One of Those Days... Or Was It?

We've all had them, and we've all had that moment when you ask someone "how are you?" and their reply is "Oh... it's been one of those days." And without them explaining it you just know what it means. You may not know the specifics but you know what they're saying.

Well let me tell you I've had 'one of those days' for over a week now.

It started last Thursday when we had company coming in for a memorial service but I got confused about what days they were coming in and got it mixed up. Then on Sunday when I went to gas and when I went to give the gas attendant the money the bill slipped out of my hand just as the wind caught it so it looked like I'd thrown it out of him instead of just dropping it.
We move on to Tuesday when I went out for a bike ride but 1/4 mile in discovered that my tire was low so I walked my bike back home to get it filled.
Move on to Wednesday when I was headed to work but didn't realize my car door had been left ajar so my battery was dead, then I went come home it was dead again and I couldn't get a hold of anyone at home. Once I did get home I realized I'd forgotten my keys.
Finally on Thursday when I left work because I wasn't filling good.

You get the idea.

But now let's look at things from a different perspective.

Last Thursday when company showed up early it meant I got extra time with my brother, then later got some extra time with friends plus got some much needed rest after the service.
Sunday, I was embarrassed about dropping the money but the gas attendant just laughed and made me feel better.
Tuesday when I got back home my Dad filled my bike tire for me and then I went back out and had a great ride.
Wednesday I wasn't late to work and afterwards I got to catch up with an old friend when he jumped my car so I could get back home, had it not been for the dead battery I wouldn't have gotten to see him. Then yeah I forgot my keys but my family was close by so it didn't take long for me to track them down so I could get in, we all got a good laugh out of it and I got some extra exercise.
Thursday I did have to leave work but I felt better that evening and I was still able to make it on my trip yesterday to see some great friends.

It's all about perspective, you can focus on the bad or you can focus on the silver lining in every cloud.

Saying Goodbye

A couple of weeks ago I woke up one morning to hear that a good friend from the church I grew up in had passed away unexpectedly. On Saturday I attended his memorial service, I saw his wife, his daughter and her family, his son and his family, and countless friends and other family members struggling to say good-bye. It's hard because he was a part of our lives and now he's not but amidst our grief we have comfort.

My friend was a Christian, he lived out his faith every day and every memory I have of him includes him showing the love of Christ.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I will see him again in heaven.

I'm still sad, I'll still miss him, I still hate that he's gone but I don't grieve with no hope. We had to say good-bye to our friend but it's not forever, it's just until we (as believers in Christ) join him in eternity with our Lord.

What Church?

So my last post we talked about why we bother going to church, I just want to do a follow up talking about what church should like. How do you find the right church? What does it look like?

First you need to find a church that teaches the Bible, that's the most important thing. Next you need to find a church that you can be involved in. If you're driving three hours away to go to church it may not be the most practical place to attend, on the other hand if you can work that into your schedule then go for it! At different times in my life I've attended churches that met on Saturday night because that worked better for my schedule. At the risk of attending someone let me just say that we as Christians don't have to meet on a particular day, the important thing is that you make your faith, and fellowship, a priority which means figuring out when you can go and making sure you're there consistently.

You also need to find a place you're comfortable. My mom dresses up for church, she always has. She and Dad go to a church where she can feel comfortable dressing up, a place where people accept them. A friend of mind is a truck driver and recently I told him that if he's going to church somewhere that people don't understand that he can't be there every single week because of his job then he needs to find a new church.

A few weeks ago I stood in church and watched a young woman slip her shoes off to worship, another time I watched as an elder leaned down to talk to someone during offering. They felt comfortable doing these things because their churches are their homes, the congregations is their family. You need to be involved somewhere that the church becomes your family.

Don't get me wrong, it takes time, and it's not always easy to find the right church, a combination of true doctrine preached from the Word of God in a way that you can understand, and loving people who you can trust and rely on but it's so very, very important to your faith.

One more thing, notice I said "involved" not just "attending", it's not enough just to attend church. At some point God will ask you to get involved, in your church, in your community, somehow you'll be asked to live out your faith and you'll want a church family who will stand behind you and help you do just that.

Why Church?

I've heard so many times people ask me, why go to church? Even from Christians I've heard them wonder why bother going to church.
Well the short answer is because God tells us to. The Bible says "Do not forsake the assembly of other believers". But God never tells us to do or not do something without a reason. We don't always understand all of the reasons but in this case I know at least a few of them.

We go to church to be around those who believe as we do "the assembly of other believers" that can encourage us and help us grow in our faith.

We go to church so that we can be comforted. A few days ago a friend from our church passed away and I found comfort in being around others who loved him and who knew, as I know, that he's in heaven.

We go to church to draw closer to God. The more we are around people who don't love God the easier it is to drift away from Him and the opposite is also true, the more we are around God's people the more we can draw encouragement and strength from them, drawing us closer to Him.

There's so many reasons to go to church, God knew what He was doing when He told us to go, I don't know about you but that's not a command I want to ignore.

A Fantastic Journey

Just the thought for the day.

As a writer my goal is to take readers on a fantastic journey in each story I write. Whether it's to another world, another time or just someone else's life I want them to live through it with the characters just like I do as I write the story.
But the most fantastic journey that has ever been written is only found in one Book and it's not complete yet. It's in the Bible and it starts with God creating the earth and placing Adam and Eve in the garden and it's being completed every day as He works through our lives.