The Simple Truth

I’m leavin’ on a jet plane tomorrow for a little vacation time in MO (the place of my birth)!  I’m excited about the trip - it will be nice to get away for a few days and see family and friends.  Here are a few things we’ve got planned…

• Time with family.  It’s always good to see the relatives (well, most of them).
• I’ve managed to set up a few breakfasts with friends that I have not seen in 10+ years.  I’m really excited about reconnecting with them.  I’m sure they are looking really old, while I haven’t changed a bit.
• 4th of July BBQ at mom & dad’s house complete with a jam session with my cousins.  We are going to sit around eat and play some tunes on the geeetar!
• We’ll be celebrating Drew’s 10th birthday while we are in MO - it’s all he’s been talking about.
• I’ll be doing the High School camp for Grace Baptist Church and Dardeene Praire Bible Church the week of July 7-11.  This is our tenth year doing the camp.  It’s always a blast.  For the last 6 years (I think) the camp has been at Logan Valley Christian Camp in Ellington MO.  It’s a great camp and the food is out of this world!  One of my favorite things about camp is catching up with old friends and making new ones. Please be in prayer for us during this week.
• After camp we’ll make our way to St. Louis for some time with Kerrie’s family.  Not sure what’s in store for our time there but I know it will be a blast.  Hopefully it will involve at least a few days of sleeping in.

I’ll try and post an occassional update while we’re away.  I’m not sure if I’ll have time to find a place with an internet connection in between all the running around. 

I remember as a young child going to my grandmothers house and seeing a long line of medicine bottles on her window sill.  I would ask my mom, “Why does grandma take so much medicine?”  Her reply was, “sometimes that just happens when you get older.”  Truer words have never been uttered - at least not based upon the week I had.

I turned 40 last January - let me tell you, the wheels have come off sense then.  This week I’m driving on the rims!

Here’s how my week unfolded…

• It started with a trip to the ER because I was having pains in my lower right abdomen - I thought it might be an appendicitis.  They took a urine specimen, which they said had a high amount of blood in it.  After a number of inconclusive test and six hours of lying around the doctor said they thought it was a kidney stone that I past.  He gave me a prescription for a pain killer - which I didn’t fill.
• Monday, I was still having pain and so I went to see my regular doctor.  He thought I might be experiencing diverticulitus and so he put one three different types of drugs.  I’m starting to think the doctors are just guessing!
• Wednesday, my contacts have been bothering me lately and so I went to see the eye doctor.  He told me I had a slight infection in the eye and prescribed some eye drops for me to use.  Another prescription to fill - my pharmacist loves me!
• On Thursday I noticed a familiar red blotch on my neck - oh no, not again.  Sure enough, I went to the doctor yesterday and I have shingles again (2nd time in two months).  You guessed it - another prescription.

My kitchen now has a familiar Grandma Bradford feel to it - medicine bottles lined up in my cabinet.  Hopefully I’ve gotten all my medical issues out of the way for the year.  It’s rough getting old. 

This Sunday we’ll be wrapping up our study in the book of Ruth by looking at “Our Glorious Redeemer“.  God has been working behind the scenes throughout this story of Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi.  In chapter four we see his master plan come together with perfect timing and percision.  It is utterly amazing to see what God does through the life of a young Moabite girl who is faithful to Him. 

What might God do through us if we are faithful in following Him?

Don’t miss the conclusion of the awesome book - I promise it won’t disappoint.

Remember to bring a friend - EACH ONE, REACH ONE.

I started reading in Isaiah this morning during my devotional time.  In chapter one I came across a quick and easy formula for getting victory over sin in your life.  This is nothing earth shattering, but effective nonetheless…

Isaiah 1:16-17

1. Get Clean - make it right with God (and others if need be).  Confess and he will make you clean.
2. Stop the sinful activity - this may be a “duh” point.  Don’t make provision for your flesh.  Don’t put yourself in a position of failure.
3. Replace the sinful activity with a godly activity - this is the principle of “putting off” and “putting on” found in the New Testament.  If you don’t replace the sinful activity with a godly alternative you are bound to fall.

I’m so excited that tonight I’m going to begin spending some weekly one on one time with my son, Drew, as we go through some of the foundational principles of the Christian faith.  My hope is to deal with topics such as grace, love, truth, faith, and holiness, in a kid friendly manner.  Drew became a Christian about 2 years ago and now that he’s matured a little more I feel it’s important for us to spend more time talking about spiritual things.  Of course, he gets the weekly exposure at church, and we try and do weekly devotions at home, but I’m thinking this will be something a little deeper - father to son, man to smaller man.  Hopefully it will open doors in our relationship so that we can discuss the great things of God and grow together in our relationship with God.  I view it in this way - the seed has been planted in his life and now it is my job to nuture that seed and help it to grow.

By the way, if any of you are interested in the lessons that I’ll be using with Drew, let me know and I’ll send them over to you.  I’m happy to share.  The building of the next generation of faithful Christ followers begins in the home.  Are you discipling your kids or are you letting friends, teachers, and television do it?