One More For JC

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31) On this 4 th of July holiday, I’m praying for our nation.  I’m also praying for myself - for wisdom not only to serve the Lord in love and truth, but also to serve others with a spirit of love and understanding.  The word of God implores me to ‘ stand firm in the faith, to be courageous, and to be strong’, but yet that same word also encourages me to ‘love my neighbor as myself’.  It’s a delicate balance that quite honestly I’m struggling with more and more of late, but I know with the Lord’s wisdom, it’s a fine line that can be navigated successfully in His truth and in His love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) He could have stayed in heaven, but He chose to humble himself to become a man. He could have come to be served, but He chose to serve. He could have used his power on himself, but He chose to reserve that for others. He could have saved himself, but He chose to lay His life down on a cross as a ransom for all. In this Christmas season, I pray that we all take time out to reflect on these difficult choices of Christ…and when each of us comes to that ultimate fork in the road, we likewise choose Him.

You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life. (Lamentations 3:58) It’s 2014, so that means all year I’ll “celebrate” the 10-year anniversary of the year that was dedicated to the infamous project detailed in “ Just Ask Me ”.  In January of 2004, I was told I was being put on a new Budgeting/Planning project headlined by a new product that was still very much in its infancy.  I spent the rest of the month Googling “Income Statement”, “Balance Sheet”, and “Cash Flow Statement” and getting nowhere.  I spent a day in February in a room with a CFO, controller, and seasoned accountants – all speaking a language completely foreign to me and yet I was supposed to be the product “expert”.  I spent the rest of February struggling to find another consultant who could come along-side me to help light the way, but no one could be found.  I was on a road to nowhere, over my head big time, and trust me, I knew it.  As I spiraled downward, on the other side of ...

You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. (Job 11:18) A year ago today an EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma killing 24 people.  Although most of the images from that day were heart-breaking, one image told a different story – the picture of Jim Routon and Hezekiah Darbon embracing each other is one I will never forget. It was a picture that told a story of hope in times of despair, peace in times of trial, and love triumphing over all.  I think it also paints a great picture of the Lord – ever-seeking to sift through the rubble of our lives, to lift each of us who seek Him from the ashes of despair to the incomparable safety of His loving arms.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:3-4) Dee and I celebrated our 13 th wedding anniversary earlier this week.  It was a good day to reflect on our time together – even all the way back to the very first day of the journey.  We had just finished up a long training day at my place of employment, and I was about to put in motion a brilliant strategy I concocted to ask Dee out to dinner that evening.  Just as the room had cleared and I had finally worked up the courage, one of my colleagues decided to return to the training room for what looked like a painfully extended visit.  Defeated, I began walking out of the room to return to my desk, when for no apparent good reason my colleague picked up and left.  With one hand on the doorway, I turned back around, asked Dee out to dinner, and the rest is blessed history. I never d...

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20) A few nights ago, Dee and I were doing some cleaning and we came across a sealed envelop with just the single name “Frankie” on the outside.  Only a handful of people call me Frankie, so I knew it was likely something from either my parents or sister.  As I opened it up, I found a few pictures from a Christmas about 8 years back.  I started flipping through them and saw one of me smiling from ear to ear as I held up a new Mets sweatshirt.  I flipped to another one and saw me smiling from ear to ear with my new scarlet Rutgers tie.  I thought it was just going to be a collection of me celebrating my misery with all of my beloved losing teams, but soon it would come to mean so much more than that.  Towards the end of the pile, I came to two pictures of me opening gifts with my Dad and I sitting side-by-side.  I thought for sure I’d start to cry, but I didn’t.  Comi...

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40) Every year around December 20 th , Dee and I have an annual Christmas get-together with a few of our closest neighbors.  This year as the month was flying by, we thought about maybe foregoing the annual tradition.  However, at about 12 PM yesterday we decided to go for it, and quickly made a few calls in hopes of getting us all together for dinner at 6:30.  We had one couple confirm, one politely decline, and another that confirmed after receiving our message about 3 minutes before the party was set to begin.  About one hour later around our dinner table, I had to do everything I could to keep from bawl...