The ants go marching one by one hooray! hooray! The marching of the little people is what makes this world work.  You see there are presidents, kings, superstar athletes, CEOs of major corporations, and then there is me.  There are men of great strength, Hollywood celebrities, super models, great authors, and there is me.

So where do you fit into this world? Are you a superstar or a worker bee?  Do you run a major corporation or are you just part of life's ant farm?   Truth is I like it here on the farm.  Just another face in the sea of faces.. and you know what they say.. all ants look alike. 

I have not polled any ants or bees, but I think the message they have is being about the business that needs to be done, and not being jealous of the queen bees or the bossy foreman of your ant farm staff.

Simply Amazing.. or a True Miracle?
Though the amount of food I consume on Thanksgiving is impressive it cannot be not classified as a miracle.  But after the meal, after watching football and fitting in a Thanksgiving Day tryptophan induced nap, I return to the kitchen to find LEFTOVERS!  So many leftovers! How can there be so much food in my kitchen considering all my family consumed just a few hours before?  So many leftovers that I ponder could Jesus have fed the 5,000 with one turkey and a few side dishes instead of the bread and fish menu recorded in the gospels?

While I lamented recently that life is BROKEN in so many ways.. this does not discount what can so eloquently be described as the GOOD STUFF.  Below is a snippet of a GOOD STUFF week in the life of Jeff.
Sunday Each week we attend Grace Church of Roseville.  We love this church and it's declaration of no perfect people allowed!  Worship, preaching, and friendly real people that honor God.  GOOD CHURCH
Monday Each week I have lunch with my very good friend Bryan Anderson to discuss sports, politics, and what we did to get in trouble with our wives.  It is an hour very well spent over a Davanni's Hoagie.  GOOD FRIEND
Tuesday is Taco Tuesday!.. Ok, I could not think of any GOOD STUFF off hand for Tuesday, but I am sure there is something.  Maybe I will get offered a job next Tuesday?  I will keep y'all posted. Be praying for a GOOD JOB
Wednesday I attend the men's bible study, and my wife attends the woman's bible study at Grace Church of Roseville. We both love our studies, but I love mine more because they have lots of snacks, and we don't have homework.  In contrast the woman's bible study has homework and no snacks.  IT'S GOOD TO BE A GUY!
Thursday This week ill be a Thanksgiving celebrated with the family I love and appreciate.  Good times of laughter and joy with some of the best people in life.  Oh, and we also will be celebrating my mom's 87th birthday. GOOD FAMILY, GREAT MOM
Friday last week my wife and I babysat a couple of the grandkids.  We built lego towers, raced hotwheels, played dolly, baked cookies, french toast for dinner by request of our grandson, and watched a movie. An evening filled with truly GOOD STUFF
Saturday mornings are times reserved for good coffee and good conversations with my wife as we discuss the week.  We call these morning 'solving the world's problems', and.. we do. :) GOOD STUFF.

  Broken, this simple two syllable word in many ways sums up life.
On a personal level, my car has 171,000 miles on it, the 58 year old discs in my back ache, my dog got sick, and I am recently unemployed.  
​On a much larger stage the news is filled with cowardly terrorist attacks, racial tensions that have reached critical mass, and truth in politics is at an oxymoronic high.

Being a manly man like I am :) .. I think of myself as a Norwegian William Wallace (aka BraveHeart), or the Minnesotan Gladiator Larsonus Maxamus.. doncha-know… BUT my gut check tells me I am more of a WARRIOR WORRIER going by the title 'Sir Gasps-alot'.

As a believer I am called to put on the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-18 ready for any and all confrontations, BUT a quick assessment of my armor but I find I should accessorize with more than a donut and coffee from the church fellowship center.

I like the old saying ‘That fella is so Heavenly minded, they are no Earthly good.’ This describes a person is so in to church and ‘churchy’ things that they don’t add much value or function outside of church walls. 

Over the years I have smirked at a person or twenty that fits that description, BUT I have come to believe the bigger problem today is that too many people are too EARTHLY minded to be much HEAVENLY GOOD. 

It's just too easy to be caught up in this pace and 'stuff' of life (good and bad) to where God is put on the back burner.  Instead of starting my day quiet before God, reading my Bible, and prayerful I often clutter my life with the very real demands of work, family, rush hour traffic, and.. maybe what is on the TV and become simply more EARTHLY MINDED than HEAVENLY GOOD.

The real irony is.. When I drift from God is NOT when I am too busy or stressed but instead when life is going well. No immediate worries or concerns so I relax my dependence, praise and appreciation of God to again become so earthly minded.

I remember when I was younger and read the story of Jesus calling to Peter to walk on water,  but as Peter noticed the VERY REAL waves about him and as the illogic of walking on water began to sink in.. so did Peter. 

When I was younger I thought “Oh Pete of little faith, I would have done cartwheels on the sea with my perfect faith of Jesus intact”.  But now after wading around in the seas of my life I see the waves in my life are just as real as those literal waves  Peter faced 2000 years or so ago.  At best I look like Gilligan hollering for SKIPPER!.. but of course this analogy falls flat as I am not comparing the Skipper with God... and I am not as skinny as Gilligan... BUT I DIGRESS!

So with this self-assessment of my faith realized, I must choose to get out of the boat and trust God.  I may sink at times (doing that alot lately) like Peter but the same Jesus who calmed the seas, healed the sick, fed the multitudes, walked on water, and rose from the grave is my answer to life’s figurative (but VERY REAL) waves of health, finance, family, or fear.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart soul and mind and lean not unto your own understanding .. in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.  Proverbs 3:5-6  EASY WORDS to say.. DIFFICULT WORDS to comprehend just like walking on water MAKES NO SENSE.. but I choose to believe both to be true.

May God bless each of you this day in your journey.  May we all learn to trust God when life is great, when life is difficult, or when all seems lost.  Trust in the Lord as your providence, and your source for answers, blessings, and perspective that is beyond the limits of any circumstance.. so even when the waves swell and the storms rage.. we can give the triumphant shout.. SURFS UP!

Jeff

I share often that I don’t fit nicely into any denominational box.  I am not defiant about authority and/or structure in fact I believe in it, but I am honestly a denominational MUTT.  A mix a beliefs and theologies that are sincere.  These views do not make me necessarily right, but like they say ‘opinions are like noses.. everyone has one’. 

Just a few years ago I was attending a little Pentecostal church, and I recall one specific church service where the sermon particularly spoke to me. One of the major points was that we when we pass another church when driving down the road. Thank God for that church and say a prayer for them.  Church is not a competition, and while we all have different flavors of theology from our background and faith walk we are all the same body.  One body, many parts, one body, many man made theology-theories, one body, many denominations.. but in the end ONE BODY. 

The other big point form this service was on the gift of healing.  The pastor was asking for those in the congregation who were in need of God's healing hand. While I don't believe God heals everyone that asks, I do believe I put a lid on what is possible.  Our bodies are broken down existing in a world of sin and we will all succumb to sickness, injury, and eventually death.  THIS BEING SAID.. it would be selling God short to believe He does not still heal men and women in big and small ways.​

​How does your resume look?  Are you qualified?  Can God really use you if you are just a NOBODY with nothing to offer.  With possibly the self-esteem of DIRT in a RUT, too poor, too dumb, and too insecure.. how/why would God use you?

Frankly, I know I AM NOBODY.  I am a former computer programmer, who recently sold my sports management business of 8 years.  I am currently unemployed, 58 years old and don't like it one bit.