Tag Archives: 2020

The Last Word

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Are you one of those who has to get in the last word? Maybe you do it subconsciously, but you still do it. Or, maybe you really get annoyed at people who try to get the last word in. You know the type … maybe you’re even in a relationship with one and it drives.you.crazy. (It probably drives you crazy because you want the last word and they keep stealing your thunder, just saying.)

There are several reasons people try for that one last statement …

  • They don’t feel they are being heard. They think being right, being the winner is more important than being understood. So if they are not getting their way, they think they must continue to argue (even if it is a losing argument … all or nothing type of communication.) This is often a power struggle and they want control, they want dominance.
  • They have trouble listening and giving validation to other people. It may be poor social skills or just arrogance of their own way of thinking.
  • It could be self esteem issues, an attempt to feel better about themselves. A narcissistic characteristic. Not that they’re a narcissist, just portraying a quality of being one. Basically, a compensation for insecurity.
  • They think the world circles around them. It’s kind of egocentric and a demand for attention.
  • And it could also be simply out of anger. Demands for the final word, or simply shouting, is an expression of their angry feelings.

So to respond … stay poised, step away for a break if necessary, and if it’s contentious, just don’t engage. Silence speaks volumes at times.

This is not really about all that. I just wanted to share a last word from MuddyShoes for 2020 and the discussion on last words just came out of my finger tips.

Tomorrow is 2021. And just after midnight, we can all say we have 2020 hindsight. (Go ahead, reread that, it was an attempt at humor and it might take two readings.)

My Final Word for 2020 … LOVE!

Three things on love …

  1. God loves you. (I hope you know that.)
  2. We are called to love God with everything we are, everything we have, everything we do.
  3. We should love others as ourselves.

And that my dear readers is my final word for 2020. May 2021 be full great things for each and every one of you … full of love for God and knowing the love of God.

I’m tapping the brakes, but nothings happening!

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Fear. Panic. Immediate alertness to my surroundings. My brain was going a thousand miles an hour with so many ‘worst case scenarios.’ And looking past the danger, I then began to fret over how much this was going to cost.

My brakes had gone out.

I’m not a stranger to car problems. I think the gremlins of car mayhem camp out in my driveway, have a party in my engines, and take up permanent residence in every car I’ve owned. It all started with my first car – a Pinto. But that’s a story for another day. Suffice it to say I’ve paid for a few mechanics vacations with all I’ve gone through … maybe not long cruises or month long European tromps, but I’ve dished out enough for a few weekends at Disney World.

Back to the brakes. So I was in a parking lot, getting ready to head home. I pushed the brakes to put the truck in gear and ‘woosh’ … the floor pedal went all the way to the floor. Tap-Tap. Now it’s hard to push … nope, back to the woosh and all the way to the floor.

So I did what any insane person would do, I drove home.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Full disclosure. I wasn’t alone. My wife kept staring at me from the passenger side, tightly gripping her seat belt. I swear I heard some prayers muttered. I know I saw the eyes roll.

Also, I live in a small town with little traffic (compared to Dallas where I used to roam.) I wouldn’t have done this in most places. But I stayed alert, kept a lot of distance from others, and made it home. Maybe I rolled through that final stop sign.

This little event is kind of like life right now. No brakes. We wish someone would stop all the madness – riots, pandemic, fires, hurricanes, and more. Do you know they worked through the alphabet for hurricane names and now are using Greek letters? Add to that friends in the hospital, people losing loved ones, and my mother isolated at a retirement home (I haven’t been able to see her since March.) Stop the world, I want to get off.

And now a battle over a SCOTUS appointment. Arrgghh.

Tap. Tap. And … nothing. Not just is there no indication of any slowing down, it’s like some doofus keeps pressing the gas pedal.

Here is an example of no brakes, major acceleration … I was texting my new daughter in law (a year next month, wow!) She just finished reading Kisses from Katie … now she is talking about 14 kids. Stop the madness. But if that’s what they want, go for it. And enjoy the ride getting there.

God never promised a storm free life. He never said it’s will all be calm and relaxing. He did promise His peace and His presence through the storms. He can calm the seas, but more often He just helps us weather the storm. Peace He gives.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Jesus

So no brakes? Be at peace. Can’t catch a break? Peace is promised. Want to break something? Breath deep and remember, peace.

God’s got it.

PSA – ‘See You at the Pole’ moves online due to pandemic

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Today is a public service announcement. Tomorrow, 9.23.2020, is the scheduled See You At The Pole. Due to Covid, this has now gone online —- a virtual flag pole all over the country. Here is the Baptist Press article explaining …

SAN DIEGO (BP) – “See You at the Pole” is a bit of a misnomer this year. Organizers of the nationwide, student-led prayer initiative made significant adjustments to this year’s event in light of COVID-19 restrictions.

Historically, students from schools across the U.S. and beyond have gathered in groups at their campus flag pole at 7 a.m. on the fourth Wednesday of September to pray in accordance with the current year’s theme.

This year the theme is “Return. Restore. Revive.” However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers have planned an alternative – a student-led livestream Sept. 23 that anyone can join. The stream will be available at 7 a.m. in the viewer’s time zone.

Doug Clark, national field director of National Network of Youth Ministries, said the students who will be leading the livestream are all very involved in Claim Your Campus, an organization which builds off See You at the Pole to provide weekly resources to help students pray year-round for their communities and schools.

2019 – powerful tone with high school students

“We’re trying to provide more structure with something that people can participate in,” Clark said. “We felt like we had to give more than ‘Hey, meet at your flagpole,’ since that’s not even realistic for maybe the great majority of students across the country.”

School-related COVID restrictions vary by district, and many schools have not yet resumed in-person instruction. See You at the Pole leadership wanted students to be able to participate regardless of the restrictions in any given area, so they designed a singular event.

“We’re trying to provide an alternative,” Clark said. “It’s an explosive time for our nation right now, and it would be tragic if the church’s response was ‘Well, because of COVID, I’m not going to do this prayer thing.’”

Clark’s hope is that a continued emphasis on prayer will bring about revival. Because the event is now a livestream, students’ families and fellow church members are also able to attend.

The livestream will be available through the See You at the Pole Facebook page, YouTube channel or website.

Since our school district has no classes on Wednesday, and strict restrictions for gathering, this probably is the best thing to do. So adults, join with the students and let’s pray for our 2020-2021 school year.

The Dangerous Adventure

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Nearly pitch black. In the middle of the night, all was quiet and dark. Only a small, soft blue glow periodically entered from the background as the crescent moon occasionally peeked from behind the dark clouds and mist that covered the hollow of Evergreen. I could hear wild (okay, maybe domesticated) animals in the distance. The journey was short but it was filled with great peril.

I started slowly, shuffling my feet so not to step on the spikes or other weapons of mass destruction laying around the lair. But my destination was calling. Slumber was quickly winning the battle, as it does most nights. So I took a deep breath and boldly traversed the path I had taken so many times before.

The path. Not unlike the one many of us take nightly. I journeyed … from the couch to the bed. The lights were off and I must do this from the memory of treks prior. Doorways to go through and pray the doors were left open. Walls to miss. Corners of coffee table to avoid. And pray nothing was on the hardwood floor that would stick, prod, poke, or impale my precious ten little piggies on their way home to under the covers.

My son had left the home and has a abode of his own now, so his tiny LEGO bombs were no longer scattered about. But needles that had fallen from the Christmas tree and small slivers from the pecans shelled still were on the live ammo list. And to make matters worse, I had rearranged the battlefield. Couches in new spots, and carpet edges no longer where they had been a few nights before.

It would be tricky.

But, I survived. 2020 will be a great year.

This journey reminds me that 2020 will be great year – but not because I can see where I am going. For we do not walk by sight, but by faith. Not faith in memory of journeys past taken, but faith in assurance of the One who journeyed before us, is behind us, and is all around us. We do not walk by sight, but by faith (2 Cor 5.7). Yes, that needed repeating.

I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow.

In 2020, trust Him. Hide His Word in your heart … He will direct your paths. And yes, an occasional LEGO might be stepped underfoot; but the journey is made of many steps, and His is the pathway to be on. Stay on it.

Happy New Year!