The Final Project

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!

To close our week’s conversations Lord, I thought I’d share a smile with You.

The school that Jonathan attends uses a project-based approach to learning, which includes a number of long-term research projects over the course of the year.  For the last project this year, they allowed the students to pick their own topic of interest to research, and along with a paper on the subject they had to present a visual to the class as well.  Jonathan chose the Newsboys as his topic, and for a visual he and I whipped up a multimedia presentation for him to show on the SmartBoard.  As this isn’t a Christian school, I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t argue with the content choice, and will be very interested to hear how it’s received by his classmates.

Either way, I thought I’d share the results of his efforts with You today:

I love seeing him excited about all aspects of worshiping You Father, and this just brought a smile to my heart.  🙂

Father God, I lift my heart in praise for Your Presence in my life each day.  You Bless us in so many ways Lord, and I pray that I’m effective in sharing that Hope and Peace with all those around me.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: Realigning My Thoughts

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

As I mentioned yesterday Father, I’ve felt a bit disconnected the past couple days so I think today’s “Counting My Blessings” post is just what the doctor ordered to realign my thoughts with all the Blessings You surround me with each day.  I’ve seen a number of other “Bloggy Friends in Christ” having similar issues to those I expressed in yesterday’s post, so today I also want to pray for Your Comfort and Peace to be with them as well.

And on to the list!  Continuing from last week…

46. An administrative assistant who makes sure I eat, even when I’m too hectic to think about it.

47. The encouraging and thoughtful comments that are left on phatherphil.org each day.

48. Spiritual Decompression time.

49. A Heavenly Father that’s never too busy to talk with me.

50. Having a local butcher who has wonderful, fresh meats at great prices.

51. A lull in the hot, sticky weather today (low 80s and a nice breeze).

52. The 12-foot market umbrella on our deck which allows us to be outside more often.

53. That the grass is growing slowly this week.  🙂

54. Godparents who take an active role in our children’s lives.

55. Friends willing to watch the boys now and again so Shannon and I can get out together.

56. Green’s Black Raspberry Blast Ice Cream

57. New sales that seem to show up just when I need them.

58. Afternoon coffee.

59. “Date Night” with Shannon.

60. Your Mercies in Disguise.

As always, I thank You Father for these and all the other Blessings You bestow on me each day.  Even at my lowest points, I can look up and always see Your Light above me, welcoming me back to You.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Spiritual Decompression

Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!

Today Father, I hit the wall.

Not literally mind you, but from a mental, emotional and to some extent, spiritual sense I hit a point today where the events of the past couple weeks all seemed to pile on top of one another, and I allowed that self-imposed load to overwhelm me to the point of exhaustion.  I spent my afternoon trying desperately to focus and get a handle on the deluge of tasks strewn about me, but to no avail.

My mind had left the building.

After everyone else had left the office this evening (rather promptly in fact, as today was a payday), I was beginning to get things together to head out myself when all of a sudden I was stopped dead in my tracks by Your Voice in my head…

“Spiritual Decompression” I heard You say.

Huh?  Ok… I hadn’t heard that one before.

Driving home, I had some “quiet time” to contemplate Your somewhat unusual directive.  At first, it seemed like maybe I’d misunderstood, but as I meditated more on the phrase Your point came through loud and clear and I realized why I was in the throes of such inner turmoil.  Over the last week or so with all of the hectic goings-on preparing for the party, having to deal with a series of business nightmares, coping with an onslaught of worrisome news regarding friends’ health along with the day-to-day duties required to keep family life moving along, our time together had been broken up and limited.  Yes, we’d certainly talked but it was always “in-between” rushing to deal with the earthly duties around me.

You were reminding me that I needed to rest in You… To reconnect, and decompress.

Message received, and understood.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

Thank You for the reminder Father.  🙂

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: A Roller Coaster Week

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

And once again Lord, we come to one of my favorite conversations of the week; the Thankful Thursday list!  As you know Father, this has been an exceptionally eventful week for us; filled with both cause for joyful celebration, as well as news of a disheartening loss.  However through it all Father, I’ve felt Your Divine Presence in abundance and have much to be thankful for.

Therefore Lord, my list for the week is:

31. Jonathan being off chemotherapy for 10 years as of this month.

32. Warmer, sunny days.

33. Air conditioning for those warmer, sunny days.

34. New friends.

35. Cheesesteak pizza.

36. A glass of Pinot Noir to go with that pizza. 🙂

37. Hidden Treasure in the basement.

38. Being perfectly loved by my Creator, even as imperfect as I am.

39. Inspiring Contemporary Christian music that uplifts me throughout the day.

40. My blood pressure medication.

41. Gas prices coming back down a little bit.

42. A job commitment for Shannon at the boys’ school next year.

43. Good friends coming to visit over the Memorial Day Weekend.

44. New episodes of Doctor Who on BBC America.

45. Daily guidance from my Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, as always, I thank You for continuing to be ever-faithful, and filling our lives with such a multitude of Blessings each day.  I pray for Your continued guidance in making choices that best glorify Your Will, and for Your aid in sharing Your Light with those around me.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

So Much to Accept

Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!

As you know Lord, at the beginning of the year instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I chose to take part in an exercise intended to provide a more focused perspective on the year ahead.  The concept was to pray intently for Your Guidance in choosing a single word to serve as a primary component of my life in the coming months.  And although I came up with a number of words that I personally felt fit areas I needed improvement on, You repeatedly placed the same word in my heart over and over…

Accept.

Well Father, I may not have completely agreed with Your Word Choice when You impressed it upon me, but looking back over events of the last five months I can honestly now say… Ok, I get it.

Here are some of the ways Your Word Choice has presented itself in my life:

I’ve come to Accept that I can’t fix everything, and that I need the assistance of others (this one’s been tough for me in many ways).

I’ve learned to listen for Your Guidance more carefully, and Accept the direction that’s given.

I’ve Accepted that Your Assistance to us comes from many places and in a variety of forms, and that our true Blessings may not always be those most obvious to us.

I’ve Accepted that the path I’ve laid out for myself may not necessarily be the one You Intend for me, and I’m excited to see Your Will unfolding in my life.

It appears I had more that I needed to Accept than I thought I did… 🙂

Heavenly Father, I thank You for the direction and guidance You Bless me with each day.  As I pray to You each morning; Please help me make decisions today that best glorify Your Will, and guide me to be Your Hands and Feet to serve those around me.  Amen.

~Phather Phil