Here's a new one...
When I was growing up in the six mile area of Blount County, my most favorite Holiday of the year was Christmas. Followed very closely by Thanksgiving. Both of these Holidays were spent at my Mamaw and Papaw Tipton's house. Christmas at my Grandparent's house was made wonderful because of the focus of everyone on the meaning of Christmas of course Jesus' birth. Now as a boy I would wait soooooooo anxiously, completely wired with anticipation. Quite often this inability to sit still and wait would become overwhelming and I would find myself in trouble yet again. The gathering didn't start until 6pm each Christmas eve, but I would walk to my Grandparent's house at about 3:30pm. That's all the patience I had. The thought of all my cousins and aunts and uncles together and oh the food...still like that part. And the presents, of course the presents. I would sit imagining all of us running around with our new toys. Then the singing of carols...real Christmas Carols that celebrate Jesus. Wow, I miss those Christmas eve's.
Here's the point. We as Christians are waiting for our Lord Jesus. But, where's the evidence that we are truly eager for Jesus to return. Are we waiting with overwhelming anticipation that causes us to move and demonstrate our eagerness? Are we sooooooo excited that our actions show it and we can't even contain ourselves? Don't allow yourself to be distracted and forget to be joyful and excited while waiting for our Lord's return. Let's wait on Jesus like a child waits on Christmas.
Join me each Saturday night on Love 89.1FM or online at http://www.love89.org/. Hello there.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Prize Egg
I haven't shared this story on the air as of yet, so you all are the first to here it. Here ya go.
When I was just a wee lad...yes I was once a wee lad. ...quick note...I almost began this story with Once upon a time, but that seems deceptive since it sounds specific, but it's so very vague.....anyway. We had annual easter egg hunts at my grandparent's house. I have a large extended family and so there were many of us candy crazed, wild eyed ankle biters running across the yard trying to be the one that found the most eggs, because, as we all know as a child that is a coveted title indeed. Well, each year there was one egg that was deemed the PRIZE EGG. This provided a glorious alternative for those of us who never found the most eggs, because even if you only found one egg and that one egg was the much sought after PRIZE EGG you would then be the envy of the hunt. For within the glorious and mysterious hull of the PRIZE EGG was most certainly money. Probably just a dollar, but a dollar when you're 5 is like a one hundred dollar bill when your 20 or 37...or older.
Jesus told us that if we seek we shall find. Now he didn't say specifically what we would find or what we should be seeking for, but of course that should be pretty clear based on who said it. There are so many things to run after or seek after these days. Many of them are very hard to find, but the one thing we should be seeking after is God and His will for our lives. THAT is the prize egg ladies and gentlemen...THAT is the one item we should be desperate to find...God's face. Seek after Him with all of your might and you will find him. Then you my friend will be the winner of the greatest hunt of all.
Join me each Saturday Night on 89.1FM or on line at www.love89.org.
When I was just a wee lad...yes I was once a wee lad. ...quick note...I almost began this story with Once upon a time, but that seems deceptive since it sounds specific, but it's so very vague.....anyway. We had annual easter egg hunts at my grandparent's house. I have a large extended family and so there were many of us candy crazed, wild eyed ankle biters running across the yard trying to be the one that found the most eggs, because, as we all know as a child that is a coveted title indeed. Well, each year there was one egg that was deemed the PRIZE EGG. This provided a glorious alternative for those of us who never found the most eggs, because even if you only found one egg and that one egg was the much sought after PRIZE EGG you would then be the envy of the hunt. For within the glorious and mysterious hull of the PRIZE EGG was most certainly money. Probably just a dollar, but a dollar when you're 5 is like a one hundred dollar bill when your 20 or 37...or older.
Jesus told us that if we seek we shall find. Now he didn't say specifically what we would find or what we should be seeking for, but of course that should be pretty clear based on who said it. There are so many things to run after or seek after these days. Many of them are very hard to find, but the one thing we should be seeking after is God and His will for our lives. THAT is the prize egg ladies and gentlemen...THAT is the one item we should be desperate to find...God's face. Seek after Him with all of your might and you will find him. Then you my friend will be the winner of the greatest hunt of all.
Join me each Saturday Night on 89.1FM or on line at www.love89.org.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Me and the Bull
Here's another story highlighting my lack of brain function during my awkward adolescence.
My neighbor, (who will remain un-named), and I used to walk across the road to my Grandfather's field. There was a bull that lived in that field and we would pick up large rocks and hurl them at the bull. ...for all of you animal protection folks out there, the bull was never harmed...there, now on with the story. We hurled rocks at the bull in an effort to make it mad enough to chase us. It worked. The bull would chase us as we ran toward the fence, laughing and waving our arms and we would leap over, through or under the fence just as the bull was upon us. ...there wasn't much to do in the rural area we lived in...don't judge me. Moving on...ultimately we would always wind up getting scratched up and bruised up, not from the bull, but from the fence. It seemed like a lot of fun at the time and we enjoyed an entire summer of running from the bull...until the bull suddenly disappeared...oddly enough we gained a whole lot of steaks and hamburger at that very same time...weird.
Isn't it funny how we will often play around with the things that could cause us the most harm. It's true in our lives just as it was true for me and the bull. We play around with sin long enough and it's no surprise that we wind up with scratches and bruises on our lives. Signs of playing around with sin that can cause us the most harm. Fortunately my friend and I always made it to the fence in time before the bull caught us, but too often many of us aren't so fortunate and sin catches up with us and robs us of what God has for us. Don't play with the bull or next time you might not make it to the fence at all.
Join me each Saturday night from 6pm to 10pm on Love 89.1FM. Or listen live at www.love89.org.
My neighbor, (who will remain un-named), and I used to walk across the road to my Grandfather's field. There was a bull that lived in that field and we would pick up large rocks and hurl them at the bull. ...for all of you animal protection folks out there, the bull was never harmed...there, now on with the story. We hurled rocks at the bull in an effort to make it mad enough to chase us. It worked. The bull would chase us as we ran toward the fence, laughing and waving our arms and we would leap over, through or under the fence just as the bull was upon us. ...there wasn't much to do in the rural area we lived in...don't judge me. Moving on...ultimately we would always wind up getting scratched up and bruised up, not from the bull, but from the fence. It seemed like a lot of fun at the time and we enjoyed an entire summer of running from the bull...until the bull suddenly disappeared...oddly enough we gained a whole lot of steaks and hamburger at that very same time...weird.
Isn't it funny how we will often play around with the things that could cause us the most harm. It's true in our lives just as it was true for me and the bull. We play around with sin long enough and it's no surprise that we wind up with scratches and bruises on our lives. Signs of playing around with sin that can cause us the most harm. Fortunately my friend and I always made it to the fence in time before the bull caught us, but too often many of us aren't so fortunate and sin catches up with us and robs us of what God has for us. Don't play with the bull or next time you might not make it to the fence at all.
Join me each Saturday night from 6pm to 10pm on Love 89.1FM. Or listen live at www.love89.org.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Leaving Nashville part 2
Well, yes it's been a while, but I've been very busy with the mission trip and work in general. I'll blog about the mission trip tomorrow, but first I wanted to catch everyone up on the 2nd part of the leaving Nashville story. Here ya go.
After Sweetpea was released from the hospital I went across the street to the parking garage to get the car and take her to the hotel. When I started the car I heard a loud noise. I got our popped the hood and noticed a strange looking pulley laying on the side of the engine. I knew that this was bad because this was not there earlier. It was a tentioner pully for the belt. You know the belt that makes pretty much everything work. Sooooo, I went back and broke the news to my wife and called work and informed them that I would not be back the next day as planned. The neat thing is that Sweatpea and I were able to go to dinner that night at this really neat place near down town. It was a nice time together and the next morning we called road side assistance and asked them to send a tow truck and they did. Took me and the car to Firestone, they fixed the car and I headed back to Maryville.
Just another chapter in the book of Ron and Elizabeth.
Join me each Saturday night from 6pm to 10pm on Love 89.1 FM or online at www.love89.org.
After Sweetpea was released from the hospital I went across the street to the parking garage to get the car and take her to the hotel. When I started the car I heard a loud noise. I got our popped the hood and noticed a strange looking pulley laying on the side of the engine. I knew that this was bad because this was not there earlier. It was a tentioner pully for the belt. You know the belt that makes pretty much everything work. Sooooo, I went back and broke the news to my wife and called work and informed them that I would not be back the next day as planned. The neat thing is that Sweatpea and I were able to go to dinner that night at this really neat place near down town. It was a nice time together and the next morning we called road side assistance and asked them to send a tow truck and they did. Took me and the car to Firestone, they fixed the car and I headed back to Maryville.
Just another chapter in the book of Ron and Elizabeth.
Join me each Saturday night from 6pm to 10pm on Love 89.1 FM or online at www.love89.org.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Leaving Nashville part 1
O.K. it's been a while, and for those of you who read my blog, I'm sorry. But, the good news is I've had plenty of time to gather new experiences. Like the one for today. This will be a two parter with the conclusion tomorrow. Many of you may be able to relate to this one so feel free to email me with your particular story. ron@love89.org
Sweetpea, (my wife, Elizabeth), had gone on a training trip to Nashville. This is pretty common, so the week began just as any other week that she was away. Late morning I received a phone call from one of Sweetpea's training friends. She informed me that my wife had been having chest pains and numbness in her left arm and of course that alarmed me and I wanted to drive out there immediately, but she wouldn't let me just yet (that didn't stop me from researching flight info, which by the way doesn't exist...no flight leaves Knoxville and goes directly to Nashville). She told me later that she was fine, but she had been admitted to Baptist hospital in Nashville. When I further learned that she would be kept over night, I decided to drive out and be with her. I arrived at about 9:30 pm CST. She was doing very well and I stayed the night with her there in the hospital. The next morning they did a stress test and then we waited alllllllll day for the results. Apparently it takes a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaally long time to read the results from a stress test. I don't know for sure since I've never read one. But, it sounds like a pretty tough read. Ultimately they couldn't find anything wrong with her and ruled out her heart as a source for the problem and couldn't explain why it had happened at all. Weird... So, we waited some more and then they finally released her.
It's funny...because so many people including ourselves were praying for my wife. The prayer almost invariably was that the tests would show nothing wrong. No problems at all. Then, the first question we have after the tests come back showing no problems at all is well, what caused it? There must be something, because these things don't just happen. The tests are wrong, or you're looking in the wrong place we might say. ...or could it be that God just did exactly what we asked him to do? So many of our friends and family praying the same prayer and it doesn't automatically occur to us that maybe, just maybe God answered our prayers. Sometimes we just have to believe that God is faithful to his word. If we believe the prayer when we pray it then we shouldn't be surprised when God answers it.
Join me every Saturday night on Love 89.1 FM or online at http://www.love89.org/ and listen live.
Sweetpea, (my wife, Elizabeth), had gone on a training trip to Nashville. This is pretty common, so the week began just as any other week that she was away. Late morning I received a phone call from one of Sweetpea's training friends. She informed me that my wife had been having chest pains and numbness in her left arm and of course that alarmed me and I wanted to drive out there immediately, but she wouldn't let me just yet (that didn't stop me from researching flight info, which by the way doesn't exist...no flight leaves Knoxville and goes directly to Nashville). She told me later that she was fine, but she had been admitted to Baptist hospital in Nashville. When I further learned that she would be kept over night, I decided to drive out and be with her. I arrived at about 9:30 pm CST. She was doing very well and I stayed the night with her there in the hospital. The next morning they did a stress test and then we waited alllllllll day for the results. Apparently it takes a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaally long time to read the results from a stress test. I don't know for sure since I've never read one. But, it sounds like a pretty tough read. Ultimately they couldn't find anything wrong with her and ruled out her heart as a source for the problem and couldn't explain why it had happened at all. Weird... So, we waited some more and then they finally released her.
It's funny...because so many people including ourselves were praying for my wife. The prayer almost invariably was that the tests would show nothing wrong. No problems at all. Then, the first question we have after the tests come back showing no problems at all is well, what caused it? There must be something, because these things don't just happen. The tests are wrong, or you're looking in the wrong place we might say. ...or could it be that God just did exactly what we asked him to do? So many of our friends and family praying the same prayer and it doesn't automatically occur to us that maybe, just maybe God answered our prayers. Sometimes we just have to believe that God is faithful to his word. If we believe the prayer when we pray it then we shouldn't be surprised when God answers it.
Join me every Saturday night on Love 89.1 FM or online at http://www.love89.org/ and listen live.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Anniversary
I don't think I've shared this story on the air either, but it's kind of funny so here ya go.
The Story:
It was the night of our 5 year wedding anniversary. Sweetpea (Elizabeth) and I had decided to celebrate in a way that may seem strange to some, but for those that know us, it won't seem strange at all. We decided to go to the Drive in movies for our anniversary. It was great. We watched two movies and left around 2:30 am. Here's the funny part. When we pulled out onto the highway, I noticed a Maryville city patrol officer had pulled out behind me. I hadn't had a chance to speed yet, so I didn't think I had done anything wrong. He continued to follow for a while and soon I saw the ambient and festive glow of red and blue lights...there's some good news. I pulled over and the patrol officer approached our car and asked me to step out. Now, remember I still don't know why he pulled me over. He first mentioned that he didn't smell alcohol, which is not surprising because I don't drink. Then it crossed my mind that maybe my beloved wife had decided to have a prank pulled on me. That wasn't it either...apparently I was driving in a manner that made the officer think I was drunk. Again, I don't drink, so that was just a silly notion to me. After he and I agreed I was OK to drive and was just a little tired, we were on our way.
It's just like walking out your Christian life. Be mindful of how you behave (or drive) ...someone is always watching.
Join me each Saturday night on Love 89.1 FM or at www.love89.org and listen live!
The Story:
It was the night of our 5 year wedding anniversary. Sweetpea (Elizabeth) and I had decided to celebrate in a way that may seem strange to some, but for those that know us, it won't seem strange at all. We decided to go to the Drive in movies for our anniversary. It was great. We watched two movies and left around 2:30 am. Here's the funny part. When we pulled out onto the highway, I noticed a Maryville city patrol officer had pulled out behind me. I hadn't had a chance to speed yet, so I didn't think I had done anything wrong. He continued to follow for a while and soon I saw the ambient and festive glow of red and blue lights...there's some good news. I pulled over and the patrol officer approached our car and asked me to step out. Now, remember I still don't know why he pulled me over. He first mentioned that he didn't smell alcohol, which is not surprising because I don't drink. Then it crossed my mind that maybe my beloved wife had decided to have a prank pulled on me. That wasn't it either...apparently I was driving in a manner that made the officer think I was drunk. Again, I don't drink, so that was just a silly notion to me. After he and I agreed I was OK to drive and was just a little tired, we were on our way.
It's just like walking out your Christian life. Be mindful of how you behave (or drive) ...someone is always watching.
Join me each Saturday night on Love 89.1 FM or at www.love89.org and listen live!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Me, a new deck and a snake
This story has never been shared on the air...maybe later, but for those of you who are snake lovers, you may want to defer from this particular story. I am not a snake lover and they aren't fans of mine either...as you'll see.
The Story:
Recently I built my first deck ever. It's true that I'm not the handiest fella in the world, but I pulled it off. While digging the post holes I discovered something. What I discovered is that some snakes live under ground. I guess most of them do, but I'm not exactly a snake expert, I'm just terrified of them. It's a completely unreasonable fear... no seriously. Anyway, I was digging the post hole and hit a snake. It was not a premeditated attack, just a simple accident. When I saw it, I pretty much went on auto-pilot. I know this because I could hear myself crying out to God and when I opened my eyes I had completely killed the snake... a lot. Don't judge me. This was not the time for rational thought. After I recovered I continued work on the deck and two days later it was completed, with some help from my dad. At the time it seemed like an isolated event and I went on with the work that had to be done.
Here's the thing. God will use some of the strangest things in our lives to teach us important lessons. God showed me that the deck was a representation of my life. Still under construction. It wasn't where I wanted it to be, but it wasn't where it was when I began either. Just like me. I'm not complete yet. However, sometimes during the process of God working on us, the enemy will show up. But, if we surrender to God and close our eyes and let him take over, He will rebuke the enemy for us.
Join me each Saturday Night on Love 89.1 FM at 6pm to 10pm or http://www.love89.org/ and listen live!
The Story:
Recently I built my first deck ever. It's true that I'm not the handiest fella in the world, but I pulled it off. While digging the post holes I discovered something. What I discovered is that some snakes live under ground. I guess most of them do, but I'm not exactly a snake expert, I'm just terrified of them. It's a completely unreasonable fear... no seriously. Anyway, I was digging the post hole and hit a snake. It was not a premeditated attack, just a simple accident. When I saw it, I pretty much went on auto-pilot. I know this because I could hear myself crying out to God and when I opened my eyes I had completely killed the snake... a lot. Don't judge me. This was not the time for rational thought. After I recovered I continued work on the deck and two days later it was completed, with some help from my dad. At the time it seemed like an isolated event and I went on with the work that had to be done.
Here's the thing. God will use some of the strangest things in our lives to teach us important lessons. God showed me that the deck was a representation of my life. Still under construction. It wasn't where I wanted it to be, but it wasn't where it was when I began either. Just like me. I'm not complete yet. However, sometimes during the process of God working on us, the enemy will show up. But, if we surrender to God and close our eyes and let him take over, He will rebuke the enemy for us.
Join me each Saturday Night on Love 89.1 FM at 6pm to 10pm or http://www.love89.org/ and listen live!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)