Archive for March, 2011

The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks his dog.

1. The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie “Bambi” and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural. The coyote then bites the Governor.

2. He calls animal control. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it.

3. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases.

4. The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged.

5. The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals.

6. The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a “coyote awareness program” for residents of the area.

7. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.

8. The Governor’s security agent is fired for not stopping the attack. The State spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training RE: the nature of coyotes.

9. PETA protests the coyote’s relocation and files a $5 million suit against the State.

Montana :
The Governor of Montana is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks his dog.

1. The Governor shoots the coyote with his State-issued pistol and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge.

2. The buzzards eat the dead coyote.

And that, my friends, is why California is broke and Montana is not.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

At my men’s group this morning, two statements really hit me this morning. I think one was a church sign I saw many moons ago.

Do not put a period where God has placed a comma.

The next time Satan reminds you of your past,
remind him of his future.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I subscribe to a daily email from Parenting Today’s Teens. It is a great daily reminder with relevant tips and I highly recommend it for any parent. Below is the one from March 9th and it was a very nice story that I thought hit home. Take a quick read of it.

The story of Olympic runner Eric Liddell offers a compelling example of God honoring those who honor Him.

Liddell, who later became a missionary, was a shoe-in to win the 100 meter dash in the 1924 Olympics. But when the day for qualifying for the race was changed to Sunday, he refused to run. A few days later, however, he was given the chance to run a longer race he hadn’t prepared for, and still won the gold. Clutched in his hand was a note with the scriptural words “Them that honor Me, I will honor.”

Like Liddell, don’t give up as a parent. It’s your most important role in life. God will honor you for holding to doing what is right for your children, no matter what.

Because this resonated with me, I sent a forward email of the message to many of the God-serving men in my circle who are fathers. Again, it is a nice reminder for each of us on where our focus should be.

But the story doesn’t stop there. Soon after, I received a reply email that I am including below. I’m sure my friend won’t mind. And it truly underlines the WOW God uses in our lives.

You have no idea how timely this is. Funny enough, not for a parenting issue, but a “me” issue. I was considering running a half-marathon on May 1, which is the day our next new member church class was tentatively scheduled to begin. I was considering pushing out the class schedule, figuring it was no big deal. Turns out that would mess up classroom assignments for another church class and potentially impact our classroom situation. Less than an hour after I found out about that, I got your email – which immediately erased any remaining doubt about whether or not I should run that day! I’ll find another race, another day 🙂

It’s it amazing how God works?

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

In some areas of my life I can be very sentimental. I have saved various items from events that have had great impact to me. For example, I have some birthday cards from my grandmas that are no longer alive. I have my grandpa’s hat and pastor stole. I have numerous cards from my wife and kids for many occasions. I even have the plastic hospital bracelet that I had to wear when I brought my daughter K home.

I occasionally break out the cards to read and reminisce. They not only bring me back to the event, but bring back the emotion and feeling of that close time with whom I was sharing the moment. Those cards also help me know that person more. They put their heart into it — whether it was a note on the bottom of a store bought card the specifically selected for me or it was the crayon drawing a creative picture. These allow me a connection with the one who gave me the card. And the card giver gave it out of love.

Those thoughts came to me recently during one of my devotions. And isn’t the Bible like a giant Hallmark card of love from God to us? Scripture can inspire us. It can get us to share a moment. It can bring back an occasion or event. And it can definitely help us to know God better. The words of Scripture provide an insight to the character of God because, after all, He inspired its writing. And with us reading it over and over, much like a favorite card from a loved one, it brings us closer to Him.

So get your Bible and open up God’s card to you. He loves you and He signed it with the cross.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Today is the only date that is a command.

March fourth

It reminds me of Matthew 28:19 — Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I saw this during my Emmaus walk last year and am sharing it in honor of this week’s Emmaus Men’s Walk #131 which starts tomorrow.

“How well traveled is the path to your God?”

Here is hoping that our journey with Christ is changing from a dirt footpath to an eight lane superhighway.

…..Dan aslowerpace dot net

I haven’t blogged in over a week — and it’s not because I don’t have anything to blog about. Quite the opposite. But all of these things take up time when they actually happen and blogging has been pushed to the side, unfortunately.

In short, we have had R’s 18th birthday celebratory dinner, a minor 2″ basement flood, a weekend visit to R’s college at IWU, and some severe weather including a tornado one county away.

This morning I found my long lost prayer journal. I knew it was not readily locatable, but I hadn’t prescribed it as “lost” yet. I also was not looking diligently for it either. It was a good habit I had in 2009 and some of 2010 but I became a slave to the act of detailing my prayers. In essence, “checking the box” rather than allowing the journal to be a result or inspiration for prayer. Consequently, I slowly stopped using it in an effort to focus on prayer. However, I have spent some of the morning going back over my entries and can see God’s wonderful providence and involvement in my life and the many others I pray for. It is just spectacularly wonderful when you can look back and the painting God has created for our life and see the picture after the paint has dried. That is what I have done this morning. And my intent is to pick that prayer journal back up and integrate it back into my prayer and devotional life.

One entry I made in the first hours of my Emmaus walk struck me as interesting…..and still relevant today.

“Where am I today?
I am a confident disciple knowing history that I have always grown, but always smaller than the day to come. That does not lessen where I was yesterday nor where I need to go tomorrow.”

Here’s hoping my blog writing will increase along with my prayer journal use.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net