Dear Audrey,

24,644.

2,922.

And a very happy 8th birthday to you!

So, currently as I am spending time pondering the Word in the morning, I am working my way through the Psalms. I have read through the Psalms several times in my 50 years of reading the Scriptures regularly but it has been a while. Every morning there is at least one nugget that nourishes my soul, or encourages me, or makes me think. Earlier this week I came across this beauty: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom…. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:12,14)

I’m guessing that Moses was a senior saint when he wrote this Psalm. I say that because I find myself (at 67 years of age) wanting to make the most of the days that I have left and to live them wisely. Honestly when I was your age this was not something I gave much thought to – but maybe I should have.

So if you haven’t guessed yet those numbers at the top of this post represent how many days you and I have currently been alive. (the “number of our days” – surprise surprise mine is the higher number). Moses prays that as he looks forward to the rest of his life that he would live wisely and that he would live a satisfied life and experience gladness. This is not unlike what most people want out of life. Ask people want they want out of this life and you often get the answer, “I just want to be happy.” Well, I want to be happy too. I want to be satisfied. I want to be glad all my days. And I want that for you as well.

Most people though try to find satisfaction and gladness in things that cannot provide lasting satisfaction and gladness. Fleeting yes. Lasting no! Moses seems to have learned something in his older age – satisfaction does not come from experiencing the pleasures of this world but from experiencing a relationship with God and knowing His steadfast love.

So that is how Nona and I pray for you. Our prayer sounds similar to what Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:18-19 – that you would have the strength to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God.

In other words, that you would be satisfied in the morning with God’s steadfast love and may rejoice and be glad all your days. As you grow up you will be tempted to find your satisfaction in things that cannot satisfy. This is why Moses also prayed for wisdom. It takes wisdom to discern what will bring fleeting happiness or everlasting joy. Always know that Nona and I are available to help you in anyway that we can. In some ways having lived 24,644 days does have its advantages.

Never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

 

 

Dear Grayson,

13. That’s crazy that you are already 13. If you were Jewish this would be your Bar Mitzvah year. Jews really know how to celebrate coming of age. But so do us Christians and it was a joy and a privilege to celebrate with you on Saturday and to share some Pop Pop words of encouragement along with all the other men that are investing in your life. I wanted to document what I said so that it doesn’t get lost and forgotten in the fog of time gone by.

As you know, your Dad asked me to share some thoughts with you about one of the fruits of the Spirit – joy.

Let me start with a definition of biblical joy. Joy is much more than experiencing happiness or pleasure. It is a deep abiding sense of gladness, peace, and contentment – regardless of your circumstances – that is rooted in your relationship with God. In other words, we can experience joy even when we are dealing with trials and suffering and the harshness that often comes in this life. The key word in that definition for me is the word “abiding.”

So let me show you why abiding is the secret sauce to experiencing the unmitigated joy of the Lord.

In John 15:11 Jesus says to His followers, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” The obvious question to ask when you ponder that verse is what are “these things?” The word abide shows up 10x in verses 4-10 so it is the key to understanding verse 11. So let me answer two really important questions:

What does it mean to abide? Jesus uses the illustration of a vine and a branch. As long as a branch is connected to the vine and drawing it’s nourishment from the vine then it WILL produce fruit. So abiding has to do with commitment, connection, and clinging fiercely to the vine. Jesus identifies Himself as the True Vine in verse 1, so when we are committed, connected, and clinging to Him we are abiding. When we are finding our nourishment in Him and from Him then we are abiding. But note that when He says He is the True Vine He implies that there are a lot of false vines that often capture our attention and allegiance and commitment. When we try to nourish our souls by abiding in false vines such as success, money, or sex we actually end up malnourished. It would be like eating a consistent diet of junk food. You would have the feeling of being full but little by little you would actually be killing your body. When our souls become malnourished, when we stop abiding in the True Vine, it is impossible to experience the joy that Jesus promises.

How do we abide? Jesus gives us two specific ways in this passage that answer this question. Verse 7 says, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you…” So a key to abiding is to make God’s Word a priority in our lives. Read the Word. Ponder the Word. Memorize the Word. Study the Word. Listen to the preaching of the Word. Sing the Word. Talk about the Word with others. Pray the Word. Obey the Word. Being a man of the Word will go a long way toward fostering an abiding relationship with Jesus. Secondly, verse 9 says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” Never forget that it was Jesus’ love that compelled Him to go to the cross. So think often about the cross. Think often about how our Savior suffered so that we would not have to suffer the consequences of our own sin. Think often about how you were once far from God but have now been brought near… because of the magnanimous love of Jesus. Let it daily wash over you and refresh you. Abide in His love. Paul’s prayer for his friends in Ephesus is that they would be rooted and grounded in Christ’s love, and “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that they may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19). When you abide in God’s love like that you will experience undiluted joy.

So Jesus’ promise is that when we abide in Him and His words abide in us and when we abide in His love then His joy WILL be in us and it WILL be full to overflowing. Now that is a promise worth claiming!

So happy 13th birthday and may your life be filled with joy and fueled by joy as you learn to abide!

And never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

 

 

Dear Grandkids,

It’s already been a week since Nona and I (and her sister and brother-in-law) got back from our most recent national park adventure. I wanted to tell you about some of the highlights from each park and show you you a few pictures – hopefully to get you excited about going there one day.

Yellowstone

Day 1: We flew into Billings, Montana on a Thursday,  grabbed a rental car and drove the Beartooth Highway to Cooke City – which is located just outside the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone. It was about a 3 hour drive down what has been called “the most scenic highway in America.”

 

Day 2: We entered the park around 6:30 am and drove through the beautiful Lamar Valley which is known for all it’s wildlife. We saw bison, wolves, pronghorn, and a coyote. From there we did the top loop of the Yellowstone figure eight hitting Mammoth Hot Springs, the Roosevelt Arch, the Norris Geyser Basin along the way and ending up in Canyon Village where we stayed for the next two nights. We got to Canyon Village mid-afternoon and hiked the North Rim. Then for supper we drove through Hayden Valley down to Yellowstone Lake where we hung out with a herd of elk for supper.

Day 3: In the A.M. we drove back through Hayden Valley and down to Yellowstone Lake again just because it was so spectacular. We saw more bison and elk and a grizzly way off in the distance foraging for food. We were back at the Grand Canyon for lunch and hiked the south rim from the Upper Falls to Artist Point.

Day 4: We started out in Canyon Village and by the end of the day we were at Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park. Along the way we did the western bottom loop of the Yellowstone figure eight hitting Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful. At Grand Prismatic we hiked the first part of the Fairy Falls Trail to the overlook which was about 1 mile each way (because the primary parking area was so crowded). We later arrived at Old Faithful about 15 minutes before it did it’s thing. I was a bit underwhelmed but would still suggest doing it if you get the chance just because it is an iconic Yellowstone thing to do. But in my humble opinion there are many other things in Yellowstone that are worth seeing.

Grand Teton

Day 5 and 6: Day 5 was our only bad weather day. Not really rainy but overcast all day so we had very little sight of the Tetons. Still, we hit all the places that first timers are supposed to hit via the Teton Park loop…Jackson Lake Lodge, Oxbow Bend, String Lake, Jenny Lake,  Chapel of the Transfiguration, Moose Wilson Road, Schwabacher Landing, Snake River Overlook. On Day 6 we repeated everything from Day 5 because it was a gloriously beautiful day – and added in a hike around Jenny Lake up to Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls as well as visiting T. A. Moulton’s Barn.

Day 7: We went moose hunting in the morning. Came across 2 moosies near the Moulton Barn. Ate breakfast. Checked out of our VRBO and headed to the airport. Got back into RDU a little after midnight.

I hope that one day you will get a chance to visit these parks. God’s creation was gloriously on display. The parks were very different but both were magnificent. Here are a few last bonus pics for your viewing enjoyment…

Never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

 

 

Dear Keller and happy birthday numero nueve,

Ten is only one year away. Don’t forget! But in the meantime…

I’m wondering if you have ever noticed our mezuzah when you have been at our house. OK, so your first question before “where is it?” is probably “what is a mezuzah?”

My guess is that you have seen it but perhaps you have never SEEN it. So let me tell you what a mezuzah is because you will probably want to get one in a few years since 1/4 of your blood is Jewish blood. Here is more information than you probably want to know… but I think very interesting.

The Hebrew word for “mezuzah” literally means doorpost. Deuteronomy 6:9 instructs God’s people to “write (these words) on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

What are “these words“?  It refers back to what is known as the Shema:  “Hear o Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One” and includes verses 4-9 of Deuteronomy 6. These go on the front side of the scroll inside the mezuzah.

On the back of the scroll is written the word Shaddai in Hebrew (שדי), one of the names of God. The three letters of this name in Hebrew form an acronym for the Hebrew words Shomer daltot Yisrael, “Guardian of the doorways of Israel.” Mezuzah cases are often decorated with the letter shin (שׁ),  because this name of God begins with shin. Note that Hebrew is read from right to left and not left to right. (See the pictures of our mezuzah below)

The tradition in many Jewish homes is to place one’s hand on the mezuzah when passing through the doorway, and then kissing the hand that touched it. This is a way of showing affection for God and His commandments.

One more interesting tidbit that most people don’t know. There was a popular TV show that developed  a cult following back in the 1960’s called Star Trek. One of the main characters was named Spock, played by actor Leonard Nimoy – who happened to be Jewish. He was asked to come  up with a special Vulcan greeting (he was of a race of people called Vulcans) and he suggested this handsign representing the letter shin – which is the first letter of the Hebrew words shalom, Shaddai , and shekinah. Lots of people know the hand sign and that it came from Star Trek but few know what it actually symbolizes.

Remind me sometime to tell you about the secret code written on the back of the scroll. That seems like something you might be interested in. And the next time you come through our front door take note of the mezuzah on your right and remember that we are a household that seeks to honor the Word of God.

 

Pop Pop

 

Dear Judah,

Happy birthday #4 my youngest grand!

So in my 50 years as a believer in Jesus I have read through the Bible many times. And some specific books are ones that I come back to often. Psalms is one of those. And yet as I was reading Psalm 12 a few days ago I came across some verses that caught my attention – verses I don’t remember ever seeing before.

This is one of the cool things about the Bible. No matter how many times you have read it there is always a fresh word from God if we are looking for it and listening closely.

Here are the verses I came across:

Pop Pop

 

Dear Asher,

A very happy birthday to my incredible eight years young butterfly whisperer! Wowzers!

I want to tell you a story about something that happened to me last week. Let me begin by saying that I am glad to be alive!

It was a perfectly normal Thursday and I was out mowing the grass. I had done our back yard and half of our side yard when I felt something sting my right leg. I looked down but didn’t see any varmints flying around so even though it hurt a bit I kept on mowing. Finished the side yard then started on the front yard. Now, mind you, Nona was not home. That fact is important.

I was about half way through the front yard (perhaps 20 minutes after the sting) when I started feeling weird. Really weird. Like I was going to pass out. The feeling came on very fast. I turned off the mower so I could go sit down in a chair in our garage but I wasn’t sure that I was going to make it there – it was about 60 feet away. I managed to get there and then passed out in the chair. I woke up a while later (not sure how long) because I was vomiting all over my shirt and pants. I had absolutely ZERO energy to avoid throwing up on myself. And then I passed out again. I later learned that my blood pressure had dropped very low which caused me to pass out.

My best guess is that I was out a bit more than an hour before Nona got home. She got out of the car and said hello and thought it was kind of funny when I did not respond. It was then that she walked around the car and discerned fairly quickly that something was wrong. She helped me get out of my messed up clothes and after about 10 minutes I mustered enough energy to  walk 25 feet inside (as she held me up) and crawl in bed – where I promptly and violently threw up again. In a trash can not on the bed. I then either passed out again or fell asleep for the next few hours.

Around 5:00 pm I crawled out of bed, ate a little something and did nothing until 9:00 pm when I got back in bed and slept until morning. Woke up feeling fairly normal – to the extent that I took a 6000 step walk and played disc golf.

Here is the interesting epilogue to the story…. I was playing disc golf with my friend Tony. After we finished our round and while walking to our cars he got stung by something which he never saw. When he got home about 20 minutes later he starting having a reaction to the sting and ended up in the emergency room for 4 hours.  He was told that it was a good thing that he came in when he did. He also told the ER doctor about my story from the day before and the doctor said “tell your friend that he’s lucky and he really should have gone to the ER.”

Neither of us had ever had any history of allergic reactions to stings or bites. It was kind of crazy. I tell you all of that to tell you this: 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 says this, “The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Sin is much like the stings that Tony and I experienced. It didn’t seem like a big deal when it first happened but unbeknownst to us it was effecting us in ways that we could not imagine. People die from severe allergic reactions to insect stings. In my case I was lucky. In Tony’s case, the treatment he got was perhaps life-saving.

You don’t want to ignore sin or think that it will not effect you. It most definitely will. But God has provided a cure – the perfect treatment to deal with sin. As the verse says, “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

 

Dear Grandkids,

Two down. Seven to go. Grayson chose San Fransisco. Bowen chose New York City. Are you already thinking about where you might want to go.

Nona and I got back from our trip  with Bowen about two weeks ago. You have no doubt already heard a little about the trip but I wanted to chronicle some of the highlights from my perspective. We flew up on Tuesday morning and came back on Saturday. That gave us 4 days to experience the city. Here are my highlights from each day.

Tuesday highlights: The Empire State Building – We were staying in the Theatre District just off Times Square at the Hotel Edison. After settling in, we went exploring. Nona had done most of the research for this trip. We wanted to get a bird’s eye view of the city on the first day just to get our bearings. There are about five different buildings that give you a 360 degree view of the city but we decided to go the traditional route and went to the top of the Empire State Building. No lines. We went straight to the top and spent about an hour going through the (very well done) museum and looking over the city.

Wednesday highlights: The Lion King – That morning we had walked the Brooklyn Bridge, seen the 911 memorial and taken the Staten Island Ferry out past the Statue of Liberty. Then in the afternoon we went to the matinee performance of The Lion King. We had incredible seats. Lower section. Dead Center. About 11 rows back. And the show did not disappoint. So much creativity on display as all the characters came to life as animals. Lions and hyaenas and warthogs and giraffes, and elephants and antelope. It was pretty amazing and kept our attention for the better part of 3 hours. We literally experienced “hakuna matata” as we got swept up into Simba’s story.

Thursday highlights: Central Park –  It was a drizzly morning but we walked about 25 blocks from our hotel down to the Harry Potter store and then back up to the New York Public Library and Grand Central Station. We had lunch plans to meet the Austin Tsumas family near Central Park so we trekked uptown stopping at the Lego store along the way. It was fun to catch up with Austin, Amber, Caleb, Norah, and Jovie over lunch and then headed to the park. Caleb and Bowen acted like best friends and had a great time together bonding over the New York Mets and scurrying over the park’s huge rock outcroppings.. We went to see Balto’s statue and then spent a few hours at the Central park Zoo which was very well done. We said our goodbyes, walked back toward Times Square hitting the Lego Store again, the Nintendo Store, the MLB store and then grabbing supper (with cheesecake of course) at Juniors.

Friday highlights: Mets vs. Dodgers – We spent a few hours at the Museum of Natural History in the morning, checked out of our hotel, and moved to a hotel in Queens so that we would be closer to Citi Field and Laguardia Airport. We headed to the ballpark around 5 pm. The gates opened at 5:40 and Bowen made a beeline for the “autograph station” down near the field. Caleb had told him that if you got there early then you had a chance of getting an autograph. Bowen ended up being 4th in line, waiting 90 minutes, not knowing who might be signing if anybody or even if he would get one at all. Right before game time Francisco Lindor (B’s favorite player) came over and signed about 6 autographs before disappearing into the dugout. And B was one of the lucky ones. At this point the game became secondary because we already had our highlight. But…

• We saw perhaps 6 future hall of famers play: Lindor, Soto, Ohtani, Freeman, Betts, Kershaw
• We waited through an hour and a half rain delay ( but our seats were under cover so we didn’t get wet)
• We saw the Mets erase a 5-2 Dodger lead in the bottom of the 9th
• We made it through 12 innings before we finally left (Dodgers won in 13)
• We made it back to our hotel room at 1:30 am

Awesome memories made with Bowen. Keller, you’re next. Get ready!

Never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

 

Dear Miller,

A very happy birthday #8 to you!

Last year in my birthday epistle to you I shared with you some “reflections of an older man.” One of my reflections went like this: Learn to ask great questions. I still love great questions but I have  become a big fan  in the last year of using “unfinished sentences” to start good conversations. Here’s what I mean: I might start a conversation by saying something like  “Finish the following sentence – Two things that most people don’t know about me is…” For instance, I might finish the sentence by saying, “Two things that most people don’t know about me is that I have visited 50 different countries and I saw Muhammed Ali win a World Championship boxing match in person.” You can see how those answers might lead to some great follow up questions. Which is the whole point.

Here are a few others you might try out on people…

• When I have free time I love to…
• I would describe my relationship with God as…
• Something I am really looking forward to is…
• One thing I am really good at it…

I won’t see you today but I will see you next week. Here are some unfinished sentences that I want you to finish for me. I’m giving you some time to think about them ahead of time.

• Two things that I love about King’s Church is…
• I think my Mom and Dad are awesome parents because…
• The best thing about being the youngest of 3 brothers is…

I have about 25 unfinished sentences that I like to use so far. I’d love for you to come up with a few to try out on me so that I can add to my collection.

Jesus loved to ask questions. I can easily imagine that he also loved unfinished sentences. For instance, a few that He might have asked could have been…

• So Peter, finish this sentence: When I was walking on the water I was thinking…
• So Barsabbas, finish this sentence: When I wasn’t chosen to replace Judas as an apostle I felt…
• So Mom, finish this sentence: When I thought that I’d lost you when you were 12 years old I…

Looking forward to seeing you next week and looking forward to finishing some unfinished sentences that you come up with.

Never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

 

Dear Ezra,

A very happy birthday to you!

Apparently as a six year old you are already very much a music fan. A Taylor Swift fan no less. I don’t even remember listening to music as a six year old. I didn’t really start getting into music until I was in high school.

The very first album that I ever bought was Jim Croce’s Life and Times. I was 14 years old. Probably the best known song from that album was Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown. Other favorite songs of his that I loved included Time in a Bottle, Operator, I Got a Name, You Don’t Mess Around with Jim, and I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song. It was this last song that I learned on the guitar in 1979 and sang to my girlfriend Linda Tucker. It was the first time that I ever told her that I love her and began a lifelong romance that is now almost 46 years old and going strong.

My favorite band was The Doobie Brothers. But I was also a a big fan of The Eagles, Chicago, Elton John, Marshall Tucker Band, Linda Ronstadt, and Gordon Lightfoot. I still have some of those early albums. Of course this was back in the day when an album was actually an album. Before cassette tapes. Before CDs. Before Spotify or Pandora.

Your dad and I used to play this game whenever we were in the car together – usually listening to the Oldies station. Either he or I would ask “Do you know who sings this song?” I was amazed at how many of the songs from my generation that he knew. I amaze myself sometimes at how many songs I can still sing even if I haven’t heard them in over 40 years. That is an indication of the power of music.

Music can touch the soul like almost nothing else. The music we listen to will lodge in our brains and stay there forever.  It can inspire us. It can calm us. It can draw us closer to God and it can draw us away from God. That’s why it’s so important to listen to the right kind of music – or perhaps better to say don’t listen to the wrong kind of music. And believe me, there is a lot of wrong kind of music out there. Now, I do not believe that Christians should only listen to Christian music. But I do believe that we need to be careful what we allow to infiltrate our minds.

I say this to you as you begin your musical journey so that you will be discerning. Your mom and dad will help you with this over the next few years but eventually you will have to make your own decisions. Choose wisely. And remember that if you are ever at a loss for what you should listen to, you can always start singing a Pop Pop song and remind yourself that “Its a great day to be alive.”

Never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

 

Dear Haddon,

Five years old. Wow. Just wow and Happy Birthday. You will probably hear that a lot today. And you may get tired of hearing it but consider yourself blessed if both of your ears are working like they are supposed to.

I unfortunately am not hearing too well these days. Now Nona might make a case that this is not a recent problem and she may be right. But I really truly am not hearing well these days. I woke up a little over a month ago and the hearing in my right ear had turned off. Like a switch had been flipped and all of a sudden I just couldn’t hear out of that ear. It was weird. And even after several doctor visits the only thing that I am hearing out of that ear is just a loud ringing – which is a medical condition called tinnitus and is very annoying.

If you read the gospels and some of the conversations that Jesus had with his disciples, you might conclude that they also had a hearing problem. They did not. But they did have a listening problem. Especially when it came to the things Jesus said about His role as Messiah. They heard what they wanted to hear but did not hear what Jesus was saying.

Case in point: In Matthew 16, Jesus tells His disciples that He will suffer and then be killed… and then be raised from the dead. But it’s as if they stopped listening when He said the words  “be killed” because Peter is outraged and, get this, he REBUKES the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So what does Jesus do? He drops the proverbial hammer: 1) He calls Peter (which is a nickname) another nickname – Satan, and 2) He tells the disciples that not only is He going to take up a cross but that if they want to be His disciples that they will also have to take up a cross. If they had not been listening before – well, now He has their attention.

Between the Gospels and the Book of Revelation Jesus used the phrase “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” about 10x. What exactly did Jesus mean by this? Just because you hear someone talking doesn’t mean you hear what they are saying. This is a lesson that it took a while for Peter and the other disciples to learn. This is a lesson that I am still trying to learn. And this is a lesson that I hope you learn early on in life.

It has been said that “most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” I have found this to be true and have come across very few really good listeners. Good listeners don’t just listen with their ears they listen with their eyes and their hearts and their emotions, Good listeners ask questions. Good listeners are not afraid of silence. Good listeners are attentive. Good listeners indeed seek to understand.

One of my prayers for you is that you will become a man who is not just a good listener but a great listener. It is a skill that the Lord will use to bring blessing not just to your own life but especially to the lives of others. And it is a skill that will help you develop a deep abiding walk with God.

Now that I only have one good ear I am having to focus a lot more on my listening skills. So perhaps my loss of hearing will actually make me a better listener too.

Never forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop