Charisa Stories

Tag: Jesus

  • Am I Crazy?

    Am I Crazy?

    I smiled as I typed the title for this week’s musing. Those who know me have probably already answered.

    Have you met Dave?

    I have often conceded that my brain wasn’t wired to factory specs and one way that manifests itself is finding spiritual insight in secular song lyrics.

    Case is in point is this week’s offering inspired by Alison Krause and Union Station. Alison Krause has a voice like an angel. She is an artist that I can listen to no matter what my mood might be. Today my satellite radio landed on a song titled Crazy as Me.

    The lyrics are talking about a series of failed relationships. The lyric that Alison Krause sings that resonated with me are these words.

    Some folks seem to think I only got one problem
    I can’t find nobody as crazy as me

    Without question I have way more than one problem but let’s put that aside for awhile. When this lyric came up I thought about my journey with Jesus. Some people who know me well think I am a little crazy to believe what I do about Christ. I get that but the bottom line for those of us who believe is a bit disturbing. Shouldn’t all Christians be a little crazy if we are really following the teachings of Jesus?

    I don’t mean drooling and ranting crazy. I am talking about doing things that make absolutely no sense to the world crazy.

    • The world says to look out for number one.
      Jesus says to look out for the least of these.
    • The world says to spend time with those who can help you advance.
      Jesus says to spend time with and help the disadvantaged who can do nothing to make you more successful or reach your goals.
    • The world says that the one with the most toys wins.
      Jesus says the one with most treasures stored in heaven wins.
    • The world says get even and exact revenge.
      Jesus says to love your enemies and (I really don’t like this one) pray for those who persecute you.
    • The world is fearful of disease and the future.
      Jesus says to not worry about tomorrow.
    • The world says to build your financial security and you will be happy.
      Jesus says to build on the solid rock or your happiness won’t sustain the storms of life.
    • The world says we need to put programs in place to give us hope.
      Jesus says our hope is in Him.
    • The world evaluates us by our title, power, and stuff.
      Jesus says we are evaluated by the fruit of our lives.
    • The world says to never judge everyone’s path to spiritual path.
      Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
    • The world says your truth is your own.
      Jesus says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
    • The world says cancel and destroy those who are not towing the cultural line.
      Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

    So I guess if I actually live this counter-cultural lifestyle that Jesus taught the world will think I am crazy.  Paul acknowledged that to the church at Corinth.

    But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
        Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
    (1 Corinthians 2:14-16, NLT)

    It all sounded foolish to them. I used to think exactly that about the crazy Jesus people. Now I am completely committed to things I once thought foolish. Who knew? Like Paul noted above I want to continue to mature so I can understand these things and begin to have the mind of Christ. In my humble opinion there is nothing crazy about that desire.

  • Truths I Wish I’d Known in High School

    Truths I Wish I’d Known in High School

    In just a couple of weeks I will be traveling to my hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio to celebrate my 50th High School Reunion. Wow! That is a lot of mileage on the life odometer and you can’t roll it back. A few years ago my great-niece asked my advice about navigating the emotional ups and downs of the high school years. Here is what I told her.

    1.    I wish I had known that my high school years did not define me for life

    My teen years were a mixed bag of memorable highs and incredible lows. Now I realize that I am grateful for what I once considered some of the difficult moments of my life. In many of those spiritual valleys you could not have begun to convince me that God was molding me or that those experiences could ever be of value.

    Had I been the coolest guy or the best athlete I most likely would not have developed a sensitive spirit to others. With the benefit of hindsight I can promise you that I am grateful for every refining difficulty and problem. High school did not define who I would become and it does not define you either.

    2.     I wish I had known that every person is created in God’s image…and He loves them just as much as He loves me

    Sparky Anderson, a former Cincinnati Reds manager, once said that “you can never go wrong being classy.” And you can never go wrong being kind to everyone. Sometimes you will be tempted to ridicule or tease those who are less attractive, intelligent, gifted, or cool. Don’t do it. High school is the start of a very long journey. Some people seem to be leading the life race coming out of high school turn but there is a long way to go. The real winners know that life is a marathon and that God has a plan for that long race. Be kind to everyone. Jesus loves them. And so should you.

    3.    I wish I had known in high school that I needed to take responsibility for my own actions

    Learn now to say these three sentences.

    I was wrong.
    I am sorry.
    Forgive me.

    And keep your “but” out of those statements. Don’t say “I was wrong ‘but’ I didn’t think it would hurt you” or “I am sorry ‘but’ I was having a bad day.”  Those are not real apologies. Take responsibility. Live with integrity. That will make you unique in this culture!

    4. I wish I had really believed that God had a plan for my life

    Every person has a God-designed destiny whether they believe it or not. Henri Nouwen wrote about living with that frame of mind.

    We seldom realize fully that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks. . . . We act as if we were simply dropped down in creation and have to decide how to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do.

    Living out of who you are is liberating. The apostle Paul had some thoughts about such a life when he wrote to the church at Ephesus.

    God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10, NLT)

    Think about that! You were rescued from the death of sin by grace. It was a gift that could not be earned. And you are a new creation, indeed a masterpiece for whom good things were planned from the beginning of time. How can followers of Jesus possibly have self-image issues? Only when we believe the lies.

    5.  I wish I had known that the most important decision I will ever make is who or what I worship

    Everyone one worships something or someone. It can be money or power or fame or popularity or another person. We have a deep yearning to find our purpose and significance. If you don’t find that identity and significance in Christ you will tend to fill it with wrong things. Often those things are not inherently bad. But they can become bad things when they become the focus instead of Jesus. We used to sing a camp song with these lyrics..

    Seek ye first the kingdom of God
    And His righteousness
    And all these things shall be added unto you

    There is nothing wrong with these “things” when you seek the kingdom of God first.

    6)  I wish I had known that God’s grace is the key to freedom

    In high school I learned quite clearly that my performance was the key to my acceptance. I transferred that belief to my relationship with God. That was a spiritual stumbling block until I learned the remarkable truth of God’s grace. I finally learned that it was Jesus’ performance for me that makes me accepted by God and not my good behavior for Him.

    Grace allows me to quit trying to be righteous and actually begin to be righteous as I focus on the One who gave me the gift of grace. Grace allows me to deal with sin instead of trying to manage and rationalize it. Grace is real and powerful. It is not weak or cheap. If you think grace is cheap, go to the foot of the Cross, look up, and see what grace price was paid for every person on earth. Grace should never be my cover for sin. Instead grace is my only hope to deal with it. Grace makes me tremble when I think of an almighty and powerful God who loved someone unlovable like me. Why would He give such a gift to an unworthy child? And how could I be comfortable taking advantage of that amazing grace? I cannot. I pray that I will not. Grace is compelling. I want it to be compelling in my life as well. Real grace works. Love grace with abandon.


    God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
    (Ephesians 2:8, NLT)

    I know that most of us have to learn the lessons of life the hard way. I am still learning after all of these years how to follow Jesus more consistently. He is so incredibly patient and loving as I stumble along. Add that to the list of things I wish I had known and believed.

    An excerpt from this blog came from Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. Click here for more info.

  • Jesus Keeps No Stats

    Jesus Keeps No Stats

    I lived in the performance driven world of sports virtually my entire career. In our broadcasts we usually measured value not by character but by statistics. Numbers like how many tackles for loss or how many yards gained per carry defined value. Character was a nice bonus but performance was king.

    I remember a comment from Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald that really impacted me. He was talking about the impact of negative stats on a football player’s performance. Coaches often rail about the need to reduce “missed” tackles and they keep track of each miscue. Coach Fitzgerald had a different philosophy. His staff does not keep track of missed tackles at all. The staff evaluates each play by their effort even if it does not produce perfect results. His next comment stuck with me. “I don’t like to put negative results in their minds because you become what you think about.”

    It immediately hit me how profound that comment is for followers of Jesus. We tend to keep spiritual stats on failure. We beat ourselves up over “missed” opportunities. We fixate on what we have done instead of what Jesus has already done for us. We write our game plan to do better on the board.

    Don’t sin.
    Do better.
    Pray more.
    Study more Scripture.
    Be more forgiving.
    Less angry.
    More loving.

    And we try really, really hard to do all of those things. But the bad stats overwhelm and discourage us. We do sin. We don’t always forgive. We get angry. We don’t study or pray as much as we think we probably should. The net result is frustration and spiritual fatigue.

    I wrestled with idea of how we can deal with sin in my book Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace.

    In Hebrews the text tells us to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

    Even though it sounds like a daunting and even impossible task, the author of Hebrews sums up how to do that in one powerful sentence: “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2, NLT).

    That is it.

    There is no other way to consistently live that life apart from keeping our eyes on Jesus.
    The same is true for me. When I keep my eyes on Jesus, I have the strength to be bold and the ability to produce fruit that is pleasing to God. When our rambunctious Labrador Maggie cannot settle down, I tell her to sit so she can focus on calming down and doing the right thing. When she stays and regroups, things go well for her. When my thought life and actions cannot settle down, I need the Holy Spirit to firmly but lovingly tell me to sit . . .stay . . . abide.

    Only then do I realize that I have turned my eyes away from Jesus. When I stay, I can focus on His peace, love, forgiveness, and grace, and have the ability to resist sin. If I am anxious, fearful, have doubts, or am sad, I need to sit, stay, and abide, looking at the One who initiates and perfects my faith.

    What a difference between that approach and what too many of us experience. We tend to address the sin first. Stop that! Quit! Do better! And by the way, Jesus loves you. Or worse, He will love you when you do better. Paul always took the grace exit instead. Remember who you are! You are saints! Beloved! Adopted! Redeemed! Those same truths are ours to claim as we keep our eyes on Jesus. When we quit fighting to get better and do that one simple thing, something amazing happens. We get better.

    Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me About Life, Loss, and Grace

    We often do become what we think about. It seems like a pretty good game plan to think about Jesus. Paul summed up how Jesus views our efforts that fall short.


    So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
    (Romans 8:1, NLT)

    Alternative translation.

    Jesus doesn’t keep stats!

  • Contemplating Life Without Forgiveness

    Contemplating Life Without Forgiveness

    I recently discovered an immensely talented musician/producer/singer/songwriter from my hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio. Jerry Salley’s career in bluegrass, country, and gospel music has been remarkably successful.

    I am not sure how I missed hearing about his music but count me grateful I found him. His most recent album, Bridges and Backroads, was produced during the pandemic year and it features a tribute to our mutual hometown of Chillicothe.

    But one song keeps resonating in my heart as I listen to the album. Without Forgiveness opens during a wedding ceremony as he observes the starry-eyed love of a young couple. They are beginning a journey the writer knows will not always be idyllic. Relationships are hard and often messy. The chorus of the song sums up what that journey could look like if you choose the path of selfishness and pride.

    Without forgiveness,
    Life’s a long and empty road.
    Without forgiveness,
    We’d give up and just let go.

    I’ve had a long term and probably unhealthy envy of songwriters who can say more in a stanza that I can blabber out in a lengthy chapter. And this next lyric is powerful.

    Oh we never want to hurt each other,
    That’s just somethin’ that were gonna’ do

    We let often let relationships get away from us when we had no intention of wounding that person. Most of us bring baggage into relationships that can cause hurt. We can act out of childhood rejection and painful life experiences in ways we don’t even understand. But God has given us the tool to keep going.

    Forgiveness.

    Ruth Graham was once asked the key to making a marriage successful. Her insightful response was that “a great marriage is made up of two great forgivers.”

    The math is important there. It takes two great forgivers that understand this relational journey requires patience, love, grace, and forgiveness from both partners. Jerry Salley asks the question that many have had answered with heartbreaking results.

    And I hate to think what might become of me and you
    Without forgiveness

    There is a hope that is available to all of us. The song finishes by looking back to a blood stained street on a Friday afternoon long ago.

    People on a hillside stand there lookin’ up.
    To a Cross that says there’d be no hope for us,
    Without forgiveness

    That forgiveness from the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ is the gift of grace that changes everything. I wrote about the process in my book Waking Up Slowly.

    I imagine the heart of Jesus being broken by our stubborn refusal to consider His forgiveness extended to us and consequently refusing to lean on His power to help us forgive.

    There is fear on that road to forgiveness when you take your eyes off of Christ. Your heart cries out in protest. What if they reject, scoff or take advantage of my forgiveness? Jesus reminds us gently that He understands.

    When you break those chains and allow God to heal your heart the weight of the world will lift off of your soul. It is a long road to forgiveness. Sadly, it is too often the road less taken. But it is the road that will make a difference in your journey with Jesus.

    Satan knows all too well how a world shown God’s love and grace would respond. So the enemy reminds us of grudges both real and enhanced. We turn from forgiveness because our offender does not deserve it. But there is no way I have found to release those grudges without the healing power of forgiveness. Author Will Davis wrote this powerful insight.

    “Once you decide to forgive, you initiate the healing process. Forgiveness gives your soul permission to move on to the higher and healthier ground of emotional recovery. Forgiveness is to your soul what antibiotics are to infection. It is the curative agent that will help to fully restore your soul. It doesn’t immediately remove the pain of offense but it does start you on the road to recovery.”

    I really like that perspective. The decision to forgive initiates but does not complete our healing. You will, in time, heal. I am asking you to pray that you can begin the healing process of forgiveness knowing that only time and God’s mercy can fully heal. That will start you down that road to forgiveness and empowerment to let go of the grudges that are weighing you down. You won’t get there today or tomorrow. But you will never get there without taking the first step of faith.

    Waking Up Slowly: Spiritual Lessons from My Dog, My Kids, Critters, and Other Unexpected Places

    Without forgiveness life’s a long and empty road. It doesn’t have to be that way. Jesus offers forgiveness. Accept that gift and give it freely to others. It is a much happier road to travel.

  • Training Camp for Jesus Followers is Now Open!

    Training Camp for Jesus Followers is Now Open!

    I love football. The opening of football training camps gets my juices going. I watch some of the greatest athletes in the world getting ready to play a highly skilled game. So what do they start with every summer at training camp?

    Footwork and technique drills. Coaches demanding constant repetition of fundamental skills. The best teams are the ones that most consistently execute the basic fundamental aspects of their craft.

    Legendary Coach Vince Lombardi famously began each training camp by gathering wide-eyed rookies and grizzled veterans around him. He would begin by holding the pigskin in front of him and solemnly proclaiming this truth. “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

    Vince Lombardi – Green Bay Packers

    From that rather rudimentary start he would detail the importance of understanding the fundamentals of the sport. I can learn something from that approach. When I first came to faith many, many seasons ago I was so excited to learn the fundamentals of faith. How do I study the Bible? How do I pray? How do I grow in my faith? But something seemed to happen as I accumulated some seasons under my belt. I forgot the fundamentals. I started looking for the latest trend in faith. I defined myself by movements instead of by Jesus, the Cross and His finished work. For me football training camp is an annual reminder that I desperately need the fundamentals of faith.

    Fundamentals are best taught by those who have the gift of teaching and complete knowledge of the skills required. You hope you can find a Hall of Fame coach to teach you. That is exactly what the disciples did when they came to Jesus and asked for His help on how to pray. They had watched Him pray. They knew how important prayer was to Jesus. Now they asked Him to teach them how to pray. Here is Luke’s “play by play” of that moment.

    One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

    He said to them, “When you pray, say:

    “‘Father,
    hallowed be your name,
    your kingdom come.
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
    And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:1-4, NIV)

    Over much of my fumbling, bumbling Christian journey I would skip straight to the “give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins” parts. I managed to miss the most important fundamentals of this insightful prayer contained in the opening words.

    I get to relate to God as my Father! That privilege comes only from my relationship with Jesus. Noted preacher Haddon Robinson stated that in the entire Old Testament God is only called Father seven times and it was always in respect to the Nation Israel. There is never a recorded instance where any individual dared to address the Sovereign God as Father.

    Now Jesus comes on the scene and Robinson writes about the amazing contrast.

    “When you turn to the New Testament, however, 275 times or more we are told directly or indirectly that when we bow before the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should come easily to our lips is Father.”

    That is a fundamental game changer! I can come to the God of the Universe who knows my sin and my weakness and my failure and call Him Father! Are you kidding me?

    I also tended to zoom by the next fundamental. Hallowed be your name. Prayer starts not with a shopping list of what I need God to do but instead with worship and recognition of who God is. We are coached by Jesus to remember how great God is and to recognize that His ways are not our ways. We are taught to remember that His holiness is perfect and His grace is our hope.

    Hallowed be your name.

    When I learn those fundamentals the rest of the offense falls into place. He is my Father who loves me and wants the best for me. He is holy, powerful, present, and offering unlimited grace. When I put my full weight on those fundamentals I think I can probably trust Him for some bread, forgiveness and strength to overcome temptation.

    Training camp is in session for football and followers of Jesus. I pray you and I won’t forget our faith fundamentals in this season.

    Are you ready for some football and an inspiring story of remarkable faith?
    The journey of legendary high school coach W.T. Johnston will teach some life-changing fundamentals of football, life, and faith.     Click here for details.

  • We ALL Bleed the Same

    We ALL Bleed the Same

    Recently I had the privilege of breaking bread (toast to be accurate) at a breakfast meeting with Pastor/Educator Patrick Nolan. He is a black friend with a smile as big as Texas and heart for the Gospel that is even bigger. Patrick is the pastor at Vibrant Life Baptist Church. We had the most amazing conversation about racial issues, the church, and our culture. Here is what my friend posted on Facebook.

    “As we were sitting together and sharing life it occurred to me that people were listening and watching as we had honest conversations about race, religion and politics. Now I believe those who were looking on saw more than an old black guy🙋🏾‍♂️ and a young white guy eating together at the “lunch room” counter. I believe they saw in a real life illustration that the best way to break ethnic barriers is not by rhetoric but rather by relationship!“

    I can only challenge him on the young white guy part. I want Patrick to maintain his integrity.

    My friend said many things that impacted me but I am still rolling one comment over and over in my heart and mind. Patrick said “I have quit worrying what the world does. What breaks my heart is that the church is not doing more to heal this divide.”

    Amen. When I left the lyrics from a song from Mandisa and TobyMac came to mind.

    Are you left?
    Are you right?
    Pointing fingers, taking sides
    When are we gonna realize?

    We all bleed the same
    We’re more beautiful when we come together
    We all bleed the same
    So tell me why, tell me why
    We’re divided.

    Why indeed? I am praying for another leader like Martin Luther King Jr who will remind us that hateful rhetoric never, ever, ever changes a heart. Followers of Christ have a message of hope and light that is desperately needed. But we get caught up in the politics of our world and too often snuff out that light. I have probably been guilty more than I care to think about.

    I fear our culture will get darker in the days and months ahead. Followers of Christ have to make a decision. We can decide to complain that Christians are no longer respected and valued in the culture. We can whine that the media and elites mock us. Or we can decide to show the kind of kindness, forgiveness, grace, and love that early Christians demonstrated to change a hostile culture. Christianity really functions best as the underdog. We can ask God to give us the strength and grace to be a light in the darkness.

    What does that mean? What message makes a difference?

    During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods’ appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

    Perhaps the fact that grace and forgiveness are rare commodities in this society is a big reason we see such anger and hopelessness. Our natural reaction to those who threaten our comfortable safe haven is to strike back. Jesus knew this would happen and He had some very radical instructions.

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:34, NLT)

    Jesus did not say “I am offering a helpful suggestion to love people that look like you and agree with you.” Our Lord who died for people of all colors and nations commanded that we love one another. People of different colors, political beliefs, and personalities all inconveniently fit into the “one another” category.

    If you push back that Jesus was just talking about loving His followers I offer this.

    “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! (Luke 6:27, NLT)

    Jesus knows our hearts doesn’t He? If you are “willing to listen” then hear my words to love your enemies. He knew we tend to conveniently not hear verses that challenge our hearts. Am I willing to listen? Are you? I wonder what God could do if we followed those those two commands?  And how would it look different if we remembered that we are all created in the image of God. Our different experiences and stories should not divide us but instead create a beautiful tapestry of the amazing love of Jesus.

    If we’re gonna fight
    Let’s fight for each other
    If we’re gonna shout
    Let love be the cry
    We all bleed the same
    So tell me why, tell me why
    We’re divided

    Did you notice I centered the lyrics? No left or right justification. The only justification that matters is the work of Christ on the Cross. We all bleed the same. He bled for us. The color is red in every case.

    As a person with considerable mileage on my life odometer I am convinced the culture will never be healed by politics and programs. But I still believe the power of the Gospel of grace can heal our culture one heart at a time. We can be a part of that revival or we can give up and sullenly wait for eventual glory. May I grace challenge you to get out of your Christian comfort cave? Can I ask you to make an effort to break bread with people different from you? To quote the dating site…”it’s just lunch”! Take a chance and trust God. Go meet with a spirit willing to learn the story and heart of people who look and think differently. And here is the most important thing.

    Listen. Listen. Listen.

    I think you might be amazed at what God can do in those moments. The God who created this world can heal our hearts if we trust Him. The decision is up to each one of His followers. We can make a difference in whatever sphere of influence God has given us whether it is large or small. Only faithfulness matters and the question must be answered. Are you in?

  • The Legacy of a Loving Father

    The Legacy of a Loving Father

    Singer Dan Fogelberg was one of my favorite singer/songwriters. Today I thought about a song written about his dad called “Leader of the Band”.  Fogelberg’s father was a musician and he passed that talent down to Dan. Parts of the lyric made me think of my Dad in his final years..

    The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old
    But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul 

    I thank you for the music and your stories of the road
    I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go
    I thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough
    And, papa, I don’t think I said ‘I love you’ near enough 

    My Dad knew how much I loved him. Still I wish I had told him more. But this is the portion of the song that continues to impact me as a son.

    My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
    I’m just a living legacy to the leader of the band

    My Dad was a wonderful, kind, loving, and flawed man. I have the flawed part down. I hope I am following his legacy of joy, kindness and love that he modeled so well. I realize with each passing year how much the leader of the pack impacted me. Every dad impacts the lives of their children. Children listen only sometimes but they are always watching. My Dad probably never realized how closely I was watching.

    The last time I saw my father he left me with a memory that will stay with me till I join him in eternity. His condition had worsened considerably after a stroke. When I walked into the hospital room Dad’s eyes came alive and he grabbed my hand with an intensity that clearly communicated that he knew me.

    Our family had encountered one difficult employee at the hospital. She had done nothing helpful and she had done nothing with a bad attitude. I looked at my sister Sherry as I held my Father’s hand and said, “We don’t have to take that crap!” To my surprise out of that shell that was my Dad came a very clear and loud response…”I taught you that!”

    Those were the final words that he spoke to me. And yes…you did teach me that Dad. And you taught me a whole lot more. You taught me that all of God’s children are to be valued unrelated to color or position. That everyone is important and deserves to be treated with dignity.

    You taught me the concept of grace. When I was in junior high I somehow manage to establish “credit” at a hobby store. I ran up a debt that was monumental in those days. When you found out I was terrified. But you taught me that grace means unmerited forgiveness for obvious guilt. You taught me there is a difference between mistakes of ignorance and willful wrongdoing. You taught me what forgiveness looks like and what it means for someone to pay for your mistakes out of unconditional love with no strings attached. I got a little foretaste of how Jesus would pay a debt for me that I could not pay later on in my life.

    You taught me that humor is a gift from God. That laughing at life and especially at your self makes it a whole lot easier to deal with daily frustrations.

    You taught me a lot Dad. And I will be forever grateful. Perhaps most importantly, you taught me what it looks like to be ready to die. You taught me how to put your family at ease by clearly and consistently letting us know that you were ready to meet Jesus.

    God’s Word consistently paints an image of God as our Father. Many people struggle with that picture because they can only relate to an angry, dominating or selfish father. I am so grateful that I had a dad that helped me to understand the real love of a father and what that means when God says I am His child. But I pray that you will believe the love our Father in Heaven even if the earthly role model was not ideal.

    How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
    And that is what we are!  –1 John 3:1

    That is what we are! A child of God our loving Father. That is a pretty good thing to meditate on today.