A Sweet-bitter-Sweet day.

Yesterday, we took our oldest daughter Karlee to the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. It was a sweet-bitter-sweet day. Yes, I realize I have that last sentence out of sorts but that is the order it hit me. You see, I did pretty well with my oldest going off to college. We have been slowly letting her out of the nest for years. She has been to camps, leadership conferences, school trips, and even a mission trip to France. I’m so proud of my daughter and the woman she has become and continues to grow into.

So, I had somehow managed to focus on all the “sweet” things about her going to college. And then…we walked out of her dorm and drove the car out of the city. It was somewhere along I-24 that this huge lump swelled up in my throat.

Suddenly, 18 years of our life together as a family, of my time with my first born from the moment I stood in the delivery room and watched her enter this world to the time she walked the stage and received her High school diploma – all of this flashed across my mind. And I wept. The taste of bitterness washed through my mouth and I could barely swallow it. My little girl, my baby, my first-born was now out on her own. I wept more. This stinks. Then this thought actually came to my mind, “if I would have known how hard this was then I would have never had children!” The pain was that deep. (I know, crazy thought, hang with me.)

Somewhere along our journey along I-24 I glanced out on the horizon and noticed the beautiful rolling hills of Tennessee. And it was at this point that I felt God’s peace come over me. It was if the Holy Spirit was whispering in my ear, “Joe, you see these mountains, I made them, I created all of this and I’m quite capable of watching over your little girl.”

I was then back to “sweetness.” And, I realized how crazy and self-centered my earlier thought of not having children was. Yes, having children can be painful in many ways. But the blessings of being a dad far out way them all. I’m blessed! I have to stop now – that lump in my throat is back.

“For we live by faith, not by sight.” I Corinthians 5:7

Providence and Creative Titles

The other day I was driving back from a dear friends funeral in Missouri and decided to listen to a Matt Chandler sermon on my iphone. I typically never travel alone but made an exception for this trip so that I could have some time to think, pray, and listen. I always have podcasts ready on my phone. I have found that I need time each week to be inspired by others and so I download messages from Steven Furtick, Perry Noble, Andy Stanley, Rick Warren, Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, and others. I want to be inspired, I want to grow, I want to be stretched, so I listen.

The funeral of my dear friend was hard on me – I’ll write more about that soon. I also had just been to the funeral of my grandmother the week before. Death, dying, pain, suffering, heaven, hell – were all topics on my brain. Sometimes the difficulties in life cause us to re-examine the hard truths we often avoid in life.

I hadn’t listened to Matt Chandler in a while. His ministry has been blessed and he is an incredible teacher/pastor. And, his personal story of facing cancer over the past year or so is flat out amazing. The guy has guts, loves Christ and lives out his faith. That’s the kind of traits I desperately want in my own life.

As I scanned through Matt’s sermon titles – I noticed a 3 part series called “Transitions.” I thought to myself, I’m in a transition period – in my 40’s, our first child is going into college, we just moved to a new community south of Nashville, I’m only 1 year into a new job, my dad was just diagnosed with cancer, and I had just been to the funeral of one of my mentors.

Had I known what Matt’s “Transition” series was really about – I probably wouldn’t have listened. It wasn’t the kind of transition I had in mind. It was solid biblical truth hitting me straight where my heart was torn open. What was it about? Well, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

I'm thankful for Providence and God leading me to these messages. I'm also thankful for the creativity at The Village Church (Matt's church). Sometimes creative titles really do make a difference. I highly recommend this powerful 3 part series. One thing for sure, this is one transition no one will avoid.

Blessings

Being thankful for trials and difficulties isn’t always easy. But the truth is, God’s blessings sometimes come through hard times or even tragedies. James writes about this in chapter 1:2-4;

2 Count it all joy, my brothers,t when you meet trials of various kinds,3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The verse I often struggle with is #4 where James tells us to “let” the tough times do the work in us. I’m not good at “letting” – I want to fix things or I want God to fix things and the sooner the better. To “let,” is hard. It takes patience and a willingness to allow God to work things out for our good.

Recently, the song Blessings by Laura Story has been one of our families favorites. I love the words and the truth found in her song.

How are you doing with the “let?”

Joplin Relief Effort

Last week I loaded up the car and headed to Joplin, Missouri with my friend Bob Anistario. We were going to meet up with several groups of people helping in the relief effort following the devastating tornado of May 22nd. Those groups included;
*Dallas County Disaster Relief Unit
*Bridge Builders
*Arms of Compassion a Ministry of Oklahoma Free Will Baptist
*Illinois Master's Men Disaster Relief Unit

I was representing The Hanna Project and we were able to connect with our own field worker Jennifer Stogsdill who lives in Joplin and several other volunteers from MO, OK, and IL.

It was an unforgettable 4 days of hard work and service. And yet, I am so thankful we were able to go and serve.

I have posted multiple pictures and videos on my facebook, twitter, and flicker accounts. Please be in prayer for those who have been affected by these horrific storms in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and Missouri. There is never a shortage of disasters and each one is an opportunity for each of us to respond and help. I hope you will get involved in helping others somewhere in the world.

The following video was created by Carlos Whitteaker who attends Cross Point Church in Nashville. He does a great job capturing the devastation as well as the hope that the many organizations and churches brought to the people of Joplin.