The Temptation to be Spectacular (Reflections on Christian Leadership - Part 3)

The second temptation of Jesus was to do something spectacular: "Throw yourself from the parapet of the temple and let the angels catch you and carry you in their arms" (Matthew 4:6). His wise response, "Don't put the Lord your God to the test."

I've noticed, since working in ministry, that much time is spent discussing what we can do that is, in essence, spectacular: an especially meaningful worship experience, an awesome VBS, an outstanding women's retreat, etc. Likewise, individual church leaders strive diligently for excellence in their areas of service. However, we spend significantly less time spent sharing the pain, struggles, and mistakes made in our journeys.

This requires trust.

Those who live in glass houses, subject to scrutiny in every aspect of their personal, professional, and spiritual lives, tend to be highly selective in choosing whom they will trust. The tendency is to lean on a close friend, a peer from another church, or chosen accountability partner.

Henri J.M. Nouwen, in his excellent book, In the Name of Jesus, Reflections on Christian Leadership:

"I have found over and over again how hard it is to be truly faithful to Jesus when I am alone. I need my brothers or sisters to pray with me, to speak with me about the spiritual tasks at hand, and to challenge me to stay pure in mind, heart, and body. But far more importantly, it is Jesus who heals, not I; Jesus who speaks words of truth, not I; Jesus who is Lord, not I....Ministry is not only a communal experience, it is also a mutual experience....The leadership about which Jesus speaks is of a radically different kind from the leadership offered by the world. It is a servant leadership, in which the leader is a vulnerable servant who needs the people as much as they need their leader."

Nouwen poses the question: "What discipline is required for the future leader to overcome the temptation of individual heroism?" He suggests that the answer lies in the discipline of confession and forgiveness. "Leaders must be persons always willing to confess their own brokenness and ask for forgiveness from those to whom they minister."

He goes on to say that in actuality church leaders are the least confessing people in the church community. There is so much fear, so much professional distance, and so little genuine listening and speaking to each other that it becomes impossible for leaders to feel really cared for and loved. He is not suggesting that church leaders must regularly bring their own sins to the podium, as this not be a healthy expression of servant leadership, but, rather, that church leaders are called to be full members of their communities, and, as such, are accountable to the community and need their affection and support. We are called to lead with our whole being, including our wounded selves.

Nouwen asks:
"How can church leaders feel loved and cared for when they have to hide their own sins and failings from the people to whom they minister?"

"How can people truly care for their leaders and keep them faithful to the task when they do not know them and so cannot deeply love them?"

Your thoughts?

The Temptation to be Relevant (Reflections on Christian Leadership - Part 2)

As a college student, I decided that I needed a profession whereby I could make a difference. So,I spent the next 25 years trying to make a difference in the lives of children. In the professional world, education, experience, credentials, and accomplishments matter, so, we keep a record of them. We write them in resumes, or in our vitae, and we update these documents to keep them relevant.

In his book, In the Name of Jesus, Reflections on Christian Leadership, Henri J.M. Nouwen states,

" I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. The great message that we have to carry, as ministers of God's Word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life."

He goes on to point out that even Jesus' first temptation was to be relevant: to turn stones into bread. Yet, he he saw that trap for what it was and pointed out that even more important than filling our stomachs with food is the filling of our spirit with God's word. More important than trying to make a difference in someone's life is showing them how God can transform their lives.

To live a life that is not dominated by the desire to be relevant, Nouwen suggests the discipline of contemplative prayer, which will keep our identities deeply rooted in God's love, rather than our own accomplishments or relevance. After all, is there anything more humbling than being in the presence of God?

Reflections on Christian Leadership - Part 1

I read several excellent books in 2008. One that comes to mind was written by Henri J.M.Nouwen entitled In the Name of Jesus.

Nouwen is a priest who, after 20 years in the academic world, accepted the work at Daybreak, a community for people who are mentally handicapped. Nouwen writes:

"As I entered into my fifties and was unable to realize the unlikelihood of doubling my years, I came face to face with the simple question, "Did becoming older bring me closer to Jesus?" After twenty-five years of priesthood, I found myself praying poorly, living somewhat isolated from other people, and very much preoccupied with burning issues. Everyone was saying that I was doing really well, but something inside was telling me that my success was putting my own soul in danger. I began to ask myself whether my lack of contemplative prayer, my loneliness, and my constantly changing involvement in what seemed most urgent were signs that the Spirit was gradually being suppressed.....so I woke up one day with the realization that I was living in a very dark place and the term "burnout" was a convenient psychological translation for a spiritual death."

The New Year is typically a time of resolutions. I am good at making them, not so good at keeping them. I decided that I would try something different this year. I would make the New Year a time of personal reflection. Personal reflection is a wonderful learning tool, whereby one reflects on something recent, thinks about what went right, what went wrong, and what might be done differently next time, similar to a personal debrief. It can be done anytime, anywhere, preferably soon after the event.

As I reflect on my own life, and even just the past year, two questions posed by Nouwen come to mind. "Did becoming older bring me closer to Jesus?" and his follow-up question, "What decisions have I been making lately and how are they a reflection of the way I sense the future?"

Still thinking about it. I am interested in your thoughts.

Spiritual Mulligan

In golf, a mulligan is a retaken swing, usually due to a previously errant one. Strictly prohibited in the official rules of the game, mulligans are commonplace in social golf.

The term has found a broader acceptance in general speech, referring to any minor blunder which is allowed to pass unnoticed or without consequence. It is implied that a mulligan is forgiven because it was either made by a rank beginner, or it is unusual and not indicative of the level of play or conduct expected of the person who made the mulligan.

A mulligan is a re-do, a second chance to make it right.

How often do I mess up in my speech, in my actions, in my relationships with others, and think, "Well that was a mistake. I shouldn't have said (or done) that. Look at the mess I've made. Lesson learned. I won't make that mistake again."

What if, instead, I took a spiritual mulligan? What if upon realizing my blunder, I asked for a re-do? What if, instead of quietly musing on what went wrong, I owned it and asked for another shot at the conversation that went bad, or another chance to do the right thing, or committed to working on the relationship?

Spiritual mulligans take courage, courage to show just how weak and vulnerable I am, courage to own my mistakes, courage to let God do His work through me.

Have you ever experienced a spiritual mulligan?

Like a Child

We recently went on our church's bi-annual church camping trip. This year we went to Tyler State Park, without a doubt, the most beautiful park in Texas we have visited so far. The weather was perfect, crisp in the morning, warm in the afternoon, and cold at night.

On Saturday morning, I was zipped up in my tent, talking to my daughter and trying to get my sweet granddaughter to take a nap. She, however, was more interested in rolling around on my air mattress. Suddenly, a sweet voice yelled, "Hello. Can I come in?" I unzipped the tent to find a precious little four-year-old girl that I had never seen before. She was from our church; her family's campsite was across the trail from ours, but since we were all from the church, she, like the other kids, felt safe visiting the other tents, and she knew my daughter.

After talking with her awhile, I was called away. My daughter stayed to visit with the precious little girl, but then she had to leave to tend to my grandson. Unsure what to do, she told the little girl that she needed to leave the tent and asked if she wanted to leave too.

The precious little girl replied, "No, I'm ok here. Jesus is with me."

Oh for the faith of a child.

For those of you concerned about her wandering around the campground, about five minutes later her mom, who had apparently been calling her name, snatched her up to return to her camp.

Personal Reflection

One of my favorite poems by my favorite poet:

Myself
Edgar Guest

I have to live with myself, and so,
I want to be fit for myself to know;
I want to be able as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don't want to stand with the setting sun
And hate myself for the things I've done.


I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself as I come and go
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of man I really am;
I don't want to dress myself up in sham.


I want to go out with my head erect,
I want to deserve all men's respect;
But here in this struggle for fame and pelf,
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't want to think as I come and go
That I'm bluster and bluff and empty show.


I never can hide myself from me,
I see what others may never see,
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself- and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.

Do you wanna laugh?

One of my bloggity friends found this video and it is so funny I just have to share it.

History in the Making

I love being a part of this, a part of history in the making.

I stayed up late to watch the President-Elect's acceptance speech because it is part of history.

I woke up this morning and read all the doom and gloom comments of my facebook friends. I checked my favorite blogs, only to read more doom and gloom. I even read one that encouraged the reader to pray that God will keep Mr. Obama from accomplishing anything he sets out to do.

I'm not so disturbed by this kind of stuff during a political election, but once the die is cast and we know who our new leader will be, it is important to me to think of him and to speak of him with the utmost respect, respect that is due anyone in his position. As a follower of Christ, this applies to anyone in authority. This is what I have taught my children to do with each of their teachers, whether they liked them or not, whether they were even good teachers or not. This is what I taught them to do with the elders at our church, with the police officer who happens to stop them for speeding, with their boss at work.

So as I watched him last night, I began to pray for him specifically. I prayed for his safety. I prayed for his wisdom, and I continue to pray that God will use him and his position of authority to do great things, things so powerful that it will be evident to all that with God, all things are possible.

After reading all of the doom and gloom, and some real ugliness, I landed upon two blogs of spiritual giants, two men I deeply respect. One of these men is one of my spiritual shepherds. Click here to read a relevant scripture he found. The other is a minister who just happens to be my brother. Click here to read his November 5 post entitled: And so we pray.

Crash Course in Dating Lingo

If you are the parent of a teenager and you are not yet utilizing modern technology to enhance communication, chances are, you are seen as stupider (newly coined term meaning "more stupid") by the minute, at least in the rolling eyes of your teenager.

In my days as a high school principal, I had to work to keep up with the ever-evolving linguistic codes of the teenage language system. I can get you up to speed with a crash course in the language of teenage romance.

"We are talking." This means that I think he is "hot" (which you parents will understand as "cool") and he feels likewise. We are talking on the phone, but mainly texting and talking (writing) on each other's wall ( semi-public page) in Facebook or MySpace (on-line social utility).

Think cyber-flirting.

"We are in a relationship."

We are past the talking phase and ready to DTR (declare the relationship). This can be done in a variety of ways, but must certainly be done on Facebook or MySpace.

DTR is the 21st century equivalent to:

"Going out" (90's)

"Going together" (70's and 80's)

"Going steady" (60's and 70's)

"Getting pinned" (50's and 60's)

Getting pinned or going steady usually involved jewelry, such as a steady bracelet or a senior ring on a chain, and a letter jacket. Such apparel to openly advertise the relationship is no longer necessary. Now, with social utilities such as Facebook and MySpace, one can DTR to the world through cyberspace.

"It's complicated."

This could mean that we have yet to officially define the relationship. It could also mean that we like each other, but are not yet ready to DTR. It could mean that we are on a break or in a fight.

It is also much simpler for today's teenagers to break up.

One simply changes their Facebook profile from "In a relationship with __________" to "single" and they are back on the market. No jewelry or clothing to return.

Of course, it is also advisable to remove the couples' pictures from your Facebook account. You might also choose to remove the once "hot" boy from your Facebook friend list to prevent Facebook stalking. Facebook stalking is relatively harmless, since at one time you gave this person access to your Facebook as a "friend", but now that your relationship is on the skids, you don't want him in your business. He might still try to text you, but you don't have to text back, or you can block his texts altogether, but then he will tell everyone that you are a "bad texter" which really hurts. It is the ultimate insult.

Ok, parents. This will get you started. Hopefully, I've been able to help at least one of you avoid the humiliation of asking about your daughter's steady boyfriend, or, worst yet, her new "beau".

Discipline

I have a theory about discipline...it is an inevitable part of my life.

I can either discipline myself, or someone else will step in to do it.

For example, I can either have the self-discipline to drive the speed limit, or a police officer will write me a ticket.

I can either discipline myself to pay bills when they are due, or incur late fees.

I can discipline myself to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly, or balloon out of control.

I tried to teach this to my children as they grew up. "If you will discipline yourself, then I won't need to step in and do it for you. It is your choice."

Consequently, I am a fairly disciplined person, which basically means that I thrive in a disciplined environment. I am happiest when there is discipline and order in my life. It does not always mean that I practice discipline; it just means that I aim to and am happiest when I am successful.

There are times, though, when my self-discipline gets out of whack and I must calibrate myself. I wonder if the apostle Paul was lamenting a lack of discipline in his life when he said,
"For I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out...So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Romans 7:14-25

I can relate.

Paul is really whacking himself, totally frustrated with the war at work between his mind and body. How many times have I wanted to lose weight (in theory) but not enough to deny myself certain foods? How bummed out am I about the state of my closet, or my drawers, or even my house, and why isn't it enough to cause me to muster the energy to tackle it after a day of work? How many projects have I started and left unfinished? How often have I wanted to have a more intimate relationship with God but got "too busy" to communicate with him on a regular basis? What happened to that daily Bible reading plan I had?

It helps to know that I am not alone in this battle of my mind and body.

Thanks be to God, indeed.

Can you relate?

Candor

So I'm changing my grandson's diaper this morning. He will be three in December and is mostly potty-trained for one function, but for the other, more pungent one, he still prefers the convenience of the diaper. I have noticed that he will walk past his dad, his Pop, and even his mom to come find me so that I can change his dirty diaper. On many occasions, he has even met me at the door with, "Nana, pwease change my diaper." I mentioned this to his mom one day and she replied, "It is your own doing. You make it too fun."

Well, dirty diaper duty aside, we do have a good time. It begins with mutual speculation about how many wipes will be required to do the deed. Will this be a two wiper diaper or a three wiper diaper? I then place each cold, wet, wipe on his stomach with a loud "CH" sound to see if he can stand the cold. I also have a tendency toward the dramatic as I follow the odor to uncover the source.

The best part, though, is the conversation. This morning's went something like this.

"How was school yesterday?"
"Fun."
"What did you do?"
"I pay wif Cole and Camden and I had fwee boogers in my nose."

Ahhh...the candor of youth!

Ike

Our son has been living in Galveston, TX. for about 6 weeks now. A couple of weeks ago, Hurricane Gustav headed toward Galveston as a category 5. A couple of days before it was set to arrive, he packed up his dog, and the possessions he held dear (his books) and headed to Houston, where he spent the weekend with his sister and her husband. Fortunately, by the time the hurricane hit land, it downgraded to a category 1.

A few days ago, a short two weeks later, Hurricane Ike barreled to the coast of Galveston, a category 2, but one m.p.h. short of being a 3. Once again, he packed up to head to Houston. He got out of Galveston hours before the mandatory evacuation began, and has been in Houston for several days now. Unfortunately, the storm has now made its way north from Galveston, and now my daughter, her husband, son, and my son are without power in Houston.


So now my husband and I sit in the den, each with a laptop and a cell phone, glued to the TV for two days, watching the weather channel, while simultaneously surfing the internet and texting to our kids. Cut off from the world, they have many questions, not the least of which is how long they will be without power. My son is anxious about: the state of his apartment and all his possessions, not knowing when school will resume, and whether he will be able or even should come to Dallas. I'm checking his email for him, as well as monitoring the school's website for news.

I can't help but wonder about the Galveston Hurricane that hit on September 8, 1900 as a category 4. To date, it is the deadliest natural disaster in U. S. history, with approximately 8000 deaths reported. That was before the weather forecast, or the emergency broadcast system. Of course, italso pre-dates radio, television, cell phones, texting, internet, and email. The residents of Galveston were completely blind-sided. They didn't know to prepare for the storm, nor did they know to evacuate.

So I feel blessed to live in a time when there are so many ways to be connected to those I love. Of course, the mother hen in me would much prefer to have all the chicks in the nest...............l

Read the Label

I like to take yogurt to work so that when I get the mid-morning hungries, I can have a quick, moderately healthy snack. So today I was in a long morning meeting, and when we took a break, I hurried to the kitchen with yogurt on my mind. I grabbed my yogurt, rushed back to my office and plopped in my chair, primed and ready to plunge my spoon into its creamy goodness.

However, it seems that in my haste to leave home this morning, I had grabbed, not my yogurt, but Egg Beaters. So, here I am, sitting at my desk with a hungry fist-full of raw egg whites. I'm really perplexed, because I am absolutely certain that I brought yogurt. On the outside, at a glance, it looks like yogurt in size, shape, and feel. I am deceived by what I see on the outside. On the inside, it is something different entirely.

I'm sure there is a lesson in there somewhere.

Greatest Moral Failure

Recently, I watched the Presidential Forum, moderated by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California. Both candidates, Barak Obama and John McCain, were given the same questions touching on a variety of issues. The candidates were asked to avoid automatically reverting to their usual "stump," but rather to thoughtfully and carefully address each question as it was worded.

I found one question in particular to be intruiging: "What is your greatest moral failure?" Without hesitation, Obama referred to his rebellion and drug use during his teenage years, which he disclosed in his book, "Dreams of My Father." McCain referenced "the failure of my first marriage" but provided no further details.

Recently, John Edwards has dominated the news because of his extra-marital affair which was originally uncovered by the National Enquirer. The media is less critical of the affair, and more critical of the fact that he lied about it. Had he admitted it publicly in 2006 when he reportedly confessed it to his wife, Elizabeth, the media no doubt would have lost interest in it by now, as evidenced by the lack of current interest in the "indiscretions" of McCain, or Clinton, or Guiliani, or Limbaugh, or O'Reilly, or Gingrich, or Kennedy, Kennedy, and Kennedy (John, Robert, and Ted).

It seems that this country, or at the very least the media, is only moderately concerned about the sin in the life of public figure, but extremely critical if that sin is concealed or confessed only privately. Full public disclosure is expected of all public figures.

However, as private citizens, one of the inalienable rights we hold dear is our right to privacy. How many of us would openly and freely confess and discuss our greatest moral failures? I know of many who have, but it is usually because their sin was disclosed, either voluntarily because of guilt, or by happenstance, and it cost them their jobs or ruined their lives. Such individuals often choose to parlay that disclosure to a book deal or speaking engagement, capitalizing on their fifteen minutes of fame to go after the almighty dollar. Others share their experience to cleanse their conscience, or so others can learn from their mistakes.

Regardless of which way you, as a private citizen, are leaning in this election, you have got to admit it takes a great deal of courage to choose the life of a public figure these days.

The Best Kind of Friend

I started this blog in July of 2006.

For a little over a year I made several entries a week, which slowed down to two per week, then one. Finally, I just stopped.

I discovered the other day to my chagrin that my last entry was almost one year ago. It is kind of like losing touch with an old friend. Weeks fly by, months pass, and suddenly you cannot remember the last time you talked. You reflect on all that has happened since you last spoke and wonder if you should get together, but you dread the awkwardness, the stammering explanations of how busy you have been and why it has been so long since you have called, or, worse yet, returned the call.

Maybe blogging won’t be that way. Maybe it will be like those really comfortable friends who you can call every once in a while and pick up where you left off since the last time you called. No stammering, no awkwardness, no explanations, just sharing each other’s lives and enjoying each other’s company.

I’m hoping blogging is that kind of friend.

In the Valley

"They gave our Master a crown of thorns.

Why do we hope for a crown of roses?"

~ Martin Luther ~

My prayers are often filled with thanks for the life I enjoy as a child of God. When I’m living on the mountain top, I eagerly anticipate each new day. The sun shines brighter; there’s a spring in my step and a song in my heart. At times like these, I can easily list the blessings He has showered on me: my family, friends, health, work, prosperity…the list is endless.

When I sink into the valley, I can’t even see the sun. Shadows loom all around me. I am cold, fearful, and alone. I find myself praying for strength, guidance, patience, faith…I could go on and on.

Climbing out of the abyss, I try to look back and learn from my time in the valley. I search for God’s hand in my experience. What did I do or fail to do that got me here? What was he trying to teach me? How can I grow from this? One question leads to another as I long for wisdom…..

Bottom line is this: to fully appreciate the mountain top experience, I need to experience the valley. As much as I long for the mountain top, I do most of my searching in the valley. I have found most of life’s lessons in the valley. I am schooled there; it is there that I grow and learn and fully appreciate the blessings that can only be found in Christ.

“The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for His name sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalms 23

Cobwebs

I can’t remember what started me to blog in the first place other than reading my daughter’s and thinking it would be fun to have my own, but blogging requires discipline, and discipline is seldom fun.

It is, however, even less fun to discipline yourself for a period of time and then to give it up. That is true of exercising, eating right, praying, studying the Bible, or even blogging. Developing the discipline is hard, then it gets rewarding, and, if you’re like me, you let it go and find yourself longing for the days when you were disciplined and feeling the benefits.

My friend and I exercise together at 6:00 each morning. Some days we spin; some days we walk.

Even though we walk as fast as we can without breaking into a jog, we manage to talk the whole hour.

On the days we go to spin class I will occasionally give her a lift home. One day as she got out of the car, she leaned in and muttered, “You know, your web of love has cobwebs” and promptly left me alone with my thoughts.

I sat in my car in the middle of the street puzzled; then it dawned on me.

Oh, yeah.

She is referring to my blog. My last entry, almost two months ago, was entitled, “Web of Love.”

Now the very fact that you are reading this tells me that you might not be able to relate. You probably have a blog of your own and have settled into a regular schedule of entries. Or you are toying with the idea of blogging and look forward to reading your friend’s blogs. Maybe you spend some serious time in blogs daily and have your favorites saved on your computer to check each day.

No, that one does not count; if my blog were saved on your desktop you would have deleted it by now, having checked it every day for two months with no new entries.

The other day a friend said to me in exasperation, “Don’t ever start blogging; it will take over your life!” Then he looked at me and said, “Oh, yeah, you do blog” and walked away.

Awkward………

He might as well have said, “And your web of love has cobwebs!”

Web of Love

They sat in a circle, blissfully unaware of what was in store for them. He stood in the center of the circle, the beloved teacher who, along with 10 other faculty members, was responsible for making memories for this group of high school seniors. He handed a ball of yarn to the senior class president as he told the class how as a senior class sponsor he had come to respect the leadership that this young man provided. He then challenged that young man to share the love.

Accepting the challenge, the senior class president scanned the faces around the circle, held on to the end of the yarn then tossed the ball of yarn across the room to another student. He then proceeded to tell the class why he admired that student. The second student then held on to his end of the yarn and tossed the ball of yarn to another student.

One by one, each student listened with rapt attention as someone else sang his or her praises. As the evening wore and the yarn was tossed from one student to another, it created a web of yarn between them, which we call the web of love.

Eventually, the yarn ran out. There was a moment of silence, then someone said, “Let’s keep going,” and they did. What was interesting to me as I witnessed this outpouring of love was the recurring theme. It went something like this, “Johnny, you and I have known each other since 9^th grade, and I’ll have to admit, I didn’t like you when I first met you. But we’ve had some classes together this year, and this is the first chance we’ve really had to talk. I just wanted you to know that I think you’re cool, man. You’re real, and I respect that.”

After hearing some version of that theme over and over, I thought about what they were really saying. “Ok, my first impression of you wasn’t a good one and wasn’t necessarily based on you at all, but on my perceptions about you. After a few years, I decided to give you a chance. I took the time to get to know you and realized how wrong I was about you. In fact, I like you just the way you are.”

I wonder how often I do that. How often is my first impression of someone negative and based totally on my misperceptions of them because I don’t really know them? How many times have I begun to really like or respect someone once I got to know them?

“Get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

I Peter 2:1-3

Ski Trip

We have a long-standing tradition at our high school. Every year around February or March, we take the seniors to Colorado for a week to ski. This includes a 20 hour chartered bus trip, three days of skiing, three nights of devos, and a 20 hour bus trip home. Every year, we’ve come to expect great skiing, some important class bonding, and a surprise or two along the way.

This year was no exception. The kids were great on the buses. We stayed in the same condo that we have used for many years. There were four girls in my condo, and they were all very well-behaved. They were considerate of each other and followed the rules of curfew every night. One girl in my condo developed altitude sickness the first day and ended up flying home on the third day. Other than that and a couple of minor injuries, the whole week ran smoothly.

There was one blip in the whole trip. One of the girls in my room discovered $60.00 missing. She had hidden it at the bottom of her clothes drawer. She alerted the sponsors, who promptly alerted the front desk at the condo. We did not want to believe that someone in housekeeping had taken the money as we had never had any problems of this sort in the 15 years that we have used this condo; we just felt it important to let them know. The sponsors felt that more than likely, the culprit was one of our own, not because this person needed the money, but out of a desire to hurt that girl.

When the rest of the class found out about the missing money, they took action. The senior class president went to each member of the class and asked if they wanted to contribute a dollar or two to the fund to replace her money. On the last day of the trip as we circled around to pray together, he announced that this class felt very strongly that they did not want the actions of one person to taint the reputation of the entire class. He presented her with an envelope filled with $128.00 that they had collected on her behalf. What a strong message this sent, not only to her, but to whoever stole her money.

“Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”

I Timothy 6:18-19

Something for Nothing

I love a good contest. One of my bloggity friends, through Christian Women Online, is giving away a free Coach purse and glasses case that she does not use. That is such a fun contest, and don't we all like to get something for nothing? Click here to learn more about the contest.

Recently I wrote about putting on my winter coat for the first time last winter and pulling a $50.00 bill out of the pocket. Technically, that is not something for nothing since I was probably the one who put it there last year, but since it was totally unexpected it still felt that way.

My husband has an amazing knack for being at the right place at the right time. Several times in his life, he has looked down and found money on the ground. Once, he was walking into a store and a $20.00 bill slapped him in the leg. There was no one around so he was unable to see who might have dropped it.

I can't tell you how many times we have been driving on the freeway just to have him whip over to the shoulder, come to a screeching halt, put it in reverse (still on the shoulder, thankfully), open his door, and pick up a tool lying in the ditch, or a wallet full of money and no ID.

This man, who on any given day cannot find his own wallet, belt, glasses, or car keys, can spot a wrench lying in a ditch while driving 60 miles per hour on the inside lane.

As for me, I have never won anything, just money in my pocket that I put there in the first place. Except for him, that is. I won him 31 years ago and have been celebrating my good fortune ever since!