Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

     I had been thinking about getting a ton of things accomplished this weekend, but to be quite honest, I’ve reached my break down point and spent the entire weekend just poking around the house trying to find things to do that didn’t require much physical labor. Oh sure, there were weeds to pull in the garden, and there is a pile of trash that needs to go out, not to mention the limbs that need picked up and drug to the burn pile. But those things just weren’t in the cards this weekend at all.

     This entire weekend of just hanging out and not really accomplishing much really leads me to a conundrum when it comes to having something to write about. Usually something will jog my mind during the week, but unless I wanted to spend an entire column venting about the number of mind numb bicyclists that I’ve encountered along the back roads this weekend I really had nothing on my mind.

      So between naps and laundry and dishes I did spend a little time putting together the Sunday school lesson for the kids this week. I’ve been reading Paul’s letter to the Philippians the last week. I’ve read the bible through a couple of different times over the years, and yet even today I find it most interesting to read the letters that the disciples had written. Knowing where they were at in their lives, and what condition Christianity was at the time gives me a better sense of the tone of the letters that they wrote.

      In trying to put together today’s lesson on responsibility and apologies, I returned back to what was written in the letter to the Philippians. “I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.” The words jumped right out at me, and completely summed up much of what I’ve been feeling myself lately. Between being just plain worn out and feeling a little disappointed in how I see others acting I’ve been in a slump a little and when I get in a slump I start to doubt myself and where I am going.

      Paul wrote this letter, which became the 11^th book of the New Testament when he was under house arrest in Rome. It is said to be his most personal of the letters he wrote to various church and Christian bodies. In it Paul talks about being content, something I’ve become really good at lately. I have friends who worry about me being alone, about coming home at the end of the day and just collapsing in a ball on the couch. They act like it is something unusual or abnormal to enjoy being alone…but although I don’t find much enjoyment in it, I do find that I am content. Like Paul, I’m content because I have a deep seated faith in Christ and know that He is leading my path.

      It would be easy for me to stand up and set out on a road with my own intentions in mind. I’m pretty sure I could find a companion if I really felt like my life depended on being with someone. But as he said above in his letter, I, like Paul, will keep working towards the day that I can be what Christ saved me to be and wants me to be.” In fact it makes perfect sense that my entire experience with dating has turned into a highway littered with junk cars. Maybe it is because in my own twisted way I believe that when the person that is meant for me comes into my life, He will let me know, and it will feel right, and to this point I haven’t felt that feeling yet.

      I have contentment with my job as well. I love what I do. Oh sure, there are times when the pay could be a little better and the hours a little less hectic, but I’m content in it for now, and work towards the day when I find the path that God has set for me. Paul did warn us in his letter to be content, but not complacent. If you remember another of my favorite bible stories you will understand. I’ve always loved the one about the farmers who waited for rain. Some prayed for rain, and some sent up sacrifices to God, but others planted their seed and had faith. It isn’t enough for us to be content and complacent, but we must plant our own seeds and have faith that the rains will come and they will grow.

     I hope that as you go through your week this week, you take time to remember that none of us, not you, not I are perfect. But hopefully each of us is working, or planting the seeds, to become the person that God has in mind for us. Remember to speak kinder, step outside of your comfort zone and lend a hand when you can. For at the end of the journey, you will find more satisfaction to look back knowing that you were someone who touched lives than use them.

See you next week…remember, we’re all in this together.