“Speak, for your servant is listening.”
-1 Samuel 3: 10

You never know when someone says something to you that will change you life. In the Great Epic of God, the is much detail about how God speaks. He has spoken in the midst of storms, on mountains, through prophets and priests. In this Great story, spanning from Genesis to Revelation, kings,queens, judges, and other people of ’stature’ communicate His message.

But He also used regular people.

The words at the top of this post come from a little boy asking God to speak. The very next day, little boy becomes a messenger himself.

You never know when God will say something to you that you need to hear. Sometimes He uses dignitaries and holy people standing on mountains in the midst of storms. But most often He uses regular people in regular situations as His voice.

It can happen as we are listening to a song, watching a movie, or in the middle of a common conversation with a friend. Most of the time, that was not the communicator’s intent. They rarely realize the profound impact of their communication.

Truly, it is not really important for them to know.

But it IS important that we know.

We can never quite be sure when God will speak, or how He will speak.

We just need to listen.

I was in the super-market last Wednesday with a shopping list that Tiffany had carefully constructed for me. Tiffany was really sick the past 2 weeks with bronchitis, so it was now up to me to take the shopping-guru helm (and no, I have never heard of the ’shopping-guru helm until now either!).

I walked up and down the aisles grabbing soup, detergent, snacks for the kids, etc. I was really becoming a shopping guru. I was at the helm, and I was doing well. I then made my way down the cereal aisle. This has always a cool section for me. As a child, going through the cereal aisle was a love/hate proposition. I loved looking at the sugary treats masquerading as breakfast food. Captain Crunch, Trix, Frosted Corn Flakes…the possibilities were endless.

But what I hated, was the fact that my mother never purchased any of these boxed delicacies. She was a staunch believer in wholesome breakfasts for children for some reason (can you believe that?). She despised these candy breakfasts and refused to bring any into our home. The edgiest cereal that we ever got was Life or Chex, and on a rare occasion my dad would let us have Frosted Flakes.

But mostly we just had Cheerios. So when we could, quickly so my mother wouldn’t see, we would sprinkle a little sugar on our Cheerios. It was so risky. So dangerous. So taboo.

But we LOVED it.

But as we got older, something EVEN better happened.

One day, while at our Grandparents house (my mother’s parents no doubt) the topic of cereal came up. We were spending the weekend there and we had just gotten up for breakfast. I am not sure why this conversation hadn’t happened before, but this morning it did.

My grandparents were asking my sister and I what we wanted to eat for breakfast. Asked us if we wanted cereal. This was a very dangerous question for us to answer. Because the cupboard that held the cereal selections in this house were as varied as the cereal aisle at the super-market. They had Captain Crunch (cherry AND peanut butter!), Trix, Cocoa Puffs, the Cinnamon kind with the cool bear on front with sunglasses, they had Lucky Charms, and they had Honeycomb.

And they had MORE.

It was like a little bit of heaven tucked into the kitchen cabinent.

Unfortuanately, we had to tell our Grandma the sad news. We had to tell my Grandma that her daughter was a staunch believer in wholesome foods for kids. We had to tell her that we could only legally have Life, Chex, and Cheerios. And because of her daughter, her grandchildren were living in a state of deprivation.

As we went through our spiel, my Grandma interrupted us. She then told us something that we couldn’t have imagined. First, she said that she didn’t have Life, Chex, or Cheerios. And second, in her house, her grandchildren could eat ANY cereal they wanted and could have as MUCH as they wanted.

She proclaimed her residence a NO WHOLESOME BREAKFAST FOOD ZONE!

We could scarcely believed what we were hearing. It was almost as if she was singing.

So we had Captain Crunch, Cocoa Puffs (with chocolate milk sometimes!), Trix, and the Bear cereal. We had Frosted Flakes, Frosted Mini Wheats, and Honey-Comb cereal. There were times that we had all of one, and other times when we would as many as we could, reveling in the breakfast smorgasbord.

It truly was heaven on earth.

And for some reason I just loved Honey-Comb. I loved the taste. The consistency. The way that they crunched in your mouth. There were times when I would eat so much Honey-Comb that my stomach would hurt.

It was beautiful.

So last week, when I walked through the cereal aisle and saw those pretty boxes, my mind went back to when I was a kid. And as I reflected and reminisced my eyes fell upon a faithful friend:

Ol’ Mr. Honeycomb.

After grabbing some wholesome cereals for the children (I am now a staunch believer myself!), I threw in a box of Honeycomb in the cart for Dad.

I was SO happy.

Later that night, (because I couldn’t wait until the morning!) I decided to have a BIG bowl of Honeycomb cereal. I got a bowl down. I poured the cold 1% milk into the bowl (milk ALWAYS goes in first to keep the cereal from getting soggy!). Then I placed in a heaping pile of Honey-Comb into the bowl, smiling as I watched the little wheels tumble. I sat down with my new book and grabbed my spoon, plunging it into the sweet mountain of corn and oats.

The same familar sound, the consistency…….the……wait a minute………the taste………..the taste….the taste……is….the taste IS TERRIBLE! I pushed back from the table, struggling to force the little Honeycomb wheels down my throat. I was shocked at how hard, how wooden, how ultimately horrible this cereal tasted. I couldn’t eat another bite.

Did they change the formula? Are the wheels different? Are the ingredients the same?

As these questions peppered my mind, after a few moments a new revelation began to dawn.

The Honey-Comb didn’t change.

I DID.

I was different than I used to be. As I journeyed over the years, my tastes changed as I changed.

This is very true in the case of breakfast treats, but even more true in our everyday life. And in life, like I was; we are sometimes tempted to go back to a place where we used to be, the old relationships and connections we used to have, the life that we used to live.

But more often than not, yesterday’s sweetness doesn’t translate to today. What used to work, used to satisfy, used to bring happiness just doesn’t work. It is then we discover a valuable lesson:

Today’s challenges can’t be solved with yesterday’s cereal.

The challenges of the moment may be extreme, but looking backward won’t help us.

We must look UP, and we must live FORWARD.

As we live FORWARD we find new cereal along the way.

And it will be good for us.

(Note: The next morning after I had nearly vommitted Honey-Comb cereal, I stepped into the kitchen and saw my youngest little girl hunched over a bowl eating breakfast. And guess what she was eating? You got it. She was chomping loudly with chipmunk sized cheeks on Honey-Comb Cereal!)

When I was at Science Camp 2 weeks ago with Diara, I was faced with a dilemna. After trudging around in the wilderness, we were now being led to a zip-line about 30-ish feet above the ground.
The worst thing was, they actually wanted us to GET UP THERE. Dreamers, I will be straight up with all of you:

Mr. Julian S. Newman was one scared dude.

I didn’t want to GET UP THERE.

There was a part of me that wanted to make excuses, feign an injury, or simply pass out.

But my daughter was there.

And she was watching.

She was scared too. She wanted to try, but she wasn’t sure.

So she asked me about it.

I told her to give it a try.

Then she asked me if I would.

I told her that Daddy would do it, if she did (camp counselors were supposed to go after the kids, if you were wondering why I didn’t go first!).

So even though she was nervous and went up the shaky ladder slowly, she did it.

She climbed all the way to the top, and JUMPED.

I was so happy, I almost cried as she whistled through the air.

She didn’t let fear stop her.

She JUMPED.

And after all the kids took their turn, her dad JUMPED.

And I was glad that I did.

And was even better than anything else, because I was willing to be brave….my little girl was able to be.

Think of how many times we have spread the virus of fear to others, simply because we were not willing to be brave.

(Note: A day later, when given the chance to go on the ‘Pinata’ (40 foot or so giant rope swing); Diara was asked if she was going to go half way up or a quarter of the way up. She looked down at her fellow classmate and said, “No. I am going ALL THE WAY.‘

I loved Seth Godin’s post on authenticity. If we don’t act on what we say we believe, than do we really believe it?

One of the hardest things to be is real. We live in a generation where corporations cut salaries, fire employees, and compensate themselves by the tens of millions. Athletes speak out against drugs until the steriod test comes back positve. Politicians and preachers instruct others, but don’t always practice what they preach.

Everyday this lack of ‘Real’ is on display.

Being real is hard.

Being real takes courage and character.

Being real means acting in private on what you say in public.

Being real is also understanding that 100% real is not an option for you.

Or for me.

Part of being real is understanding that we are human.

You will miss the mark.

You will blow it.

You will say the wrong thing.

You will lose your cool.

You will make mistakes.

The sooner that we grasp the ‘reality of real’. the more real we can truly be.

We will give more grace to others.

We will give more grace to ourselves.

We will reach out to God and ask for help.

The hardest thing is being real.

But the first step is knowing when we are not.

That is the ‘realest’ thing we can do.

Many of us want to change the world. But most of us won’t. And the reason we won’t has nothing to do with any obstacles we might face, or the challenges we may endure.

Most potential world changers don’t change the world because they won’t even try.

Too much risk.

Too much uncertainty.

Too much danger.

Because of the possibility of failure, rejection, discomfort, among other things most world changers don’t even make the attempt.

What the world might look like if they did.

Science history tells us the story about a Polish Scientist named Nicolas Copernicus. Copernicus had this radical idea called the heliocentric hypothesis. It basically means, all the planets, including the earth, revolved around the sun.

During that time Ptolemy’s geocentric model (earth at the center) it was almost universally accepted. But though this is what most people believed, there were mathematic problems with this geocentric perspective. There were things that didn’t seem to quite ‘add up.’

But when this radically new heliocentric hypothesis was put into place, all the figures seemed to work. Though he was not the first one to say it, it was through Copernicus that science was changed forever. We now know that it is the earth that is in orbit and revolves around this flaming star called the SUN instead of the other way around.

It is only when the SUN is at the center, that all the other data, measurements, and statistics fall into place.

The funny thing is, you and I have a similar problem. Just like Copernicus’ day, where people thought that the earth was the CENTER in which the cosmos spun, we can so easily began believe that God’s purpose, blessing, and plan revolved around us. Around our desires, wants, appetites, and convenience.

We’ve made it all about us.

Rather than God being the CENTER in which our whole life revolves, we become the CENTER.

If God asks us to do something that doesn’t fit into our orbit, doesn’t revolve around what we think, or what we want, then we reject it.

*Honor my leadership and submit myself to those in authority? (Nope. Do you see who is in charge here?)

*Speak the truth and be a person of integrity? (I agree with that, most of the time! But sometimes at school, or at work, during business deals and at the job….well.)

When we make ourselves the CENTER rather than God, we become ‘situational’ followers of Jesus.

Definition of a SITUATIONAL FOLLOWER OF GOD: If the situation lends itself to obedience, then I will obey, but if it doesn’t then I will do my best next time.

And just like in science, things didn’t add up.

You and I are not the CENTER.

We are in orbit.

We are in orbit around the CENTER, whether know it or not.

It is only when recognize we are in orbit, that our lives make sense.

There are more than a million reasons to lose hope and give up. Every-day millions of people just stop hoping.

They stop believing.

And even if they keep performing their regular duties (going to work, picking the kids up from school, attending Chemistry Class, etc.), something on the inside of them dies.

And when hope is dead, the human heart ceases to truly live.

Until hope re-awakens, we can only exist.

Not sure what your challenge or battle is today.

But keep your head up. Don’t lose hope.

The world needs you.

“Top of the World!” was what I was screaming on the ‘Pinata’ a couple daya ago. Daughter and Dad both got on the Zip-Line and the Pinata (a 50-foot or so Giant swing). It was crazy. I was a little nervous, but my little girl stepped up to the plate. Then Dad had to do his thing. Here are some of the shots from another day of action at the Science Camp for Cooley Middle School. I am going to post something in the next day or so, about what I learned at Science Camp.

Hey Dreamers. I am at science camp. It is cold and rainy up in the mountains, but Diara and I are having a good time. Nothing like cold showers, little bunks, and living with eight 6th Grade boys for a week.

Yeah!

I will try to write more later.

“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance…”
-Matt. 11:17

You ever have one of those days? Just one of those time when you are just not into it. I was having one of those days yesterday. Had a lot on my mind, tons of issues that were in need of attention. This was following a super long ministry weekend. Because I was on my way to Science Camp this week, so I was attempting to cram 5 days of work into one. Right when I was thinking about all the stuff I needed to do, one of my girls came downstairs. I was working from home you see, and my daughters were off from school.

“Hey Dad, we have a performance we want to show you.”

“Ok.”

About 4 minutes later she was back again. Actually it felt like 2 minutes. She inquired again.

“Hey Dad. We have a performance we want to show you. But you have to stop what you are doing and come and watch.”

“A little while? You already said that. We are ready. And we are ready NOW.”

After she continued to insist, I had to go along.

After taking my hand and leading her Dad upstairs, another daughter went over to the cd player and started the music. I stood back, leaning on the wall slightly bobbing to the beat.

“This will take a few minutes, and then I can get back to work,” I thought.

Then something happened.

I was informed that I wasn’t just there to WATCH the show, I was IN the show. So for the better part of an hour I was a dancer (reluctantly at first).

I carried little girls in my arms, catching them while they jumped, twirling them through the air as they giggled. I spun and pirroetted a little bit myself, I must admit.

We laughed and had fun.

These little kids made Dad smile.

And Dad didn’t feel like smiling much.

As I shook my head at how amazing these three little angels are, I thought how much I could have missed. Right before my eyes was this bundle of joy and happiness, and I almost refused it.

How many times do I refuse to lay down my worries, stress, and challenges when God is playing His music? How many times have I neglected to dance when it is my moment to get my groove on?

His music can come from anywhere. All we have to do is slow down and listen.

And remember to dance.

Diara and I are off to Science Camp today. Over the next 5 days I am going to be running around in the wilderness doing experiments as well as chasing the 8 middle-school boys I am assigned to as chaperone.

Pray for Me!

I will try to blog about my adventure if I can find the time and an internet connection.