Walk the Line

Just recently Dawn and I watched Walk the Line – the Johnny Cash story.  (Great movie, I might add!) 

                                                                                                                                                   

Toward the end of the movie we are invited to Thanksgiving dinner at Johnny’s new house with his mother and father along with the parents of June Carter.  Johnny, who has been sober for a short while, relapses. 

At the dinner table with an intoxicated Johnny, we learn that the death of his older brother in a terrible saw mill accident was at the core of Johnny’s drinking problem.  Most alcoholics/addict self-medicate to relieve some form of pain of the past. 

We also learn that this same incident was at the core of the father’s sobriety!  Most alcoholics/addicts have to “bottom out” before they will acknowledge that their life is out of control and decide to do something about getting their life back!

I find it very interesting how the perception of one event can deeply WOUND one person and cause another one to WAKE UP. 

We all experience “triggers” in life – those people, circumstances, words, things that create a response within our souls.  When we experience a “trigger,” it creates a thought.  That thought then creates an emotion.  The emotion manifests itself in a behavioral response. 

The key to change is NOT changing our circumstances or how “we feel” about our circumstances or other “triggers.”  The way to change our behavior is to change the way we think.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think (Romans 12.2/NLT)

Thanks for your patience

I viewed my blog about patience and discovered the cartoon I referenced was not included in the post. 

So.. thanks for your patience...

here it is...

Urban Animals

Nearly every morning Dawn and I walk to Lion’s Park and around the lake.  As we enter the park, we are usually greeted by urban animals – squirrels, crows, and ducks seeking a handout – usually in the form of peanuts in the shell – from humans.    

These urban animals have acquired two characteristics that set them apart from those of their species outside of the park.  They have become dependent and weak. 

They are dependent in that they no longer seek nourishment other than that that is handed to them. 

They are weak because they no longer have the “umph” to forage their own.  It seems they would much rather hang out around the lake waiting for a handout than trying to meet their needs.  And when a passing human does not give a generous handout, the urban animals become defiant and somewhat aggressive.  Crows swoop down on those passing by; squirrels line the walkways and squawk their disapproval; ducks crowd the walkways and quack their indignation. 

As I watch these urban animals, I shake my head. Not only do I see dependent and weak animals, I see “us!”  Have we become “dependent” and “weak”?  Would we rather sit around waiting for a handout than do the hard work of trying to meet our own needs?  Have we become “urban animals”? 

Urban animals attend church but never study the Bible on their own.  Urban animals preach from behind a protected pulpit squawking their opinion without doing the hard work of studying the word of God.  Urban animals sit around quacking their indignation on a plethora of subjects and do nothing but make a lot of noise.  Urban animals fill our rehab centers.  Urban animals populate our welfare rolls.   

Well known psychologist Viktor Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning) was fond of saying that a Statue of Responsibility should be erected on the West coast of American to complement the Statue of Liberty on the East. 

Yes.   Every individual has the right to food, shelter, clothing, health care, etc.  AND…AND…every individual also has a responsibility to try to meet their own needs.  The urban animals need to quit expecting a handout! 

The apostle Paul puts it this way ….

 

1 Thessalonians 5:14 -- Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 --Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”

Tough Patience

I was a runner for 23 years.  My athletic claim to fame is that I was the oldest NAIA Division II athlete to letter in cross country when I attended the University of Sioux Falls!  My most enjoyable run was the Lincoln ½ marathon with Thomas and Kristi Beyer to celebrate Kristi’s 40^th birthday!    

As a distance runner, I understand the term “run with endurance” in Hebrews 12.1 (NLT) --  

And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

The term I DON’T understand is found in the King James translation of this verse –

… and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

When I think of doing something with patience, I think of “non-activity” – like waiting, sitting still, counting to 10, etc.  And there is no question in my mind that the patience of “non-activity” takes tremendous strength.  (If you doubt that, trying being still the next time someone cuts you off in traffic!)

This cartoon illustrates well what most think of when they hear the word “patience” –

               

The question I asked myself was “how does one run with patience”?   As I struggled to understand this phrase, I realized that the patience that runs takes greater strength than the patience of non-activity.   

 When we run with patience the race that is set before us, we run with—

                the strength to continue working after a setback

                                the strength to go about daily life with deep sorrow in our hearts

the strength keep running the race God has set before us in the midst of uncertainty

the strength to keep moving forward in the midst of the mundane

the strength to continue to trust God regardless of our challenging circumstances

                the strength stay clean and sober

Here’s where running with patience gets really tough.  We patiently run the race in our workplace, while shopping, during social events, while serving others, and at church.

And here’s where running with patience becomes do-able.  God is running the race with us!  We are never alone.  When our strength is depleted, His takes over!    

                Even youths will become weak and tired,
                                and young men will fall in exhaustion.
                But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
                                They will soar high on wings like eagles.
                They will run and not grow weary.
                                They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31)

Road to Nowhere

I attend Element Church here in Cheyenne.  Quite often I am overwhelmed at the sense of God’s presence.  I am continually amazed each Sunday as individuals find new life in Christ! 

However, I quite often feel like I don’t “fit” at Element.  There are several reasons why:  I don’t shave my head.  I don’t wear Toms or Converse.  I don’t wear jeans with holes in the knees.  I don’t have a tattoo.  I’m over 40 (by a long way) AND…. I like Country Music! 

One of my favorite country songs is “Nowhere Road” by Waylon and Willie.  They sing about a road that leads to nowhere –

 I’ve been down this road just searching for the end;

and it don’t go nowhere, it just brings you back again. 

Leaves you lonely and cold, standing on the shoulder,

but you’ve come too far to go back home

so you’re walking on a nowhere road.

I remember all too well the years I spent on that nowhere road.  Have you been there?  Are you there now?  No matter how long you’ve been walking the nowhere road or how far from home you feel you’ve traveled, God has provided a way back –  

And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
      It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
   Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
      It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
      fools will never walk there. (Isaiah 35.8 – NLT)

The Highway of Holiness leads you back home.

Victory

My father-in-law calls me a workaholic.  Others call me focused.  Still others label me as being single-minded.  The reason for the labels is that all my life I’ve had an intense desire to finish what I start.

When I was 13 years old, I worked at the stockyards in Lewistown, Montana.  My first job assignment was to clean the pens being used to fatten pigs for slaughter.  I never imagined how much waste pigs could generate in a week’s time!   After several weeks of shoveling pig “stuff” for four hours after school, I was ready to quit.  But I couldn’t!  I couldn’t quit.  I had started the job and I was going to do it and do it well – or “finish strong” as some would say.

Nearly 30 years ago, I attempted to climb Twin Mountain just west of Cheyenne.  It is the highest point between Cheyenne and Laramie with an elevation of nearly 9,000’.  I failed in my attempt to reach the top as a severe storm rolled through southeast Wyoming with dangerous lightning dancing all around.

I didn’t finish what I had started!! 

On October 14, 2011, I finished what I had started.  A beautiful fall day, an early start, two bottles of water, two Mojo bars, and “an intense desire to finish what I had started” led me to the top of Twin Mountain! 

He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. Psalm 18:33

A powerful life lesson can be gleaned from this experience: 

 Never give up on finishing what you start regardless of the obstacles or delays you encounter.

A lesson to those of us in recovery:

Recovery is a journey.  It’s a hard climb.  There will be ups and downs.  There will be setbacks, disappointments, and delays.  Yet, in the face of overwhelming obstacles, we cannot give up!  Never, ever stop trying to finish what we started – living a clean and sober life!!   

Highway 59

Stretching across the high plains of Wyoming between Gillette and Douglas is 120 miles of pavement known as Highway 59.  http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl  As far as I know, it has never been considered a “scenic highway.” 

I traveled Highway 59 on Sunday, October 9^th – twice!  I traveled north to Gillette with a pickup packed with Wendy’s possessions.  After emptying my pickup of boxes; small appliances; and a dresser, I traveled south toward Douglas and Cheyenne with a full load of alone-ness!

Dawn had left the day before as a “designated driver” for her parents on a sixteen day trip through Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa.  A few hours before, Wendy had completed her move to her new home. 

South of Bill, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill,_Wyoming, the cab of my pickup was filled with darkness. The darkness of feeling alone.  That feeling only a husband can feel when he knows he won’t touch or see his wife for an extended period of time.  That feeling that only a dad can have when he realizes his “little girl” is now a young lady and her heart truly belongs to someone else! 

As I traveled south with the clouds building in my heart, I topped a hill and was overwhelmed at the sight before me!  My words cannot describe the beauty of what was in front of me.  Please use your imagination as I attempt to describe what I experienced:  I could see for miles.  The Medicine Bow Mountains and Laramie Peak formed the distant horizon.  The foreground was the North Platte River with its banks clothed with fall colors.  A gaggle of Canadian geese soared across my line of sight.  Snow clouds hugged Laramie Peak and huddled over the rest of the Medicine Bow range. 

It was a moment I cannot describe.  It was a moment I will never forget.  It was a moment when God spoke into my heart and said,

 You’re NOT alone!

I am right here with you! 

I will watch over your girls! 

Both now and forever!    

Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created (Psalm 119.90)