Category: Reflection

Quarantine: Rest or Work? Yes!

Hey Friends, I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and this one will be different.

Right now I am about to start the fourth week of Quarantine due to COVID-19.

The youth pastor at our church asked several of the youth leaders if we would do a 3 minute devotional for the students. I did one, and I thought I would just share it here for you.  Below the video I’m adding a few more comments that may be helpful

Work: Produces something and benefits someone.

Examples (besides the things people do where they get paid by an employer or someone else for doing):

  • Chores – whether you are asked to do them, or you do them because they are needed.
  • Homework/schoolwork – you probably didn’t want to do it, but it produces a grade that should benefit you (hopefully) 🙂
  • Serving – even at church – I suppose you might categorize serving as an act of worship, which is fine, but if we are honest, serving can be hard, and sometimes not what we wanted to do. But, it does produce something and benefit someone.

My point about what is neither work or rest is also important. There are simply things that are vital to life: eating, exercising, sleeping for instance. God clearly does not tell us we can only sleep one day a week. That isn’t the type of rest he was talking about on the Sabbath.

Similarly, reading the bible, praying, and worshiping God are vital to our life. They are not work. Well, you might say, well don’t you benefit when you read the Bible. Yes, but I also benefit when I eat and drink and sleep. This is a benefit that is vital to my existence. Therefore, I would not say that is “work”.

And, I love how Jesus covered the topic of the Sabbath in Mark 2 when he said:

27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” 

I pray you pick up the heart of what this devotion is about.

Work and rest are not the totality of life. God does say that we should have more work than rest, which does not make work more important, or rest less important. I think God just knows how we are designed.

Please take care of yourself. I love and miss you, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Love and blessin’s,

Flatland Dave

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Quarantine: Trapped inside? Lie!

Hey friends, I know it’s been a bit since I’ve shared. Since we have been in quarantine these last few weeks, our youth pastor asked some adults to do a video devotion for the teens. This is one that I put out there. I pray this blesses you.

I also pray you and yours are staying safe and well in this time!

Just wanted to give you a link to this text Proverbs 17:24, or even to Proverbs.

Love and blessin’s,

Flatland Dave

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New Years resolutions don’t work? Try this!

For many years my new years resolutions started off highly focused, and then by the end of January I had forgotten what my resolutions even were. That is when I finally realized that a resolution for the new year wasn’t working for me.

However, what i have found to be helpful is an end of year life assessment. I reflect and refocus on the things that mean the most to me. Then I make changes where it seems appropriate. The way I have done this has changed a bit over the years.

At first I would look at four key important area’s of my life.

Head, Health, Heart, Home

  • Head – Am I continuing to learn and grow?
  • Health – Am I eating, sleeping and exercising on a consistent basis?
  • Heart – Am I focused on things that I am passionate about?
  • Home – Do I have a good relationship with my family and friends?

This continues to be a helpful starting place for me. But, I also found that it seemed to miss some key areas in my life. So, I started looking at my life in these key areas:

Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Financial, Recreational, Educational, Relational, Vocational, Avocational

  • Spiritual – Am I living for God?
  • Physical – Am I eating, sleeping and exercising on a consistent basis?
  • Emotional – Am I engaged in the moment, hearing and feeling what is happening around me?
  • Financial – Am I properly managing money for today and tomorrow?
  • Recreational – Am I spending time doing things I love to do?
  • Educational – Am I continuing to learn and grow?
  • Relational – Am I investing in the relationships around me?
  • Vocational – Am I working effectively in my employment and do I feel comfortable that I am working as if I were working for Christ?
  • Avocational – Am I giving my time, money or support to a charity that is doing good for the community?

While this set of questions may seem exhaustive, it challenged me to look at my life more holistically and to identify areas for me to focus.

This method clarifies my “why”. I’m not making changes for this year (like a new years resolution). I am making changes for my life.

The ultimate goal is to assess my life and then make changes where necessary.

Over the last several years I have been trying to align my life with this passage in the  Bible found in Mark chapter 12. It summarizes the primary aim of my life. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He answered:

The greatest is this, ‘Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ And the second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. There is no commandment greater than these. Mark 12:29-31

If Jesus had simply stopped with the first commandment of loving God with every aspect of my life I would have plenty to work on. He shifted my old “Head, Health, Heart, Home” to a focus on loving God with my “Heart, Soul, Mind, Strength”. And He didn’t stop there. He made sure I loved others as well.

I could spend my life making these two commandments my primary focus. And if I do, I believe I will have lived a very satisfying life.

My life is not just about loving God.

My life is about loving my neighbor also.

Below I have aligned the greatest commandments of Jesus with the nine focus areas I mentioned earlier.

Life Map

Here is how I am using this:

  1. Open and print this document. It is a bigger version of the life map above and also has a section to keep track of what you have achieved.
  2. Laminate the document (or, print several if that’s easier).
  3. Take time considering which area or circle you want to focus on. Identify a change or goal you could make in that area. This could be for today, this week, or for the next year.
  4. Write the change or goal down in the appropriate circle (in dry erase marker if you laminated it).
  5. Once complete, erase that goal, and make a new one in another circle, or in the same circle.

I have plenty to work on.

Love and blessin’s,

Dave

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Busy on purpose: Three steps to better your busyness

We arrived home after a few hours at the grocery store, and asked our three year old to carry in a bag of bread. Her arms dropped in exhaustion and her knees buckled as she exclaimed, “I’m too busy!”

Continue reading “Busy on purpose: Three steps to better your busyness”

The book I read every month!

This week I want to share a personal practice that I believe has helped keep my behavior in check, and my mind more focused on the most important things. I have not been perfect at doing this, and I have seen the opposite results at the times I have strayed.

Many years ago I was challenged to read one chapter from the book of Proverbs from the Bible each day. It doesn’t take long…usually less than 5 minutes. It was easy to determine the chapter to read because it was the “proverb of the day”.

See, the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters. This means there is basically a chapter of Proverbs for each day of the month. After a month you have read the book, and can simply start over.

After doing this off and on for several years, it has become a practice I really enjoy. Each time I read a chapter there seems to be a verse or principle I can apply to my life in a very practical way as a husband, father, son, employee, leader, friend or disciple. Somehow, at the right time there is a verse or passage that stands out for me. Sometimes it is right after a situation where I realize I should have handled something differently. Other times it is right before a situation and the verse provided the much needed preparation for the moment.

Here are a few “stand out” verses from yesterdays reading of Proverbs 15 (one of my personal favorite chapters):

  • Verse 1 – A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 
    • This resonates with every parent. And it is great advice for work, school, and even friendships.
    • A parent of a teenager may paraphrase this verse like: “A door closed gently is good for the relationship.”
  • Verse 22 – Plans are frustrated without consultation, but with many counselors they succeed.
    • For our family, this verse translates to time we spend each week to spend a little time to look at the calendar for the next few weeks to make sure we have everything calendared that we know about at the time.
    • At work I spend a lot of time planning, and then sharing my plans with others to see what they think. This has been very helpful for me to see areas where I totally missed an important step, or where I completely underestimated the amount of time something would take (I am good at this).
  • Verse 31 – the person who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
    • This tells us that the wise people have a mentor, confidant, or friend who will lovingly listen and watch them and give “life-giving” correction and direction.
    • I appreciate these friends in my life who will challenge and encourage me to be a better husband or father, live a life worthy of my calling and purpose, or help me get those negative thoughts out of my head so I can focus on the truth.
    • Conversely, you will find much in Proverbs 15 that speaks about the foolish person who does not accept correction. Not only have I met those people, I have been that person. The good news is…I was able to change. Thank God!

While each passage has much to ponder, I tend to take one verse or so that stands out that day and focus on that for a while.

I encourage you to try this for one month and see how it helps you. Let me know how it goes!

God is not all you need

He was sipping his coffee, wrestling with loneliness. A kind hearted, growing Christian, who was finding support in God, and on the verge of giving up on humanity. He didn’t want to go to Church. They were all judgmental hypocrites, who didn’t care about him. His friends had pushed him aside. In his mind, all he had was God, and that was all he needed. He reflected on the old song, “You’re all I want. You’re all I ever needed” I encouraged him to continue growing closer to God in this time. And then, I told him another truth:

Friend, God is not all you need.

He looked at me as if I had blasphemed the Holy Spirit. His eyebrow went up. He must have felt that I didn’t understand. So, he began clarifying that God is all he needs. He needed to pray more, read his bible more. He didn’t need all the problems that come with having other people in his life. They just pull him down. I let him vent. I have been there myself. I get it. Then, I told him again.

Friend, God is not all you need.

Then, I brought him all the way back to the beginning. “Do you remember the first thing that was not good? It’s found in Genesis 2:18.”

Adam had God. For relationship, all Adam had was God. He knew God in ways we may never know in our lifetime. Adam had God. And God said “It is not good for man to be alone.”

My friend responds, “Alone? How was Adam alone. He had God?”

This is the very point God was trying to make.

Our relationship with God does not satisfy our need for relationship with others. We can have God and still be alone. And, that’s not good.

As I look at my journey as a Christian, I believe God has provided three very important things to help me along the way:

1) The Word of God, 2) The Spirit of God, 3) The People of God

Today, the focus is on the last point. Without other people in my life, I cannot imagine what it would be like. I’m not talking about going to Church on Sunday (although I do enjoy that time). I mean real relationships, with friends and family who speak into my life, provide Godly counsel, support me in my struggles, lift me up and encourage me to keep going. Sometimes, I even get to do that for them.

At my church, we say: Life happens in circles, not rows

Church services are great for motivation, encouragement and the wonderful reminder of God’s great love for us. But, they are not great for building life long, meaningful relationships with the people around us. That happens over lunch, dinner, coffee, or through a small home group. That’s where relationships happen.

Since the beginning, God has designed us for relationships.

This week, as you go about your planning, I encourage you to look at the people around you, and see them as a gift from God. Encourage them. Pray for them. Even for that one person you don’t like. Believe it or not, you need them. God knows, it is not good to be alone.

What Flatland BMX taught me

It all started with a wheelie.

1986 was a glorious year for BMX. The movie Rad came out. I saw tricks in this movie that blew my mind. I was going into 7th grade and I could do a wheelie and an endo (hit the brake and go up on the front wheel). This movie inspired me to take my BMX riding to a whole new level. Continue reading “What Flatland BMX taught me”