Joel Stiff's Adventure

I’ve heard this little sing songy poem on many occasions throughout the years:

Sometimes I’m happy. Sometimes I’m blue. My disposition depends on you

We have all known people who are up one minute and down the next. Dealing with them can be exhausting and frustrating.

A temptation is to unwittingly imitate their behavior by judging them each time we are around them.

For example, if we have a pleasurable experience with someone, we cannot but help to sing their praises.

If however we have a bad experience with someone, we are ready to slander their name to everyone we meet.

If someone is kind to us or compliments us, we like them. If they are critical of us, we crucify them.

Simply put, we put people on trial every time we are around them.

This isn’t kind, fair or the behavior of a friend.

We all have good days and bad. Good moments and bad.

A true friend does not re-determine the relationship after each interaction.

Good time friends are around when times are good, fun and exciting.

As long as things are good, healthy and promising they will be around.

The trouble is that times cannot possibly be good, healthy and promising constantly.

There are plenty of times in life that are just blah or even troublesome.

When those times come, good time friends usually move on. They are off to find someone else to entertain or satisfy their selfish, consumer mentality appetites.

True friends, however, are always with you. They are there to celebrate victories, but also there to pick you back up once you have been knocked down. Mickey Goldmill was a true friend to Rocky Balboa.

Just as there are good time friends, there are good time husbands, good time wives, good time parents, good time church members, good time employees, good time customers.

If you can entertain them and continuously give them what they want, they will stick around. If not, sayonara.

Remember, after Jesus fed the 5,000, they showed back up in the morning wondering when breakfast would be served.

True is better than good time.

I was thinking about Shannon today. Of all available men, she chose to spend every day of her life with me.

She loves me, puts up with me, supports me, defends me, submits to me, follows me and has the same heart for the Lord that I do.

She has wrapped her entire life and being up in mine.

Some would say she has sacrificed everything to do so. I would tend to agree.

Jesus did say that whoever would lose his life for His sake would find it.

She must have some reward coming.

Babe, I love you forever.

So, I saw on the news the other day that it snowed pretty heavily in Calgary.

We are far from snow flying, but fall is in the air, so we think about it.

I got to thinking how tough it is to walk in deep snow. Now, I realize that the term “deep” is relative depending on where you live. For the purposes of our discussion, I will go with my experience – upper thigh deep. Not quite to my waist, but certainly extremely difficult to move through.

Walking in thigh deep snow is tough. Even a soft powder snow requires great effort to move your legs through. Occasionally, if we have had a bit of a thaw, the surface will harden enough to step on only to break through. Now, the jagged edges of the footprint bite into your leg nicely.

What is much more pleasant is when the snow has been cleared from a surface and we are able to walk across it with ease. The snow is no trouble at all and progress is made quite splendidly.

This is what my wife and I are trying to do for our children.

We have spent many years struggling with concepts of life and stages of maturity. God has given us knowledge and wisdom through these stags of growth. As we have progressed, there was a lot of thigh deep snow.

If we can get our kids to listen (and thankfully they seem to be), they will be able to enjoy a cleared path to walk instead of struggling against the deep stuff.

Are you clearing a path for anyone?

After 207 consecutive days posting, I absolutely forgot yesterday. I remembered a couple of times, but my day kept moving and before I knew it, I was in dreamland.

So I have three choices:

1. Quit altogether. I failed and so I will give up.

2. Decide that posting every day is unreasonable and go to a more manageable schedule. Maybe write once a week or biweekly.

3. Quit crying about one measly mistake and get back to what I am supposed to be doing, writing every day.

These are usually the three options any time we blow it.

I think I’ll go with number three.

Friday night is pizza night at our place.
As I think back on my childhood, the memories I remember most vividly are the ones that were part of family traditions.
The key to that, I believe, is the repetition. Repetition is the key to learning and remembering as it turns out.
What happens most often in our homes? Is it anger, arguments, belittling and bullying? Or is it love, joy, peace and patience.
Whatever we do most often is what will be remembered.

I realize that, today, I don’t have any problems.

Everything that is most precious and dear to me is still in my life.

I lack nothing.

I’m incredibly sorry for those to whom today is an anniversary of a great loss.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were being told that they would bow to the image of Nebuchadnezzar or die.

Their response:

Daniel 3:17: If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

Daniel 3:18: But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Key words, “we will not”. Regardless of the outcome, they would not bow to the idol.

Resolve to do right must be present in our character.

Every failure we experience is a failure in resolve.

Ambition must be balanced with realism.

Shaq would make a horrible ballerina.

I used to plan things for Shannon and I and wouldn’t give her the details because I wanted it to be a surprise.

Then it dawned on me one day that I was far more excited about what we would be doing than she was.

The anticipation of the event brought more joy than just the idea of a coming surprise.

I now tell her of the amazing things we are going to do together and we look forward to them with great anticipation.

It’s almost as good as the thing itself.