Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…

Dear Lord; Good morning Father.  Well Lord, I didn’t exactly start the day on a stellar note.  As You well know, Shannon and I very seldom have any significant arguments.  We’re very much on-keel with each other, and any little disagreements we do have now and again are usually quickly and calmly worked out.

That wasn’t the case today however.

A simple misreading of a reaction to something I said led to tempers flaring on both sides, and a twenty minute excited exchange… Over basically nothing.

Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. – 2 Timothy 2:23-24

Ouch!  Yep, that pretty much describes our fight… foolish and stupid.  I stand convicted Lord, and am deeply ashamed.  Instead of listening for Your Guidance in that moment, I allowed my temper to shut myself off from You and caused unnecessary pain to someone I love deeply.

Heavenly Father, please help me focus my heart and mind on Your Voice in times of stress.  Help me not be quick to anger, and instead bring a level head and calm influence to situations that arise.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. – James 1:19-20

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Focus on Acceptance…

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!  First off, I want to thank You for another lovely weekend with my family and friends.  Date night with my wonderful wife Shannon on Saturday night was a great way to end the week, and although I ended up “under the weather” on Sunday, I was Blessed in that my family made sure I had the quiet time I needed to rest and recuperate.  I certainly wasn’t as productive as I had originally planned on being, but the downtime did help us all to recharge our batteries for the week ahead.

Today Lord, I want to delve further into my Focus Word (Accept) for the year and how it’s already affected my thoughts and actions.  It’s amazing to me, but since You placed that word in my heart I find it jumping into my head quite regularly.  For example, I had a situation this weekend where I was extremely uncomfortable with the way someone was acting in a public situation.  They weren’t doing anything wrong per-se, but it made me feel awkward all the same.

“You need to Accept them for who they are” I heard in the back of my head.

Fair enough.  As I said, they weren’t doing anything wrong and they certainly weren’t hurting me in any way.  I realized I had just taken it upon myself to feel uncomfortable at the way they were behaving, and was letting it affect my disposition.

Therefore, today’s statement of focus from my experience this weekend is :

I need to Accept that God has made each of us an individual who is unique and special.

Now please understand Father, this doesn’t mean I won’t stand up against people doing something morally or ethically wrong, or not confront evil wherever I see it.  I simply need to have more flexibility when dealing with differences in how Your Children act and interact with others.  You’ve made us all wonderfully individual and unique, and I’m going to work on celebrating those differences more.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Accepting my Limitations

Dear Lord; Good morning Father, and happy Wednesday.  Well, first off I want to thank You for limiting the snowfall in our neck of the woods.  What potentially could have been a huge mess ended up being limited to a 3 – 4” coating that simply covered everything with a pretty white blanket.  The kids still got a day off of school but everything else seems to be moving along as normal, for which I’m very much appreciative.

Today Father, I’d like to discuss one of my biggest challenges if I may.  I Lord, am a “fixer”; my nature is to try to fix things no matter what.  While in many cases that can be a positive character trait, in some situations it ends up causing more trouble than helping.  This morning was a case in point for the latter.

Shannon had a very rough night and didn’t sleep well due to some pain in her legs, and woke a little on the edgy side.  I tried talking with her about it and after several pointed questions to see what I could do to help, it became apparent that all I was doing was aggravating her further.  I completely misread the situation and in my efforts to “solve a problem” I missed the point and handled it poorly.  Thinking about it on my ride to work this morning, I realized that this part of my nature needs to be more carefully tempered going forward.  For that to happen, when my urge to “jump in” strikes I need to remember a couple truths :

I’m not in control.  I can’t fix everything.

While I actually do know this Father, my brain sometimes ignores these seemingly simple facts when I see something I feel that I can help with.  I need to know when to simply sit and listen, and when to realize that things are outside my scope and to leave them in Your Loving Care.

Heavenly Father, please steer and temper my yearning spirit.  Help me make good choices as to how I can best serve Your Will, and to be the best Child of God that I can.  Where I can be of help, may Your Presence be my Guide to a positive end.  However when my involvement is not warranted, please help me recognize my limitations and lift those situations to Your Care.  In You, all things are possible Lord.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Morning Realizations

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!  Well, once again You’ve set the conversation topic for our morning chat.  Here I was all ready to talk about plans for the new year, and then You intervened and kept redirecting me to discuss the morning rush at our house.

Well Father, as You know weekday mornings at our home tend to be a little on the chaotic side.  I’m the light sleeper in the house, so when the alarm goes off it’s me that gets up to start things rolling for the day (Shannon could sleep through a small nuclear device being detonated nearby… LOL).  The first 15 minutes of the day becomes a flurry of activity between running dogs out, to waking up children and finally prompting Shannon until she stirs as well.  Some days are better than others, but no matter what my “Wake Up Call” is never a welcomed experience by the rest of the household.  The balance of the next hour is spent getting everyone clean, clothed, fed and ready to get out the door in time.  All in all Lord, it’s a mad rush by four half-awake people that quite often leads to frustrations flaring up.

As they did this morning.

It’s funny, but I wasn’t sure what You meant when You whispered to me that we needed to talk about my mornings and almost dismissed it, but when I heard You clearly a second time it started me analyzing the morning ritual in general, and how it affects me.  Then I recognized Your intention… I’ve become resentful of being the one who has to be the “bad guy” each morning and hadn’t realized it.  Wow… What a powerful and worrisome realization that was.

Well Lord, once again You’ve made me pull out a demon I wasn’t aware of into the sunlight.

It hurts my heart to think I’ve become resentful of helping my family with anything they need, even though it’s not a happy task.  It’s a necessary role, and one that I’m best suited for.  I need to leave these feelings at Your Feet Lord, and do ALL I can for my family with love and care.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for helping me see this poison in my heart for what it is.  I pray that You help me release it from my spirit, and wake each morning with a joyous heart in the knowledge that I’m performing a loving act for those I hold dear.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Back to the Fold

Dear Lord; Well Father, the New Year is certainly upon us.  However, instead of talking about new beginnings today, I want to go over last weekend if I may.  As we’ve discussed at length, 2010 was in many ways an amazingly difficult year for myself and my family.  Well, as of Friday morning I had yet one more potentially serious business nightmare crop up to finish off my year, and I’m afraid I crumbled.  It was the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back, and I spent the bulk of my day sitting quietly in our bedroom, avoiding the world.  I tried for quite some time to speak with You Lord, but I just couldn’t seem to let go of the troubles in my heart and open up that line of communication.  I felt lost, and beaten, and angry, and alone.

I was of course none of those things, but at the time I couldn’t see past my own turmoil to realize it.  Once again, You intervened through others to bring me back.  Shannon and I were to attend a New Years Eve party that night, and although I was holding onto my pain she convinced me to keep our plans all the same.  It ended up being just what was needed to get me out of the self-induced shell I was hiding in.  The evening was spent surrounded by a fun group of friends, and I was able to finally release the hold that fear had placed on my heart.

The rest of the weekend continued on an upwards trend, and by Sunday afternoon I was back to my old self once again.  I was able to start the week today with a positive direction, and a joyous heart knowing that as always, You were there to see me through, even when I wasn’t paying attention.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

Thank You Father, for always being there to guide and help us even when our own frailties make us blind to Your Presence.  Amen.

~Phather Phil