Lily Walkin'

"Yes, Virginia... There is a Santa Claus"

I've lived in Mississippi since 1994 and this is the FIRST time I have seen snow. The locals have assured me they've seen the stuff before, but I've had my doubts.
By 8:00am we had received 5 phone calls asking if we had looked out the windows yet. Their follow up question was, "Has John been out to play in it?" I'm not sure how to take that. I'm a grown man. I have 2 boys (5 and 8 yrs old) who "play." I on the other hand "enjoy" the snow... or "appreciate" it... or "admire" it.... Who am I foolin? I had as much fun today pelting my kids with snowballs as I did when I was 10. We built a great snowman... two forts... a few snow angels... AND, we ate yellow snow.

Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue

I guess like the rest of the world we zoomed through Christmas and WHAM! welcome to 2008. So, how about those new year's resolutions? I am quickly becoming a creature of habit as each January I find myself making the same resolutions I did the year before. Ever fall into that trap? Lose weight? Spend more time with the kids? Be a better husband / wife? Watch less television? Read more? Eat healthier? You know the standard drill: January goes well, February is o.k., March you begin making small exceptions, and by April you are shoveling twinkies and donuts in like a Holstein.

I have a friend who struggled with alcohol abuse for many years. Today he celebrates 12 or 13 years of sobriety and lives a very productive healthy life. My path seems to cross with many people who can't seem to get a grip on issues very similar to his. When I asked him the secret to his health, he responded with one word... "pain." He went on to tell me the tragedies he had made of his life, and believed the only way people change is when the hurt bad enough. Maybe that's true. As long as we feel that we are in control of our destiny, pain, problems, struggles, etc. there is no need to go looking for help.

But, sometimes our defeats become more than we can bear.

That's what I like about God. There is a story in the Bible we often refer to as "The Prodigal Son." It's the saga of a father and his two sons. One of the sons, we will affectionately refer to as "The Punk," approaches his father and demands his inheritance early. If you read between the lines you hear "PUNK" telling his father, "I wish you would go ahead and kick the bucket so I can get the stuff I am due, and get on with my life." (Thus the name "PUNK.") So, long story short: The father grants him his wish and gives him his inheritance. The kid runs off to the city and wastes it all. He finds himself alone, destitute, broke, and hungry, living in the middle of a pig pen (which wasn't the greatest place in the world for a jewish kid to be living) wondering what to do next. PAIN.

Punk, decides his best chance at life would be to head back home and see if his father would hire him on as a servant. I love the exact words Jesus used, "While the boy was still a long way off... his father RAN after him.... through his arms around him and kissed him... and said, 'Bring the robe and kill the fatted calf' for this son of mine was once dead, but now is alive again."

That's what I like about God. While I am still a long way off from where I need and desire to be... he uses the pain in my life to get my attention to be a better man, a better husband to my wife, a better father to my kids and so on. Sometimes the pain can be as simple as a pair of pants getting "painfully" tight around the waist. Sometimes the pain is a little more severe. Regardless, I need January 1sts and new beginnings.