In 2018 I was able to enjoy several children’s dedication services. One was my grandson. That was special.
Also in 2018, one of the books I read was Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. I enjoyed his story, the key political roles he played in various ways with my home nation, the United States of America, and his many inventions, many of which we still use today.
One of the first testimonials he wrote in the book was this, “And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind providence… My belief of this induces me to hope, though I must not presume, that the same goodness will still be exercised toward me, in continuing that happiness… [and] my future fortune being known to Him only in whose power it is to bless…”
While his older brothers were placed into apprenticeships (differing trades) by his father, Benjamin was placed into grammar school. The reason? Benjamin wrote that his father intended to, “…devote me, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the Church.” His father believed that he needed as much education as he could receive for that service.
Benjamin’s faith followed him in all he set out to accomplish. Perhaps it was his father’s dedicating him to the service of the Lord that helped to hold him to that relationship. With the many trials and tribulations, losses and shattered dreams he encountered, late in the book he wrote, “I at present think that whoever attempts this aright, and is well qualified, can not fail of pleasing God, and of meeting with success.”
He then provides some thought to what he called, “…the substance of an intended creed.” And perhaps these are his overwhelming convictions of life in his day.
That there is one God, who made all things.
That He governs the world by His providence.
That He ought to be worshipped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving.
But that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man.
That the soul is immortal.
And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter.
A life dedicated. A son tithed. Who knows where God may lead our children or where a young life, that we have the opportunity to touch, will go?
I was speaking with a friend recently about a specific governmental department that I obviously did not have a good word for. Later in a text message, I apologized for my negative expressions. And here’s the reason for my apology: Holy Spirit.
Three wise men traveled quite a distance to see the Christ child. There is a bit of debate about the distance they traveled, as well as the time it took to travel those miles. Some Bible scholars say He was a toddler and some say He was still an infant when they arrived in Bethlehem.
Before we said, “I do” we diligently worked at not having or experiencing differences with one another, at least not out loud. We wanted to be argument free and not allow anything to inhibit our communication. But not long after saying “I do,” for many of us that changed. We trusted our marriage vows to hold us together while experiencing differences, even when they became heated. What changed?
“People die from this infection; this is serious; do not take it lightly,” said the ER doctor to us before discharge. My wife of 43 years was sick and in pain – bent over pain. Showing up at the ER just after midnight on a Saturday (Sunday morning really) is a busy, if not overwhelming place to be. I was so concerned for the woman in my arms who could barely stand up from the excruciating pain she was experiencing in her abdomen.
Meanwhile I began observing the many people around us, none smiling, all needing immediate attention. I found myself not only praying for my wife, but those in the ER rooms we passed. Sitting with Mary and holding her hand, I heard screams repeatedly. Then I heard a police officer reading someone his Miranda rights. After that a police officer telling someone they were under arrest for DUI and refusing a blood test.
There it was, 15 feet up, stuck on a tree limb. My grandson’s favorite stuffed animal hanging and lodged by a single leg now out of his hands and his control. In his five-year-old mind it seemed permanent, so he cried and cried. He imagined it gone from his life forever and thus the emotion. We held him to console him and then said, “There’s no need to cry. Let’s work on a solution to the problem.” When asking him what we could do about the problem he shrugged his shoulders and whimpered, “I don’t know.” We asked him if crying could be part of the solution and he managed to shake his head no.
My wife and I have been practicing debt-free living for years now.* I say practicing because it takes discipline to reach and discipline to maintain. So here are eight encouragements or benefits that we have discovered when it comes to debt-free living.
This is the week that America sets aside as a time of giving thanks. Why is that? Two past presidents of the United States made very specific declarations.
How much energy do you spend thinking about or trying to correct dead relationships? Perhaps you have a failed relationship from the past, a really bad break-up or even a divorce. In so many of these cases there is simply not a way to relieve the guilt or the false guilt one may feel. We can find ourselves playing mental gymnastics in order to somehow convince ourselves it will possibly one day work out.
Begin by praying about how you can better care for your friend. Put energy and thought into how to better love the person you are married to. Try daydreaming and fantasizing about your wife or your husband. To allow past, dead relationships your precious time just might be robbing, stealing in fact, from your present friendship or marriage relationship. And that might be considered cheating.
What is your marriage story? How did you meet and how did you know when you fell in love? What were the things that brought you together? As you identify your marriage story and what brought you together, you can also identify the things that will keep you together.
