Why don't we MOURN more?

"You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalms 139:13-14

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." - Jeremiah 1:5

You may or may not be aware, but today is the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. In some circles it will be praised, and in others it will be scorned.

Today, if I'm really honest, I'm having a hard time. It's hard not to mourn the 50 million boys and girls, created by God, over the last 39 years who were never given a chance. That number is staggering to me, and I just can't shake it this morning.

[Note: Before you get angry/emotional about one side of the argument or the other, I want to say that I'm not judging here. That's not my job...the JUDGE will judge. All sin gets PAID for...it's either paid for by you or it's get's paid for you by faith through the blood of Jesus Christ on your behalf.]

I'm simply mourning a massive and incomprehensible loss...

...and I'm wondering why we all don't mourn more.

Full Circle

I know that in some ways (at least from an eternal perspective) tonight's BCS championship game is extremely trivial. Nevertheless, if you know me, you know that I am a very committed and lifelong fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Like most young boys, you pick up the sports love of your father. I'm no different. Growing up, we rooted for the Tide.

Something really cool is happening tonight...we're coming full circle. I remember 19 years ago, watching my first national championship game in my lifetime of our favorite team with my dad. It was Jan. 1, 1993 and we were at my uncle's house. Tonight, Jan. 9, 2012, I'll sit down once again with my father, watch a national championship game, and root on our favorite team.

Only this time, I'll have a son in the room. Now, he won't know what's really going on, but I can't wait to share special times with him as he gets older rooting together for our favorite team. And I can't wait to tell him about the night that we were all together (his Gramps, his dad, and he) doing something we love to do.


So, tonight, my dad and I, along with Nathan will be tuning in to watch our favorite football team. Three generations of Morris men in one house...and regardless of the outcome or which team wins, this guy "in the middle of two different generations" (an older and an younger) will have WON! I am, indeed, a very blessed man!


What special memories do you have with your parents...what special memories are you making with your children? I still remember 19 years ago...your kids will too one day!

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said...

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

May you have a blessed Christmas celebration and may this thought be in the forefront of your mind as you celebrate.


The Family Resources Blog will be taking a break from now until Jan. 2nd. May God bless the time you spend with your family over the course of the next few days all the while reminding you of his indescribable gift, his Son, Jesus Christ!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Thanksgiving

Hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

May you use this day to not just be thankful FOR things...but may you be thankful to the GIVER of ALL good things!


"Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:16-17)

Friday Media - Darndest Edition

Do you remember the show, "Kids Say the Darndest Things"? It still makes me laugh even after all these years...






So, what's the craziest/zaniest/darndest thing one of your kids has ever said?

My favorite Halloween ever...

I vividly remember my favorite Halloween ever. I was about 11 years old, and it was the first time that my Dad was going to let me and two of my friends go down our neighborhood streets by ourselves. Now, before you try and call my Dad and tell him that it wasn't a good idea, you've got to remember that this was still in those days where you could send kids out to play in the neighborhood by themselves (within certain parameters...which were always made abundantly clear by my Father).

So, back to the story. It's my favorite Halloween because my buddies and I had a great plan to maximize our candy intake. We talked for a week about the best way to map it out and what to do. All three of us arranged for two costumes (one of which would hide our faces). As soon as we could, that day, we put on our first costumes and RAN from house to house. After we had hit every house in our "allowed" area, we went behind my friends house (where we had stashed the extra costumes/masks) and changed. We emptied our buckets into plastic bags and went out to every house again. We even went as far as to "change" our voices so that any of the neighbors who might know us wouldn't recognize us.

Needless to say, I had so much candy, I was still eating it by the time Spring Break rolled around. Ah, those are the memories.


I tell that story for two reasons. The first, is that I've felt guilty for years for duping my neighbors into giving me double the amount of candy. I don't know if any of them caught on, but if they did, I guess they just applauded our ingenuity and never said anything.

The second reason is that I tell that story is because Halloween is one of those times where memories can be made for a kid. Everyone loves dressing up in something they're not, and every kid likes candy! Remember as you go out and about this weekend that memories are being made. Spend time with your kids, tell them about your favorite Halloween, let them draw a map of the neighborhood and follow their plan. There are all kinds of ways to make it an awesome night for your family!

Happy Trick or Treating!


P.S. - if you're one of those families that doesn't like Halloween and chooses not to celebrate it, I am already fully aware of the reasons you make that choice. All I can say is...is it really that bad to meet your neighbors and get free candy? There's a way to "redeem" everything... even things that can be used for evil...and use them for "God-type" purposes. That's exactly what the following article discusses - Halloween on Mission

Friday Media

Laughter is good medicine...and parenting includes a lot of laughter!

Take a few minutes and enjoy!

New School Year

This day is always a "guilty-pleasure-type-of-day" for me. For months, I've had to live through the constant facebook statuses and other reminders that there is a whole group/population of people who are out of school/work for three months. I'll be honest, for three whole months, I'm kind of jealous of their statuses about "going to the pool" or "got to sleep in today." You get the point. While the rest of the working world continues to plod along, they seem to be in the blissful "summer" state.

Well, today, all of that changed. That's right...It's back to school day! There's almost a sense in which I'm kind of secretly thankful that they won't be able to rub their "summer fun" in my face anymore.

I know what you're thinking...that's a little petty, Robert. I'm not denying it...welcome to my wicked, sinful heart. :)

Confession time...ever been jealous of students or teachers during the summer? Ever secretly been happy that they have to go back to school? Or is this just me?

Right On Time

Yesterday, I had one of those moments where I really enjoy being a pastor to the next generation. Here's the scenario. One of our families at church has three sons, and they have been inviting me to their community pool for weeks and weeks and weeks. I told them at the beginning of the summer, that I was going to come at some point during the summer months. Well, up until that point with camp and VBS preparations, I hadn't made it to the pool yet (or at least in the time frame they wanted). As you can imagine, there little brains had a hard time fathoming why I hadn't done it "YET"! I know this, because Sunday after Sunday, they would ask me, "when are you coming to the pool"? And each Sunday, I would respond..."I promised to come this summer, and before the summer is over, I'll be there. It could happen any day. One of these days you're going to be swimming at the pool, and I'm just going to show up...so you better be ready to be dunked and such."

Well, yesterday was the day that I showed up out of the blue...

As I got to thinking about it, it sounds really familiar. It sounds a lot like what Jesus promised when he said he would come back for those who have trusted in Him. And yet, month after month passes...year after year passes...and He hasn't shown up yet. The Bible talks about how no one knows the day or the hour that He will, but He has promised to.

I saw myself for a brief moment in those boys...aching/desiring for our "long awaited" guest to show up on the scene like he had promised. I have been promising them all summer and warning them that I would show up at a moment's notice...and our LORD and Savior has done the same thing. I wondered to myself if the boys ever thought...you know, I don't think Pastor Robert is going to come to the pool this summer...and I also wonder what the joy was like for them when they realized that I had finally shown up!

• "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoptions as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:23-25
• "Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God who has called you into his fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is FAITHFUL." 1 Corinthians 1:7-9
• "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Titus 2:11-13
• "...for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:2

What would you do if you knew He was coming today? What would be different? We are told time and time again in the Scriptures to be READY at all times for that day. Are you READY?

It's HERE...

It's VBS week here at Firewheel Church. It's always one of the most exciting and rewarding weeks of the year for those who love investing in the next generation.

Here are a couple of ways you can pray for the week:

• Energy and stamina of the adult/student volunteers.
• That Firewheel kids will use this as an opportunity to invite their friends.
• That ears and hearts would be open to the gospel this week.
• The safety of everyone participating.
• That God would be glorified through the body of Christ working together to accomplish something great.
  

Thanks a bunch...hope you have as exciting a week as I'm going to have!

ANGER

I get the privilege/honor/responsibility of bringing the message to the church body this coming Sunday (July 10).

We will be continuing the "Wisdom from the Road" series from the book of Proverbs. In God's providence, I was assigned the topic of "anger" almost 2 months ago. If you know me at all, you'll know that this one hits a little close to home. I am well-acquainted with my shortcomings in this particular area of my life.

Because of that, and because I've pleaded with the Lord to give me insight, I believe that this will be a message on anger unlike many you've ever heard before. I'm really excited about what the Lord has placed on my heart, and I really hope you'll plan to be there.


Here's the description from the bulletin...

"One of the consistent themes (well over 20 verses) throughout the book of Proverbs is about not being and/or associating with "angry" or "hot-tempered" people. But isn't that ALL of us? Aren't all of us, and some more than others, prone to anger? Simply telling ourselves or others to "stop being angry" doesn't really work...there's something deeper going on in our hearts. What's really at the core of our anger, and why does it matter so much?"


Hope to see you on Sunday! I'm really looking forward to it.

"Independence Day"

My father served in the military for 27 years, and so I have a fond appreciation and deep respect for those who serve and protect us. On days like this, I'm reminded of the sacrifices that have been made so that we can enjoy freedoms.

But, as I was thinking about this day coming up, I couldn't help but think of the GREATEST sacrifice that was made to grant us true, real, eternal FREEDOM.

• "...and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you FREE." John 8:32
• "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been FREED from sin." Romans 6:6-7
• "...Jesus Christ...who loves us and has FREED us from our sins by His blood..." Revelation 1:5

So, celebrate the birthday of our country and remember the sacrifice made by those who bought it for us. But also remember what real Independence and Freedom is about.

Switching Gears

Well, summer camp is officially over now, and I'm doing that thing I do every summer...attempt to switch gears very quickly into VBS mode. Needless to say, my head is just now starting to get on straight, but there's not much to say. I hope you're all doing well.

Here's a little fun for you on Monday. One of our adults rocked the boy's pool with an awesome belly flop at summer camp last week.

Check it OUT!

Summer Camp

All this week, I am at Summer Camp with a group of 50 or so folks. As you can imagine, there is no time to write. I will return next week (hopefully in one piece) and kick the blog back up.

In the meantime, would you do two things. One, keep our group in your prayers this week. Also, check out some of these past blog posts (in case you're new around here and missed them).

Your Marriage is a Sermon
Some Kids are "Egotistical Jerks"
One Day You're a Hero, and the Next....
Birds and the Bees
Friday Fun (With a Point): Cosby Style
The "Obligatory" American Idol Post
"Extreme Parenting"

Open-ended question of the day....

How would you answer this question....


"The greatest spiritual danger to my kids is _________________ ?"


I thought for a while about whether or not I would give you what I think are some of the greatest spiritual dangers, but I really do want to get your uncontaminated thoughts. What do you think?

Thought of the Day

My Thought for Today:

All sin gets paid for (yours and Bin Laden's)...you either pay for it yourself (Rom. 6:23) or it's been paid for on your behalf through faith in Jesus Christ. All by eggs are, by grace, in that basket. All this talk of JUSTICE...has made me more and more thankful for His GRACE!

In all the talk of Bin Laden today, there may be an opportunity to talk to your kids about the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Are you stealing?

I read an interesting blog post the other day, and I just wanted to share it with you. The author asks parents to think critically about whether or not we are "stealing from our kids." Now, the title is purposefully hyperbolic, but the question he's asking you to ask yourself is a worthy of your consideration.

Stealing Life from Your Kids

Are you giving "life" to your kids or are you stealing "life" from them? Interesting thought for this weekend.

Day of 10,000 Eggs...Be There!

Tomorrow is Firewheel Church's annual "Day of 10,000 Eggs." You and your kids are not going to want to miss the chance to snatch up some of the loot.

Things get going at 9:00am with bounce houses and other fun. Age specific egg hunts begin at 10:00am.

See you tomorrow!

Throwback Thursday #10

For some who haven't been around here that long, this website is a few years old, and there are wonderful things that I'd like to put in front some of our "newbies" and remind some of the rest of you about. So, we're revisiting some early posts each week on Thursdays!

Original post below:

Enough to be scared...

"My definition of an expert in any field is a person who knows enough about what's really going on to be scared." - PJ Plauger

When I first read this quote, it completely stopped me in my tracks. I've found this to be true in life. When I hear someone talking about how they've got something completely figured out, they've mastered something, or how easy something is...I'm usually very cautious towards that person.

So as I was reflecting on this thought, I remembered a story about Socrates my first college history professor told when he opened up his first class of the semester. Apparently, one day, Socrates stood up in the middle of the assembly in Athens and said these famous words:

"I am the wisest man in Athens...because I know nothing...yet I know that I know nothing."

In my own life, I've seen this play out more times than I care to admit. The more I know, the more I realize that I don't really know. For many of you, that may be how you feel about parenting. The more you find out about this thing, the more you realize you don't know much at all. The more years you spend doing it, the more times you realize you might not be that great at it. That can be very humbling to think about, but there's good news. Our God has promised to give "grace to the humble" (James 4:6).

Some of the wisest and smartest people on earth are often some of the humblest. There's a way to approach life with humility, and my prayer is that you would approach parenting with that same humility. An approach that begins with the realization that no matter where you are in life, there is still so much to learn.

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)

"A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor." (Proverbs 29:23)

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)

"Following" Jesus!

Saw this from a friend the other day, and thought it was worth a post. What an interesting way to take the story of Jesus and place it in a modern context. If you have older kids that are already in the social media world and understand the lingo, this is a pretty cool little video!

Enjoy!