One More For JC

  “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person if powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)   Last September, Dee and I made an extremely difficult decision to switch churches. The toughest part was leaving behind our “small group” made up of people that have become like family.  For decades, biweekly between the months of September and May, we’d get together to worship and pray with and for one another.  The prayers offered up there I firmly believe changed the trajectory of many lives for the better.     Back in 2015, an older gentleman, Mike, joined our group and we hit it off right from the start.  Mike was a prayer warrior – if I knew Mike was praying for us, I just had a deeper peace that whatever the situation was, it was going to work out for the best.  Mike also had the best memory I’ve ever been around – he even came to know my schedule...

  “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.     Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8)   Two Saturdays ago, I had one of those non-stop days.  I got up early and had hours of intense office work to do.  After that, I took a break from that to help Dee get the Christmas decorations up.  After that, I switched to get some urgent outdoor items done before the Minnesota frozen tundra took over for the winter.  I capped the day by switching back to the intense office work for a couple hours.   At about 9 pm I was ready to collapse in a heap when Dee said, “we have to get the Christmas shoeboxes put together so we can take them to church tomorrow”.  After thinking about it for a minute, I reluctantly agreed.   Thankfully, Dee had taken the lead on buying everything for 4 boxes (...

“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 18:22)   July 1st marks Dee and my 25 th  wedding anniversary.  How could time have gone so quickly?  It seems like just yesterday Dee was walking down the aisle, and here we are looking back at so many years gone by.     Those years have been filled with not only many mountain-top moments, but also times of hardship and sorrow.  Thankfully, those difficult times have helped bring us only closer.  As time has gone by, we’ve navigated toward doing almost everything together – we’ve found through times of separation, we simply work better together as a team.     The success of that team is not a mystery to us – on day one we put Jesus at the center of our marriage and there He shall always remain.  Oh, the many times He’s been there to right and steady our ship as its sailed thru stormy seas.    I’d be remi...

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon.    When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the  Lord ! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.   But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the  Lord ! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.  (1 Samuel 5:1-4)   2025 has been a challenging year right from the start – with a variety of issues and battles thrown our way, one after the other.  From a work perspective, it hasn’t been much better – I’ve been assisting with a project that by the time it’s over will likely be the second worst I’ve ever been on (only to be eclipsed by the project detailed in 2004 in "...

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)   25 years ago, I flew in from New Jersey for an important weekend in Minnesota. Dee and I had 3 house showings lined up with our realtor in the hopes of buying our first home together.  The first one we looked at had a great exterior, but we weren’t fond of the inside.  The second one we desired even less, putting all the pressure on the 3 rd  and final one we were going to look at.     I can’t recall how many prayers I said, but I’m sure they were plentiful.  If that 3 rd  showing didn’t work out, I’d have to schedule future trips to Minnesota and go through the pro...

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,   fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.   (Hebrews 12:1-2)   For over a decade, I’ve been proactively going to a dermatologist for an annual full body scan for skin cancer (the trials of being raised with an in-ground pool).  For years, the check-ups were uneventful, and I would merrily go on my way until the next year.  But a few years ago, things started to change as spots were identified of concern.  The first few identified were also uneventful – spots that the doctor removed on the spot, and they ultimately checked out fine.    Unfortunately, last year and this year, spots were identified that required a call back for a deeper excision (both of which thankfully worked out OK).  Th...