You Gotta Serve Somebody

Romans 6:17-18 (NKJV) But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

I was thinking about the independence we have through the freedom that was secured for us through the work of Jesus on the cross.
Paul tells us in Romans 6 that we were slaves to sin and that when we were slaves of sin, we were free in regard to righteousness. (vs.20) Being free in regards to righteousness means that we were unrestrained and did what we wanted and in some cases what we did not want to do but we were slaves to sin.
But being free in Christ does not mean that we are no longer slaves. We just serve a different Master. We have a master that has redeemed us at a great price with an even greater motive….love.
Paul goes on to say in Romans 6:22 that … having been set free from sin, we have become slaves of God. We are slaves that have been bought with a price and that price was the precious blood of Jesus. Having been set free we choose to become slaves. We are bondservants …slaves of choice. Paul concludes vs.22 with, "you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life."
Because we have obeyed God; we have believed. Now we have the opportunity to live righteously, and so also, to begin to serve God with the same fervor and energy with which we were serving sin. Our motive needs to be love too. The love returned to God for His great gift of salvation to us through Jesus. Now it is our choice and that choice is not made out of obligation but response to God’s love. We need to let righteousness enslave us and let it become the bondage and habit of our life.
It is impossible to be neutral. Every person has a master—either God or sin. Bob Dylan wrote a song a long time ago called “You Gotta Serve Somebody” and in it he said, “You may serve the devil or you may serve the Lord but you gotta serve somebody. A Christian is not someone who cannot sin, but someone who is no longer a slave to sin. He or she belongs to God. Before we were converted we had to serve sin. As Christians we have the freedom to live independent of sin but completely dependent on God.

That I might know Him

JOH 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

If there was ever a character in the bible that knew God it would be Moses. The interesting thing about the relationship that Moses had with God and our relationship with God is that God initiated both.
For Moses it began at the burning bush when God called him to deliver His people from Egypt but for God it started before Moses was born but the whole life of Moses was known by God from the beginning. When he was called, Moses could have just done what he was told. He also had some opportunities to really advance his own personal situation but he didn’t. Exodus 33:11tells us that the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Moses wanted the friendship of God
Knowing God changed Moses. He went from doing things his own way to totally relying on God. He is known in the bible as a man who was meek. Being meek did not mean he was weak. The essence of the word meek (KJV) is translated humble. Strong’s translates the word as gentle. Moses quietly trusted God in every situation. He was confident in his calling from God. This was because of relationship. DEU 34:10 says, “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,”
God desires a face to face relationship with us all. God can use us, He can speak to us and through us, but He desires most of all that we will walk with Him in a face to face relationship. He initiated the relationship by first sending the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and by providing Jesus Christ as a sacrifice to atone for our sins so we could have fellowship. He goes on to give us gifts and callings and then provides everything to fulfill that calling.
Moses desired the relationship. His outward life showed his inward heart. He wanted to know what God said and he trusted what God said. Because he trusted, he obeyed what God said. Most of all, he desired God more than His promises. Moses wanted more than just the Promised Land. Sad to say too many people desire God's promises and His provision more than they desire Him.
We need to desire to know God, His purpose and His will. How? It’s found in Romans 12:1,2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Our action is to surrender. It is to present our bodies to God and to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed into the image and likeness of God. The result will be that we progress in our understanding and relationship with God. We will be able to prove (test and know) what is good, what is acceptable and what is his perfect will is. Jesus' desire for us (John 17:21) is to be one with God like He was was. How can I do that? John 5:30, 12:49,50
Jesus said, “Can do nothing by myself. “I judge only as I hear from the Father. I don't seek to please Myself but Him who sent me. I don't speak for myself but what my Father commands me to say and how to say it. I know his commandment is life everlasting. This is speaking of a relationship where the very thoughts are God's thoughts and the very words spoken are God's words. Jesus was not led by dreams or visions but by the very thoughts and words of God. That should be our goal as well. It comes from relationship. That relationship is actively pursued by God. We in turn must pursue it as well. With all our heart.

Being "Others" Minded

Being "others" minded is often very hard. Many times we blame our lack of being "others" minded on being busy or having our own personal issues. Jesus is ever the example. I often kid about Jesus taking the apostles away on a picnic. There may well have been another reason. In Matthew 14 Jesus is told that John the Baptist has been killed. It is about this time that the disciples are coming back from having been sent out to preach and heal. They are excited and want to share with Jesus all about their adventures.At this point Jesus has a crisis in his own life. John was his cousin and though we don’t know how close they were he was still a relative. John was a forerunner of not only Jesus' ministry but of his suffering and death. He was also concerned about the apostles and what was going on in their lives. They had much to tell Him and know doubt He was anxious to hear what they said. But they had no privacy and that was the reason they went across the lake. Do you ever feel like there is no leisure time - not even to eat? No time for communication and fellowship? Jesus knows what that is like. His desire was to take them away with Him for a time of fellowship and rest. Just about the time they were pulling up to the shore a crowd started to gather. We don’t know how long it took but eventually there were 5000 men not counting women and kids, but Jesus was concerned about the crowd. It is said in the text of the passage that He had compassion on them. He saw their need. Do you see the need of others or are you stuck on your own needs? Jesus saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd. They were without direction, protection and they needed feeding. He desired to meet their needs. He began to teach them and then he healed (Matthew 14;14). Then He fed them again with physical food.
This is where He used the disciples. He wants to use you. The disciples come and ask Jesus to send everyone away - just get rid of the problem. Not, "can you fix it" but "get rid of it. Is it possible that they were tolerant just until they saw a good reason to get back to their original plan of rest and relaxation? Jesus said, "you feed them”. But they cannot see how. That is also like us too, isn’t it? We don’t see that we have the resources to do what Jesus asks. Then Jesus asked them (and us) “What do you have?” They had 5 loaves and 2 fish. Not much with a crowd like that. But little is much in the hands of Jesus. Jesus wants to use what little you have to make a difference. The apostles are involved. They directed the people to sit. They then set the food before the people and they collected the food again. Jesus then took a little and blessed it, broke it and gave it away. Are you willing to be the bread in Jesus hands? Will you be the bread to fill the needs of others, blessed - by blessing others, broken - to be given away and then brought back again? When we give out in Jesus name much is collected back to Jesus, far more than what is ever given out. He didn't have to do everything. He had the apostle serve and collect and he refused the accolades of the crowd. Instead He went to pray after a great move of God in preparation for the next. The next was walking on water! If we are willing to let our time and situations be God’s place of opportunity we may find ourselves in some marvelous occasions where we get to do some amazing things. We may not have much but in His hands we can be part of some very amazing things.

Captured for a Purpose

And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.2 Kings 5:2-4

Are you willing to be used by God? Whatever the cost? Consider this: Here is this little girl who was captured in some raiding party of the Syrians. She is ripped from her home, family and country and taken away to be a slave. Now no matter how well you have it you always know that you are a slave. Even in the most benevolent situations you still are aware that you are in this situation against your will. You have been taken from family and familiar situations against your will. The people you serve either captured you or bought you and you are a piece of property. You might get lucky and get a benevolent master but then again you might not. What will you do? You also might remember the story of Joseph who was sold into slavery…by his brothers! Then, even though he was doing his job he is falsely accused of attempting to rape the boss’s wife and ends up in prison. He works his way up in the prison, helps a couple of fellows close to the king but is forgotten for another couple of years.
The little girl’s sweetness, even in captivity brought a great man in touch with the living God. Though she was a captive she chose to show mercy instead of revenge. She could have said to herself, “Let the old man fall apart all over Syria.” Instead she shares a possible way out of his misery. It wasn’t so much that she wanted her boss to meet the prophet as it was to meet the prophet’s God…her God. God had placed her for a purpose, and she was faithful. Because of her faithfulness her boss, Naaman, eventually receives healing as well as faith in God.
Joseph was faithful to God. He had shown pride and arrogance (which seemed to be the reason that his brothers hocked him for thirty pieces of silver.) But the bible says that God was with him. When he was tempted to sleep with the boss’s wife (by the wife herself) he refused on two grounds. The first reason was good. My master has trusted me with everything and has kept nothing from me except you. But the second reason was the highest purpose for his faithfulness. “How can I sin against God?” That got him thrown into jail. Right there he could have questioned God, (and probably did though the bible doesn’t record it) got mad and quit. He could have lived like others, one moment at a time. But instead he honored God and God honored him. In due time God not only brought him out of jail but put him in charge of all of Pharaoh’s wealth. But that wasn’t the purpose God had in mind. Not only did he work some things out in Joseph’s mind but he dealt with the brothers as well. He also brought Israel and his family to Egypt, a place they would not have gone on their own, Here God would make a great nation and people that would be His People.
Where has God put you? No matter how humble or small your position, God can use you to spread his Word. Look for opportunities to tell others what God can do. There’s no telling who will hear your message!

A GIFT OF LOVE

John 12:1-50
Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, 5"Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" 6This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

In the book of John there is a wonderful account of a woman that gave a gift of love to Jesus. She was not the first woman to approach Jesus and pour out her love to Him. The first had been a woman with a bad reputation. Simon, the host of the dinner knew who she was and questioned in his heart how Jesus, if He was indeed a prophet, how could He let this woman touch Him. Jesus defended her and accepted her display of love as the repentance it was meant to be.
The second woman is unidentified by Matthew and Mark but John reveals that it is Mary, the sister of Lazarus.(12:3) This is not a woman that had a bad reputation. She had made it a habit to sit at the feet of Jesus. She did not come with a need for forgives but the need to express her love to Jesus. There are four things that we need to learn from her action and her expression of love to Jesus so that we can express our own love more effectively

First, it was daring. She comes into a room that was full of men. Women were only admitted to serve and then they were to leave. Mary is not concerned with what others thought. She was determined to show Jesus her love. It is possible, even probable that she was the only one in the room besides Jesus that understood that these were the last days that Jesus would spend with them. In order to be daring one must be Oblivious to self and to their reputation in the eyes of others. Mary let down her hair. (Matthew and Mark)This would be unheard of and there were those that were probably offended in her abandonment. But Mary chose to humble herself before Jesus and in front of others because she wanted to bless Him. This was between her and Jesus. No one else or what they thought mattered. The Bible says Humble yourself in the sight of the lord and he shall lift you up. Jam 4:10 Mary didn't have a towel and she didn't look for one. She wiped the feet at which she had sat at, with her hair. (vs.3)

Secondly it was costly. The price for the ointment she used was three hundred denarii (pence in Mat and Mark), almost a years wages.(vs5) It was a pound of this ointment and it was in an alabaster jar (Matthew and Mark). The alabaster jar was both precious and fragile. It was sealed in such a way that it could not just be opened and a little poured out. It was all or nothing and she broke it and poured it all out. She kept nothing back. Matthew and Mark say it was upon His head. (Mat 26/Mar 14) Joh.12:3 says that she anointed His feet. How do we reconcile the difference? She did both! Some believe that as she poured it out and it dripped (accidentally) onto his feet. Others believe she poured it out on his head and so much poured out that it dripped upon his feet. The point is... She did it!!! This was not a common gift and it did not just cost a little or nothing. It was one of sacrifice. We can hear the sentiment in the words of David,

“Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 2 Samuel 24:24 (NKJV)

Thirdly it was deliberate. It was something she chose to do whether the ointment was bought for this purpose or not is not known. It does not change the value, more or less. The point is that it was a decision on her part to give an offering of her love. This was not something that she had to do or was forced to do. It was not expected but in fact just the opposite. It was quite unexpected

Fourthly it was lasting. This is actually a result of the first three actions that Mary took. But consider this, because she poured out the whole gift on Him and it went over his head and upon his clothes and then on to His feet. It was at His feet where she wiped the excess away. There was an excess that covered Him. His hair and clothes bore the perfume of her love during the whole time …
• of His passion in the garden
• At his trials
• After his scourging
• All the way up the hill of Golgatha
• The terrible hours during his death
• Jesus was reminded of her love
Now let us consider the gift of our life to Jesus, because that is really what He is interested in.

First, is it daring or is governed by what others think? Do we not show our love or have any open display of it because of what other think? Or do we love Him with abandon and have little care of our own reputation? Is it oblivious to self and others and all we can think,

Second, is it costly? Is it our first and best or do we give what is leftover and not needed? Can we say that no price or service is too great or do we give God only what is left over, convenient and comfortable? We need to set aside our comfort and convenience and live out our love for the savior. We need to be less concerned about what we will get and be more concerned about what we can spend upon our Savior, simply because His love is worth it. Are you willing to sacrifice all for Him?

Third, is the gift of our life and love something deliberate or random and accidental? Is our love given freely and is our worship planned as well as spontaneous? People are deliberate about their jobs, their vacations and play times are thought out and executed with great care but their relationship with God “just happens.” Is our life given to Jesus with reluctance because everyone expects it? Or maybe because we feel like, well, we have to do something.

Fourth, is this life we are living and say that we are giving to God lasting or momentary? Is what we are working for lasting or will it only last and be remembered as long as we are there to perpetuate it. Are the things we give God eternal or temporal and only to appease Him. To do our duty so we can point to something and say, see “I love God”

Expect the Judas's (and other disciples) that will be there to question your motive and there will be those that will be quick to misrepresent your motive and love. Please my friend, let Jesus defend you and He will. Just as He stood for the woman with the bad reputation as well as the woman that was His friend He will stand for you. There will be those that will ask why you are wasting your time, your money and your life on Jesus. They will not understand and they will see it as a waste but Jesus will see it for the love it is and will remember it. And as you pour out your life as a fragrant gift of love as you give Him anything out of love you will find that the excess of your love for Him will remain on you. Your life will have the fragrance of love that people will notice. They will know that there is something different. And it will be lasting. Just as Jesus said of Mary may it be said of us…

I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." MAT 26:13

Heat Exhaustion

Just recently I experienced what I believe to be heat exhaustion. Now admittedly, this is a self diagnosis. I am stubborn when it comes to going to the doctor and such. I watch myself pretty well and eat pretty well. I have become very conscious of my sugar intake and white flour and such. I have cut way down on eating candy and cookies and sweets. I am, what I would say, in pretty good shape. My one vice, if it is a vice, would be coffee and I have cut down how much I drink over the years but still drink about five cups a day. I love a good cup of coffee and I am quicker to drink coffee than water.

My problem all started with digging a hole in the back yard for a post. The place I chose turned out to be extremely rocky but I was working in evening and though it was hot the sun was down. I sipped at my coffee as I worked. When I went into the house my wife had come home and asked if I had listened to the phone. “It’s buzzing.” The last time the phone was buzzing was when I cut into the line when doing some work in the back yard. So the next morning I went out to see what I had done because the night before the hole was filled with water. I could not see any line so I dug out the sides. Still nothing and by now it was getting hot. We concluded that it must be the repair from last year gone bad. The next morning I began to dig where I thought the problem was and ended up digging a trench about two feet deep and about twenty feet long. I never found the line. We decided to call the phone company and it turned out to be a “carbon” (a fuse) in the box. Yikeballs! All that work and now I had to fill up the trench. As it happened I did it in the later part of Friday morning, went to work and then in evening at about five o’clock I went to help pack my daughter and son-in-law’s possessions into the back of a rented truck so they could leave for Oregon the next morning. Because I have a knack for packing, another fellow and I stayed in the back of the truck and the boxes were slid over to us to pack. We did this for several hours. This was all in a week when the temperatures were in the 100’s by eight in the morning and reached 120 by two in the afternoon and didn’t cool off to the 90’s until well after dark.

My problem was not so much the work but that I did not drink enough water. I sipped my coffee in the morning when I had been digging and filling the trench and had a glass or two of water but not much. When I was in the back of the truck I drank one or two twelve ounce bottles of water but did not think much about it. At about eight that evening most all the packing was done and I went home, had something to eat and went to dinner. The next morning I woke and read my bible and then worked on the computer for a while. About an hour after I woke up I began to shiver so I went to get a shirt on but by the time I got to the room I crawled under the covers and shivered uncontrollably until I fell asleep. I got up later feeling tire but I had a memorial service to go to and I had to finish my sermon for in the morning. As soon as I finished my work I went home and was soon in bed. The next morning, Sunday, I went to church, determined to preach and attend the staff meeting. I should have just let my assistant take the service because I was too sick. The staff shooed me out and I went home to sleep, off and on, for the next thirty hours. I went to work on Tuesday but had to go home by early afternoon. I had eaten very little because I had no appetite. I was miserable and even at this writing I still do not feel the way I should. So what is the point?

Just these, relating it spiritually, many Christians suffer from spiritual heat exhaustion. They are in the heat of battle or the heat of service (or both) and don’t drink enough Living Water to keep their bodies spiritually hydrated. They drink in other things like books and music and devotionals but they never spend time at the Well of Living Water and drink deeply or often, just glassfuls here and there. They have a glassful in the morning but if they miss they think they will be all right. They will just have one tomorrow morning but then tomorrow morning comes and they miss again. They might have a good long drink on Wednesday or Sunday morning but they get to the place where they are not drinking the water and just as water is what our physical bodies need to survive, flush toxins, replenish and refresh so our spiritual lives need the water of the Word and to drink deeply of the Living Water. They don’t allow the Holy Spirit to poor the Living Water into them at times of private prayer and fellowship.

So now we have little water in our “spiritual” systems and then we get into a heated spiritual warfare we don’t expect and our strength fails. We serve in our own strength for long times and we become exhausted. We find ourselves, shivering uncontrollably, huddled in a corner trying to figure out what is wrong with us. We have lost our strength, our appetite and our desire to do anything but sleep. We even isolate ourselves because we have no interest in fellowship. This happens all because we neglect regular, deep drinking of the Water of the Word. We have sweat it out and poured it out in tears. There is nothing there because we have not put it back

We need to visit the Well every day without fail. We need to drink deep and often. We cannot be satisfied with just the other spiritual “beverages.” They are fine, and like coffee have a place and a time but we cannot find our strength in that just like we cannot expect to have spiritual strength from just listening to music or reading devotionals, we must read the word. We also must spend time with Jesus and ask Him for the water that He gives.
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." John 4:10 (NKJV)
Let it hydrate your heart and replenish your spirit so that even in the unexpected times you will be able to enter into the heat of battle or the heat of service and not fail. But the way, it must be remembered that you cannot miss the drinking of Living Water while you battle or while you serve or you will find yourself exhausted. The day to day prepares you but when the battle or the service increases so must your intake of Living Water

John 7:37-39 (NKJV) On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Rev. 22:17 (NKJV)
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires let him take the water of life freely.

Looking Back at Mistakes and disappointment

My friend Deiana posted a quote from Mark Twain that caused me some immediate thoughts. I was going to just make a comment about looking back but one comment became two and then they grew too quickly and had to become this post. The quote was:

"Тwenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

My first reaction to that thought was that it was curious how when I looked back that many of the things that I remember with joy, fondness, down right laughter, were things that were accidents, mistakes and at the time painful experiences.

When I was a much younger man I would take my family camping. I desperately wanted to be their hero and planned many things to prove to them I was. Many of the planned things backfired but some didn't. However it was in the unplanned situations I found myself having to be the hero and I was. But not only did I become the hero, those are the situations that we remember with the greatest fondness and have the deepest humor. This story is about one of those time.

We were camping in the mountains in northern California. We heard about a lake nearby and decided to pack an evening dinner and go fishing. The plan was that we would watch the time and get back in plenty of time. We found the place to park and the trail head to the lake and started up the trail. At one point the trail we followed took us by a lodge that we had eaten at and then went on to the lake where we were to enjoy the evening. While my family walked along and chattered about the birds and the trees and flowers, I watched the trail. They hoped to see deer and other animals and I concentrated on landmarks so that we could get back because the trail twisted and turned and intersected with other trails. I remembered boulders by the trail and broken branches on trees. I tried to remember the twists and turns.

Because it was summer the sun stayed up late but we left the little lake with plenty of time because the sunlight would quickly become lost in the shadow of the trees. I began to direct my family home. I was the guide and I thought I knew the trail. As you may have already suspected, I missed a turn or something, misread a landmark or went the wrong way when the trails intersected and we began to go around in circles. Even by this time in our marriage, my dear wife would explain to the children, "shush children, we are just on adventure." They were quieted by her words but for me is painfully meant, "Shush children, Daddy is trying to figure out this mess we are in." Now let me be very clear, that is not what she meant at all but that was the way I made it. No because of anything she said because of my own ill conceived perception of myself.

I was the guide but now all the things that I thought were so different to guide the way began to blend. What I thought was a peculiar little tree or an odd looking rock turned out to look like every other tree and rock along the trail. Then we began to see the same tree or rock and I looked down ahead of where we were walking and saw little tennis shoe prints in the dust of the trail. Then i noticed the markings of my own boots. I realized we were going in circles and so I took a fork at the next trail intersection. Suddenly we broke in to the clearing of the little lodge. Yay, we were safe! But our car was still about a half a mile away and we were not out of the woods yet. (The pun WAS intended!).

Now our choices were to walk along the two way road which would be OVER a half a mile or take a trail back into the woods. There was a fellow at the lodge that said it would be a straight trail and it would be LESS than a half a mile. Throw into the choice that the sun is almost gone. The trail was also supposed to follow the road. We had no flashlight but we decided to go the shorter trail, walk quickly, and get to our destination. (Sounds like a sin illustration coming on... but I will leave that to you to see). So we plunged back into the forest and quickly, into the darkness as well. For some time we did walk along the road but then the road went one way and we went the other. It was high above us and seemed impossible to climb to so we were committed to going forward. We had gone to far and it was too dark to go back. Boy, now we were really having an adventure. Finally we came to a place where we could see the road, again. It was still high above us but the fear that the darkness brought, tripping over things and the unknown things lurking about in the darkness caused us to scramble up the hill. After climbing and sliding back and climbing again we finally found our way to the higher road. We had wasted time and had experienced fear but now we were safe. Even though the sun had gone down we could now see clearly to walk. We checked everyone for scratches and bruises and continued on to the car. After what seemed like forever we came to the parking lot. There was our car, sitting all alone, and my son CJ went running up to it and kissed the bumper and said, We are saved! I'm so glad to see you, car!"

We were tired and we had been afraid, I had many personal feelings because of what I felt I had put my family through but when we all stood there at the car we all felt a sense of accomplishment. We had overcome our adversities. We had conquered the forest, well almost. At least we escaped from it.

We now look back at that time with a fondness, joy, humor and a place of growth. Each of us grew that night in our own way. I grew in humility and yet also in determination to learn to take better care of my family. My wife grew in her ability to lift me up at a time when she could have easily torn me down. She learned to encourage and even trust me though all the outward signs said, scream your head off and cry! My children learned to be brave and to submit and to trust. And we all grew in prayer! The mistake actually turned out to be the best memory of the trip. That was over twenty years ago.

We could have missed so very much together had we allowed that to be our last "adventure". It wasn't, but that will be for another time.We could have played things safe and never done that kind of thing again but we would have missed a lot. But as a I look back at that event and the things connected to it, I am not disappointed. But I am disappointed by the things that are not there to look back at, laugh at and remember because we never did them. I don't remember anything that we ever did that disappointed us. We have never been disappointed in the adventures we have taken or the adventures that have happened. Some have been better than others but they all have memories connected to them we would never give up. My wife has come to say that life is a journey but it is also a great adventure. Don't miss it by being afraid you will be disappointed.

As Mr. Twain pointed out you will be more disappointed by what you did not do than what you did.

I would rather do something and say, "Eh, it was not so good," than to say, "Gee,I don't know, I missed my opportunity to find out."

Get out of the harbor. It will always be there when you get back. go on an adventure. Don't fear the storms, enjoy them, Sail cautiously when you must but when you can, open you sails and let the wind blow. Even your shipwrecks will become part of the grand adventure...maybe even the best part.