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Reveration Blog

4/13/2022 1 Comment

Protecting Boundaries

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Jed, Samantha, and Rob work for a nonprofit organization that helps military veterans.  They mostly love what they do, but they struggle immensely with the poor manner in which their organization is run. Their leader flips from one project to the next, often pulling them to work on a new requirement with no advance notice. They feel jerked around by the tyranny of what is most urgent—a reoccurring pattern that is not well thought through. Decisions are sometimes made for them in areas where they are subject matter experts without seeking their input or advice. They feel unheard and underappreciated. They are emotionally and physically exhausted because there are no work boundaries or protected times for them to rest and relax.

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1/31/2022 0 Comments

Don't Get Agitated!

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Do you know someone who constantly bothers you?  Are there people who consistently distress your life by their words or actions?  If this is your experience it is not unusual. I am pretty sure almost every human on the planet gets agitated—some on a daily or hourly basis! What causes such tension? Immaturity, unnecessary volume, rudeness, dangerous driving habits, failure to learn and correct mistakes, claiming to know what someone thinks, not listening . . . the list can be annoying long.

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1/28/2022 0 Comments

The Benefit of Help

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Jennifer was suffering.  Her finances languished after months of just getting past too many bills. Her favorite dog, Lightning, a family fixture for thirteen years, passed away. Her job required her to be vaccinated but she was allergic to the ingredients of the shot. Despite her doctor’s note exempting her, she was getting hassled by her coworkers. Yesterday her car broke down. Just how was she supposed to pay her mechanic for this unexpected disaster?

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7/18/2021 0 Comments

Moving Past Crisis

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​Meditation
Matthew 14:12-14—Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus. When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns. As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

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4/24/2021 1 Comment

The Source of Peace

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When I conducted a search for the “10 most stressful events” on the internet, the first two sources listed moving as #7.[1] I remember learning from a sociology class at West Point that moving was a big stressor.  It does make sense.  Moving is largely comprised of change, and the transitions change demand can be cortisol-producing. Imagine driving a packed 26-foot U-Haul truck from Colorado to Virginia and encountering drivers who seem clueless that one cannot slam on the brakes and immediately stop a fully-loaded truck! My physics professors would be proud of that observation. (May the woman who impatiently darted in front of me in Tennessee please learn that lesson). I’m also pretty sure my wife more than maxed her stress points trying to follow me in the Subaru as I wove between trucks on I-40. Despite all the miles, we made it accident-free and in pretty good shape. No animals were harmed, only one old piece of furniture was damaged, and, thanks to Covid, we had no problems finding hotel rooms.  ​

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4/16/2019 1 Comment

Bitterness

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Chad* called me and asked if I would meet with him and a criminal investigator. When I arrived at the meeting, Chad explained that a former leader, Pat, he had worked with, had moved to his hometown and was lobbying to join a historical organization of which Chad was a member.  He then went on to explain how decades earlier, this member had badly hurt him professionally.  As he described the events his body stiffened, his face contorted and it was obvious that he was under stress just retelling the story.  


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5/14/2017 0 Comments

Willpower

Joe works hard at work and by the time he gets home he is exhausted.  Too often he is impatient with his children and snaps at his wife. When he loses his temper and yells at her it is not because he wants to be a jerk or to act in such an unloving manner. The fact is his willpower is nearly sapped.  Unfortunately, because of this, he is also insensitive to the fact that his wife, Alice, is also exhausted from watching high-energy children and operating at the tail end of being sick.  Her willpower and ability to understand his feelings is also at a low end. 

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2/17/2015 0 Comments

One of Those Days

​On my way to Kuwait, Kathleen dropped me off at the Colorado Springs airport.  As I prepared to go through security I realized I forgot to pack my laptop.  Quickly I calculated how long it would take Kathleen to get home and retrieve it.  I then checked with security and the United ticket counter to see how much time I actually had before the plane departed. Fortunately, despite heavy traffic, my wife was able to get my computer to me and I arrived at the gate seven minutes before it was supposed to close.  Ironically, the flight was delayed.

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5/27/2013

Paulownia Kawakamii

​Paulownia kawakamiis are the fastest growing hardwood trees in the world. Mine grew over 15 feet in one year. Their roots extend deep into the soil. Their green leaves are like elephant ears and aside from providing excellent shade, make superb fertilizer.  Kawakamiis produce flowers that are sapphire blue with yellow centers and for this reason are sometimes called sapphire dragons.  When our tree bloomed people would park their cars just to get pictures. The tree also produced pods with sticky seeds but this became a problem. In a heavy wind, the overburdened limbs snapped causing all kinds of havoc. After years of enduring falling branches I had to have our tree cut down for fear that someone might be injured.

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9/3/2011 0 Comments

Storms

As hurricane Irene approached the eastern coast of the U.S., the media were concerned the category 3 storm would inflict catastrophic damage from North Carolina to New England.  My quiet time passage for August 26, the day before the hurricane was to hit, was Psalm 107.  Verse 29 reads, “He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed” (ESV).  Reminded of God’s awesome power, I prayed, Lord, You have many people who love You in that region, please calm the storm and hush the waves, spare our country the enormous damage that large hurricane might inflict.  

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7/30/2008 0 Comments

Techniques

All of our family met together in northern Idaho to celebrate my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary.  One day a bunch of us drove to a remote lake to fish for rainbow and brook trout.  The fishing pole one of the grandkids used broke and we could not fix it.  But Sandy’s daughter, Kimmy, asked if she could just take some fishing line and with her hook baited with worm toss it out to see what she could catch.  She was bored watching an inactive bobber and her idea seemed much more fun.
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Vicki and I asked her to walk further down the shoreline so as she thrashed through the water she would not scare away the fish near our lines.  Vicki pointed to a good spot for her to throw her line out.  We also hinted that it was unlikely she would catch anything because she was too noisy and too close to her bait.  We didn’t want her to be discouraged when nothing happened.  But Kimmy was quite content to fish her way.  Of course, you know what happened.  Kimmy caught a brook trout!  Go figure.

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9/28/2007

Callous

​Mote worked in the building for years.  As I got to know him I was amazed at his disdain for women—particularly his own wife. He would ridicule her at every chance and belittle her publicly.  He made her seem stupid.  He complained of her shortcomings yet seemed clueless to his own failings.  In fact, the more I got to know him the more I could appreciate the pain his wife must have endured.  Perhaps most grievous, was knowing that he was unfaithful to her and completely uncaring.  

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8/5/2005 0 Comments

Opposition

​Angel started her job in July.  She looked forward to the opportunity to share Christ with her new coworkers and to utilizing her cooking skills in the popular restaurant on the busy street of MG. A month later, she fought back tears—work was not going as she had expected.  When the other girls on her shift learned she was a Christian, many were curious and began to ask her questions, but not Varuni, a tall, woman from Pune.   She let Angel know in no uncertain terms that she did not care for Jesus chatter.

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2/28/2005

Laughter

Pity the stuffy religious leader who wears frowns as a badge of maturity and looks down upon those who laugh as frivolous contenders for God’s eventual wrath. He has missed the divine engineering of our marvelous Creator, misused the ministry of role-modeling and will most likely die the premature death of one repressed instead of blessed.  The human capacity to laugh is a God-given gift and for good reason.

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4/30/2004 0 Comments

Expedient

​By June of 1997 our church was $11,000 in debt to a property owner who raised our maintenance costs.  Because of the $3000 monthly property bill I went six months without a salary as the pastor.  God sustained my family through the generosity of a senior citizen who attended Horizon Community Church. An opportunity arose for us to merge with another wonderful church that served in a nearby community and, like ourselves, was about five years old.  We prayed.  We held several meetings.  I championed the plan and was supported by many people who eagerly shared Scripture and a sense that the Holy Spirit was directing us. It seemed that God had given us a great opportunity.  So we dissolved and were absorbed into a larger, healthier body of believers.

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1/16/2004 0 Comments

Quitting is not an Option

​Nicolo Paganini, (1782-1840), ranks as one of the greatest violinists of all time.  One night while playing a difficult piece of music a string on his violin snapped and hung down from his violin. Surrounded by the orchestra he continued to play.  Then a second string broke.  Still, this clever musician improvised and continued playing.  A third string snapped forever worthless.  Undaunted, Paganini played magnificently on the one remaining string before a stunned crowd.  When he finished they jumped to their feet screaming and cheering “Bravo! Bravo!”  Paganini waited until the noise abated then as everyone sat back down he raised his violin high for everyone to see.  The violinist nodded to the conductor to begin the encore.  He placed the single-stringed Stradivarius beneath his chin and played one final piece.  Can you imagine the buzz of that crowd as they returned home from that concert?!

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10/27/2003

Hardness

Vanadium stared at the brawny sweat-laden arms of Dowson as he slammed the pick repeatedly into the soil.  All she wanted was a nice hole.  But he was getting nowhere.  Finally, frustrated and tired he motioned for her to come outside.  “It’s no use!  This hill is made of granite.  Are you sure we can’t put this feeder somewhere else?”  

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6/5/2001 0 Comments

Stress

Shannon’s desperate eyes spoke volumes. She told me she’d walked from Albany to Salem with her backpack and handbags to get away from her husband. She’d had nothing to drink all day, was overheated and felt ill.  Thirty years old, she described herself as a misfit mother whose own mother watched two of her children while despairing of her incompetent daughter.  

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5/24/1999 0 Comments

Prayer III: Changing Me

​Meditation
Psalm 28:2--Listen to the sound of my pleading when I cry to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
 
Have you ever studied the Psalms?  A most interesting phenomenon occurs with the poet David.  He often begins his psalms by telling God of some distressing circumstance he is anxious about.  Sometimes he frets over his wicked enemies.  Other times his heart is convicted of personal sin or he longs for the taste of God’s mercy and strong presence.  Curiously, towards the end of these stress-permeated laments a shift takes place.  The poet who is troubled becomes a troubadour extolling his love for his Lord.  What began as an imbroglio ends as praise!

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7/17/1998 0 Comments

Distress

​I was driving down Lombard when a red light illuminated my dashboard with the words “Check Engine”.  Now I’d be the first to admit I’m a mechanical dummy but I know that when that light comes on it doesn’t mean to pop the hood and check to see if there is still an engine in there!  That cerise glow is a nonsubtle directive to get to a mechanic who can run a diagnostic test and hopefully discover why the warning message is activated without charging me an elbow and a thigh.  

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Photo used under Creative Commons from Rachel Maxey Miles