.... and it's football season ......

OH YES! It's that time of year -- when Fedor gets all happy and silly and totally consumed by college football. But, hey, it's a great thing - Navy football! Even though Candeto has left the game -- let tradition continue on!

Go Navy! Beat Army!

Isaiah 6:8

Yes.... it's that time again.... this day in history....

Yes, friends.... It's that day in history -- August 9, at 12:00 PM when my favorite president - Richard Milhous Nixon got on to Marine One for the last time as president in the year 1974.

As I have joked and sent some of you a meeting request for a moment of silence :) -- I will admit that it has (as it always does this time of year) to take inventory on how history will view me/you/us? For a man like Nixon he fought hard to NOT be remembered by history as "Watergate" -- unfortunately, decades later that is still the case.

What will history remember you as? When you are gone and someone brings up your name, what will be their initial thought about your life, your character, your impact on peoples lives? What do you want them to say? How are you going to make changes?

As I had the privilege to hang out with Julie Nixon Eisenhower and learn about "her dad" not "the president" I gained a lot of knowledge about Nixon. What a privilege that time was. How amazing is it that Nixon became a Christian after his resignation thanks to people like Billy Graham who invested in him. When the world turned their back on him, others saw hope.

Nixon reminds me that we are all sinners and that we should rightfully be humiliated by the sins we commit. Can you imagine if YOUR sins and thoughts were broadcasted across the world. Yeah, I thought so! After studying Nixon for years that's one of the things I've learned. We all have that tendancy and by the grace of God our sins aren't on the tv screens of the world. But, that's what we deserve. God sees them, yet due to HIS love for us, HE forgives them.

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

Thorns and keys

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But, He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

On my way in to work in the mornings - I usually listen to one of my favorites (and my old pastor) - Allistair Begg on www.truthforlife.org
The message was one that hit me up side the head. I've long been struggling with health issues causing extreme fatigue, loss of appetite, weight gain, and clumsiness. I've been frustrated that I've not found a doctor to actually figure out what is going on and how to "quickly" fix it so that I can feel better and get on living my life "normally." It was such a blessing to hear how the Lord chooses to use thorns in our side to bring us closer to Himself and to show us just how weak we truly are. It has been something that I've been wrestling with this past week. It's been so amazing how I've been filtering things that are going on in my life through this scripture. It's easy to look at Paul - a godly man - and think that of course he could deal with this, it's Paul! But, I believe this scripture is here to encourage us today. To remind each one of us of the vastness of the Lord's process. We are so concerned with getting through the trial or thorn and making plans about what we'll do when.... we have enough money, enough time, better health, better living situation, etc. Well, that's a lie! God does not guarantee that He will ever remove the thorns that HE Himself has chosen to put there. God does not waste time, He is intentional, He knows what He's doing.

So, all that to say, I'm thankful (a little bit more than a week ago) that these things are going on in my life. It has provided me with a reality that I need to rely on Christ who has carried all this for me. That no matter what I don't have or get, He is always with me, and His grace is sufficient. That's key to remember when I feel like there will never be resolution. May your thorns be covered by His grace.