Thanks for the milk Dada!

One recent morning before leaving for work, I ran out to the local 7 Eleven to buy some milk for our 1-year old son, Drew.  Later that morning my wife sent me a text featuring a picture of Drew on the counter and included the caption “Thanks for the milk Dada”.

The picture warmed my heart but it also made me a very proud daddy.  I felt a sense of pride as a father who was providing for his son.  Earlier in the day, I didn’t think as much of it but when the picture came in, it changed my perspective.  I realized that by choosing to go to the store, it directly resulted in me providing for my son.

This also made me think of our Heavenly Father.  Luke 12:32 says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” He too is proud to provide for us our needs.  He does the best job of taking care of us. Better than we can take care of ourselves. He gives us more than just “milk”.  In fact, he made the ultimate sacrifice of giving his only Son Jesus to die, that we may have eternal life.

This Thanksgiving in 2011, I am thankful for Jesus and the price He paid on the cross so that I can have eternal life.  I am thankful that I am Saved and that Jesus made a real change in my heart. I am thankful for my beautiful wife Katrina. I am thankful for our sweet boy Drew.  I am thankful for the privilege I have of taking care of my family.  I am thankful for such a great group of family and friends.  I am thankful that God takes care of us all.

Heavenly Father, thank you for everything!

Update: Love the Calla Lily

Recently I planted the famous calla lily mentioned in one of my earlier posts.  It is so amazing to watch it grow!  It is doing really well.  Amazing to think that it was once on it’s last leg and now is looking so healthy!  We are still however waiting for the moment when we have an actual flower!  Hopefully soon.

I can’t help but consider how this is similar to marriage.  If you water it, feed it, take care of it, guard it – it will stay healthy and grow.

I’m still just a young pup when it comes to marriage, being just over 3 years in.  However, I am learning that you cannot just sit idle and hope it grows healthy.

Proper care and maintenance is required.

With God’s help, I want to always try to fill my wife’s love tank.

Water the calla lily!!

 

 

 

Patience

Patience. 

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

“The capacity, habit, or fact of being patient” explains webster.com.  

It’s not fun to wait, especially when you really want something.  I noticed recently that in the parable Jesus gave about the Sower and the Seed, the word patience is present:   “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15).   When we think of patience, most of us probably think about it in a negative way, as in “I have to wait for something that I really want.”  That is definitely true, however, patience also means not giving up.  It means hanging on to God’s promises.  It means believing without seeing.  It means having faith that He will answer your prayer.  It means having a determination to trust and to expect God to answer.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that we will get our answer right away – but it means we are not accepting defeat and we believe that someday – in His perfect timing – He will answer!

God knows all about it.  Sometimes things come our way and we are left wondering “why?”.  Sometimes we have burdens that weigh us down and we see no answer in sight.  I recently have had something come my way that left me very burdened.  Yet by God’s grace, He dropped faith in my heart to determine to believe and expect that He will bring the answer.  As far as I know the answer has not come and the situation is not resolved - but with patience, I am expecting Him to answer!  I am not giving up.  I am not accepting defeat.  Another verse says, ”Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13).   I am patiently abounding in HOPE.   

What answer are you waiting on?  Healing? a Job? Praying for an unsaved loved one? Unspoken? 

Patiently wait on the Lord and determine to believe He will answer – because He will!

May this song by Legacy Five bless your heart.

2,000 Mile Adventure with my Fam

Last week’s vacation to California was quite the week.  All the way from Seattle we drove about 2,000 miles round trip and went as far south as Visalia.    First of all, thank the Good Lord for His protection over us.  We were also VERY thankful for clear roads over the many mountain passes we crossed.  Siskiyous, Sexton, Black Butte to name a few. I also want to officially nominate our Drew boy for Baby of the Year, who just turned 4 months by the way, on a superb job on this drive.  He was amazing, sleeping through most of the miles.  What a good sport he was!  Truly proud parents we were and always will be.

What a blessing it was to be able to see family and friends again!  One of the highlights of the trip was watching Drew meet for the first time his grandparents and many other family members and friends in CA who he had not met yet.   It was also quite amazing to be in the house I grew up in and realize I was now there as a married man, as a father.  Wowsers.  The Lord has been good to us! 

We also had an opporunity to stay with our good friends Florin and Stacy.   I’ve given permission to Drew to call them Uncle and Auntie.   Once again, it was crazy to stay with my family in the room I once called home as a bachelor.  Sumatra Alumni!  Ya!    Part of me feels like this blog should be called “Going Home” or that it’s turning into a sappy Hallmark movie – not that I’ve ever seen one – I’ve just heard.  Jk.

I would also like to nominate my wife Katrina for Wife of the Year once again.   Thanks for the great conversation and fun on the trip!  You are truly amazing and I love you!  Thank you for everything you do.

Honorable mention to my favorite sister-in-law-named-Angela for securing my laptop after I left it in an unlocked car after leaving for vacation.

Also honorable mention to my neighbors for ensuring our trash and recycle bins were appropriately moved to the street and back. And also for retrieving our mail.

Upon returning home, there is one nomination I am not willing to make.  I would NOT like to give any honorable mention to the crows who took advantage of my carelessness and poked through the bag of David sun flower seeds I left in the drive way by accident - I will give it to you guys though – pretty clever that you can actually crack open the seeds and leave me the shells all over our driveway.

It’s great to be home from our long trip, but it was a trip filled with great memories.  Thanks everyone.

Merry Christmas from Rome

On this Christmas day in 2010, I find it very ironic that the Bing homepage features an image of a Christmas Tree infront of the Roman Colosseum-The place where many Christians paid the ultimate price for their faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I’m so thankful for Jesus, the real reason for Christmas and the hope that He bought to us through His life, death and Resurrection! 

I’m also thankful for the many who have stood for the Faith over the centuries so that it could reach us in 2010.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Love the Calla Lily

“If you want to keep a sweet wife, keep some sugar in the kitchen.”  That piece of advice, along with others, was recorded on my brother’s wedding video.

Now that I’ve been married for almost 3 years, I think it’s safe to also dish out some free advice to anyone who’s listening.  Men, if you want to keep a sweet wife, love the calla lily!  Or, don’t give up on the calla lily.   That was the lesson I learned recently.  

After being married for just a couple of months, I gave my wife a calla lily plant.  She loves calla lilies.  It’s the main flower we had our wedding.  Surely by giving her this plant, I must’ve scored some points with her.  Now, while I must admit, I ended up being the one who took care of this calla lily most of the time, it was still something she treasured. 

Over the next couple of years, due to my inconsistent watering habits I’m sure, part of the plant would dry out and I would have to take appropriate maintenance measures.  Add to this weekend getaways and the plant would once again go without watering.  It was very interesting to watch the plant go from being very healthy to not so healthy to healthy again, depending on the level of care given.     I guess that in itself could also be a lesson both in spiritual and relational matters.  If you “water”, it will grow. 

Although the plant survived a prior move, the most recent move as we became first-time homeowners almost sealed its fate.  The plant quickly found itself in the garage with other boxes and items left to be dealt with another time.  Honestly, I gave up on the calla lily.  I didn’t want to water it anymore.  I guess I didn’t realize that such a casual decision would result in quite the opposite reaction from my lovely wife.   When she saw the plant on life support there in our garage after not reciving water for quite some time, and hearing me say I gave up on it, she was obviously saddened.  Again, while I was the one who normally took care of the plant, to her it was still a special gift that had a special place in her heart still-even if this fact didn’t produce more trips to the sink for water.

After seeing her reaction to the situation, I realized I had to do something.  Afterall, this is the love of my life and I want to love what she loves.  While I didn’t call on Cisco (those in the Seattle area may know who that is), I did call on the Creator of this plant.  Yes, I actually prayed to God that this plant would not die.  I did that because I realized how important it was to my wife and thus it became important to me. I have since brought the plant back in the house and began watering it.  The future seems bright.  There is green on the plant still and that has to be a good sign! 

Oh what a lesson was learned on that day.  Love what your spouse loves.  Or at least appreciate it.  You don’t have to become a robot and not have your own preferences, but I guess what I’m really saying goes back to speaking your spouse’s love language.  (The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman.)  If you want her to feel loved, love her in the way that makes her feel loved, speak through her love language whether that be the language of words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch.  Loving what she loves, value what she values, and sometimes just simply love the calla lily!

Teachers

“Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.”  – Isaiah 48:17

The school year is underway in Washington for many.  For those who have not started yet, I’m sure your time will come shortly.   Today, we salute teachers.   Of course I especially tip my hat (SF Giants cap baby!) off to a certain teacher from the Bellevue School District because I also get to call her my wife, my soul-mate, my best friend. 

It is possible that many in the private sector, and I’m sure at one point I may have been guilty of this, don’t really realize how difficult of a job teaching is.   Last year was my wife’s first year of teaching and let me tell you, she, as one of her co-workers put it, got “4 years experience in one 1 year”.    It was a hard year-let’s not beat around the bush.  (Plus, it’s time we stopped beating around the Bush because he’s been out of office for almost 2 years…it might be time to start taking responsibility-but that’s a whole different blog.)  Most of us show up to work and have to deal with our own work load – make sure we get “our” stuff done.  Some may have employees working for them and so that of course adds to the responsibility of doing your job, and ensuring those working for you, are doing the same.

Teachers however are constantly dealing with all types of personalities and learning styles and abilities.  The pressures that come with the job I’m sure are great.  So I appreciate the profession.  Teachers also have a privilege of shaping and molding our children into fine responsible adults.  

Today’s verse of the day on www.biblegateway.com talks about a different teacher however-Almighty God.   I’m thankful for the best Teacher.  He certainly does teach us to “profit” and shows us the way “we should go”-even when we think we know better.   I’m so thankful that, as my former Pastor Gilbert Olson would often remind us, this Teacher, the Holy One of Israel, has “thoughts of peace and not of evil”, to give us an “expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11). 

Lord help me to be teachable.  Not only by You, but also by those who you’ve put around me who have thoughts of peace and not of evil.

There is A God

Today I had part 3 of my physical exam.  If it’s been a while since you’ve had a check up, I would recommend it’s time!    Today, we reviewed blood work results.   Let me just say that it’s time to exercise regularly and eat better!  I’m sure you don’t want to hear every detail of my check-up, and believe you me – I’m not sharing.   However, today’s doctor’s visit, along with another conversation from earlier in the day, provided some inspiration for a new blog.  That being, I want to praise God for how amazing He is and how marvelous His works truly are.  I’ll start with the doctor’s visit. 

As we reviewed blood work line by line, I was fascinated by the thought of having hundreds of billions of platelets in my blood.  Wow.  Hundreds of billions???  Can you comprehend that?   Certainly, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).  I’m thankful for the fact that I have a Christian doctor.  I said to him sarcastically (who me??!), “Wow, and all of that by accident, by a big bang”.    I’m glad he quickly conveyed his disagreement.   I concurred.    

The second thing that happened today was a conversation about babies.  Specifically-babies in their momma’s tummies.    As my wife and I eagerly await our little boy due in November, it’s been so fun to see him via the ultra sound exams.  I will always treasure that.  It leaves you speechless to see a little person on the screen – alive, moving, and so beautiful!  My wife can attest to the “moving” part as he certainly knows how to kick!   Back to the conversation I had today.  One of the people in the conversation made a comment about how they were always pro-choice yet by their comment alluded to the fact of how amazing of an experience the ultra-sound exam was.   While the conversation today was not a Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice debate, I did clarify that our views on the matter were on complete opposite ends.  My friend informed me that they were aware of that fact.   

Again, this is not meant to turn into a debate.  However, as in the platelet example, it is amazing how a baby develops in the mother’s womb.  Websites such as webmd.com or many other books can provide more details on the weekly progression, for example at week 26 – the baby’s eyes open!  I can list so many other fascinating facts about the weekly development, it is truly amazing, but you’ll have to do your own research.   However, just as in the blood/platelet example-it comes back to a Creator. 

I would that everyone believes in God and follows His Word-the Bible, however, it is a personal choice.  I’m thankful that I’ve made the choice to follow Jesus, God’s Son.   If you don’t want to serve God, or embrace His precepts taught in His Word – that is again a personal choice.  You have a free will and no one will force you, including God.  However, to deny His existence is like putting your head in the sand.  I once heard the saying, “Spit in my face but don’t tell me it’s raining.”  I love it.  I think that can apply here.   God is all around us.  The heavens declare His Glory.  The mountains, trees, and oceans are His.  And of course, the difference He makes down in our hearts.   I can see why the Bible says that “the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1).

Hundreds of billions of platelets. 

A live, beautiful, thriving fully developed human being.

Accident?  Big Bang?   Mother nature? 

Almighty God!

Fill the love tank

I love my wife.   I love being married to my best friend.  Marriage-it really is a beautiful thing.   I’m glad God invented it.  I have been blessed to be married now for 2 years and 4 months.  It has been the best time of our life.  I remember my former pastor Gilbert Olson how he would explain that God made woman out of man’s rib, not from other parts.  The rib because the man is to love and protect her under his wing.  In a day and age where marriage is under attack, minimized and disregarded I am grateful to God for His plan for marriage.  Marriage vows are a serious thing.  I’ve heard it said it is the 2nd most important decision you make in your life, the decision of who you will marry.   The first being choosing to serve Jesus Christ.   I agree with that.   I’m so thankful for my wife and am so blessed to share a life with her as husband and wife “till death do us part.”   

I have already blogged about the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman and although I still have not finished reading the book, I am making progress and hopefully will be done soon.  Maybe a week’s vacation at the beach will help with that task!   I think everyone should read this book; it’s nothing new if you really think about it but, yet so inspiring!  

Everyone has a love language.  We each have our own way of showing love to others and in return we each have our own way of receiving love from others.   “Filling the love tank” of your spouse is so crucial and you need to know how to do it more effectively! 

My wife’s primary love language is “acts of service”.  Not to pat myself on the back, but I have to give a real-life example.   The other day I decided to work on my wife’s library (to convert it to a nursery!) instead of working on other things.  I decided to do this while she was in bed.  It would be the perfect surprise in the morning!  I have to admit, it made me so excited to think about her reaction.  She would feel so loved.  The goal would be achieved!  What a thrill! Seriously.  Did it work?  Yes!  She still gets excited thinking about it.  (Just to clarify, working on the nursery meant removing books and furniture.  I did not dare decorate the actual nursery.  I don’t think baseball cards and SF Giants memorabilia is what she has in mind. )

Filling her love tank.  That is my goal.  That should be everyone’s goal-well, get your own spouse though.  I made a comment to a friend recenlty saying, “I still try to please my wife”.  I’m sorry (well no I’m not), but am I suppose to relax after a certain time?   Does being crazy about your spouse become less cool after a certain time passes?  Not in this camp.  With God’s help and grace, I will make it a life-long goal to “fill my wife’s love tank”.   You get the idea.  Think about it…if everyone focused on filling their spouse’s love tank, how different would our society be because marriages are healed, homes are restored and families are coming together instead of apart.  Wow.

Far Beyond That Place

“Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Mark 14:9

Have you ever considered that what you do today can have an effect on someone 20 years from now? How about 50? 100? 1,000? How about for all eternity?   In Mark 14 we read about a woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, much to the annoyance of others in the room there at Simon’s house.   While others grumbled at her waste of expensive ointment, Jesus said that was she was doing now would be for a memorial.   As most of you who know, I love Southern Gospel music and one of my favorite groups, Great Vision, sings about this exact thing in the song titled “Far Beyond This Place”.  Truly, this woman’s worship does reach far beyond that place. 

My parents recently came up to visit my wife and I, and we had a blessed time.  After dinner one night, my Dad began to share with us the 8-year process of migrating a family of 11 to the United States from Romania.   Yes, it took 8 years.  And yes, 11; 2 parents and 9 kids.   While I won’t go into all the details in this blog about all of the different roadblocks and challenges that were presented to my Dad as he attempted to leave Romania with the family, but I will share one story that really speaks to the Amazing Grace of God.

As one of many requirements for gaining approval to move to the U.S., My Dad would need to take the entire family to the “big city” to undergo medical and psychological exams as part of the process.   A daunting task he thought, I mean how do you travel to a big city with 9 kids?  Sure, the train ride over would be ok, however upon arrival, multiple taxis would surely be required for transporting the whole family.  Not sure how many parents out there like the idea of sending your kids alone in a taxi, however that was what he was faced with.  Not to mention the costs associated with traveling with, and lodging, a family of 11. 

Prior to having to take the family for the exams, Dad found himself at the embassy, visiting with a friend who worked there and began talking about the situation.  Little did my Dad know that his conversation was being overheard by an unlikely source.  A lady, who my Dad did not know, approached my dad.  The rest of the story will give you chills, just to warn you.

Since I do not know what this lady’s name is, but I do know that through her obedience, God’s Faithfulness was clearly displayed, we will herein refer to her as “Faith”.   As Faith approached my dad she said, “I felt God telling me today that I must go to the Embassy.  I was confused because I had no business at the Embassy today.  Yet, now I know why I am here. “  Faith provided my Dad with her contact information and instructed him to call her when he would be making the trip back out there with the family for the medical and psychological testing. 

It was time to make the trip out to the city and so my dad called Faith.  She was not available however the party on the other line had clear instructions left by Faith.  Faith had provided details about my family’s need and although she could not be there personally to help, she took care of all the arrangements!

As soon as the train arrived at its destination, and my Dad began descending off the train, he heard, “Baros!”.  A gentleman was there, along with others, who informed my Dad that they had cars ready for the whole family.  They drove the family out to a 3-bedroom house and said, “this is for you.”  As if that was not enough, they took care of all the meals.   Further, my Mom even tells of an instance when she was in need of milk for the baby and had to run out to the store to get some, that it resulted in the host being upset because my parents did not request the milk to be retrieved on their behalf.  Can you believe it?  The hosts did not even want my folks to simply get milk form the store, they wanted to serve in all things.  Wow.

And now, here we are in 2010 hearing this amazing story retold.  The incident above probably happened around 1980.   Where is Faith now?  Is she still alive?  I don’t know.  Heaven does know.   One thing I do know however is that almost 30 years later, Faith’s obedience to God-by going to the embassy where He would use her for His Glory, had this wanna-be blogger fighting back the tears as I considered God’s Amazing Grace. 

Truly, the result of Faith’s obedience around 1980 is felt far beyond that place in Romania and has reached Seattle, WA in 2010.