Holiday Decorations

One of my all time favorite comic strips was an old Funky Winkerbean. A police officer is at the door telling the man of the house, "I'm going to have to give you a citation for having your holiday decorations up so late." In the picture you can see the Christmas tree in the back ground. (Note the strip was published around mid January.) The man replies, "But officer, we're going to take the tree down this weekend, I promise." The officer replies, "I'm not talking about the Christmas tree". The next panel zooms out and on the porch you can see a very dilapidated Jack-O-Lantern.

Today, February 1, 2008 I finally took down our Christmas Tree. Evelyn took the decorations off earlier this week. Though it is true, we have both been busy, and maybe it didn't seem to be a priority, perhaps our procrastination goes much deeper. This was our first Christmas as empty nester's. The holidays were not bad. How can it be bad to take time to remember the birth of the Saviour of the world? They were, however different for both of us. We spent time with both of the kids and had a blast with them. But there were no toys under our tree this year. When did that come to a halt? There were fewer presents and fewer jokes about peeking and snooping. There was less activity around the tree, fewer "oohs" and "ahs".

One thing was in abundance. There was reflection and a lot of it. We did take time to remember Christ, the babe born in a manger to a virgin named Mary. We remembered the ride to Bethlehem and the no vacancy declaration of the inn keeper. We remembered the shepherds being the first to hear the great news from Heavenly hosts of His arrival, and the wise men who sought him.

We also reflected on our own little sheep, shepherds, Mary & Joseph, and a multitude of other characters played by our Steven and Stephanie in Christmas plays over the years.

Somehow, packing the tree back in it's box to be stored for another Christmas seemed to proclaim, "It's okay to be empty nester's. We made it through." Deep down inside, I'm not sure I did make it through... yet.

Last night we watched the movie, "The Game Plan." It is an excellent movie with strong fathering encouragement. I highly recommend this movie. Keep a box of tissues handy.

Thus this blog today. We will make it. It is okay to be an empty nester. It is okay to put the Christmas tree in the box for another year. It is okay to move on to Valentine's day with my sweetheart.

Friends

Evelyn and I have lived in Kokomo for 10 years and 10 months. In that time the Lord has given us many friends. We never go out on the town that we don't run into at least one friend, and usually it is more than one. Proverbs 27:10:

¹⁰ Never abandon a friend—
either yours or your father’s.
When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance.
It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away. (NLT)

We are blessed. And with that in mind, I have a friend who is very ill. His name is Jeff. If you read this, please pray for healing for Jeff. He is a fellow pastor and a real blessing to the poor of our community. He has encouraged many churches to get outside the four walls of their buildings and reach out to others.

Thanks, Steve

Grandbaby's first Card.

This is the first card we ever received from any of our grandchildren... This one is yet unborn looking to enter the world sometime around August 8, 2008. Wow! He or She is sooooo smart and thoughtful. Already sending Christmas Cards.

Shopping

Today Evelyn finally spent the money we squirreled away for her to get some new clothes. Her blue jeans had holes in them and the hem at the bottom of both legs were torn through. When she walked she stepped on the dangling threads. So today she bought new jeans and a couple of nice tops to go with them. I sat and gave nods of approval and whistles of "Oh yeah, baby."

She is a beautiful lady. This beauty goes all the way to the bone. I am very grateful for her willingness to do with so little over the years. The churches we have ministered in have paid meager salaries. Often she has had to work to help supplement our income. She is a tremendous lady.

While sitting at my post just outside the dressing room, a dear woman we know because of the ministry walked by me. Her husband passed away very unexpectedly last year. This was her first Christmas alone. In another month they would have been married 45 years and had planned to go to Hawaii. We spoke for a few minutes and shared what has been going in our lives. I let her grieve and encouraged her and she encouraged me, understanding fully the empty nest thing we are going through. If you read this, say a prayer for Whinny.

Our conversation made me all the more grateful for my wife and friend, Evelyn.

Budget

I'm reading a book... well listening to it really. It's "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. During my time on the treadmill today, Dave quoted John Maxwell. "Having a budget is telling your money what to do rather than wondering where your money went." That's good stuff. I highly recommend anyone to read this book. He gets pretty harsh at times, but with so many people in so much debt we need a wake up call. One statistic I heard recently was that most Americans are within 6 weeks of bankruptcy. In other words if you lost your job today and couldn't find another right away, in 6 weeks you would be looking seriously at filing bankruptcy.

My wife and I found ourselves in a mess financially as our daughter was preparing her wedding. We used credit to dig ourselves into a huge hole over the past twenty years. We are now in the process of digging our way out. Anything we buy is purchased with cash. If we don't have it, we don't buy it. In order to pay off our creditors we had to do away with some things. The cable, house phone and house internet are all turned off. We get $10 a week allowance each. We now have grocery money, gasoline, car repairs, annual license fees, clothes, hygiene items all budgeted. Each week a certain amount goes in an envelope for each item. When that money is gone we are done spending. Anything left in an envelope the next week goes into a buffer fund.

We have such a peace that for the last several years was not present with us. We don't worry about whether there will be money for groceries or gas. We know what is there and that really does relieve a huge stress from both of us.

I don't have the time to tell you all we are doing to help with this, but if you are living on credit or from week to week, please get help before you find yourself in a huge hole, with no apparent way out. There are many books on the topic, and Dave Ramsey is one of the best.

New Year

2008. Wasn't it just 1997? No. I remember things that happened after that, such as a move to Kokomo, IN to begin Pastoring Fairview Baptist Church. Then the children, Steven and Stephanie really started growing up. Is it allowed for children to grow so fast? Whether allowed or not, they do it.

In the last two years they both graduated high school and got married. Steven's wedding was prepared and over before we were able to give it much thought.* Stephanie's was this last August 25.** We knew about her wedding since Christmas 2006. We had much time to contemplate and reminisce. We cried a lot. My little girl is now a young woman... am I really that old?

One of our Christmas cards this year was an announcement. Steven's wife Sarah is pregnant with our first grandchild. :) Yes, I really am that old.

But life is no where near over, Lord willing. Should the Lord allow me to continue I plan to be a better disciple and disciple trainer in this "New Year." I also hope to become about 85% of the man I now am... physically. ;)


*(Steven married Sarah, a delightful and beautiful young lady who loves him greatly. Thank You, Lord.)

**(Steph married Nate, a loving young man who takes great care of her. For him we are also very grateful.)