Meditations Monday: Spiritual Maintenance

Dear Lord; Happy Meditations Monday Father!

Well Father, once again You’ve Blessed my family and I by gracing us with another wonderful weekend together, surrounded by ample signs of Your love for us.  Aidan’s birthday party Friday night brought a flurry of activity to the house, and the sleepover portion of the festivities kept that youthful liveliness going late into the evening.  (If we could harness the energy of nine-year-old boys Father, I truly believe the world’s energy issues would be at an end.  ;-))  Shannon spent Saturday afternoon playing her viola in the Dover Symphony’s Children’s Concert, while the boys and I got some errands and household duties accomplished.  Sunday started as usual with morning services at Ewell’s St. Paul, with the remainder of the day consumed by housework, preparations for Thanksgiving and quiet time spent enjoying each other’s company.  All in all Lord, it was a Blessed time spent with those I love, and I thank You for that period of respite from the workweek.

As part of preparing our home for the upcoming Thanksgiving gathering, and to lay the groundwork for next weekend’s Christmas decorating marathon, Jonathan and I spent a good bit of Sunday afternoon cleaning and rearranging the garage, and bringing in the furniture from our back deck.  In the midst of doing so, I realized that it had been more than six months since I’d started the 1986 Jaguar I’d restored some years back, and well over a year since it had left the confines of our garage.  The battery was completely dead, so I connected up the charger, and let it run until the indicator light clued me in that it was done.  I settled into the driver’s seat, turned the key in the ignition, and…

It bluntly refused to start.

At first, I was a little taken aback.  Since I’d finished restoring it, this car has always fired right up with no hesitation whatsoever.  Then I realized… it’s had the same gasoline in its tanks for well over 16 months; engines don’t like stale gas.  When the brakes went out a year and a half ago I parked it, and waited for the time and money to repair it.  Unfortunately, our finances have been stretched since that time, and I unintentionally allowed it to fall into neglect.  I failed to perform the proper maintenance a stored vehicle requires, and as a result it will now require some repairs before it runs again.

Thinking about the situation as I drove in to the office today, I realized there was a lesson to be learned here…

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 (ESV)

Like my immobile auto, our faith needs to have regular service performed on it as well.  In this passage from First Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul describes some directives which could be looked at as “Spiritual Maintenance” of a sort.  Our journey of faith is a lifelong, winding road, requiring a spirit that’s fueled regularly (time in the Word), diligently maintained (thanks and prayer) and kept out of damaging conditions (abstaining from evil).  When we neglect our spirit’s proper upkeep, that road becomes uncertain, and our pace towards You is diminished.

Our spirits don’t run well on “stale gas” either.  🙂

Heavenly Father,

We thank You Lord, for the great care and faithfulness You show to us each day.  Instill in our hearts the commitment and passion to keep our spirits “maintained” and agile, that we may journey along the path You’ve set for us unimpeded.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Lessons from a Nine-Year-Old

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!

Today Lord, we’re celebrating at the Malmstrom home.  Nine years ago today at 12:23pm, You Blessed us by bringing Aidan Patrick Malmstrom into our lives.  🙂

I love both my children dearly Father, and over the years each of them has brought me unique perspective, as well as taught me some valuable lessons.  In February 2005, I wrote a blog post for another site about my experiences taking care of Aidan while Shannon and Jonathan were at A.I. Dupont Hospital for a few days.  It described the unique little boy he was at age 2, and some of the things he’d taught me at that point in time:

Lessons from a Two-Year-Old

Over the last several days, I have been privileged to be instructed in the ways of the world by a mind so uncluttered that my perspectives have likely been forever changed. I’m speaking of course, of my two-year-old son Aidan.

It all started when Jonathan (my older son, or as some know him Mini-Me) was kept at the AI DuPont Hospital for Children for a three-day stay. Jonathan was born with a rare and serious blood disease called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) which nearly took him from us shortly after he was born. Thanks to the responsive and meticulous care of the Hematology and Oncology staff at AI, he recently celebrated his 5th birthday with us in December. However, as this disease is not clinically curable, whenever Jonathan develops any inexplicable or significant medical symptoms he’s carefully checked for any potential re-involvement of the ailment. Therefore, when he started showing flu symptoms and his blood counts were suspiciously low last week, back to AI he went. With Shannon staying close to Jonathan’s side, my attentions were now redirected to care for our younger son (and future NFL linebacker), Aidan.

To any of you that don’t know us, my wife and I very definitely have his-and-hers children. Jonathan, in a nutshell, is me. I understand nearly everything he does and why he does it. Aidan however, is a male version of Shannon with a slightly destructive twist. Don’t get me wrong, I love both my children to no end. However, sometimes I have problems relating to the thought processes that dictate Aidan’s actions. He’s a wonderful child with an incredibly warm heart and a seemingly endless reserve of energy. It’s just that his methods for getting from point A to point B sometimes serve to confuse me completely. Therefore, while I was in sole custody of this little enigma I took the opportunity to carefully follow and analyze some of his daily routines. From this, I learned some important things.

Let’s call this list “Everything I need to know, I learned from my two year old” (Ok, so it’s not terribly original, but you get the reference.)

1. An object is not necessarily made from the sum of it’s component parts. In fact, it’s very likely that if you smash it repeatedly into something else, it will have a whole new set of parts you knew nothing about.

2. Poop is funny stuff. In fact, it’s even funnier if you squish it around until it’s coming out of every seam of the diaper trying to contain it.

3. A child’s hearing ability is inversely proportional to how badly they really want to do something they aren’t supposed to.

4. An item’s original intention is never as interesting as the myriad of things you can make it do outside those boundaries.

5. The word “No” can be an entire language onto itself if said with varied volumes, tones and facial expressions.

6. Perpetual Motion can be achieved through the right balance of chocolate milk and mac-and-cheese.

7. Computer wires look exactly like the ropes that “Dora the Explorer” uses to swing across rivers and such.

8. Drawing and coloring should never be restricted to something as unimaginative as paper.

9. Do everything with a sickeningly cute smile and 9 out of 10 times you’ll get away with it. On the 10th time, run faster than daddy.

And I’m learning more every day…

God I love my kids.

~Phil Malmstrom

Therefore Father, to mark Aidan’s Birthday today I thought I’d share some additional “chunks of wisdom” that he’s enlightened me with since that time.

Lessons from a Nine-Year-Old

1. Laundry baskets are far too structured an idea for truly free thinkers.

2. With the right combination of Lego parts and some cheese quesadillas, you can in fact create sentient life.

3. The time required to shower is directly proportional to how much hot water is available and how many good songs are playing on the radio.

4. The response “One more minute” is actually a phrase apparently derived from some other language meaning “When I feel like it…”.

5. When you have HUGE dimples, you can get out of amazingly difficult situations.

6. If you want to stay up a little bit later than regular bedtime, the phrase to use on dad is “Can I just go read my Bible for a while please?”.

7. With the proper amount of barbecue sauce, almost anything is edible.

8. The word “no” is simply the beginning of the negotiation process.

9. If negotiations don’t go well and finally break down, it’s still good to be able to outrun daddy.

And I’m still learning more every day.  🙂

Heavenly Father,

I thank You Lord, for Blessing our family those nine years ago by placing Your child Aidan into our care.  He’s a kind, smart, fun little boy Father, and I feel privileged to be his earthly father.  Please continue to watch over him Lord, and guide him to grow into the godly man that I know he can be.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: A Perspective of Gratitude

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

And once again Father, we come to my favorite weekly post here at PhatherPhil.org; Thankful Thursday.  As we draw closer to Thanksgiving Lord, it seems as if more and more folks are taking time out to focus on the many Blessings You bestow on us.  And while my heart sings seeing such a wonderful outpouring of gratefulness this time of year Father, it also highlights to me one important thing that I think sometimes we all miss…

Your Blessings grace our lives EVERYDAY; not only at Thanksgiving, not just every Thankful Thursday, but every minute of every day.

Even when we don’t have a Holiday to direct our attention to Your many gifts Father, it’s important to recognize and celebrate the fact that we exist and thrive within Your mercy and grace each day.  By keeping that fountain of gratefulness flowing in our hearts, we’re better able to weather our personal trials and at the same time to share that perspective of gratitude with others around us.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17 (ESV)

When we do everything from that foundation of thankfulness Lord, our lives become brighter in so many ways.

And on that thought Father, here’s this week’s Thankful Thursday list!  Looking back over the past seven days Lord, I’ve been especially grateful for:

391. Daily Inspirations.

392. A wonderful guest “Email to God” written by Lisa from “A Moment With God”.

393. Completing the final session of the “Treasures of the Transformed Life” Small Group Study.

394. New contact lenses.

395. A quiet, but loving and productive weekend spent with my family.

396. The help of a close friend in cleaning and repairing a “brewmeister” I was given.

397. A profound and overwhelming moment of “Spiritual Release” You gave me Tuesday morning.

398. The “Glue” that binds our hearts to Yours.

399. Feeling better following a two-week-long respiratory illness.

400. An update to the Android version of the YouVersion Bible App that brought some great new features.

401. That nine years ago tomorrow, You Blessed Shannon and I with our youngest son, Aidan.

402. The encouragement, kindness and support I received from one of my Facebook friends this week.

403. A fun “one on one” dinner out for Aidan and I while Shannon and Jonathan were at church groups last night.

404. Getting caught up on bills last weekend.

405. That even in our brokenness, our sin, and our pain You forgive us, and seek to draw us to You.

We continue to live bathed in Your grace Lord.  🙂

Heavenly Father,

We thank You Father God, for the many Blessings You bring to our lives each day; both those that fill our hearts to overflowing with Your benevolence, and those that Bless us quietly from the sidelines.  Please help us to maintain grateful hearts, and to reach out and share Your many gifts with others.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Sharing a Conversation

Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!

Today Father, I’m honored to be hosting a guest “Email to God” from a good friend of mine and fellow blogger, Lisa Phelps from “A Moment with God”.  Lisa’s site is wonderful Blessing to me Lord; she brings Your message of faith and hope to her readers each day, and at the same time teaches and enlightens with a whimsical spirit.  It’s such a gift for me to have her sharing a conversation with You here on PhatherPhil.org, and I hope it Blesses all those who get to read it.

Good morning Father,

First of all, I want to say thank you to Phil for allowing me to share my conversation with You on phatherphil.org.   I’m so thankful that I have come to know Phil.  Through his words and actions, I am learning more about what it looks like to live as Your servant.

Father, thank you for the awesome service we had at church on Sunday.  You taught me so many lessons through those few hours we spent worshiping together as Your body.  As you know, Father, I sometimes struggle with leading worship.  I want to make sure that we all sound good and flow together in unity.  As I was thinking about these things before the service started, you clearly spoke to my heart.  You were asking, “Why are you here?” or more specifically, “Why are the people here?”  You wanted me to understand that if they had come to hear perfect vocals or rousing music, we might be able to provide on some level, but they would leave disappointed.  As Your church, we are to love and encourage one another, but if the people came just for the fellowship, they would leave disappointed.  But if they came to encounter a Holy, Living God, then you would meet them and they would leave filled and satisfied.  Thank you for reminding me that the world doesn’t need to see me, they need to see You!  

You also reminded me that you have called us by a new name.  You don’t see us the way we see ourselves.  In the secret places of our hearts, we may call ourselves unworthy, unloved, unforgiven, or a disappointment.  But You reminded us that, through the blood of Jesus, we are now called Dearly loved, Forgiven, Righteous, and Children of the Most High God.  Father, thank you for reminding us of Whose we are and help us to listen only to Your Voice of Truth.

And finally, Father, you spoke to us about the sunrise.  We know that as Your children, our future is secure; we will spend eternity with You in Heaven.  But You have called us to see the sunrise.  The sun rises each morning, signifying the start of a new day; the old is gone and the new has begun.  So it is in our walk with You.   The old is gone and You have given us new life.  

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19

Father, you are truly amazing.  I love that You bend down and speak to Your people.  Help us to keep our hearts and minds fixed on You that we might always hear Your still small voice.  Thank you for giving us a new name and a new identity through Jesus Christ.  I pray that each one reading these words today would forget about the past and focus on the new thing You are doing in their lives.  Father, help them to see themselves the way You see them.  Remind them that You have come to give them Hope and a new beginning.  I ask all these things in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus.

Amen.

Meditations Monday: The Glue That Binds Our Hearts

Dear Lord; Happy Meditations Monday Father!

To start off our week together Lord, I want to thank You for the many Blessings You graced my family and I with this past weekend.  As I still wasn’t feeling very well, we spent much of Saturday at home, save for a much-needed grocery shopping trip, and finished the evening off by curling up on the couch together and watching the final chapter in the Harry Potter movie series.  Sunday we started our day with an inspiring worship service at Ewell’s St. Paul, and then joined some close friends for a brunch to celebrate the birthday of one of their children.  The afternoon was filled with a marathon of housework, homework, bill-paying and laundry, but at the end of the day we were all able to relax a bit before bed, and enjoy some quiet time together.  You know Father, as my Walk with You progresses, I find myself appreciating those times of unity with my family more and more.  I’ve always enjoyed “family time”, but the more connected I become with You, the more connected I feel to them as well.  🙂

In her message this weekend, Pastor Kris made a statement that’s been churning around in my head ever since.  She told us that one of her seminary professors had once said that if you look at the Bible as a whole; the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Gospels, the one underlying concept that’s consistent throughout and that ties it all together, is love.  Now Father, while initially this may seem like an awfully simplistic and obvious statement, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was a fundamental point that quite often we miss.

Throughout the Scriptures as well as in our lives today, we see many examples of the wide range of ways You show Your love for us.  Some are obvious, and come in the form of Blessings that clearly enrich our mortal lives and bring us immediate joy.  Others however, may be perceived as negative events that seem to complicate our lives and cause us difficulty.  The point that we need to remember however is this; just because things don’t always go as we expect or desire them to, it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an act of love on Your part nonetheless.  I liken it to when I have to discipline my children.  I certainly don’t enjoy reprimanding or punishing them, but in my desire to be a loving, caring and responsible parent, sometimes it’s necessary for me to correct and guide them by providing a response that makes the point apparent and relevant to them.

In one of the most beautiful, and I believe powerful passages of the Bible, the Apostle Paul describes this love that You’ve given us, and the importance of it in our lives:

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (ESV)

I view love as the “glue” You use to bind our hearts to Yours Father.  You bestow it on us freely, and through Christ’s example, You lead us to share it with others in a similar fashion.  Such an overwhelming gift Lord, and one that grows more and more prominent as our walk to You progresses.

Heavenly Father,

We thank You Lord, for the love and Blessings You give to us freely and abundantly each day.  Please open our hearts and our minds, that we may more fully come to recognize Your acts of love in our lives; both those that fill our hearts with overwhelming joy, and those guiding actions which while sometimes painful, are done as the caring, loving, responsible Father that You are.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil