That's Awesome!

     Last Thursday Denise and I were on our way home from a whirlwind trip to Lubbock.  We called to check in with Cade - our 18-year old son who is about to graduate - who upon hearing the news we shared with him, declared, "That's awesome!"  For a son who is much like his father emotionally, such an outright expression of joy is quite remarkable.

     Let me back the bus up in order to fill in the reason for Cade's outburst.  A couple of years back Cade decided he would like to attend Texas Tech University after high school.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe because I have faithfully cheered for Tech's athletic teams for 40 years, although I am not an alumni.

     At any rate, Cade and best friend Taylor, began to make plans to go to Tech together.  Last fall we went to Lubbock for a University Day.  At that educational bazaar, we looked at major options, scholarship possibilities, loans, grants and living options.  Shortly thereafter we sent in the money to reserve a joint dorm room for the guys.  After that came all the paper work required to apply for grants, scholarships, sending of transcripts, etc.

     Cade is really intelligent and just received a 31 on his ACT - putting him in the 98th percentile nationally.  He scored a perfect 36 on the reading portion.  But, like his father, Cade has not been too interested in applying himself in high school so his class ranking does not reflect his capabilities.  Financially, things began to look questionable as to whether he would be able to attend Tech.  With room, board, books, tuition and living expenses, Tech costs over $19,000/year.  That is half of our adjusted gross annual income.

     Back the bus up further.  Last fall at a woman's seminar, Denise sensed God telling her that He would take care of our needs in terms of Cade's attending Tech.  As financial restrictions came to roost, I began to wonder if Tech was God's answer to Cade's college desires.  I knew He would provide, but I wasn't so sure about Tech.

     Back to "That's Awesome!"  We decided to go to Tech and knock on doors personally and see if any money was available that internet and phone communication couldn't uncover.  Our first stop was with the department chair of the geosciences school.  He was very gracious and told us that perhaps there might be some scholarship money available, but when we checked back in with him yesterday, it was not to be.

     Next up, the Financial Aid Office.  We "happened" to catch the assistant director available to consult with us, who told us Cade would qualify for the Texas Grant program ($6100/year), a Pell grant ($1500/year) and work study ($3000/year).  We already knew we could borrow up to $5500/year in government Stafford loans.  That made for a total of $16,100.  That really is good start, or "Awesome!"  When we arrived home I got on the internet to see if any of this money had been posted to Cade's Tech page.  All of it wasn't yet up, but two other scholarships have been uploaded, for a total of $1750 more.

     Cade will receive a total of $17,850 - out of $19,100 needed - to attend Tech in the fall!

     The lesson?  If I being an evil, earthly father, give good gifts to my child when he asks, how much more will the Heavenly Father provide to those who ask, seek and knock?  Certainly this refers to kingdom life in the Spirit, but Paul goes on to say, He is " ... able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us ...", Ephesians 3:20.

     What have you been asking God for?  Are you willing to go out of your way and ask, seek and knock?  Those are present tense verbs in the Greek text - asking, seeking, knocking.  God is much more generous than we give Him credit for, especially if we ask unselfishly. 

The Blizzard of 2009

Growing up in the Texas Panhandle I experienced periodic spring blizzards.  The first was in 1957, when I was a five year old.  I remember the excitement of climbing most of the way up to the house eve on drifts that must have been 8 to 10 feet high.  Wonderful adventure.

In February of 1971, I was the lead singer for the locally famous rock band, Cold Duck.  We hailed from Amarillo, and were playing a dance in Borger, 45 miles to the northeast.  Actually the gig was in the community hall at Buna Vista, the town of my 1952 birth.  At midnight when we began to load up our instruments we found that blowing snow had begun to fall.  Long story short, 4 or 5 of us and our girlfriends (mine would become my wife by the end of the summer of 1972) ended up staying in a motel room on the traffic circle at the north end of Borger.  All but two of us slipped in through the bathroom window (reminds me of a Beatle's tune).

When we finally arrived back in Amarillo a couple of days later, the on ramps of I-27 still held cars in the grips of drifts.  It was a really memorable blizzard.

My son, Cade, who is 18, had never seen a real blizzard until this past weekend.  Texas blizzards are best after the official start of spring.  In later life he will be able to say he was there to see the blizzard of '09.  Fortunately, unlike some blizzards  I have experienced, the ground temperatures and temperatures in the days following have been warm enough that the only really bad day was last Saturday.

Now for my first attempt to attach some photos to a blog - the blizzard of '09.

A Title Fight - Wrestling with God

“And Jacob was left alone.  And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.”                                     Genesis 32:24

“ … we despaired of life itself.  Indeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death.  But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God Who raises the dead.”        II Corinthians 1:8-9

NO HOLDS BARRED

                When I was a small boy - maybe I should say young boy, since I weighed 10 lb. 12 oz. at birth – Saturday night was one of my favorite routines.  I would take a bath in preparation for Sunday school and church the next morning.  Afterwards my Dad would often help me trim my fingernails and then we would watch “Have Gun Will Travel” and “Gunsmoke”, two of the all-time great western series on TV.

                Then it was bedtime.  But I remember on a very few occasions I stayed up past the local news broadcast and saw the strangest thing, live from the Tri-State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Amarillo, Big-Time Wrestling.  Considering the size of the wrestlers the show may have derived its name from them.

                Unlike most wrestling on TV, wrestling with God is the real deal, potentially more painful and rewarding that anything I saw on the Saturday nights of my childhood.

JACOB at JABBOK

                Jacob is one of those biblical characters that has always resonated with me and is a model for sola gratia, i.e., salvation (only) by grace.  The Bible, which covers his life in some detail (see Genesis 25-35,37:29-36,43:1-14,48-49) provides little evidence of redeeming personal character.  Nevertheless, he was chosen, favored and blessed by God as a direct descendent of Abraham, and joint-heir to his promises from God.

                Another thing about Jacob – perhaps his only redeeming quality – he was brassy in his approach to God.  He wanted the blessing of God, regardless of the cost.  The power of his desire propelled him to scheme with his mother to deceive his father, Isaac, and cheat his brother, Esau. 

At Jabbok, returning to his homeland after decades in self-imposed exile, and fearing the revenge of Esau, a desperate Jacob wrestles with God for His protection and blessing.  This man, who displayed so little grace in life, became the poster boy for grace in a wrestling match on the banks of Jabbok.

BIBLICAL GRAPPLERS

Have you ever wrestled with yourself to do what is good and right?  Have you ever wrestled God for His blessing on your life, the lives of those you love or for someone you don’t even know?

If so you’re in good company.  Abraham, Rebecca (Jacob’s mother), Moses, Hannah (Samuel’s mother), Elijah, David and Jesus all wrestled for God’s blessing, for His direction in life.

Jesus wrestled in Gethsemane until His sweat became bloody.  Jacob wrestled until his hip was dislocated and he limped the rest of his life.  Paul wrestled until he rejoiced in his weakness, described as a “thorn in his flesh.”

                In a sense the Christian life is all about prayer and prayer is often wrestling.  We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood (see Ephesians 6:12), but we often do wrestle because of our flesh, and because the adversary seeks to take advantage of us through our fleshly weaknesses.

GETTING PINNED

                Pursuing holiness – which is nothing more than pursuing a personal likeness to Jesus (see Romans 8:18-29) – is hard, painstaking work, much like wrestling.  And ultimately that wrestling is before God, by His grace putting down everything that is contrary to Him.  As the unholy flesh is pinned, the blessing of God is more and more realized in our lives.

                Jacob put off wrestling with God for years, serving an oppressive father-in-law, Laban, in a foreign land.  But ultimately the promise of God and His grace drew him home and he had to confront his nature, that of a schemer and cheater (see the record of his birth and origin of his name – Gen. 25:19-26).

At Jabbok, Jacob finally got pinned by God and cried “uncle!”

                Similarly, in Asia, afraid of death and tired of living, Paul learned that he had to rely “ … on God Who raises the dead”, (II Corinthians 1:8-9).

CRY ‘UNCLE!’

                Some hold out longer than others, but everyone who lives by grace comes to the end of themselves – of trusting in themselves – and cries out to God in surrender.  It is a surrender that goes on daily, hourly for the duration of life (see Luke 9:23-27).

                It is our weaknesses, our inabilities that qualify us for the grace of God  -weaknesses which we try for so long to make our strength (think self here –  in the form of self-confidence, self-esteem, self-pride, self-preservation, self-loathing and self-pity masquerading as false humility, self-you fill in the blank).

                When we are finally willing to desire the blessing of God more than self, and wrestle with Him for that blessing and cry ‘uncle!’, then we will be blessed, along with Jacob, Elijah, Paul and others like them.

                “And Jacob was left alone.”  To wrestle with God. 

                No tag teams in this arena.         

A Hunger for Recognition

I haven't written for almost three months, partly due to the busyness and excitement of watching our high school football team work its way to the state championship game.  I blogged earlier in "FAASSST" about my son's prowess as a player.

Last Saturday evening we played for the state championship in Lubbock, Texas, home to Texas Tech University.  We were beatean, but not beaten down, by a more athletic, but certainly not better team.  Our boys played as a team, i.e., without a real star, throughout the whole year.  Different individual players had better games, but all the players gave their heart to team effort.

Now to the main point, that of hungering for recognition.  The Regional first and second team offenses and defenses were named Monday.  Eight of our boys made the grade.  Unfortunately, our son was the only one that did not make first team.  He was selected as second team wide receiver. He'll get over it.  Maybe already has.  He knows he will not make a living on Sunday afternoons, nor get a college scholarship for his talent on the field.  But I know, if he doesn't, that we would not have made it to the state championship if not for his work on our team.

He made many touchdowns during the year, and in 3 of 4 playoff games.  But more importantly, he prevented touchdowns by other teams that we defeated.  Touchdowns that would have precluded our going on in the playoffs. It is so hard to be objective about these matters.  A parent's heart takes great pride in a son or daughter and their achievements, whatever they may be.

Enter the gospel.  It is acceptable to God that we give Him ourselves in the capacity He ordains and with the gifts He has granted.  He does not expect us to be someone else, or live up to others' expectations.  That has been a hard lesson for me to nail down.  I think my son - who I am sure was unfairly overlooked for first team honors, both offensively and defensively - is ahead of the learning curve on this one.  I look forward to watching him develop before the Lord.  He is so far advanced of where I was at 18.

So thank You, Lord, for a good son, a gifted athlete and for accepting us both in the Beloved.  We have been recognized at the level that ultimately matters.

FAAAASST!

We had a busy couple of days, Denise and I.  Cade's football team played 200 miles south on Friday, against the Kress Kangaroos.  The place was really hopping, if you know what I mean.

We got home about 1:00 a.m., hopped in bed (and we're not even from Kress), got up at 5:30 a.m., left for OKC at 6:30 to attend Denise's cousin's memorial service and to visit a friend in the heart hospital.  Home around 4:00 p.m.  800 miles in a span of 26 hours.  Really had a good couple of trips and much fun and visiting.  But I really wanted to relate one story.

This is Cade's senior year and he is a good athlete, but I would probably follow to every game even if he played little.  Beginning of the 3rd quarter, Follett is up by a score of 38 to nothing.  In 6-man football, whenever a team goes up by 45 points anytime by or after halftime, a win is declared.  It's called the mercy rule.  We have 45'ed every regular season opponent so far and were 45'ed by the second ranked team in the state at a special tournament before the season started.  In our defense, we had to drive 7 hours and play in the humidity of central Texas.  The opponent had to travel 20 miles and were used to soggy air and heat.

Back to the story at hand.  There we are - the football team that is - up by 38 and the coach sets up for field goal attempt - they are worth 4 points in 6-man football.  At any rate Cade is the holder on all such attempts.  The ball is snapped and we see that it is a fake.  Cade takes the ball, rolls right and lets go of a perfect spiral - right into the waiting hands of a defender - who immediately blocks the pass - right back into the waiting hands of Cade, who reversing field proceeds to avoid several tackles and run for a touchdown. He had to do it all by himself since all his teammates are laughing too hard to block for him. Extra point is kicked - counts for 2 points in 6-man football - game over.  Follett 46 and Kress 0.

Anyway, you can see that Cade is really faaaasst!  Threw himself a touchdown pass.  He had previously caught another pass for a touchdown.  Fun to watch.  Even better, he is a good son.  We'll miss him next year at this time.