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Posts Tagged ‘Louisiana’

Christmastide Reflections: The Passionate Commitment…

Isaiah 9:2-7

⁴ You will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders… ⁶ For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace… ⁷ His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The *passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen.

*Passionate Commitment is a translation for the New Living Translation. In other versions it is translated as “zeal.” Looking up the definition of zeal in several online dictionaries was enlightening to me. The following reflects the sum of my findings:

Zeal: Fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor

Synonyms: intensity, passion

I love that… passionate commitment; zeal; enthusiastic diligence, intensity…passion. This is the description of our God, the Creator-Savior-Redeemer, Jesus. The Rescuer who has come to save, reconcile, and restore us. He does this with passionate commitment. He determined that HE WOULD MAKE THIS HAPPEN with enthusiastic diligence and ardor (intense devotion, eagerness, and/or enthusiasm; burning heat). I love this!!! He would see (and did see) that the burden of sin, the yoke of slavery to the broken flesh, would be lifted! His peace and our reconciliation would never end! Our redeemed and restored relationship would extend ETERNALLY! Why? Because HE WAS-IS Passionately Committed to His creation and His children. Thank God! Immanuel. God is with us!

“Each day proclaim the good news that He saves…” (Psalm 96:2b)

At His birth the world changed. The pregnancy of Hope and the conviction of divine possibility were joined. God is with us…Immanuel. The physical birth of Jesus is exponentially larger than a baby in a manger. Christmas marks the coming of a whole new world. As modern day Christians we know that Christmas is the precursor of the cross. Christmas and the cross are truly a single event. With the fulfillment of God’s promise for deliverance come in Jesus, humanity was invited to coexist with deity for eternity… Immanuel… God with us, God among us, and God in us: Redemption, Reconciliation, and ultimate Restoration. Hallelujah! He Has Come. Immanuel.

“God makes the first move, one of sheer grace; the next move is theirs (ours)…” –Bobby Gross

“Christmas is meant to take us to the level of spiritual maturity where we are capable of seeing in a manger the meaning of an empty tomb.” –Joan Chittister

Isaiah’s prophecy describes the character, conscience, and countenance of Jesus…”The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…” This is the Image by which we were created (Genesis 1:27) and it is the Image to which we are being transformed (Romans 8:29). Christ himself, has prayed (John 17:22-23) that we (the sons and daughters of God) would be instruments and reflections of His Glory. The image we should radiate and reflect is the same description as depicted by the prophet Isaiah; wisdom, power, love (agape), peace (shalom). As I reflect upon these truths and meditate upon all that it holds for us as “awakened” children of God, I am stricken with a somber dose of reality… I think about the quote from Bobby Gross (above) speaking about the lowly shepherds to whom God announced through His angels the arrival of Messiah Jesus. God did make the first move and the shepherds responded with joyful obedience. I wonder about those who do not respond to God’s move… Ironically, the arrival of Jesus in the flesh of humanity not only signaled life-eternal, but brought with it death as well (Matthew 2:13-18). So, to this end, I ponder… the fulfillment of Promise and Life sealed darkness and death for many. Sadly, I think it does still for those who decide to ignore “God’s first move.” I am reminded of an observation made by the ancient church father, Jerome; “The Lord is born on earth, and he does not have even a cell in which to be born, for there was no room for him in the inn. The entire human race had a place, and the Lord about to be born on earth had none. He found no room among people…” O, Dear God, please…please may this not be the case about Your people today. My prayer today is for us who know you and for those who do not…

Almighty and everlasting God, you have revealed the incarnation of your Son by the bright shining of a star, which the wise men saw, and offered costly gifts in adoration; let the star of your justice always shine in our hearts, that we may give as our treasure all that we are and all that we posses, to your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

From before time was, Your plan was to manifest Your image in all you create and now You have provided us the way and the means to this completion through rebirth and re-creation. May we be as the shepherds and respond boldly to Your move; Your invitation to grace and shalom. I pray, O Lord, for the blindness and arrogance of my brothers and sisters…that their hearts might not be hardened, but they would be melted to joyful submission and receive this great gift of salvation from Immanuel… You, who are, God With Us. It is your passionate commitment and merciful magnificence that brings men to repentance… I pray that darkness is dispelled and death destroyed for the sake of those who still do not know or refuse you… may they greet you with adoration and joy, responding to Your “first move” and passionate commitment.

Christ is born: glorify Him. Christ comes from heaven: go out to meet Him. Christ descends to earth: let us be raised on high.

– prayer written from my own words, the words of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Gelasian Sacramentary

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I’ve been “offline” for most of this past week, limiting my social networking to email only. My attentions have been focused on my family (my extended family) located in Louisiana. You probably remember that I was just in Louisiana on vacation, but I returned on somewhat short notice. My grandmother (Mamaw as she is known to most of us) passed on from this physical life and entered eternal life on August 9, 2009. I was asked to officiate the funeral services and her interment.

The past few days have been good; everyone has been kind and gracious with their words…the tension that grief and sadness bring has been noticeable, but kept under control for the most part. By and large, the time of family gathered and memories shared has been overwhelmingly good. I’ve enjoyed my reflections and memories of Mamaw. As I started considering the context of what I would share during the interment services, one word kept coming to my mind; “Legacy.” Perhaps it comes naturally with age, but I have started thinking more and more about family. I miss the close connections with our large extended family that I took for granted as a child. I have read many writings and heard many a documentary lamenting the state of the American family unit. Being in pastoral ministry, I have seen firsthand the results of degradation within the family. I don’t want to take for granted this incredible gift from God to us…the family. I have made a commitment (several years ago) to protect and develop my family, but in recent days I am renewing that commitment and will begin to put measures into place that will be even more intentional for building family…my own immediate family and my extended family. I want to ensure that the Legacy of my God is carried on through my family.

I will probably share additional reflections and thoughts in the coming days about this topic once I return to my home in New York state (returning tomorrow), but for now will conclude my “pondering” with the words I shared yesterday. What follows is the manuscript that I shared from when I spoke at Mamaw’s funeral: Read the rest of this entry »

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Day 10: Leaving “home” to go home…

Yesterday was a pretty mellow day…trying to get things ready for the journey back north, get the boys ready for their west coast adventure, and saying good-byes. More family pictures were on the agenda (I now have well over 300 “family” photos to edit), but the memories they will rekindle are worth it. I can’t say enough about the joy I have had spending the past week with my immediate and extended family; joy does not convey the delight of my heart. Really.

I’m not entirely sure what our journey home is going to entail, our route and itinerary has not been finalized just yet. I think our first priority is to get our oldest two (Stefan and Garrett) to the airport on time. Once we get that item completed, we’ll concern ourselves with where we’ll end up tonight. We’re trying to decide whether or not to shoot through Atlanta or Nashville (our site seeing choices will dictate that, but we plan to discuss this on our way to the Jackson airport).

I’ll try to update our trip along the way with photos and will share a brief synopsis of what we’re doing and what we decided when we land at a hotel for the evening. I better get running so I can pack up the Trailblazer now…I’m hearing the sounds of Willie Nelson and “On the Road Again” in my head, so I better be off. Ta Ta Till Latah!

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Day 7: Uh Oh…a no picture day (from July 24^th)

I was on my own for the most of today. I had planned to spend some time with my brother, Bradley, and that’s pretty much what the majority of this day was all about. I did have a couple of side projects lined up; one project was to replace the low beam headlight in our Chevy Trailblazer. Can you say “most stupid engineering design ever”? I cannot believe the ridiculous way they designed the headlight assembly, at least with regard to how the bulb would be changed. Thank goodness for the internet, I was able to figure out how to get to the bulb…can’t believe it was necessary to remove the entire front grill, but it was…necessary. Anyway, mission accomplished; bulb changed.

Met up with an old high school buddy too and enjoyed a brief visit with him. (Nice to see ya, Warren!)

Bradley and I enjoyed tracking (recording) a song I had written…although I have to say that I am not American Idol or America’s got Talent caliber. Nonetheless, the song got recorded. I will share it in a blog post when I get a copy from Brad.

For lunch we hit this really obscure little restaurant for Louisiana style PoBoys; mine was a massive shrimp PoBoy and it hit the spot in an equally massive way. After our belly-busting lunch, we headed over toward Calhoun, Louisiana to take a tour of my brother’s property. Bradley bought some land out in the country a couple of years ago with the plan to build a house some time later in the future. It is a very nice place with almost a hundred peach trees, blueberry bushes, fig trees and a pond stocked with fish. He recently acquired a nice little mobile home that he has been refinishing so he and his family can spend weekends there.

The evening ended with my sister, Tracy, and my cousin, Christina, arriving for our family reunion/mamaw’s 90^th birthday celebration gathering tomorrow-today (Saturday). Speaking of which, it’s time to get myself ready and wake up the rest of the family. I’ll have my camera with me for the reunion, so you can expect a photo slideshow with my next blog post.

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Day 6: ON THE RIVER

We spent the day with Mike and LaTonya Lewis today. Much of the day was spent just enjoying leisurely conversation. It was really good to catch up on life with one another and hear what God is doing in our lives. It is amazing to hear encouraging and challenging words that God speaks to us through the lives of other people.

We were able to visit Family Church and see where the Lewis’ worship and serve. We took a tour of the facilities and were able to check out Kimmy’s office too.

Later in the evening we went out to the river with Ryan, Mike’s newest addition to his family (son-in-law…husband to Kim Lewis, Mike’s oldest daughter). Ryan took us boat riding while the younger Borden and Lewis men attempted to learn about wake-boarding and knee-boarding. Suffice it to say while they didn’t master the art of “water gliding” they had a tremendous time giving their all to try. I enjoyed the joy of sharing the beauty of God’s creation and feeling at home on the river…and, I got some pretty nice pictures for the memory banks too.

Day Seven is planned to spend with Brother Bradley as we take a tour of his property and then take some time to work on my song and getting it recorded.

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Day 5:

[Started to post this last night, but it was just a little too late…my eyes were closing on me. Sorry for the delay, but here ya go! Now, I got to get started on our next day’s adventure!]

No rain yesterday…so we hit the road a vistin’ heading over to bro-in-law Mike’s house in West Monroe. It was a great time of talking, playing games, swimming, and other stuffs…but in general, just enjoying the time together. It is always a great visit with Mike’s beautiful and loving family and yesterday was no exception. It is hard to say what the highlight of the day spent with Mike and family was, so rather than attempt to narrow it down, we just figured to go back over to their house today for a reevaluation. I think we have a miniature golf tournament on tap for the day. I’ll probably have to hold back on my PGA level putt-putt skills so the rest of the players can have a good time…(said with tongue firmly in cheek).

After we left the Lewis’ we headed just down the road (literally less than a couple miles away) to my brother Bradley’s house. We hung out without much of an agenda and enjoyed local cultural cuisine and a specialty of North Louisiana, Johnny’s Pizza…home of the Sweep the Kitchen! Woooo Hooooo! It was great! The rest of the evening Bradley and I played guitar together and worked on a song I have written. I’m new at the song writing craft and trying to get help from those with more experience; Brad has been writing his own music and mixing his songs for over 20 years now. I think he has a thing or 500 to teach me.

So, anyway, that was pretty much yesterday…stay tuned for today’s update later this evening (if I can keep my eyes open when we get home)

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Day 4:

Today was a lazy, hang-out, and rest day. This is completely allowed when you’re on vacation, so although it was a little out of my element to be so…unpurposed, I was relatively guilt-free (It was a little easier cuz it rained most of the day and it wouldn’t have been fun to venture outside anyway). It was good to hang with dad, mom, and my brothers. Mom hooked me up with fresh peaches and lots of my favorite home cooked veggies (purple-hulled peas, cornbread, fried squash, and more). Later in the evening I charcoal grilled some awesome burgers and got to catch up over supper with my brother Bradley and his wife Marie. They introduced us to our newest nephew, Jacob and we also got reacquainted with our niece Jenna Marie. The last time I saw Jenna she was just 6 mos old (she’s now 3yrs old).

We plan to head out to Laurie’s brother (Mike) house tomorrow. In the evening we’ll head over to Bradley and Marie’s house and spend the evening with them. Hopefully with more activity tomorrow we’ll have more photo ops. Here is the slideshow for the day.

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Day 3: Home again, home again…jiggity jig

We hit the road yesterday morning around 08:30 tackling the morning rush of Charlotte and then the mid-morning madness of Hotlanta! Yikes! I’m glad I don’t have to do that every day. We pressed and pushed on through Georgia before stopping in Alabama for lunch at a 5-star RSR (for you uninitiated, that’s “road-side rest”). Our agenda was set to make it to Jackson, MS where we would pick-up our missing family unit (Stefan) at the airport. He had been participating in a summer exercise, part of his curriculum requirements for his upcoming graduation in 2010. I don’t have a picture, but he earned his “wings” for successful completion of air assault training. HOO-HAH!

Back to the day’s events…

We arrived in Jackson with around a couple of hours to spare; enough time to get some supper and relax a bit from the road warrior mentality we were all wearing pretty ferociously. Stefan’s flight arrived right on time, maybe even a few minutes early and we were right on time to pick him up. Small problem. Stefan arrived, but his luggage did not, so we had to go through the rigmarole to arrange for his bags to get sent to us at my parents. Not to worry, the airline peeps seemed in good spirits and assured us they would have his bags to us by noon the next day considering they had multiple flights to Monroe beginning as early as 06:00. Great! Hopefully they will come through. We loaded up again, sans baggage, and headed west for Monroe, Louisiana.

We arrived at mom and dad’s around 22:30 to a nice reception (Mom, Dad, and younger brother Jonathan). We hung out and visited till after midnight when I suddenly realized I was majorly tired…and retired to the bed.

We don’t have big plans for today, just to relax and kinda get rejuvenated from the roadtrip. I know I promised more pictures, but I didn’t have a lot of photo ops yesterday. I will definitely take more today and update the blog again before crashing out tonight. Here are few shots from yesterday’s  lunchtime dining experience.

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The day started early…real early; 3:30am early. A stiff cup of coffee and a rub of the eyes and we were off on the first leg of the journey to Louisiana. Seven hours later we stopped off at a roadside lookout in West Virginia for a picnic lunch. The weather was great for the drive and the traffic was very bearable. We ended up arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina around 5:00pm. I let the boys decide on where to eat supper and they chose Sonic (bleh). Oh well, I get to choose when we hit Monroe. I’ve included a little slideshow of pictures I took at random times during the day. We intend on attending worship services at the Elevation Church tomorrow and then maybe some family activities later in the afternoon. I’ll update you on our adventures at the end of the day tomorrow. Peace!

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No matter how far you go, or how far you roam, there is always something special and dear about Home.

Tomorrow morning (very early) we’ll be taking off for what is liable to be our last real “family” vacation. My little family is growing up. My oldest son, Stefan, is heading into his senior year of college and Garrett, middle son, is heading off to his freshman year of college. Our (Laurie and I) youngest son, Joshua, is stuck with us old fogies for a bit, but I think you get the gist…the family is moving to its next level of maturity and the days of “togetherness” in a physical sense are becoming fewer and fewer. Anyway, I think this might be the last real family vacation that we enjoy for sometime; maybe forever. Such as that may be, I’m looking forward to this trip “home,” at least to my home where I grew up and many of my dear family relations still live. We’re off to Lousiana for a spell…southern cooking, catfish, cajun cuisine and some good ‘ole boys and girls. I plan to keep my blog updated while we’re on the road and visitin’ so keep a look out for posts and keep us in your prayers. Until then…happy trails!

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