Sitting by the dock of the bay

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay.

I'd be watching the tide role away, except I am on a lake and a lake does not have a tide.

I have been sitting here a while now. The birds fly overhead, the wind rustles the leaves of the trees, waves lap against the shore.

I was sitting here listening for God.

It was a quiet conversation.

I wasn't saying much, He wasn't saying much. You know you are with a friend when you can sit together in silence and it isn't weird. You are just enjoying each other's company without feeling the need to fill the void with noise.

The sun was shining, the day was warm. After a while a boat went by. I watched as it first came into view, then pass by, eventually it was gone. The boat was out in the lake a ways, it did not make much noise. After it went by the wake that it made started coming to shore. The familiar slosh, slosh, slosh could be heard as the little waves broke against the beach.

That was when God broke the silence. He asked the question,"what have you learned from the boat passing by?"

This caused me to ponder for a while.

A friend once said this about me, "It might take Roger a while to come up to speed, but once he gets there he doesn't stay there very long."

I turned to God and said, "Can you throw me a bone?"

This is what He said:

We are all like boats traveling along a lake. We displace things along the way, the same way a boat displaces the water it goes through.

We cause a wake.

The wake itself is neither good or bad, it is just a wake. Our intentions and our presence define the outcome of the wake. We have all seen what bad intentions cause. They leave a wake of destruction. Good intentions, poorly thought out can leave the same wake as a bad intentions wake.
Leaving or not leaving a wake is not the question. We all leave wakes. The question is, "How do we leave a wake that positively impacts others?"

I just looked at God. I knew that if I gave Him the pat answer, "Just look to Jesus." He would say, "Ok, what does that mean? Jesus left a positive wake but look at the wake that some of His followers left, not so positive."

I said, "I guess I don't know."

God said, "You know that you are called to come into right relationship with people. You know that I told you to love you neighbor, even your enemies. You are to help people, not just when it is convenient for you, but all the time. Worry less about principles and more about presence. Your job is to show people a little bit of Me. I will take care of the rest."

My prayer today is;

Lord, have your way with me. Break my heart for the things that break yours. Take away any pride or ambition that inhibits me from doing the work You have called me to do. Make me Your hands and feet. I don't want to be splashing aimlessly, creating waves. Let the wake that I leave behind bring You glory. Amen

Blessings,

Silver Bay

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

I am sitting here at the Silver Bay YMCA in Silver Bay New York.

I am looking at all the beauty that is here. I totally get why people come to northern New York in the fall, the beauty is overwhelming.

Sitting here looking at God's beauty, I am drawn to something I once read:

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour. If we refused, or rather used up, such paltry information as we get, the oracles would distinctly inform us how this might be done.”

Excerpt From: Henry David Thoreau. “Walden.” iBooks.
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It is easy to fall asleep.

It takes an intentional being to stay awake to the things that God would have us see.

To affect the quality of the day, not for our sake but for the sake of others. That is quite a task, and not one that we can do of our own volition.

Without Christ we are lost.

Without Christ, the why behind the what in everything we do becomes mute.

As I continue the journey of spiritual formation, with the understanding that the process of spiritual formation is being conformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others, I pray that my life will be worthy of contemplation.

Father, help me be the person you have called me to be. Give me Your eye's, Your heart,Your thoughts. As I sit here amidst your splendor. Have mercy on me. Amen

Blessings,

Enjoy the journey

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

I don't know how many times I have heard, "It's not the destination, it's the journey."

While this is true on some level in spiritual formation it helps to know the destination. Knowing the destination gives us the ability to truly enjoy the journey.

I am at a YMCA camp in Silver Bay, New York.

I arrived last night.

I left early yesterday morning and spent the day in a plane, not my idea of a good time, locked in a small space, in a chair that is too small, next to someone I don't know, eating the worlds smallest bag of mini pretzels, trying to make each one last for as long as it can.

We finally landed in Albany, New York at 4pm. I saw a friend of mine, her name is Janelle, she was going to the retreat too. I was going to rent a car when she said, "See that guy over there, he is renting a car already to go to the retreat maybe you can catch a ride with him?"

I thought that was a brilliant idea, I hate spending money.

I walk over, introduce myself, his name is Dan, and off we went.

As we are leaving the parking garage Dan says, "You're the navigator."

All we had to do was take 87 north to 9 north, simple enough.

It only took us four hours to make the 90 minute trip.

Evidently, we took the wrong 9 north?

We got hungry, there was this BBQ place called pj's. We ate slop buckets with loganberry soda pops. It was real good.

We saw amazing country.

We laughed until we cried.

We almost got to Silver Bay once but there was a tree that fell across the road. We had to find another way.

It got dark.

Being men we did not resort to a map. That would just be silly.

We climbed this huge hill.

We came down the other side. Eventually we found 9 north again, but we wanted to see the tree, so we turned south.

We drove and we drove and we drove.

We found the tree, but the traffic wouldn't allow us to get close enough for a picture. We decided to take a picture of the traffic as proof.

We turned around.

We started to get hungry again. We wanted ice-cream.

We never found an ice-cream shop. What we did find was a new friend.

It turns out that Dan used the lease agreement we had with Rhapsody church as a template at his YMCA.

We talked a lot.

Eventually we got to Silver Bay.

People ask us, "Weren't you tired of riding?"

We just look at each other, smile and say, "Oh, but the journey was awesome!"

I am sitting on the shores of Lake George. The destination is amazing, but the journey was awesome.

Lord, never let tire of the journey. I know the destination. Don't let me become so focused on the destination that I don't take the time to enjoy the life You have given me.

Blessings,

That Sam I am, that Sam I am

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

I started the fall weight loss challenge last night at the "Y". As usual it took me out of my comfort zone.

First the trainer took my measurements, reality check.

Then the trainer measured my body fat, another reality check.

The cherry on the cake of my day is when the trainer weighed me, serious reality check.

I realized that if I gain anymore weight my only option is to move to a planet with less gravity.

In my line of work I spend a lot of time with people working on their spiritual and emotional health. This kind of work is not hard for me, yet it seems to be very hard for some of the people that I try to help. It takes them out of their comfort zone.

Working on the health of my body is important, I know this; yet, it is hard for me.

If I am to be honest, which by the way I am trying to be. I do not like running on a treadmill. I do not like doing lunges, in fact I despise doing lunges and think they should be against the law, just saying.

I have done these weight loss challenges before and they always go like this.

My trainers name is Sam.

That Sam I am, that Sam I am.

I do not like that Sam I am.

Do you like working out?

I do not like working out!

Would you like it in a house?

I would not like it in a house!

Would you like it with a mouse?

I would not like it with a mouse.

Would you like it in a box?

I would not like it in a box!

A fox, a fox, would you like it with a fox?

Not with a fox.

Not in a box.

Not with a mouse

Not in a house.

I do not like working out. I do not like it Sam I am.

Sam you let me be.

But Sam doesn't let me be. He keeps pestering me until I finally submit and I find that working out is actually fun. Working out doesn't hurt anymore and I actually do feel better.

I still despise lunges though, just saying.

We need all kinds of people in our lives. We need people that care.

While Sam is busy working on the health of my body, I will be busy working on Sam.

My prayer today is,
Dad, as I submit to the pain of working out this old body of mine, give me the strength to present you well. It is hard, Dad, to present my best self in the middle of lunges, You know I don't like lunges. Please give me the endurance to do them well and give me Your breath as I lose mine, to speak your words. Amen

Blessings,

Getting on Right Race Blvd

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

I hit the ground running this morning.

I did not get much sleep last night. It was one of those nights where I kept waking up, so many thoughts, so little time.

When I got to the "Y" I walked in to a barrage of emails, phone calls, and individual needs.

I was multitasking.

I was responding to emails while at the same time answering phone calls.

Brandon, the pastor of the church that meets at our "Y", and I would be on the phone when an emergency call would come through and I would have to hang up on him and take the call. It is a good thing Brandon and I have a good working relationship and he knows my heart. Then the noise starts. Right outside my wall the Impact hammers start up. I cannot hear anything and I know I must grab my cell phone and iPad, go to a quiet place that has wireless so I can continue my day.

I am walking to my car with my cell phone, iPad, keys and coffee cup in hand (Yes, a coffee cup is a vital part of my ministry) when my phone rings. I answer the phone, ask if I could have a moment to get into my car, the person says yes, I get into my car, throw my iPad, phone and keys on the passenger seat and put my coffee cup to my ear and say I am back. I realize that I am talking into my coffee cup. Put the coffee cup down, pick up my iPhone and hit the end button effectively cutting me off. I call the person back and he says, "What happened?" I tell him I was busy talking to my coffee cup and hung up on him when I realized I was not on the phone.

This is when I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that I had completely fallen into the rat race this morning.

I am now in a quiet space, a space where I can take a moment to breath and wait on The Lord.

The rat race is an insidious race. You can be in it before you know it and without even trying. Even if you are intentional about not being in this insidious race it will sneak up on you.

The goal then is not so much to stay so far out of things that the race cannot get you. It would be very hard, nay I say impossible to be in active ministry living as a hermit, so being a hermit is not the goal. The goal is to have your rat race radar on so that you realize quickly what is happening and you can make adjustments to get off the rat race highway and onto right race blvd.
Father, continue to give me the nudges so that I can exit the rat race highway and enter right race blvd. Guide me, be my GPS if You will and continue to teach me so that I can present my best self to others so that they may know you. Amen

Blessings,

Relationships

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

We are mourning the loss of one of our YMCA family today.

I was told of her passing yesterday afternoon right before I was leaving for the day. I drove home with a heavy heart knowing that the next day would be filled with connecting with her children and grandchildren, making myself available for them.

I got to my house, did my chores, made dinner and settled in to watch Monday Night Football. I had taped the game. I like taping games, no commercial breaks. No sooner had I sat down then my son Levi comes bounding through the door saying, “Hi dad, I am here for the night! Oh good, you already have the game on.” I replied, “Is something wrong at your apartment?” Levi says, “Nope, I just came over to watch both games and spend the night. What’s for dinner?”

I think I will get him a tee-shirt that says, “What’s for dinner?”

We watched the game together.

We talked.

We laughed.

When I went to bed, Levi was in the middle of the second game, it was a double-header Monday Night Football night.

Sometime during the evening, I received an email from the YMCA. There was a family in trouble, a broken relationship between a father and a son. The father was looking for a place to put his son.

I sat there as I read the email. I looked over at my son, who was busy making mom laugh. I started to think of all the “What-ifs” in life.

What if I had taken a different stance with my son during a troubling time? Would he still be sitting in my living room, coming over on his own accord just to be with me?

What if I had not shown love to my son as he was grew up? Would he still be sitting in my living room, coming over on his own accord just to be with me?

What if I had not spent time for my son as he grew up? Would he still be sitting in my living room, coming over on his own accord just to be with me?

I do not have the answers to these questions. Only God can see all the what-ifs in life.

This is what I do know.

By placing Christ in the center of my life and doing my best to follow His teachings, He gave me the energy, the heart and the space to take a breath as we raised our children. I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but at least my kids know that their parents love them.

We are mourning the passing of one of our YMCA family. This person has run a long race and finished the race well.
We are going to miss this member of our family, at the same time we are rejoicing because we know she is with Christ.

My prayer is:
Lord, continue to give me Your heart. Continue to give me Your guidance. Continue to give me Your wisdom. Continue to give me Your words. As I run the race that you have put before me, help me run it well. Help me finish well. I do these things not to bring me glory, but to bring you glory. So that others that may not know You will see these things and praise You Father. Amen.

Blessings,

A quiet morning

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

The season is changing, actually that is a silly term; the seasons are always changing. I am reminded of a weatherman (I guess if I were to be politically correct I would say weatherperson, but this was a guy so I think I am safe saying weatherman, maybe not, I don’t know.) who said, “There was no weather today.” I thought, “What a silly thing to say. Of course there was weather today, there is always weather.”

It is getting a bit cooler and the mornings are dark when I wake up at my house by the river. The birds are still asleep and the air is still. We have an interesting phenomenon where I live. The sun heats the air and causes it to move through the valleys and along the rivers creating a gentle breeze; there was no breeze this morning, there was no sun.

I sat in my chair listening to the river.

I sat in my chair waiting to hear the first rustlings of the birds and other animals that call the river home.

I sat in my chair waiting to hear the waking of the day.

I sat in my chair listening for God.

God did not say anything.

After a while, I got up from my chair and got ready to go to the “Y”.

I got dressed, collected my things that I need for the day. Got in the car, realized I forgot my keys, went back in the house, got my keys, got back into the car, and started driving to work.

As I drove into town, I started to notice noise. I was stopped at a stoplight, which is a good thing to be stopped at. It sure is a lot better than driving through a stoplight. A car pulls up next to me and music is playing, I notice the music. A trucks engine is rumbling, I notice the engine noise. Pretty soon I am noticing a lot of noises.

Then a still small voice said, “The world is full of noise. I gave you this morning so that you could remember the tranquility and draw on that in the midst of the noise of the day."

As I go through my day and listen to noise. I am thankful that God caused me to stop and realize that I can draw on the quiet times. If I am to be an ambassador of Christ, I must not allow myself to be caught up in the noise of the day, but be that respite for people when they do.

Lord, my prayer is that You continue to give me grace as I do my best to abide in You as you are abiding in me. Let me be that quiet moment in a person’s day where they can just sit and decompress. Where they can just sit and be in You as You are in them. Amen

Blessings,