What Makes You Scream?

There are those special moments in life that we all get to experience that are truly, as the commercial says, priceless. As a parent or grandparent those moments come while watching your child or grandchild grow up. Last week we were able to have one of those special days that I will never forget.

Several months ago, Tami (Mimi) found out the circus was coming to town and was able to secure tickets for all of us to go. The day before, we began asking Brynley if she wanted to go to the circus, and the fun part of asking questions of a 20-month-old little girl is you never know what the answer is going to be. If she is in a good mood and it sounds exciting, the answer is yes. If she is a little tired or it doesn’t sound exciting, the answer is no. Well, it must have sounded exciting because she answered us with a yes. We began talking about seeing the elephants, tigers, and clowns. It all sounded good to her. Saturday afternoon we headed out to the circus and made our way to our seats.

Once inside the arena we had some of the best seats available to watch a circus. Brynley was excited even though I don’t think she really knew what was about to happen. She had her face planted on the glass in front of us watching events below unfold. Then it happened—towards the end of the opening the elephants made their way into the arena, and it took a few moments for Brynley to see them, but when she did she let out a scream of excitement. Her full attention was drawn to them as she pressed her nose to the glass. At that moment the heart of a grandfather melted because he understood that the most precious moments in life involve bringing joy to those God brings into your life. During the next two hours we heard five of those screams and every time it brought a big smile to all of our faces.

I hope that I never forget the lesson that Brynley reminded me of that afternoon. Every day I live, surrounded by an amazing family and a great church that I’m allowed to lead, I need to do whatever I can to help bring that “scream of joy” into their lives. A simple act of kindness, like going to a circus for Brynley, can bring great joy to somebody else. You don’t have to have a lot to show kindness but can simply find something that will fill a need in someone else’s life and fill that need. I’ve been blessed throughout my life to have so many people who have given me those “screams of joy” moments, and I want to honor God by doing the same.

Don't Stress Out

So many people go through life unhappy. Every day the news runs stories of those who give up on life because they are depressed and feel like there is no hope. Or I hear the stories of those who can’t find joy because of events that have occurred in their lives, and even though they couldn’t change what happened, they live with guilt and depression, thinking “if only….” 

I’m reminded of Romans 15:13 where it says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This verse teaches us that we need to learn to trust God. I can’t control everything that happens in my life, but I can control whether or not I trust God. Last Sunday we looked at one of the biggest effects on us if we don’t trust God—stress. I do not believe you are meant to live a life bogged down by stress, but instead we are meant to enjoy the joy and peace that comes from God. So, how do I experience God’s joy and peace?

Here are five things we can do in life to experience God’s peace, and if you will put these truths into practice you will be on the path to experiencing God’s promises for you. Each of these points is taken out of Philippians 4:7-13. Here are the keys to experiencing joy and peace:

1. Stop worrying – nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that we as believers should worry. In fact, it says the opposite: “Be anxious about nothing!”
2. Pray about everything – our problem is that we only pray when it gets really bad. We need to learn that prayer is a way for building our faith and letting our worries go. God hears your prayers and is ready to answer you.
3. Thank God in everything – don’t be confused by this. Paul told the church in Philippi to thank God in everything, but that doesn’t mean for everything. I’m not thankful for getting sick or for losing a job or for any other hardship that comes my way. However, no matter what happens to me I am thankful to God. I’m thankful that he is with me and will give me the strength to get through those times.
4. Think about good things – I am thankful for Philippians 4:8 because it teaches me what I should be thinking about. We get stressed out thinking about things that don’t matter in eternal perspective. Think on the things taught to us in this verse.
5. Be content – the biggest stresses most Americans face are from the pressures of trying to keep up with everyone else. Learn to be content with what you have been blessed with and don’t covet what others may have.

An Embarrassing Visit to the Gym

I shared this story on Sunday during my sermon but thought you might enjoy hearing about a major embarrassing moment that happened to me last week. On Thursday I went to my boxing class, as I do each week. This class was at a different location and the instructor was a guy I’ve only had once before. I remembered that he liked to have team competition races with the winning team spared the exercise punishment given to everyone else at the end of the race. The races could include sprints, frog hops, bear crawls, suicides, or any other exercise that the instructor loved torturing us with.

We were placed into teams and then assigned a lane that our team would use during the races. Our team was on the far outside lane, and we also had one less person than all the other teams. I was standing first in line and would be the person to get our team off to a fast start in every race. The instructor asked if I would go twice so that we would have the same amount of racers as all the other teams. I accepted with great pride and was ready to help bring victory.

The first race was easy—simply sprint from one end of the room to the other and then back to the starting line. We lined up and took our starting positions. With the word “go” I was off, and I felt good. About 10 steps into my sprint, my right toe caught the rubber flooring and I was totally thrown off balance with all of my forward momentum. For a brief moment I was in the air, flying like Superman, but then gravity caught up and I went stomach first onto the rubber matting. One discovery I made is that you don’t slide on rubber matting. I came to a sudden stop, sprawled out and my whole body saying, “ouch.” I was embarrassed and felt like just getting my gym bag and going home. I heard gasps from those behind me and a few asked if I was all right. I felt like asking, “Do I look all right?” but instead said yes because I remembered I was in a race. I quickly looked up and saw everybody else reaching the end of the room and turning for the sprint back to the start line. I knew I had to make up time and pushed myself up and ran as fast as I could to complete the race. I’m thankful that the second time through I made sure to pick up my feet and had no more incidents, but unfortunately, because of my fall, our team came in second place, less than half a second behind the team that won the race.

In our lives we are all going to have those moments when we are giving our all and then suddenly something will happen that will bring us to a grinding halt. Every one of us will have those moments, but the question is not whether you will stumble but how you will react to the fall. Will you lay and moan and feel bad because it may look embarrassing, or will you assess the situation and realize it’s not about the fall but it’s about getting up and moving again? I want to be known for getting up and back into the race. While I’m writing this today my ribs are really sore and my knees have mat burns, but I didn’t quit and won’t quit. There are times in life that I’ll fall and will fail people, my job, my family, and even Christ, but I refuse to allow those failures to cause me to quit. I will get up and make things right and keep on racing. 

We All Need Friends

Tami is about halfway through a three-week business trip. This is one of those trips that she takes every year, but I still haven’t gotten used to her being gone that long. The funny thing is that she is only about 30 miles from our house, but I can’t just jump into the car and go see her because of her crazy work schedule. 

As I’ve been thinking about it this week I understand that I really enjoy her company and the relationship we have together. Relationships are important in life; we all need other people. I need those relationships where I can just relax and have some fun, relationships where I can open up my heart and let someone know what I’m really going through, relationships that encourage me in life, and relationships that help me in my spiritual growth as a Christian. Tami is the special person that God has brought into my life who can fill all of those roles, but for me to be healthy in every area of my life, I have to have a lot more friendships than just Tami. The question I have is: where do I find those relationships?

he greatest friendships and relationships that I’ve had my whole life have come through the church. I’ve had buddies that I’ve played golf, attended sporting events, gone on cruises and vacations, enjoyed dinner, and studied the Bible with. I’m not meant to close myself off from the world, but I need to understand that I need the strong influence of growing Christians in my life. This is where most of my closest friendships should come from because these are friends who share the goals that I have for my life.

I’m not saying that I don’t have friendships with those who do not share my faith—I’m to be a witness to them—but I have to achieve a balance of those who understand my spiritual struggles as well as those I want to show the love of Christ to. Tami is my closest friend and I thank the Lord for her. Many of you reading this are dear friends who have impacted me in so many positive ways, and I hope that I am impacting your life. We all need relationships, and if you are battling loneliness I encourage you to get involved in a church and build some friendships. 

Did I Lose My Man Card?

I’m caught in a dilemma and need help determining whether I’ve crossed a line. As many of you know, I’m not ashamed to call myself a “Metro Male.” I like looking good and do things that would not be considered very manly. I have a rough time with hair growing in all the places I don’t want it to grow, so I take care of it as well as a few other primpy type things. 

Last week Tami asked me to run some errands for her before she had to leave on a two and a half week business trip. I don’t mind running errands to help make the packing process easier for Tami, but I have to ask if I’ve lost my man card. Last Friday, I came in after doing some yard work and found a list of things that I needed to do that day. The first items were running by a couple of pharmacies and picking up some snacks and dry cleaning. Then came four items that would require going to the ladies section of a few stores. These are not typical items that you just run in, grab, and head out, but rather the intimate apparel items for which you may require a consultant. I know that some of you are thinking that I’ve bought this type of stuff before, and while that may be true, it was of a different variety than the stuff I had to purchase on Friday. So not only was I going to purchase these items, but I had to go to three different stores for them.

I went to the first store and quickly found the needed item. Not approached by any sales personnel, I was out of the store in less than five minutes. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as bad as I thought. Store number 2 is where problems began to surface. I was quickly approached by a sales consultant and figured I should tell her what I was looking for so that my shopping experience would end sooner. She took me directly to the items I was in search of and found the sizes I needed. Great, this will be a fast stop too! Then she did it—she started pulling out other varieties and colors that I might want to buy. What started off to be a fast, five-minute purchase now involved intimates spread all over a counter and the pressure of buying them because they would look so good. Whenever I get nervous I start to sweat above my upper lip, and I was sweating….I just wanted to pay my bill and leave. The consultant proceeded to tell me that they had some new items in the back that I’d really like and she’d go get them. That’s when I let my manhood rise to the top and said, “No thanks, I’ll check out now!” She checked me out and I bolted for my car. After that I had one last stop and waited until nobody was around before I went in for the buy. What a day….

So, do I lose my man card after an experience like that? I grew up in a family where my dad would have never considered doing something like that and I don’t think my father-in-law would have either. I am friends with a lot of macho men that I just can’t picture ever doing something like this because they are so macho. I know in life we are all going to have those days when we’re asked to do things that take us way out of our comfort zone. I’ve come to realize that it’s worth the risk if I can help make somebody else’s day a little easier. Whether it’s buying those intimate items, helping with a task, or just opening my mouth to offer encouragement and support, it’s worth the risk. 

Editing Life

A show that I’ve come to enjoy over the past few years is called “Master Chef.” I’m drawn to the show because I love to eat good food and cooking it is almost as fun. The basis of the show is that every contestant is a home chef. They face various challenges that require them to cook dishes that you’d find in quality restaurants. Some of the dishes are highly technical dishes to make, while others are based on understanding the skills of baking. 

I remember the first few seasons watching the show and wondering how in the world these home chefs knew how to make every dish they were challenged to cook. They would share how they’d never made the dish but would produce these unbelievable replicas. The longer I watched, the more it puzzled me, until one day I realized that there is this wonderful tool that is used when creating these one-hour shows that we watch each week. That tool is called “editing.”

When the chefs are challenged to create a dish, I believe that several things happen behind the scenes. I believe they are able to ask questions and are given some clues on how a dish is prepared. I believe there are times when they get to taste the dish and discover flavors that may be hidden inside. And I believe that there are some dishes, especially those that are baked, for which they are given recipes. I believe this because baking is not about finesse and taste but precise measuring and following the directions for the dish to turn out right. So with editing the producers can take several hours to get the right footage to create one hour of exciting television.

In my day to day life, there are times I wish I could eliminate some of my actions because I know I can do better. I can’t go back and edit out those times, but I also don’t have to let them determine my future. I have the recipe for a successful and productive life found through the Word of God and all I have to do is follow that recipe. I can’t edit my life—in fact, I remember my mistakes and can relive them over and over—but this is what I need to remember: God is the ultimate editor who promises to never remember my failures. Once I ask for forgiveness, he wipes the slate clean and will never bring it back again. He also promises to give me the proper tools to live life to its fullest and make a powerful impact on those around me. Discover what God has for you and let him edit out your past failures. Forget the past and look forward to the great things you’re going to produce through your life this week. 

The Bullard's Go Skeet Shooting

A few days ago Tami and I had the opportunity to go away with some family for a mini-vacation. We were at the Lazy G Ranch near Clifton and had a wonderful time just relaxing. While there, we did something that neither of us had ever done before: skeet shooting. We found a place where we could do some target shooting, and I watched as those with us shot skeet with relative ease. I wondered if I’d be able to hit one of those flying discs. 

My turn came and I felt a little nervous as I walked up holding the shotgun. I battle with the fear of looking silly because I can’t do something. That’s called pride, and pride can keep you from enjoying many fun things in life. More importantly, it can prevent great things from happening in your life because you want to avoid any type of failure. I took the shotgun and approached the shooting line. Along with never having shot skeet, I also had never fired a shotgun before, so a lot of thoughts were going through my mind: Is this going to kick? Will it hurt my shoulder? Where do I aim? I asked several questions and quickly processed that information so I knew what to do. With that, I was ready, and shot skeet for the first time in my life. I don’t think I was too bad because I hit 50% of the skeet I shot at. So even though I wasn’t perfect, I enjoyed this first-time experience.

Tami was next. Like me, Tami had never tried to shoot skeet, and she too had never fired a shotgun. Like me, Tami asked several questions, and as she stood there my brother-in-law offered to tell her when to shoot. Without her noticing, he moved to a safe position to her side and held a shotgun. When she said she was ready, the skeet was sent into the air. He said “Fire!” and Tami shot her gun. At the same time he fired his shotgun and hit the skeet with ease. Tami was so excited because she thought she’d hit the skeet, and everybody played along with that thought. It was fun watching her celebrate such a great victory. I wish we’d left well enough alone, but Tami shot again and this time my brother-in-law’s timing was off. He shot his rifle a moment after Tami had fired hers and she heard it. She quickly realized that he shot the skeet and not her and laughed along with the rest of us at the prank.

We had such a great weekend and thank the Gaffney family for letting us enjoy a few days away. I was also reminded that I can’t let the fear of failure keep me from enjoying the fun and challenging things that come in life. If I’m going to experience success in all areas of my life, I need to be willing to step out of my comfort zone.