimmer.
          Gut Checks For Guys is a nine week study series that helps men grow in Christ, as well as grow between brothers. A Gut Check is something that affects us down deep. When we feel something in our gut, called splankna in the Bible, in changes us.
          Gut Checks change who we are, and how we deal with life. They stirs us and force us to look at our behavior, beliefs, and actions. When men talk to other men about being men, then Godliness is the result. We become better disciples, more loving husbands, greater models for our children, and better employees on the job. When men dig deep and open their lives to each other, real Christian growth takes place.
          This book includes videos from unusual sources, opportunities to laugh, chances to set goals. It allows men to begin laying the groundwork for deeper relationships with other men. Gut Checks For Guys can be used with individual small groups, or in a large group setting, through whole group activities followed by table group discussions.
          Take a look at the table of contents, and consider whether it will be valuable with the men's ministry program in your church. Before it goes into full publication, 2t2 Ministries would like to have a men's group volunteer to try the book on.  Will your men's ministry be the one to take the Gut Checks For Guys challenge?

Chapter 1      Feeling It Down Deep

            Compassion, Not Particularly A Manly Topic

            Opinions Define Religion, Passion Shapes It

            What Is Manliness

           

Chapter 2      Check Your Priorities

            How Hobbies Become Obsessions

            Knowing When to Slow Down

            Making sure the main thing stays the main thing

Chapter 3      Fantastic at Faking It

            The Fake It till you Make It Syndrome

            Don’t let others see Our weakness

            A Call For Integrity

Chapter 4      Keep It Real

            The Freeing Effect of Truth

            Honesty Does not Equal Failure

            My Weakness may be Your Strength- That makes us Both Better

Chapter 5      I Don’t Want To Talk About It

            Stress

            The Need For Relationship

            Doctors are for Men Too

            Mortality and Estate Planning

           

Chapter 6      The Real Difference Between Men And Women

            Men Talk Results, Women Talk Process

            Men Want Action, Women Want Attention

            Men Gather Things, Women Gather Relationships

Chapter 7      Real Men Don't Ignore, They Adapt

            Listening to Our Bodies

            Changing Careers

            Altering the Way We Do Things

            Pacing Ourselves    

Chapter 8      Yes, We’re Open

            The Freeing Effect of Openness

            Openness with your spouse (Don’t keep her guessing)

            Finding others with similar needs

                       

Chapter 9      Where Will You Be On Father’s Day?

            Man Up

            Show Jesus to Our Kids

            Representing Jesus in the Workplace

            Making Time for Ministry

Another Black Eye For An Incredible Educational System

            It grieves me to read another story of a teacher who overstepped her boundaries, and defying all reason did the unfathomable. Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst of Redlands gave birth to a child on June 18^th. The child is said to be fathered by one of her students, who at the time was sixteen-years old.

            The damage inflicted by this woman will not be undone. If she is found guilty, she needs to pay the legal consequences. But this post is not really about Whitehurst, because she is just one of a string of teachers who have made really bad choices. Instead, this post is about all of the other teachers.

            Every day, for nine months of the year, our children are taught by incredible, skilled, educated, caring teachers. They live under constant scrutiny, and rarely receive the appreciation they deserve. Test scores the students receive on standardized tests are used for judging their success on any given year. There is no appreciation that these teachers are doing the best they can with the students they have been given.

            They plan all summer, when others think they are on vacation. They work though Christmas, and Easter Breaks. They take work home, and are constantly assessing the work that is turned in.  They do all this because they love what they do. They live for the “Aha” moments, when the light turns on and a student “gets it”. I have been a part of education from the inside, and I have watched it from the outside. These tireless workers deserve our appreciation.

            Here is a thought for parents. Pay attention to what your students are doing with their teachers. Praise the progress. Question the unusual. Be involved in your child’s education. Visit the campus. Take some time off to attend the parent teacher conferences. Volunteer to help in the classroom. In the years that I was in the education, this almost never happened.

            Prayer may not be allowed in the classroom, but to date there is no law against it in your home. Pray for the teachers. Bathe your kids in prayer as they go out the door. Intercede for them all day long. Teach them the ways that they should go and monitor their progress. Raising children is difficult. We need all the help we can get.

            I cannot vouch for anything that happened in Redlands, CA, and I have no desire to pass judgment on the boy’s family. The reality is that as long as people are involved in any situation, something is bound to go wrong.  However, if we are vigilant, and involved, rewarding our teachers for a job well done, then issues like this are a lot less likely to arise.