Life Goes On

This has been a hectic week in our lives. On Monday we flew from FL to NJ. Tuesday morning we helped get four grandkids off to school while our son in law took our daughter to the hospital. After getting the kids away to school we joined our son in law at the hospital to await the report from our daughter's surgery for breast cancer. There were actually two surgeries; one for removal of the breasts, and another for the beginning of reconstruction. Five and a half hours later, we finally got to see our daughter in recovery. All of this detail is just to set the stage for this blog update. It seemed that both my wife and my son in law had well defined duties during this ordeal. As for me, I was there. I prayed, I ran errands, I played with the kids, I helped with meals and clean up, but mostly I was just there. At first this bothered me because everyone else was so "purpose driven" to borrow a phrase. Finally, as I asked God to help me be of some use, He gave me pe...

I'm always fascinated by child prodigies. This morning on Fox News I saw a 7 year old tap-dancer who was phenomenal. I don't know the percentages, but I'd guess that prodigies in any field of endeavor are few and far between. On the other hand there are those who became great at what they do by doing it...over and over again. I remember reading that Einstein was not a very good student. Lincoln failed at numerous attempts for public office before becoming one of our best known presidents. Sometimes there is a parent who sacrifices a great deal and pushes a child to become great (Tiger Woods) In my own life I've experienced modest success in several fields of ministry simply by doing them. I started out in Music & Youth ministry,and was mediocre at best in both of them. Finally, after 20 years of combination ministry, I sensed God asking me to move into full-time Student Ministry. Though I was not young (40 at the time) and was not a former athlete, scintill...