Last night was a very long, and very hot night at the White House (yes, I call our house the White House as its our house, and we’re the Whites). You see, yesterday when we got home from church and after some Mexican lunch with great friends of ours, we came home to a house that was 79 degrees when it should have been 73. The air conditioner was running, but no air was coming out of the vents and it was getting warm quick.
To make a long story short, after a few phone calls, and a visit by one of the guys who works with me, I found out that the fan motor on my air conditioning unit had given up the ghost. There was not a chance that the motor could be replaced at 8PM on a Sunday night. A replacement motor would have to be picked up in the morning.
Knowing that we were facing a very warm and uncomfortable night, I asked Steph to go to her parents and I would sleep downstairs in my office which has a separate air conditioner. She was almost too quick to take me up on the offer.
To say that last night was probably the worst night of sleep that I have had in my life would be an understatement. If it wasn’t the loud portable AC unit that I have keeping me awake, it was the dog moving around or it was still too warm to be comfortable, or it was the air mattress having a leak and sleeping on a hard floor, or it was trying to sleep sitting up in an office chair. Yep, last night was incredibly AWFUL.
The good news is that the parts are already on the tech’s truck and he is coming by on his way home to fix the AC unit.
It got me to thinking how I took cool air and comfort for granted. I just always naturally assume that when we get home, the house is going to be cool because the AC just works. Sure I do the regular maintenance to it so it should, just work. After all, it has worked for over 6 years without many problems so why not just keep assuming it would be working when we got home yesterday.
Most of us take a lot of things for granted in life. Sure some of YOU exercise and eat right. Some of us watch what we do and eat maybe not as well as we should be we all just think we are going to wake up tomorrow and the heart is going to keep on beating.
Not always true. Last week, I found out that a guy that I went to school with, just 3 years older than me, had a stroke at the end of June and passed away just a few days ago. Just three years older than me and had a stroke. Guys my age are not supposed to have strokes. We are in the prime of our life. We are 10 feet tall and bullet proof. We take our health for granted.
I have a job. Granted its not the job I want anymore and its not where I feel that God is leading Steph and I, but it is a job. I have a job when a lot of others don’t. I take this job for granted because I have been here so long and feel secure in my position.
We have a new tech. He is a great guy. He is very friendly and works harder than just about all of our other techs put together. He appreciates his job a lot more than I do, but makes a lot less. You see, he has a history so getting jobs hasn’t been as easy for him as it has for me in the past. He appreciates his job where I take mine for granted.
I have a great family and an incredible wife. Living 2 hours away I don’t get to see them as much as I would like so I am grateful for the time that I have with them. Steph I see every day and one of my greatest fears is that I take her for granted. I just know without a doubt, she will be there.
I also take for granted what Christ did for me. A song that I heard a long time ago said that “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind” I cannot begin to imagine the pain and agony that Jesus went through on the cross. It was one of the most brutal ways to die in history and He did that for me….for you…..for the person sitting next to you or in the next room….even if they reject Him, He still died for them….for me. Nothing that I could ever do in my life can repay the debt that He paid for me and my sins.
Only through the unattainable favor, God’s grace, am I able to be called a child of God.

What are you taking for granted in your life today?

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Life in our world came back to a screeching halt today. You see, today was my first day back at work after Steph and I spent all last week in Sedona, Arizona helping her parents celebrate their 50th anniversary. We flew out last Friday and came back about midnight this past Friday and I think that we may have actually seen every red rock there was in the Sedona area.
Monday, we made the trip up northern Arizona to the Grand Canyon and met up with Erika Sitton from LMBC. She is at the Grand Canyon in the mission field for workers and tourists there. For the first 15-20 minutes, the canyon is so amazing that it takes your breath away. After about 20 minutes, its just a hole in the ground a long way to the bottom. We got kind of numb to it, and to the numerous red rocks in Sedona also. Don’t get me wrong, they were both spectacular, but they all start to seem alike and we get used to seeing them over and over and over again. We got to be numb to them because we experienced them time and time again.
Wednesday night, I am teaching the youth at LMBC on the subject of sin and forgiveness. While I was preparing for the topic, I realized that sin is like those rocks and the hole in the ground. We have become numb to it. We are bombarded with sin every day through the internet, through media, radio, television, etc. We are around it so much, that society is starting to accept it. Society is starting to say its ok to have bad language and nudity on television and movies. Society is making homosexuality glamorous. The more we see sin, the more we are becoming numb to it.
I am as guilty of it as anyone. After all, when was the last time that you walked out of a movie theater because of the language or nudity that you didn’t know was there when going in. I don’t think I have ever left a movie for any reason. I have accepted it because I am so used to seeing it at the movie theaters.
I cannot control what movies play in the theaters or what my coworkers say and do. I can, however, control the movies that I watch at home and I can control what I watch on television. I cannot control what Stephanie says and does but I am very blessed in the fact that I don’t have to worry about that. She and I have the same ideas and hold each other accountable. We can only control what we say and do in our household.

It is true what Dorothy said….”There’s no place like home…there’s no place like home.”

Dear God,
Thank You for the beauty of Arizona that You allowed us to experience. Thank You for the family that we were able to share it with and the memories that we made while we were there. Help me to know what You are teaching me through our trip and the message that You have given me for our youth. Help me to be aware of sin in our world and not to be a contributing factor either through my own actions or my own acceptance.

Keith

I read a lot of webpages and a lot of blogs from youth pastors, youth workers and leaders so that I can learn from their successes, their failures and their experiences. Today, one of the Youth Pastors that I follow, Brad Cooper, he Anderson Campus Student Pastor at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC., posted on twitter that today was the Friday to ask him anything.

Well, I brought it with both barrels loaded and asked one of the difficult questions on my mind right now…

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For the record, I am not a patient person.

Those of you who know me, know how true this is. I want it my way, right away. I have the Burger King mentality when it comes to things that I am passionate about. I know what I want and like most people, when I know this, I don’t want to wait.

I have been warned about praying for patience. When you pray for patience, will God give you the patience that you desire or will He give you an opportunity to be patient? Several times in my life, when I have felt God wanting me to learn patience, 2 things have been commonly true that I often forget about. 1 – He doesn’t give me patience, He gives me that opportunity to be patient. 2 – The wait is always worth it.

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