Elevate

Elevate is a free, bi-monthly devotional newsletter published by Rising Above Ministries. To subscribe to Elevate, please use the form below. The current and immediate past edition is available below the form.

Thirsty - October 20, 2008

This afternoon I took my plastic cup that was leftover from my fast-food lunch and filled it up at the water fountain in the office. I realized at that moment that I had 2-3 leftover plastic cups in my office already that I had been re-using for a few days already.

As I stood at the water fountain I couldn't help but think about something my Dad and I used to do at University of Tennessee football games. After the game was over and we were leaving the stadium, we would stop and pick up several souvenir plastic drink cups that fans had just thrown down on the ground. (This was long before recycling ever was popular!)

We would take those cups home and wash them in the dishwasher and then re-use them for months afterwards.

I don't know why I remember those experiences so much. Of all the memories I have over the years of our time at those football games, I don't know why collecting those thick plastic cups sticks out in my head so much.

It was just a simple little thing we did after each game.

I've written often of my struggles from time-to-time with the realization that I will never be able to do most of the things with my son that my Dad did with me. I have described how I've wrestled with my emotions over the long list of dreams that I had that I have had to lay down because of my son's disability.

Activities that I had long craved to be able to do with Jon Alex simply aren't going to happen now.

But today at the water fountain, God showed up too. I doubt He was thirsty, but I seem to recall Christ always seemed to encounter people by the well Himself.

At the water fountain I thought, "why is the memory of collecting someone's else's trash and then re-using it so vivid and important to me?" In hindsight now it seems pretty disgusting!

God showed me how simple it really was. It wasn't what we did that made the memory so special. What made it so special was that my Dad and I did it all the time together. And so God showed me today that it isn't about what Jon Alex and I can't do together.

Whatever it is that we can do, even if it's just watching his favorite Wiggles DVD again and again together, that's what makes the moment so special. Just simple time together as father and son is what matters.

You'll create lasting memories and vivid experiences just hanging out. Even if whatever you're doing seems like a waste of time.

The other thing God revealed to me is that He is the same way with me. Sure He wants me to read the Bible, go to church, pray and all those things. But God wants a relationship with me- He wants to create memories just hanging out with me.

Admiring the changing colors of the leaves and acknowledging Him for it, looking at the incredible sunset we had in Cookeville last night and thanking Him, getting through my day on very little sleep because His strength sustains me-- that's what makes him smile. And that's why he does simple things with me too. Just for the two of us.

Severe Storm Warning - September 23, 2008

Last week I was glued to the television watching the Hurricane Ike story as the massive storm came ashore near Galveston Texas. Cable television networks now bring the storms right into your living room. It's almost become a game to see whose network coverage team can get closet to the wind and rain as the storm approaches.

Becky had gone out of town for the day and so Jon Alex and I were going to be alone all day. We started the day off early in the morning watching Hurricane Ike as the powerful storm's waves came crashing down. There was a story about a freighter that was lying dead in the terrible storm's path and was helpless to move out of harm's way.

Around 10:30 Jon Alex began to fuss and seemed really discontented. Out of the blue that voice (you know, the one that lies to us so convincingly) whispered, "imagine how hard it's going to be to keep him content and happy when he's older."

I instantly was thinking, "Whoa, where did that wave come from."

A little later my favorite college football team came on television for their home opener. All my life growing up it had been a family tradition for my Dad and me to go to a few games each year for the experience. Some of my all-time favorite memories are of those trips. Before Jon Alex was born I had dreamed of the day I could take him to a game with me.

Here came that voice again, "Forget about that dream, you'll never be able to do that now."

Was it just me or were the waves getting stronger and coming in quicker?

All of a sudden over the next two hours I started worrying about providing for him financially. Would I ever be able to retire? How hard will it be to get him around when he is bigger? What about bathing him and getting him in bed at night?

By midday Hurricane Ike wasn't the only storm in my living room.

I was letting "dark side" thoughts roll me around and crash on me like wave after wave.

And just like it gets darker as a storm blows through, my demeanor and attitude grew dark as well. I was just like that freighter helplessly in harm's way.

It happens to all of us. If we don't guard our thoughts and minds, we buy into every lie and negative thought the voice whispers in our ears.

At just the right time before the storm capsized me, I remembered the words of Hebrews 6:10, "We have this hope as the anchor for our soul..."

I quickly threw out my anchor of hope, my anchor of the promises of God, and my anchor that he goes through the storms with me.

My faith is the anchor that keeps me from capsizing and drowning. My faith is in the promise of Isaiah 43 that says even though the water threatens to engulf me and the fire threatens to consume me, that through God I will survive.

The next time your world crashes around you and the storm hits, remember, "we have this hope as the anchor for our soul."

Cling to it. Bank on it. Hope in it. Live in it.