Good evening, everyone! I hope your weeks have been blessed since my last email.

I first want to update you on Jessy…for those new to this email distribution, welcome. Jessy is a very good friend of mine whom I’ve never met. But through her twin sister, I’ve grown to love her and the entire family. Jessy recently turned 33, has a baby that is almost one (correct me Jess, if I’m wrong) and a son that’s 9. A few months ago, doctors discovered that Jessy had an aneurysm in her brain and attempted a coil in a very precise and scary surgery. There were some ups and downs initially but all seemed well until a week or two ago. In and out of doctors’ offices, etc., the professionals agreed to hold to an early December surgery date to improve or redo (I’m confused a bit here) the coil they had placed on the blood vessel in her brain. Well, apparently, doctors aren’t real crazy with that path now, and Jessy, along with her family, are heading to Mayo clinic late this week to get a handle on things much sooner than December. Through it all, Jessy has probably held a better spirit about all of it than any of us combined. Her faith is the foundation of her strength, and watching her come through it giving the glory to God is something I’m sure we could all learn from. I know this thing this week has most of us a little scared – Jessy’s ready…her heart is right with God, and she smiles and like the competitor she is, she smiles and tells us she’s ready. I ask all of you who hit your knees for prayer to please remember Jessy for the next couple of weeks.

I read a book (hold the applause) called “Crazy Love” a short time ago on the recommendation of a dear friend. The author makes a point about how some seem to always ask for “safe travel,” or “successful surgery,” etc., without regard for God’s Will. I laughed…I’m guilty of that – heck…that’s how I got through college! In all our prayers, I think it goes without saying, that if it’s within God’s Will that things work out “the way we see it,” then that’s great. It’s when it seems not to work out our way that we wonder where God’s will went wrong. In Jerry Bridges “The Pursuit of Holiness,” Bridges opines that all prayers are answered, just sometimes not the way we had it planned. With a grin, I’ll tell you, I like that explanation. With that thought, Jessy, I’m praying for you as much as ever…but most of all, I’m praying that God’s Will be done and that we all continue to understand and know it as such.

That said, I wanted to hit a real quick note about something that’s been weighing on me pretty hard for the past couple of weeks. By the way, any of you that have book recommendations along the lines of my emails, please feel free to send them to me – I eat ’em up. The same friend that recommended “Crazy Love” has recommended several…including Rich Stearns’ “The Hole in Our Gospel.” I’ve read four spiritual books this year, and will tell you that there has been a purpose to the order I’ve read them.

Tonight when I went upstairs to check on the kiddos…to make sure they were sacked out, my daughter raised her head off the pillow and said, “I love you, Daddy.” I know there’s probably not a ton of times I’m going to hear that from that sweet girl remaining in life. The Tim McGraw song “Grown Men Don’t Cry” immediately began playing in my head – he has an exact line about his little girl doing just exactly what Scottie did tonight. I walked to her, knelt down, hugged her, smelling her hair while I did, and kissed her forehead and told her I loved her too. I got up, turned down the lights, and within a few steps had tears streaming down my face. My little tomboy made me realize with those 4 words that I’d let the weekend of hustle and bustle get me worn down to where all I wanted to do was get the kids to sleep so I could finally relax. I was worn out…completely. Walking away from her room, all I wanted was a rewind button so I could have the weekend to do over again…to spend more time, to have more fun, to not let really silly stuff get me down.

Then my thoughts turned to all these things I’ve been reading…

Stearns is the CEO of World Vision. His is not a glitzy account of fancy living, but of surrender. Sure he’s a CEO of a worldwide recognized organization, but he had the ability to take so much more than most of us could imagine, but he finally surrendered (and that is truly a valid word here) to God’s will by accepting the CEO position several years ago. One of the first mental pictures in this book, is of Rich Stearns holding an African child in his lap, with tears rolling down his face. The nuts and bolts of the story are easy – there are starving, mistreated children everywhere…especially places like Africa, Central America, China and even recently documented stuff on Romania and Hungary…heck, it’s all over the world – even in our own back yards. But what do we do about it?

Stearns’ friends undertook a project – and this project is where the book title comes from. They set out with an exacto knife and trimmed out every passage in the Bible related to the poor, needy, hungry, outcast, diseased, and otherwise mistreated and unloved members of the human race that we are called on to minister to. What was left was a tattered Bible that barely represented anything of what we are called as Christians to do. What remained is what so many have come to label the “Prosperity Doctrine” – simply, that if we’re living right, God will bless us with material possessions. The “hole in our gospel” – or in that doctrine, is that it is NOT what we are called on to do.

I sat down with my friend and we looked through the World Vision website at the thousands of children living in FAR below poverty conditions – tears in our eyes for these children. For $35 per month, World Vision allows you to “sponsor” a child to help them get basic necessities. Even more, you get to communicate with these children through sharing of postcards, or even sending gifts at birthdays and Christmas, etc.

In a day where we throw away more than some of these children will ever have, it was an easy decision for me – that I needed to sponsor a child. The difficult decision was how many, and which one. The idea of “picking” the child to sponsor seemed so brutally wrong…I want to help them all! Fortunately, I found comfort that I could search by date of birth – so the “easy” answer was that I’d find children with birthdates equal to my two children. Someday I hope they meet each other. Someday I hope my kids understand that this is what we are here for – nothing else. Someday I hope that Eva of Guatemala, and Nthati of Lesotho both know that what they saw as some guy providing something as simple as $35/month was something we are called on to do by Christ Himself (see Matthew 18:5).

The trouble is…it’s not just the children. We are called to minister daily to anyone in need…to sell our possessions and give to the needy…to sell out, and follow Christ. That’s a tall order…for anyone. Can you imagine having faith like that? It truly baffles my mind.

To me, the commitment to start with an organization like World Vision was the first step in what I hope is a lifetime journey of following my own walk with God – and putting faith that following through with the Great Commission will always lead me to where I need to be.

For those that read anything I’ve written as prideful or guilt-ridden, or anything in between…I want to say one thing. I don’t write about these things to brag – I feel guilty that I’m only spending $70/month…I feel I should be doing SO MUCH more than I am. My purpose in writing is twofold. First, I’ve been deeply convicted about it and have prayed rather regularly that God provide whatever words He wants me to share so that I wouldn’t come across overbearing in any way. Second, all of you are somewhat used to my rant and rave…I try to be inspirational, thoughtful, and a little bit goofy. Tonight I was yanked and tugged by an 8 year old daughter, a memory of my own father, and 40 years of time not spent doing what I’ve been called to do. I have no regrets in life – other than having spent so much time in my own desert, never reaching the promised land for my own life. As I’ve written so many times before – it all starts now…whenever now happens to be for you. You draw the line…you change habits…you get out of the rut…that’s why I wrote what I did tonight.

To all of you, I love you with the love of Christ. I miss every one of you…although some more than others! 😉

I thank God for all of you now, for all of you have had some meaningful impact on my life. I hope if any of this moves you into action, that you too will send that action forward…compel somebody you know to a soup kitchen, to a website, to give of their excess to someone who has nothing…and most certainly, do it yourself.

Thank you,
Bless you, and
Peace to you

Tim